6th October, 2001 SOSSA RESEARCH TRIP, WOLLONGONG, NSW, AUSTRALIA.
Report prepared by: P.J. Milburn.
Departed: 08:15 returned at approx. 16:00.
Sea conditions: NW to 0.5m at first and to 1.0m NE late in the afternoon.
Swell: 2.0 to 2.5m NE.
Weather: Sunny with patchy cloud later, 17 to 24.5°C.
Barometric pressure: 1016 rising.
Wind: NW 5kts rising to NNE 10 to 15 kts in mid afternoon.
Sea surface temperature: 17.0 to 20.4°C.
Primary chumming location: S 34° 29' - E 151° 20'.
Summary:
A typical spring day with gentle seas and northeasterly winds forecast.
Hopes were running high for some interesting spring seabirds.
Just outside Wollongong Harbour we encountered the first Arctic Jaeger
recorded on a Wollongong Boat Trip this spring. Several miles offshore
the presence of Common Dolphins, an Australian Fur Seal and a large shark,
thought to be a White Pointer, revealed a patch rich of water.
The unprecedented run of ARCTIC TERN records this season was continued
during our passage to the Continental Shelf Break with 2 immature birds
being sighted. Sooty Shearwaters have returned to NSW waters with a number
of individuals being recorded.
Once in the deep waters over the Continental Slope several albatross were
observed, the highlight being a first year BULLER'S ALBATROSS. Distant
views of a small Pterodroma Petrel, which appeared to be a Cook's Petrel,
provided an element of frustration.
The trip back to harbour provided further frustration with distant views of
2 adult Sooty Tern.
Highlights:
A first year BULLER'S ALBATROSS, 2 ARCTIC TERN and up to 5 Southern
Humpback Whales breaching. This trip was notable for the unusually large
number of Tern species present.
Birds recorded according to the latest Environment Australia Reporting
Schedule:
Species code: Species name: Numbers:
(Note: numbers in parenthesis = highest count at any one time)
080 Cape Petrel Daption capense australe 1
073 Great-winged Petrel Pterodroma macroptera gouldi 3 (2)
971 Solander's Petrel P. solandri 15 (12)
083 Fairy Prion Pachyptila turtur 1
068 Fluttering Shearwater Puffinus gavia 20 (10)
917 Hutton's Shearwater P. huttoni 6 (4)
069 Wedge-tailed Shearwater P. pacificus 400+ (150+)
070 Sooty Shearwater P. griseus 3 (1)
071 Short-tailed Shearwater P. tenuirostris 20+ (16)
072 Flesh-footed Shearwater P. carneipes 1
088 Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophrys 1
931 BULLER'S ALBATROSS T. bulleri 1
859 Campbell Albatross T. impavida 2 (2)
063 Wilson's Storm-Petrel Oceanites oceanicus 6 (2)
104 Australasian Gannet Morus serrator 6 (2)
106 Australian Pelican Pelicanus conspicillatus 2 (1)
128 Arctic Jaeger Stercorarius parasiticus 1
981 Kelp Gull Larus dominicanus 1
125 Silver Gull L. novaehollandiae 27 (15)
114 White-fronted tern Sterna striata 1
115 Crested Tern S. bergii 40+ (25)
120 SOOTY TERN S. fuscata 2 (2)
952 ARCTIC TERN S. paradisaea 2 (1)
953 Common Tern S. hirundo 4 (4)
In the harbour:
096 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 1
24 species of seabird identified outside the breakwater.
Mammals
Australian Fur Seal 1
Common Dolphin 6
Southern Humpback Whale 5
Future Trips,
All Pelagic Trips from NSW are operated at no profit to the organisers
being operated as group boat charters for the benefit of all who wish
to join us. If you would like to join one of these trips please contact us
as below:
To make a booking on the SOSSA Wollongong
Pelagics which depart on the 4th Saturday of each month contact
SOSSA: Phone 02 4271 6004.
Email:
Carl Loves Phone: 0427 423 500
Pete Milburn: Mobile 0428 249 506, 02 6255 1313 (AH) or 02 6125 4173 (BH)
To make a booking for Sydney Pelagics,
which depart on the 2nd Saturday of each month contact
Tony Palliser Ph; 02-99001678 (w), 02-94115272 (h)
http://www.zip.com.au/~palliser
To make a booking for Eden Pelagics which are run on the 5th
Sunday of each month it occurs.
Barbara Jones or Ph (02) 6495 7390
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Note: SOSSA = Southern Oceans Seabird Study Association
Dr P.J. Milburn
Biomolecular Resource Facility
Australian National University
GPO Box 334
Canberra
ACT 0200
+61 2 6125 4173 'Phone
+61 2 6125 4326 FAX
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