EAGLEHAWK NECK BOAT TRIP - 24 November 2002
GROUP: Bill Ardagh, Rob and Gail Berry, Barry Bucholtz, Denis Charlesworth,
Maurice Charlesworth, Els Hayward, Chris Lester, Noel Linehan, Jann
and Ross Mulholland, Enid Pascoe, Tony Russell, Bill Wakefield,
Andrew Wells.
VESSEL/SKIPPER: Pauletta / John Males with Michael Males.
WEATHER: Cloudy, cool early with occasional very light rain in the afternoon.
Light N wind of 5 knots early freshening to 15 knots from the N in
mid-afternoon but easing later.
SEA: Choppy sea of 1 m with initial swell of 0.5 m in the morning. In
the afternoon, slightly choppy sea of 1 m with no swell.
ACTIVITY: Sailed 07.30. Headed SE from Pirates Bay past the Hippolytes, then
NE out past the shelf. Very quiet except for the many Short-tailed
Shearwaters until first stop for White-chinned Petrel at 09.40 at 43
o 05
'S 148 o 15'E in 180 fathoms with water temperature at 12.6 o C.
Continued east and stopped at 10.50 in 260 fathoms (14.5 oC) at 43o
06'S 148o 22'E again for White-chinned Petrel. All the Pterodroma
Petrels turned up here as we drifted about 6 nm S until 12.40. The
third stop was at 1.30 at 43o 03'S 148o 21'E in 400 fathoms (14.1
oC). Mottled, Gould's and Great-winged Petrels continued to pass
by. Travelled in across the chop stopping occasionally (especially
for the Fregetta Storm-Petrel which we saw travelling but could not
relocate when we stopped) and docked at approx 16.00.
MAMMALS: Australian Fur-Seals - at and near the Hippolytes.
BIRDS: Very low numbers of birds (except for Short-tailed Shearwater) with
a good diversity in the end after a very unpromising start. The
highlights of the day were the Pterodroma petrels - MOTTLED, GOULD'S
and WHITE-HEADED. The Fregetta Storm-Petrel was probably a
Black-bellied, but we did not get good enough looks to identify it
to species.
Little Penguin 7 (4).
Northern Giant-Petrel 1.
Giant-Petrel sp. 1.
Cape Petrel 3 (1).
Great-winged Petrel 12 (4).
WHITE-HEADED PETREL 1.
MOTTLED PETREL 7 (1).
GOULD'S PETREL 8 (2).
White-chinned Petrel 30 (6).
Sooty Shearwater 1.
Short-tailed Shearwater 5,000 (500).
Wandering Albatross 3 (1).
Royal Albatross 1. Ad. Northern RA.
Black browed Albatross 2 (1).
Shy Albatross 40 (10).
Yellow-nosed Albatross 1.
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 20 (4).
Fregetta Storm-Petrel sp. 1.
Australasian Gannet 20 (7).
Black-faced Cormorant 50 (25). Inshore plus 200 at the Hippolytes.
White?bellied Sea-Eagle 3. 2 inshore and 1 at the Hippolytes.
Swamp Harrier 1. At the Hippolytes.
Arctic Jaeger 2.
Pacific Gull 2.
Kelp Gull 4 (2). Inshore with 3 subadults and I adult plus 4 at the
Hippolytes and 30 along the shore.
Silver Gull 1. Inshore plus 35 at the Hippolytes and 15 along the shore.
Crested Tern 10 (4).
2003 Trips: 23 February, 21 September, 23 November.
|
