Portland Seabird trip 19-20 April 04

["Rob Farnes" <>]

Seabird Trip off Portland 19-20 April 2004
Rob Farnes & Peter Lansley

We sailed at 2330 h. on the Pacific Condor owned by Peter Sealey a local Portland fisherman who was fishing for Blue-eye trevalla Hyperoglyphe antarcticus with drop lines. On deck at 0645 h (after a sleepless but relatively comfortable night), we then spent the next eight hours over the Continental Shelf going around the drop lines centred 5 km around Lat. 38 46 Long. 141 22 and about 27 nautical miles SW of Lawrence Rocks. In the general area there were up to 500 albatrosses (7 species) with a couple of hundred constantly following the boat and one very keen Black-browed Albatross paid us a visit landing on the deck. We docked at 2000 h.
Coincidentally this trip was 18 years to the day after Mike Carter organised the first Portland pelagic.
Weather: clear blue skies, mainly calm condition, wind picked up mid morning but dropped again within a couple of hours.
All sightings over the shelf break unless otherwise stated.
BIRD LIST

Little Penguin                     1 seen (others hrd) inside shelf
Southern Giant Petrel         1 sub-adult
Great-winged Petrel            up to 8 per hour
Fairy Prion                          10
White-chinned Petrel           2
Flesh-footed Shearwater      total 6, three inside shelf
Sooty Shearwater                1
Short-tailed Shearwater       5
Fluttering Shearwater          10 inside shelf
Wandering Albatross            3 adults & 2 Juv. (one antipodensis)
Royal Albatross                     1 northern race sandfordi
Black-browed Albatross        400 impavida & 50 melanophris
Shy Albatross                        70
Yellow-nosed Albatross         1 & three inside shelf
Buller’s Albatross                  1 seen twice
Sooty Albatross                     1 adult
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel           up to 50
Grey-backed Storm-Petrel     2
White-faced Storm-Petrel      total 25, 10 inside shelf
Australasian Gannet              20
Great Skua                            1
Arctic Jaeger                         3 dark phase & 1 light phase inside shelf
Silver Gull                             2 inside shelf
Crested Tern                         total 10, 8 inside shelf

24 sps
Blue Whales        2 about 5 n.m. south Lawrence Rocks
Aust. Fur Seal      3