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Hi Birding-aussers, below is the delayed report for
weekend before last pelagic;
Location: Southport, QLD,
Australia.
Vessel: 53ft Monohull, 'Flying Fish
II'.
Crew: 2.
Observers: 15.
Weather Conditions: A slow moving High over
the Tasman Sea brought NE winds to 15 knots onto the SEQ coast, with a trough
moving up from the south bringing stronger SE winds later in the day. Skies
mostly overcast with occasional sunny periods with some squally showers later in
the day, when approaching the coast. Maximum temperature 28 C. Barometric
pressure 1020 hPa.
Sea Conditions: Calm seas on up to 1 metre
swell early, on leaving the Seaway. Wide out at drift point, seas flat on gentle
swell with the wind dying to some extent. With the SE change later in the
afternoon seas gradually rising to 1.5 metres on a 1 metre swell. Sea-surface
temperature, 21.5 C inshore & 25.75 C at the Shelf-break and at widest
point. Current out wide running at 3 knots.
Departed from the Seaway at 0700 hrs & with
little outside the entrance headed directly out. Roughly an hour out & the
first of several parties of Short-tailed Shearwaters started passing through,
heading south. Normally, this would be a promising sign but not today. We missed
out on the October trip & consequently peak migration (see Milburns'
report). Reached the Shelf-break at 0900 hrs with just a Sooty Tern and a few
Wedge-tailed Shearwaters starting to appear, there were however several
Short-taileds still passing directly through in reasonable numbers.
Settled at the drift-point at 0935 hrs with one or
two Wedge-taileds milling around in the very still conditions, not conducive to
good sea-birding. With the off-loading of some shark liver it wasn't long before
the first Tahiti Petrel came moseying in. After a while a few Flesh-footed
Shearwaters started to appear & even one or two Short-taileds broke away
from the packs and stayed for a feed. The wind had really died by now, the scent
of the chum wasn't carrying & the birds were starting to labour in the
conditions. Probably the most exciting occurence was the presence throughout
most of the drift of a 3 metre+ Oceanic White-tipped Shark. A denizen of warm
current, deep water it was a new one for most onboard.
Headed back to shore at 1230 hrs and with the wind
starting to shift to the SE encountered increasing numbers of Short-tailed
Shearwaters, close in on the Shelf. A very quiet day, not helped by the still
conditions out wide.
Species:
Tahiti Petrel - 20 (7)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater - 69 (16)
Flesh-footed Shearwater - 27 (12)
Short-tailed Shearwater - 1183 (600)
Pomarine Jaeger - 1
Crested - 9
Sooty Tern - 5 (4)
Next pelagic is on the 18th December, with several
vacancies. Cheers - Paul Walbridge.
Contact Paul Walbridge;
PH (H) 61 7 3391 8839 (W) 61 7 3350
8258
E-mail:
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