28th May, 2005 SOSSA PELAGIC TRIP, WOLLONGONG, NSW, AUSTRALIA

[Peter Milburn <>]

28th May, 2005 SOSSA PELAGIC TRIP, WOLLONGONG, NSW, AUSTRALIA. 

Report prepared by: P.J. Milburn. 

Departed: 07:30 returned at approx. 16:00. 
Sea conditions: A slight westerly chop at first but rising to 1m SW in the afternoon. 
Swell: SSE 2.0m inshore and 3.0 to 4.0m offshore. 
Weather: Sunny with crystal clear blue skies all day. 
Temperature range: 13.8 to 17.6 °C. 
Barometric pressure: 1005 HPa rising. 
Wind: W 15 to 20 knots at first, easing to 10 to 15 knots or less late in the morning before backing to the southwest and strengthening to 15 to 20 knots in the afternoon. 
Sea surface temperature: 16.9 to 18.3°C. 
Primary chumming location: S 34° 26' - E 151° 18'. 

Summary:

A large slow moving anticyclone centered in the Great Australian Bight and a deep low-pressure system located southeast of Tasmania had combined to produce a strong southwesterly airflow along the southern coast of New South Wales for several days.  The forecast was for this to intensify during the night prior to this trip as a cold front moved northwards up the coast.  As luck would have it, the front came through about eight hours early, the wind veered to the west and the morning brought clear blue skies.  To the south of our position, the southwesterly winds continued unabated. 

We left the harbour in good spirits with the wind directly astern as we headed due east.  It looked like it would be a bumpy trip back to port but that was nothing to spoil our immediate enjoyment.  We had barely looked backed to sea level after some Little Black Cormorants and Sooty Oystercatchers had flown overhead before Australasian Gannets and the usual mob of gulls joined us.  Several White-fronted Terns were among the first group of terns that arrived.  Several Indic Yellow-nosed and a Black-browed Albatross were foraging over Wollongong Reef as a clear indication that winter has arrived.  The first Fluttering Shearwaters for several trips appeared along with a Hutton's Shearwater.  A first year Kelp Gull followed us into deeper water and with its unusual white patches in the primary coverts and primaries provided confusion from time to time.  Other than a probable sighting of LITTLE SHEARWATER from the bow, the range of species in view remained the same but many more individuals were sighted until we came upon two White-capped Albatross at the 70-fathom line.  A little later we disturbed a Brown Skua and a Southern Giant-Petrel that were squabbling over the fresh corpse of a first year Australasian Gannet.  Soon after, the first FAIRY PRION of the winter was sighted.  This species has become unusually scarce in Wollongong waters since 2002 and after as, indeed, have all species of prion. 

Australasian Gannets, circling high overhead, had been visible in numbers throughout our cruise over the continental shelf but never in such great numbers as we approached the continental slope.  A solitary Solander's Petrel, the only one sighted all day, greeted us as we crossed into the deeper water. 

Given the strong westerly winds we elected not to venture too far east and set up a drift-and-berley session just inside the 200-fathom line, anticipating that we would drift further out to sea at a significant rate.  We attracted an interesting assortment of seabirds, many of which foraged close to our vessel for a protracted period providing a fabulous photography session.  This included four albatross species, most of which were adults, both species of Giant-Petrel, Short-tailed and Sooty Shearwater, FAIRY PRION, Brown Skua, and Wilson's Storm-Petrel. One of the Southern Giant-Petrels carried a white Darvic band, which was of Argentinian origin.

The trip back to port was far easier than we had imagined it would be because the wind had backed to the southwest and dropped below 10 knots as we headed for shore.  We had magnificent views of many species as they were gliding alongside the boat into the head wind and some were at times close enough to touch.  Many excellent photographs were obtained and those included some of an adult Black-browed Albatross carrying a French band although the number could not be deciphered.  We passed a couple of Giant Petrels squabbling over the last of the gannet, which was by now little more than a set of wings held together by a circle of skin.  Following yells of 'black-and-white shearwater astern' a LITTLE SHEARWATER was observed as it flew south across our stern at a major current line, in 60 fathoms of water. 

Highlights:

The rarity of the day was LITTLE SHEARWATER but the whole day was simply a delight in the glorious winter sunshine with stunning views of most of the birds recorded. 

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)

929 Southern Giant-Petrel Macronectes giganteus 3 (1)
937 NORTHERN GIANT-PETREL M. halli 1
971 Solander's Petrel Pterodroma solandri 1
083 FAIRY PRION Pachyptila turtur 3 (1)
067 LITTLE SHEARWATER Puffinus assimilis 1
068 Fluttering Shearwater P. gavia 70 (12)
917 Hutton's Shearwater P. huttoni 1
070 Sooty Shearwater P. griseus 2 (1)
071 Short-tailed Shearwater P. tenuirostris 2 (2)
088 Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophrys  10 (3)
859 Campbell Albatross T. impavida 12 (5)
861 White-capped Albatross T. steadi 8 (3)
864 Indic Yellow-nosed Albatross T. carteri 122 (45)
063 Wilson's Storm-Petrel Oceanites oceanicus 4 (1)
097 Little Black Cormorant Phalacrocorax sulcirostris 3 (3)
104 Australasian Gannet Morus serrator 93 (37)
980 Brown Skua Catharacta lonnbergi 5 (2)
981 Kelp Gull Larus dominicanus 3 (3)
125 Silver Gull L. novaehollandiae 450+ (350+)
114 White-fronted tern Sterna striata 5 (3)
115 Crested Tern S. bergii 66 (25)

In the harbour:

005 Little Penguin Eudyptula minor 1
193 Striated Heron Ardeola striatus macrorhynchus 1
106 Australian Pelican Pelicanus conspicillatus 5 (5)
125 Silver Gull L. novaehollandiae 35 (35)

21 species of seabird identified outside the breakwater. 

Other birds

207 Sooty Oystercatcher Haematopus fuliginosus 4 (4)

Mammals

None

Reptiles

None

Fish

None

For previous trip reports and selected images from this trip visit
http://www.sossa-international.org/

Future Trips

All Pelagic Trips from NSW are operated at no profit to the organizers, 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 detailed below:

To make a booking on the SOSSA Wollongong Pelagic Trips that departs 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 Pelagic Trip that departs from Rose Bay public jetty 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 Pelagic Trips, which are run on the 5th Sunday of each month as it occurs, contact

Barbara Jones or Ph (02) 6495 7390


Note:  SOSSA = Southern Oceans Seabird Study Association

--

Dr P.J. Milburn
Technical Specialist
ANU Biomolecular Resource Facility
John Curtin School of Medical Research
Australian National University
GPO Box 334
Canberra ACT 0200
'Phone +61 2 6125 4326
FAX +61 2 6125 4326