15th December 2007, SOSSA PELAGIC TRIP, WOLLONGONG, NSW, AUSTRALIA.
Report prepared by: P.J. Milburn.
Departed: 07:15 returned at 15:45.
Sea conditions: NNW to 0.5 m in the morning
becoming NNE1.0 to 1.5 m by midday.
Swell: E 2.0 to 3.0m.
Weather: pleasantly warm and sunny all day.
Temperature range: 19.6 to 21.1°C.
Barometric pressure: 1008 HPa rising.
Wind: NW 5 to 8 knots at first increasing to NE 10 to 15 knots by midday.
Sea surface temperature: 19.5 to 21.3°C.
Primary chumming location: 34° 23'S : 151° 24'E.
Summary:
A high-pressure system was located to the east of
New Zealand and a weak depression was centered in
the Tasman Sea. A Southern Ocean low-pressure
system was located to the south of Tasmania and
an inland trough extended out to the southern New
South Wales coast. In combination this resulted
in a shift from southeasterly airflows during the
preceding week to modest north westerlies
overnight and north easterlies developing during
the day.
We saw nothing until we had cleared the inshore
reefs but then we were joined by a mob of
Wedge-tailed Shearwaters. Both Arctic and
Pomarine Jaegers were shadowing us and several
Fluttering, Sooty and Flesh-footed were among the
shearwater flock.
In contrast to recent trips, Short-tailed
Shearwaters were not recorded until we were
beyond the 60-fathom line.
Grey-faced Petrels were patrolling the top of the
continental slope in small numbers and as we
stopped at the 250-fathom line to set up a
drift-and-berley session a second summer
LONG-TAILED JAEGER and a female Gibson's
Albatross appeared over our wake. We attracted
large number of Grey-faced Petrels but the star
attraction was a BLACK-BELLIED STORM-PETREL that
came very close to our vessel on several
occasions. This bird stayed with us for a long
time and indeed followed us for the first part of
our trip back to Wollongong Harbour.
During our trip back to port we encountered
several more BLACK-BELLIED STORM-PETRELS,
Gibson's Albatrosses and a pod of Short-beaked
Common Dolphins that stayed with our vessel for a
protracted period.
Highlights:
Close range views of BLACK-BELLIED STORM-PETRELS
made the day for all on board.
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)
075 Grey-faced Petrel Pterodroma macroptera gouldi 100+ (75+)
068 Fluttering Shearwater Puffinus gavia 4 (1)
069 Wedge-tailed Shearwater P. pacificus 350+ (150+)
070 Sooty Shearwater P. griseus 4 (1)
071 Short-tailed Shearwater P. tenuirostris 30+ (12)
072 Flesh-footed Shearwater P. carneipes 5 (1)
847 Gibson's Albatross Diomedea gibsoni 5 (2)
066 BLACK-BELLIED STORM-PETREL Fregetta tropica 4 (2)
104 Australasian Gannet Morus serrator 6 (3)
096 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 1
106 Australian Pelican Pelicanus conspicillatus 3 (2)
128 Arctic Jaeger Stercorarius parasiticus 1
933 LONG-TAILED JAEGER S. longicauda 1
945 Pomarine Jaeger S. pomarinus 45+ (25+)
981 Kelp Gull Larus dominicanus 3 (2)
125 Silver Gull L. novaehollandiae 9 (7)
115 Crested Tern Sterna bergii 11 (6)
In the harbour:
106 Australian Pelican Pelicanus conspicillatus 6 (6)
8 species of procellariiformes in a total of 17
species of seabird identified outside the
breakwater.
Other birds
None
Mammals
Short-beaked Common Dolphin Delphinus delphis 25+ (25+)
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)
Note: SOSSA = Southern Oceans Seabird Study Association
--
Dr P.J. Milburn
Technical Specialist
ANU ACRF 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 9533
==============================www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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