Paul is having trouble posting this report to BirdingAus so he has asked me
to try.
The form of the text is as received by me. I am not responsible for the
asterisks or any spelling problems detected by the Windows Spell-checker.
Bob Inglis
Southport Pelagic Report 21st Feb
2009
Vessel: 37ft Monohull, MV Grinner
Skipper: Craig Newton
Deckhand: Gailforce
Pax: Paul Walbridge (leader & organizer), Brian Russell, Jim Sneddon,
Richard Fuller, Greg Anderson, Grant Penrhyn, Ross Gallardy, Alex
Ferguson, Heyn Dekocq, Colin Lunt, Inger Van Dyke, Henry Marshall, Ellen
Thompson.
Weather conditions: Light SE to E winds, 10-15 knots. Light cloud cover
producing hazy conditions, visibility less than excellent. Barometer
1018 hPa, max. air temperature 27* C.
Sea conditions: Light seas mostly, max. .5 of a metre on up to 1.5
metre swell. Sea surface temp. 26* C at the Seaway, 27.52* C at the
Shelfbreak & 27.84* C at the widest point.
Left the Seaway at 0611 hrs, travelled out over the Shelf with some
diversions, reaching the Shelfbreak at approx. 1000 hrs & the widest
point at 1109, approx. 50 klms ENE of the Southport Seaway. Spent the
next 1 * hours drifting, leaving for home at 1230 hrs arriving back at
the Seaway at 1550 hrs. Duration of trip 9hrs 39mins.
On leaving the Seaway several trawlers were heading in and the next 40
minutes were spent zigzagging between them with several hundreds of
Wedge-tailed Shearwaters present along with Pomarine Jaegers, Crested
Terns, Silver Gulls and two species of Cormorants. An amusing sight was
one trawlers* outrigger guy ropes festooned with Little Black
Cormorants.
Just after 0700 hrs in 47 fathoms in an area known to locals as *spot
X* a huge amount of bait fish produced the first Tahiti Petrel &
Streaked Shearwater of the day plus several Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and
Southports* 2nd record of Red-footed Booby. Kept heading out with more
species appearing such as Flesh-footed Shearwater, Arctic Jaeger, Common
Noddy, Hutton*s Shearwater and Sooty Tern.
On reaching the widest drift point, the next hour and a half didn*t
produce much more than a few more Tahiti Petrels and Wedge-tailed
Shearwaters plus a solitary Great-winged Petrel. On leaving for home
however a second Red-footed Booby arrived (both these birds were adults,
different plumages).
Heading back over the Shelf, several Tahiti Petrels kept appearing
until just offshore from the Seaway where 2 were present with a third
Streaked Shearwater, 70 Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and a Pomarine Jaeger.
Congratulations are in order for INGER, she*s finally seen the
*Southport Chook*. Richard can now get a good nights sleep!!!
Species List
Wedge-tailed Shearwater * 691 (500)
Flesh-footed Shearwater * 4 (2)
Streaked Shearwater * 3 (1)
Hutton*s Shearwater - 2 (1)
Tahiti Petrel * 15 (5)
Great-winged Petrel * 1
Red-footed Booby * 2 (1)
Little Black Cormorant * 18 (16)
Pied Cormorant * 3
Pomarine Jaeger * 6 (1)
Arctic Jaeger * 4 (2)
Common Noddy * 2
Sooty Tern * 3 (2)
Common Tern - 1
Crested Tern * 213 (150)
Silver Gull * 61 (60)
Mammals
Inshore Bottle-nosed Dolphin * 3
Offshore Bottle-nosed Dolphin - several
Next trip is on Saturday 21st of March, with a couple of spaces still
open. Cheers * Paul W.
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