28th to 30th March, 2009 SOSSA LONG RANGE PELAGIC
TRIP, ULLADULLA, NSW, AUSTRALIA.
Report prepared by: P.J. Milburn.
Departed: Saturday 28th April at 22:30 and
returned at 19:00 on Monday 30th April 2009.
Sea conditions: to 1.0 m, northerly on Sunday and east northeasterly on Monday.
Swell: east to 1.0 m throughout.
Weather: Warm with largely clear skies for the entire trip.
Barometric pressure: 1026 HPa steady.
Wind: N 8 to 10 knots on Sunday veering to east
northeasterly 8 knots on Monday.
Sea surface temperature: 21.2 to 22.4°C.
Primary chumming locations: S 36° 20' - E 151°
31', S 35° 55' - E 151° 29', S 35° 23' - E 150°
57'and S 35° 21' - E 150° 30'.
Summary:
A succession of high-pressure systems passing
through the southern Tasman Sea brought gentle
weather for the duration of the voyage. A strong
warm water eddy was located to the east northeast
so the initial phase of our plan was to head
southeast overnight to its southern boundary and
cruise northwards into the warmer water during
the day on Sunday.
After a delicious dinner on board on Saturday
night, everybody retired early in preparation for
a big day at sea. Most were asleep by the time
we left the harbour. Several hours later, I
noticed some unruly swells as we were passing the
edge of the continental shelf but little else
until I woke in time for a shower and breakfast
before dawn.
With daylight saving time still operating, we
began recording observations just prior to 07:00
EDT and the first bird identified positively was
a dark morph KERMADEC PETREL, which passed close
along the starboard side. Shortly thereafter an
intermediate morph KERMADEC PETREL passed astern.
Grey-faced Petrels passed us regularly and a
solitary Wedge-tailed Shearwater followed over
the wake for a while. A distant WHITE-NECKED
PETREL hinted that there could be more excitement
to follow soon and several Solander's Petrels in
fresh plumage were a magnificent sight in the
early morning sunshine. Some of us had breakfast
on deck for fear of missing something and others
had breakfast in the saloon. Nobody missed
anything, whichever way one looks at it, and the
day's proceedings seemed to have slowed to the
same pace as us after we shut down the engines in
preparation for a drift-and-berley-session.
The first arrival was a stunning pale morph
Arctic Jaeger in breeding plumage, which was
somewhat unexpected so far from the coast.
WHITE-NECKED, Grey-faced and Solander's Petrels
were less of a surprise but no less welcome.
Wedge-tailed Shearwaters joined us from afar and
Wilson's Strom-Petrels appeared from downwind in
ones and twos building to an impressive flock. A
fresh-plumaged LITTLE SHEARWATER appeared from
the east and flew down the berley trail but, as
is typical, evaded the view of most observers on
board. A magnificent white male Gibson's
Albatross tricked everyone into thinking that it
must have been a Wandering Albatross when it
first appeared but as it swam close alongside we
were able to ascertain its real identity. By way
of confirmation a male ANTIPODEAN ALBATROSS
settled alongside providing a size comparison.
Approximately 80 nautical miles southeast of
Ulladulla with the sea surface temperature at
21.2°C, we drifted east-northeast at 0.4 knots
for over five hours. Grey-faced Petrels were
numerous, while Solander's, KERMADEC,
WHITE-NECKED and GOULD'S PETRELS provided a
continuous stream of interest. A couple of
WHITE-FACED STORM-PETRELS flew in and joined the
Wilson's Storm-Petrel flock. The increased
scrutiny of the storm-petrels soon resulted in
the discovery of a WHITE-BELLIED STORM-PETREL in
their midst. Unfortunately this bird kept its
distance and eventually disappeared into the
glare of the sun. An impressively large Southern
Sunfish drifted past us; or was it the other way
around? Eventually, avian activity declined to
the point at which it was clearly time to head
for new waters.
After a delicious lunch, we cruised north into
the warmer water for 3 hours. At first things
were fairly quiet but gradually seabird numbers,
mainly Grey-faced Petrels, began to increase.
Highlights of this leg were several more
sightings each of WHITE-NECKED and GOULD'S
PETRELS. When we reached a point where the sea
surface temperature had increased by 1.0°C we
stopped for a final drift-and-berley-session for
the day. As we lost way, a small group of
Australian Spotted Mackerel passed astern in hot
pursuit of a shoal of King Gar and a solitary
adult SHY ALBATROSS appeared to be following them
with some intent.
Once again, seabirds seemed sparse at first as we
began to drift eastwards, some 60 nautical miles
east southeast of Ulladulla. A few Wedge-tailed
Shearwaters appeared and the ever-reliable
Wilson's Storm-Petrels began to arrive in dribs
and drabs. As the sun started to descend toward
the western horizon, Grey-faced Petrels began to
show some interest in our efforts. Then 3 LITTLE
SHEARWATERS passed to our south heading west and,
as usual, remained distant. Solander's,
WHITE-NECKED and KERMADEC PETRELS were next to
appear along with several Gibson's Albatross.
From nowhere a BLACK PETREL appeared at the stern
and 2 WHITE-BELLIED STORM-PETRELS joined in with
the large flock of Wilson's Storm-Petrels. A
second BLACK PETREL appeared around dusk and we
closed the log at 19:00 EDT.
We decided to go in search of a different range
of seabird species on Monday morning and
relocated to the waters over the continental
slope during the night. At first light we began
to lay a slick of tuna oil, 26 nautical miles due
east of Ulladulla in 500 fathoms of water.
Frigate Mackerel and Skipjack Tuna were early
visitors and perhaps not surprisingly were not
seen again after a pod of Short-beaked Common
Dolphins played around our drifting vessel for a
while. Grey-faced and Solander's Petrels were
the principal attendees early on and the
occasional Australian Gannet also checked us out.
A smattering of Fluttering, Hutton's,
Wedge-tailed, Short-tailed and Flesh-footed
Shearwaters set the tone for the day. Wilson's
Storm-Petrels accumulated over the berley trail
and several WHITE-FACED STORM-PETREL were also
present. During the morning one dark morph and,
later, one intermediate morph KERMADEC PETREL
investigated us at close range, exciting the
photographers. A high flying Crested Tern raised
hopes for those wishing to see a tropicbird but
that would have to wait for another day. Arctic
and Pomarine Jaegers came and went and Gibson's,
Campbell, Shy and White-capped Albatross were
also recorded as we drifted south-southwest. An
intermediate morph WHITE-BELLIED STORM-PETREL
with a smudgy grey rump was in view briefly
before it disappeared into the glare of the sun.
We attempted to follow it but all we achieved was
the total dispersal of the storm-petrel flock.
Several fishing vessels were working in the area
and one in particular had attracted a very large
flock of birds. We relocated to the point where
the trawler had hauled its nets as it returned to
our north and, in doing so, passed several very
large Southern Sunfish.
An adult Black-browed Albatross was the first of
the trip and one of a small group of albatross
that we had attracted form the trawler. There
were also more shearwaters around in the
afternoon, including a couple of Sooty
Shearwaters.
At 16:00 EDT we resumed course for Ulladulla, and
as usual this last leg of the voyage was highly
entertaining. The first excitement was the
appearance of a BULLER'S SHEARWATER over the
wake, which passed the vessel several times
providing photo opportunities. The second
excitement, a STREAKED SHEARWATER, was much less
confiding and remained distant but brilliantly
illuminated in the late afternoon sunshine. As
usual the first Silver Gulls were greeted with
foolish enthusiasm. The seabirding was brought
to an emphatic close by the arrival of an adult
White-breasted Sea-Eagle. Crested Terns, Little
Pied and Great Cormorant were also recorded just
outside the harbour. We reached the harbour at
18:30 EDT concluding another great trip out into
the Tasman Sea.
Twenty-four hours of pelagic observations
provided wonderful entertainment right from the
very first bird identified, a dark morph KERMADEC
PETREL. The first day was dominated by great
views of 6 species of petrel; namely Grey-faced,
Solander's, KERMADEC, WHITE-NECKED, GOULD'S and
BLACK PETREL. Wilson's, WHITE-FACED and
WHITE-BELLIED STORM-PETREL were seen on both
days. However, this will be remembered as a
great trip for the 9 species of shearwater
recorded (8 on the second day alone) with
STREAKED, LITTLE and BULLER'S SHEARWATER being
the keynote species.
Birds recorded according to the latest
Environment Australia Reporting Schedule:
EA code Species name 29/3/09 30/3/09
075 Grey-faced Petrel Pterodroma (macroptera)
gouldi 123 (51) 47 (35)
971 Solander's Petrel P. solandri 15(2) 18 (4)
922 KERMADEC PETREL P. neglecta 7 (1) 2 (1)
774 WHITE-NECKED PETREL P. cervicalis 8 (1) 0
078 GOULD'S PETREL P. leucoptera 6 (1) 0
917 BLACK PETREL Procellaria parkinsoni 2 (1) 0
853 STREAKED SHEARWATER Calonectris leucomelas 0 1
067 LITTLE SHEARWATER Puffinus assimilis 4 (3) 0
068 Fluttering Shearwater P. gavia 0 4 (1)
913 Hutton's Shearwater P. huttoni 0 4 (3)
069 Wedge-tailed Shearwater P. pacificus 14 (3) 118 (85)
070 Sooty Shearwtater P. griseus 0 2 (1)
071 Short-tailed Shearwater P. tenuirostris 0 17 (3)
072 Flesh-footed Shearwater P. carneipes 0 15 (7)
975 BULLER'S SHEARWATER P. bulleri 0 1
846 ANTIPODEAN ALBATROSS Diomedea exulans 1 0
847 Gibson's Albatross D. gibsoni 4 (3) 2 (1)
088 Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophrys 0 1
859 Campbell Albatross T. impavida 0 6 (4)
091 SHY ALBATROSS T. cauta 1 11 (3)
861 White-capped Albatross T. steadi 0 2 (2)
063 Wilson's Storm-Petrel Oceanites oceanicus 114 (68) 48 (37)
065 WHITE-FACED STORM-PETREL Pelagodroma marina dulciae 2 (2) 4 (1)
944 WHITE-BELLIED STORM-PETREL Fregetta g. grallaria 3 (2) 1
104 Australasian Gannet Morus serrator 2 (1) 85 (64)
096 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo 0 1
100 Little Pied Cormorant P. melanoleucos 0 1
128 Arctic Jaeger Stercorarius parasiticus 1 8 (3)
945 Pomarine Jaeger S. pomarinus 0 27 (8)
115 Crested Tern Sterna bergii 0 31 (16)
24 species of procellariiformes in a total of 30
species of seabird identified.
Other birds
226 White-bellied Sea-Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster 1
Mammals
Short-beaked Common Dolphin Delphinus delphis 16 (7)
Reptiles
None
Fish
King Gar Scomberesox saurus scombroides 50+ (50+)
Australian Spotted Mackerel Scomberomorus munroi 15 (15)
Leaping Bonito Cybiosarda elegans 50+ (50+)
Frigate Mackerel Auxis thazard 75+ (50+)
Skipjack Tuna Katsuwonus pelamis 100+ (100+)
Mackerel Tuna Euthynnus affinis 30+
Southern Sunfish Mola ramsayi 4 (1)
For previous SOSSA trip reports and selected images from this trip visit
http://www.sossa-international.org/
Future Trips
All SOSSA 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
Technology Specialist
Australian Cancer Research Foundation 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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