Port Stephens Pelagic Trip Report - Sun 2nd May 2010
Boat: M.V.Argonaut, skippered by Ray Horsefield
OBSERVERS
Michael Kearns, Dan Williams, Craig Anderson, Ann Lindsey, Nick Livanos, Lorna
Mee, Joy Nicholls, Allan Richardson, John Lombard, Denise Lombard, Tony Iveson,
Judy Iveson, Steve Roderick and Mick Roderick (leader and organiser).
CONDITIONS
Very gentle seas with slight offshore winds made for a very comfortable day on
the sea, perhaps too much so. A gnetle nor-wester has flattened the sea right
out and sea / swell were less than a metre each. By late afternoon the wind had
swung around to the north-east but still only gently. The warm water was
persisting at the shelf break, being around 26 degrees.
HIGHLIGHTS
Unlike the incredible weekend in late March, today was without any real
highlights. Again, the numbers of Wilsons Storm-petrels was very entertaining
and the number of birds recorded well short of the continental shelf was
interesting. A few White-faced Stormies were also seen a fair way inside the
shelf break.
SUMMARY
DepartedNelson Bay Public Wharfat 0710, returning at 1700.
A feature of the trip out was the reluctance of the Shearwaters to follow the
boat. In fact, this was a feature of the day. Clearly the birds were in lower
numbers, but the ones that were still around did not take a great interest in
the boat at any point during the day until the final part of the return leg.
Today was to be another Storm-petrel day, with Wilsons topping the list for
number of birds seen. The first Wilson's was seen about 7 miles short of the
shelf break and a further mile on a current-line (which contained weed, algae,
even some small pieces of rubbish) there were several present. Along with the
Wilson's were 2 White-faced Stormies. It was a promising start to the approach
to the drop-off.
We motored past the shelf drop-off for about a mile to commence our first drift
(32 55 40 / 152 34 53). A few Wedge-tailed and Fleshy-footed Shearwaters were
threatening to join us but most flew on after a quick look. Soon after the cod
liver oil slick started we had several Wilson's present. Within a short time we
also saw our first Solanders Petrel, a Brown Skua and a Yellow-nosed Albatross.
As we expected there was soon a good number (50+) of Wilsons Storm-petrels in
the slick, but despite this we were unable to attract any other types of
Stormie to us. The Wilsons provided the entertainment for the day, with some
birds coming right up to the back of the boat and dancing on the water. We were
also graced with a brief pass by a pod of 4 Risso's Dolphins.
Twice we motored back along the slick to see if there was any different birds
that we hadn't noticed. Finally, we decided to call it a day and to check the
current-line we'd crossed on the way back, as a few people had not gotten onto
the White-faceds. When we arrived there we immediately had up to 20 Wilsons and
soon enough a White-faced arrived. We pondered what we may have found if we'd
drifted along this for the day.
Another Yellow-nosed Albatross joined us for some of the return leg and it was
joined by our second Black-browed for the day. We had some faithful Wilsons
follow us for quite a long way on the return leg. Interestingly though, some
birds appeared from in front of the boat, as if they had not been following us
at all. The last Wilsons peeled away about 4 miles from the heads.
Cheers,
Mick Roderick
BIRDS
Species: Total (maximum number around the boat at one time)
WilsonsStorm-Petrel: 120+ (50+)
White-faced Storm-petrel: 3 (2)
Yellow-nosed Albatross: 2 (1)
Black-browed Albatross: 2 (1)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater: 80 (15)
Flesh-footed Shearwater: 50 (10)
Short-tailed Shearwater: 3 (1)
Fluttering Shearwater: 1
Fluttering-type Shearwater: 2 (1)
Solanders (Providence) Petrel: 3 (1)
Australasian Gannet: 6 (2)
Unidentified Jaeger: 1
Crested Tern: 5 (2)
Silver Gull 3 (2)
(+ 5x Little Penguin inside port)
MAMMALS
Offshore Bottlenose Dolphin: One pod of about 10.
Risso's Dolphin: Single pod of 4.
Unidentified whales: 2
OTHER
Marlin sp. (probably Striped): 1
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