Port
Stephens Pelagic Trip Report – Sat 21st April 2012
Boat:
M.V.Argonaut, skippered by Ray Horsefield
OBSERVERS
June
Harris, Michael Kearns, Sue Taylor, Lorna Mee, Jim Smart, Eric Sohn Tan,
Bronwyn Ellis, Mike Kuhl, Gerard and Shirley-Ann Satherly, Rob Quinan, John
Cockerell, Steve Roderick and Mick Roderick (organiser).
CONDITIONS
A
moderate swell rolled under the Argonaut the entire day but there was barely a
breath of wind to push much of the water around. For the most part the ocean
was quite glassy and this lack of wind may have had something to do with the
relatively low species count for the day. Water temp at the shelf was around
22-24 degrees.
HIGHLIGHTS
A
very ‘quiet’ day really, with no real avian highlights. It’s always nice to
have all three Jaeger spp. seen and the beautiful fresh Solander’s Petrels
looked very dapper indeed. I went up onto to the bow to count the Wilson’s
Storm-petrels in the slick at one point and made out about 80 birds, with at
least another 20 around the boat.
SUMMARY
Departed
Nelson Bay Public Wharf at 0705, returning at 1740 (we drifted a long way south
and it was a longer-than-normal trip back to port).
Having
cleared Boondelbah Island we encountered the first Wedge-tailed and
Flesh-footed Shearwaters as expected. What wasn’t expected was the sighting of
the first Wilson’s Storm-petrel for the day 3 miles from the heads. This wasn’t
a one-off and several stormies were seen during the entire voyage to the shelf.
A couple of Arctic and Pomarine Jaegers investigated the boat but did not stay
around. One or two distant dark-backed albatross were seen but they never were
able to be identified. A sighing was made of likely False Killer Whales as well
as a much larger animal with the dorsal fin set well-back on the body (some
sort of Beaked Whale perhaps?).
Once
at the shelf (32 55.1 / 152 34.7) it took barely a minute before the first
Pterodroma arrived, in the form of
wonderful fresh Solander’s Petrel that had a mantle that would do a silverback
gorilla proud. Two minutes later the first Great-winged (Grey-faced) Petrel
arrived. There was a definite air of expectation given the number of stormies
seen from inshore waters and two petrel species in as many minutes. This air of
expectation was never met though, and it was a good couple of hours before the
next new bird (a Long-tailed Jaeger) was seen. This was despite keeping a
careful eye on the slick that was swarming with Wilson’s SP’s. We did have a
good representation from Solander’s Petrels though, with about 10 birds seen
over the course of the day.
The
only other species added at the shelf was just before departure when a
Wandering Albatross circled the boat three times before alighting on the water.
The bird was reticent to take flight again in the very still conditions. A
scattered pod of Risso’s Dolphins moved through but didn’t show as well as they
have for us in the past. We had no idea how quickly we had been drifting and
the skipper was shocked to see our position at 33 04.4 / 152 28.781 when we
departed. We’d drifted over 10 miles due to a 3.3 knot current. This made for a
very long trip back to port, made even longer by the fact that nothing new was
added to the day’s list apart from an Eastern Great Egret seen flying
north-west at about two thirds the way back in. The late return to port
however, provided some great photographic opportunities in the low, orange
sunlit sea.
Cheers,
Mick
Roderick
BIRDS
Species:
Total (maximum number visible from the boat at one time)
Wandering
Albatross: 1
Wilson’s
Storm-petrel: 150 (100)
Wedge-tailed
Shearwater: 100 (20)
Flesh-footed
Shearwater: 70 (20)
Short-tailed
Shearwater: 8 (2)
Great-winged
(Grey-faced) Petrel: 4 (1)
Solander’s
Petrel: 10 (4)
Australasian
Gannet: 30 (5)
Crested
Tern: 6 (3)
Pomarine
Jaeger: 4 (1)
Arctic
Jaeger: 3 (1)
Long-tailed
Jaeger: 1
Silver
Gull: 15 (10)
Eastern
Great Egret: 1
MAMMALS
False
Killer Whale
Risso’s
Dolphin
??
Beaked Whale??
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