Hi All, a rather late report for Southport 19th April trip, straight on
the back of our Sea Mount excursion.
Location: Southport Qld
Date: 19/4/2014
Vessel: 37 ft monohull MV Grinner
Crew: Craig Newton (skipper)
Pax:
Paul Walbridge (leader & organizer), Bernard O*Keefe, Brian Russell,
Rob Morris, Mark Walker, Glen Pacey, Wendy Pilkington, Alan Pilkington,
Jon Norling, Dave Stewart, Lindsey Reeve, Mike Bysouth, Duan Biggs,
Isaac Clarey, Wendy Dunn.
Weather conditions:
A weak ridge of high pressure over the Queensland southern coast
brought fine conditions to the region. Light SW winds early, tending to
NW 10-15 knots by mid morning, the swinging back around to SW by midday.
Fine clear conditions all day, visibility excellent, maximum air temp.
27* C, barometer 1018 hPa.
Sea conditions:
With ex tropical cyclone Ita moving SE toward New Zealand a SSE swell
of 2-2.5 metres throughout the day with seas up to .5 metre. Sea surface
temp. at the seaway 24.9 * C, rising to 26.9* C out wide.
Summary:
Left the Southport seaway at 0610 hrs and headed out to Jim*s
Mountain some 28 nautical miles ENE of Southport. Reached the final
drift point at 0935 hrs and continued to drift ESE at just over 1.5
knots until 1230 hrs, where we did a final run down the slick before
heading back. Reached the seaway at 1530 hrs, total time of trip 9hrs
20mins.
On leaving the seaway, just a couple of Crested Terns and Silver Gulls
present, along with 14 Common Terns foraging. Shortly after the first
Wedge-tailed Shearwaters were encountered along with a couple of
Hutton*s Shearwaters and on the water a juvenile Australian Gannet,
the first for the season and early for the region. There were a few
returning trawlers and the first one encountered at 0640 hrs had the
most birds following, with Pied and Little Black Cormorants, large
numbers of Crested Terns and Silver Gulls and at least 100 Wedge-tailed
Shearwaters. This was followed up quickly by a small foraging flock of
Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and the first Wilson*s Storm-Petrel of the
day, only 4 nautical miles from shore.
The first Flesh-footed Shearwater appeared astern at 0650 hrs, followed
shortly after behind the second trawler by another along with several
more Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Crested Terns and Silver Gulls. Just
before the shelf-break, at 0837 hrs, the first Providence Petrel was
encountered, quickly followed by four more. On reaching the drift point
at 0935 hrs, we were immediately joined by 5 Wilson*s Storm-Petrels in
the slick, quickly followed by a White-faced Storm-Petrel and several
more Providence Petrels. By 0955 hrs the numbers of Providence Petrel
had built to 8 and Flesh-footed Shearwater to 5 and by 1005 hrs numbers
of White-faced Storm-Petrels had risen to 6 as had Wilson*s
Storm-Petrel.
The first Tahiti Petrel arrived alongside at 1014 hrs and for the next
hour or so several more appeared along with more Providence Petrels,
Wilson*s Storm-Petrels and unprecedented numbers of White-faced
Storm-Petrels. At 1135 hrs the two birds of the day arrived, with first
of all one of the Coral Sea Storm-Petrel types arriving astern, hot on
the tail of the 25 seen the previous weekend on the sea mount trip,
followed immediately by a stunning, typical morph White-bellied
Storm-Petrel, which obligingly, did several close passes astern of the
vessel. Heading back down the slick before heading for home revealed
just how many White-faced Storm-Petrels there were, they appeared to be
everywhere and the final count would be conservative.
On heading for home one or two Wilson*s Storm-Petrels followed the
vessel for some distance as did at least one Tahiti Petrel and a
Flesh-footed Shearwater. The only other new bird for the day was
sighted at 1500 hrs, just 5 nautical miles offshore, with 2 foraging
Little Terns sighted, along with a dozen Wedge-tailed Shearwaters.
Species:
Wilson*s Storm-Petrel * 34 (6)
White-bellied Storm-Petrel * 1
Coral Sea Storm-Petrel * 1
White-faced Storm-Petrel * 38 (6)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater * 182 (100)
Flesh-footed Shearwater * 11 (5)
Hutton*s Shearwater * 9 (2)
Tahiti Petrel * 9 (2)
Providence Petrel * 41 (8)
Australasian Gannet * 1
Little Black Cormorant * 2
Pied Cormorant * 1
Little Tern * 2
Common Tern * 14
Crested Tern * 190 (150)
Silver Gull * 65 (50)
Cheers - Paul W.
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