TRIP REPORT – EAGLEHAWK NECK PELAGIC, TASMANIA – Sunday, 27 May 2012:
PARTICIPANTS: Els Wakefield, JJ Harrison, Dirk Tomsa, Paul Brooks, Elizabeth Bicevskis, John Reid, Jenny Warren, Jeremy O’Wheel, John Tongue, Shirley Tongue, Kimberley Tongue, Peter Tongue & James Melville (organizer and report compiler) – aboard the Pauletta with skipper John Males and crew.
CONDITIONS: 15-20 knot southwesterly winds with reports of stronger winds developing further south around Tasman Island in the afternoon. Relatively calm waters inshore, with seas up to 3.0 m offshore and beyond the shelf.
WEATHER: Mostly cloudy, with occasional light rain in the afternoon.
ACTIVITY: Departed from Pirates Bay aboard the Pauletta at 0715 hrs and headed straight for the Hippolytes, arriving around 0810 hrs. After circumnavigating Big and Little Hippolyte (Cheverton Rock), we headed straight for the shelf break and made our first of three berley stops at 0930 hrs (-43.1209,148.05753) drifting towards (-43.1675,148.2480) at 1055 hrs. We made a second berley stop at 1130 hrs (-43.1070,148.2715) drifting towards (-43.1030,148.2760) at 1145 hrs. We made a third berley stop at (-43.12, 148.07) from 1310 hrs to 1345 hrs, arriving back at the jetty by 1500 hrs. Berley used at all three stops included fish frames and oil as well as chicken skins, scraps and fat.
SUMMARY: (32) bird species and (1) mammal species were recorded by observers whilst aboard the Pauletta. Of the thirty-two bird species recorded beyond the bay, highlights included Southern Fulmar, Grey-headed Albatross, Soft-plumaged Petrel, White-headed Petrel and Providence Petrel. A hundred or more ‘Fluttons’ Shearwater encountered in groups of 1-8, flying west and spread fairly evenly between the Hippolytes and the shelf break were also noteworthy.
JJ Harrison has posted some excellent photos of the Southern Fulmar, Grey-headed Albatross and other birds seen, here: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:JJ_Harrison/27th_May_2012_pelagic
MAMMALS:
Australian Fur Seal: (c.25) Big Hippolyte, (0) Little Hippolyte (Cheverton Rock), 1 offshore, 1 in Pirates Bay (PM).
BIRDS:
Yellow-nosed Albatross: 3 (1) 1 inshore, remainder pelagic.
GREY-HEADED ALBATROSS: 1 (1) adult, pelagic at BP 3.
Buller’s Albatross: 80 (>50) at BP 3, 1 inshore AM, 3 offshore, remainder pelagic.
Shy Albatross: 80 (27) 1 inshore, remainder offshore / pelagic.
Black-browed Albatross: 2 (1) immature impavida.
Wandering Albatross: 4 (2) 1 adult exulans, remainder gibsoni.
Southern Giant-Petrel: 4 (2) pelagic, followed boat to BP 3 in the PM.
Northern Giant-Petrel: 2 (1) 1 Hippolytes AM.
SOUTHERN FULMAR: 1 (1) pelagic at BP 1 & 3.
Cape Petrel: 30 (12) 2 near Hippolytes AM, 5 at BP 3 PM, remainder pelagic.
Great-winged Petrel: 15 (7), (2) gouldi – offshore and pelagic.
Providence Petrel: 2 (1) pelagic and (1) seen offshore in PM.
SOFT-PLUMAGED PETREL: 2 (1) pelagic at BP 1, and offshore in PM.
WHITE-HEADED PETREL: 4 (2) pelagic at BP 1 & 2 – also noteworthy was one bird that followed the boat back in from our berley stop for a period of around 15 minutes. Onley and Scofield indicate that this species ‘rarely follow ships’.
Fairy Prion: 150 (70) mostly pelagic, several seen offshore in the AM.
Sooty Shearwater: 2 (1) pelagic, (1) offshore in the PM.
Short-tailed Shearwater: 2 (1) inshore in AM, (1) pelagic.
Hutton’s Shearwater: fleeting and generally distant views; observed a small number of probable Hutton’s between the Hippolytes and the shelf break in the AM.
Fluttering Shearwater: 100 (8) observed flying west between the Hippolytes and the shelf break in the AM.
Wilson’s Storm Petrel: 3 (3) pelagic at BP 1.
Grey-backed Storm Petrel: 20 (12) pelagic.
Common Diving-Petrel: 25 (6) offshore.
Australasian Gannet: c. 130 (c.100) two large flocks over bait balls near the Hippolytes.
Great Cormorant: 1 (1) Pirates Bay in PM.
Black-faced Cormorant: c 100 (55)
White-faced Heron: 3 (3) Big Hippolyte
White-bellied Sea Eagle: 1 (1) adult. Seen over Pirates Bay in AM and inshore east of Pirates Bay in the PM.
Sooty Oystercatcher: 1 (1) on rock shelf east of Pirates Bay AM.
Silver Gull: c.50 (27)
Pacific Gull: 5 (3) 1 Juvenile at Hippolytes in AM.
Kelp Gull: c. 30 (12)
Crested Tern c.45 (8)
