Port Stephens pelagic trip report 10th August 2014

Port Stephens
Pelagic Trip Report ? Sunday 10 August 2014
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Boat:
M.V. Argonaut, skippered by Ray Horsfield
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OBSERVERS
Lachlan
Copeland, JJ Harrison, Craig Anderson, Dick Jenkin, Dave Stuart, Peter Wilk, John
Weigel, Allan Richardson, Ann Lindsey, Steve Edwards, Dan Williams, Michael
Kearns and Mick Roderick (leader / organiser).
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CONDITIONS
Following
a fairly benign week of gentle winds, a strong wind warning was issued for
today, with westerly winds forecast to reach 25 knots during the morning. There
was barely a breath of wind to speak of until about 10am when the nor-wester
started to get up, eventually pushing 20 knots by the time we were at the
shelf. There was also some south in the wind as well, which made some of the
waves stand up steeply against the current. Water temperature inshore 18 degrees
and 20 degrees in deeper water. ?
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HIGHLIGHTS
No
outstanding highlights but good numbers of Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses and
Solander?s Petrels, as well as at least 2 Buller?s Albatross ? now a regular
bird on winter Port Stephens trips. An unusual young Shy-type albatross with
very uniformly dark primaries had many on board thinking it to be a candidate
Salvin?s, though the bird has since been shown not be a Salvin?s but an ?interesting
Shy-type?!
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SUMMARY
Departed
Nelson Bay Public Wharf at 0725 returning at 1655.
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There
was an air of trepidation from some of the punters milling at the picnic tables
at the wharf, with a strong wind warning issued for Hunter waters, with BOM
talking about westerly winds to 25 knots. The wind was supposed to have gotten
up overnight but there was barely a breath of wind to speak of as the boat
pulled into the wharf. Of we set with the attitude of ?see how it goes? and the
first Procellariiform seen as we just rounded the islands was a Wedge-tailed Shearwater
? a bird largely off everyone?s radar as they are just starting to return to
their breeding grounds. Gradually more and more were seen, including a feeding
flock of about 150 birds to the south. Suddenly the trip had a summery feel to
it.
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Continuing
on we saw small groups of Fluttering-type Shearwaters, amongst which were some
definite Fluttering. The first of many Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses made its
way up the wake and soon enough there were half a dozen in pursuit. A distant
Brown Skua kept its distance and unfortunately was the only one for the day. The
westerlies then set in and when we were approaching deeper water the white caps
were substantial and some quite steep wind waves were chasing the boat. I did
think that it would be fun returning to port in this!
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Quite
a few breaching Humpback Whales were seen and probably close to 5 miles short
of the shelf break we started seeing our first Solander?s Petrels as well as
the first Black-browed Albatross-type and Hutton?s Shearwater. Dozens of
gannets were seen in every direction and we saw one of reasons they were likely
in the area when a Yellow-nosed Alby drop onto the water and plucked a
reasonably-sized gar from the water. We reached the start of the drift in about
250m of water (at -32.881676 152.598679), with the boat being pushed into
deeper water by the stiff westerly wind.
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A
few Fairy Prions, more Yellow-nosed Albatross and another Hutton?s Shearwater were
seen before an adult Shy-type Albatross joined in. This bird was joined by a
very short-staying second-year bird and then a juvenile. The juvenile gave some
cause for excitement because of the jet black primaries, forming a beautifully demarcated
line with the remaining white underwing. This bird was later studied in detail
and was later considered to be a Shy-type (most likely a cauta) with very dark primaries (in high resolution images, a very
slight amount of pale could be made out on the inner primary feathers too).
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A
second Black-browed type Albatross came in (another young bird) and the first
of 3 White-faced Storm-petrels flew by the stern and fed in the slick. There
was the occasional Wedge-tailed Shearwater out wide and a consistent turnover
of