Augusta Pelagic Trip 6th May

Hi all,

Please see the details below regarding a short-notice pelagic trip off Augusta. It is a fairly large boat, so a minimum of 25 pax is required for the trip to go ahead. If you would like to book a place, or more information, please contact Plaxy (cc’d in above)

Cheers,

John

With the Bremer Canyon Orca tours finished for the season Naturaliste Charters will be relocating to Augusta as soon as weather permits. While this means we won’t be able to run a pelagic to the Bremer Canyon this year, we do have an opportunity to run a pelagic to the shelf edge from Augusta in a couple of weeks, on the 6th of May 2017, before the whale-watching season commences.

Plan for the day:
Depart 7.00am from Augusta and travel approximately 3hrs to the shelf edge. We will have several chumming sessions (approx. 4hrs) before arriving back to port in Augusta at around 5.00pm.

What we hope to see:
May has been a very good month for seabirds off the south coast of WA, with a range of species migrating through the area. In addition to good numbers of albatross (Indian Yellow-nosed, Black-browed, Campbell, Shy and Wandering Albatross), May trips have regularly recorded South Polar Skua, Arctic Tern, Wilson’s, White-faced, and Black-bellied Storm-petrel, Soft-plumaged, Grey-faced, and White-chinned Petrel, and Little Shearwater. And there is always the chance of rarer seabird sightings in May, with last year’s trips off the south coast recording Sooty and Light-mantled Sooty Albatross, Grey-backed Storm-petrel (single bird 2016 and another April 2017), and a single Amsterdam Albatross(!).

Boat:
The vessel is the very comfortable ‘Alison Maree’, a 20-metre catamaran with indoor seating and multiple outdoor viewing platforms from the fly bridge, bow and stern: whales-australia.com.au/about-us/our-vessels/.

Cost:
The trip will cost $210 per person, given the longer-than-usual distance to the shelf edge from Augusta. $200 will be paid to Naturaliste Charters direct, with $10 to cover the cost of chum (please bring the latter as cash on the day). Please note there will be no food catering (bring your own lunch/snacks/drinks etc.) however there will be a self-serve tea/coffee/biscuit station.

Booking:
We need a minimum of 25 people to make the trip viable. If you are interested please email me at plaxyb@gmail.com. Once you have registered your interest I can direct you to Naturaliste Charters for payment (n.b. if we don’t reach the minimum numbers your money will of course be refunded).