Eaglehawk Pelagic Trip Report, July 2nd 2017

Eaglehawk Pelagic – July 2nd, 2017

Participants:

Graeme Bullock, Michael Dempsey, Karen Dick, Ian Halliday, Rob Hamilton,
Carolyn Upston, Els Wakefield, Peter Vaughan and Paul Brooks (organiser and
report compiler)

Boat:

The Pauletta, skippered by John Males, with deckhand Hugh Smith.

Notes:

On paper, the trip looks like an excellent day but it was a little bit
frustrating out there as several of the standout birds wouldn’t give good
views. Particularly disappointing was the white morph Southern Giant
Petrel which was seen several hundred metres away but took off almost as
soon as we changed course to get a closer look. It seemed like most of the
birds throughout the day were happy to keep their distance and many birds
loafed a long way down the slick in the light wind. Still, it was a solid
day in comfortable conditions.

Activity:

Left port a little later than usual at 0745 hrs after waiting for the
arrival of one young seabirder who slept through his alarm. We headed down
to the Hippolytes for the customary circumnavigation with a short side trip
towards the mouth of Fortescue Bay to chase the white morph Southern Giant
Petrel. Headed south-east from the Hippolytes out to the shelf-break,
pulling up over 247 fathoms to berley at 0945 hrs, drifting
east-south-east. We drifted out to 375 fathoms by 1200 hrs and then
motored back up our slick for ten minutes before stopping again and
drifting back out to 380 fathoms by 1240 hrs. Headed back into port via
the Hippolytes to see if we could get another look at the giant petrel,
without success, docking at 1505 hrs.

Conditions:

Things were quite calm inshore as we set sail, with a light north-westerly
breeze, a low swell and no sea to speak of. Skies were partly cloudy but
mainly around the horizon and it turned out to be a mainly sunny day. As
we approached the shelf break, the forecast south-westerly swell reared up
to around 2 metres but seas remained under 1 metre in the 5-10 knot
breeze. This remained the story for much of the day, with the wind
occasionally reaching 15 knots and a couple of larger sets rolling through,
but it was a pretty comfortable day on the water, with none seasick. Water
temperature was around 14 deg at all depths.

Mammals:

Australian/New Zealand Fur Seal: 8 (6) On the Hippolytes.

Birds (IOC v 7.1 – max at one time in brackets):

Grey-backed Storm Petrel: 2 (2) Pelagic.

Wandering Albatross: 2 (2) One juvenile and one older bird in pelagic
waters.

Antipodean Albatross: 8 (3) One adult female *antipodensis*; 4 adult
male *gibsoni;
*3 female/male *gibsoni*. All in pelagic waters.

Southern Royal Albatross: 2 (1) A juvenile sat well away from the boat in
the slick and was only noticed after going through photos later on. An
older bird followed the boat for a short way on our way back to port just
inside the shelf-break.

Black-browed Albatross: 1 adult in pelagic waters.

Black-browed type Albatross: 1 juvenile offshore in the morning.

Campbell Albatross: 2 (1) Both pelagic.

SALVIN’S ALBATROSS: 1 Flew by the boat before landing a long way off in the
slick and disappearing in the swell.

Shy Albatross: c. 45 (19) 8 inshore in the morning; 19 offshore in the
morning; remainder pelagic. Mainly adult *cauta/steadi* with at least 8
immatures.

Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross: 2 (2) 2 adults sitting together on the water
inshore in the morning.

Buller’s Albatross: 15 (3) 2 inshore in the morning; 5 offshore in the
morning; 3 pelagic. The remainder appeared in the wake as we headed for
home. All adult.

Southern Giant Petrel 2 (1) A white morph bird was seen towards the mouth
of Fortescue Bay at distance as we neared the Hippolytes. It took off in
the opposite direction not long after we changed course to approach and we
didn’t see it again. Also a juvenile in pelagic waters.

Northern Giant Petrel: 6 (3) 1 juvenile near the Hippolytes in the morning;
1 sub-adult, 1 immature and 3 juveniles in pelagic waters.

Cape Petrel: c. 30 (21) All in pelagic waters; several birds followed us
back into inshore waters. Mainly *capense *with 1 or 2 birds that looked
good for* australe.*

SOUTHERN FULMAR: 1 Approached closely at first but then stayed at distance
in the slick for over 2 hours.

SLENDER-BILLED PRION: 1+ A bird made a couple of passes in pelagic waters.
Another couple of subsequent sightings may have been this or other birds.

Fairy Prion: 2 (1) Both pelagic.

Great-winged Petrel: 1 Pelagic.

Great-winged/Grey-faced Petrel: 3 (1) A few birds not seen well enough to
assign to a species.

Grey-faced Petrel: 5 (5) All in pelagic waters.

PROVIDENCE PETREL: 2 (1) Both pelagic, both fairly brief fly-bys.

Sooty Shearwater: 1 Pelagic.

Short-tailed Shearwater: 1 pelagic plus another possible at distance
offshore in the morning.

Common Diving Petrel: 3 (1) Offshore in the morning.

Black-faced Cormorant: 9 (9) 1 at The Hippolytes in the morning and 9 on
Cheverton Rock in the afternoon.

Australasian Gannet: 1 Inshore in the morning and again in the afternoon.

White-bellied Sea Eagle: 2 (1) perched on The Hippolytes in the morning.

Silver Gull: 12 (6) 12 inshore in the morning; similar number in the
afternoon.

Pacific Gull: 3 (2) 2 adults on Cheverton Rock in the morning; 1 at the
heads in the afternoon.

Kelp Gull: 30 (16) 30 inshore in the morning and a few following the boat
near the Hippolytes in the afternoon.

Greater Crested Tern: 26 (15) 9 on Cheverton Rock in the morning; 2
pelagic; 15 inshore in the afternoon.

White-fronted Tern: 1 Pelagic.

PB