26 January 2023 Report

OVERVIEW

27C, some cloud cover. Wind: Weaker than forecast. Barely reaching 15 knots later in the day. Sea surface temps: 24.5C. 1m seas. As we approached the shelf - some 0.5 NM to the west - we encountered a mixed pod of Spotted and Spinner dolphins creating a lot of excitement amongst us. We followed more pods as the birds appeared to be following the pods of cetaceans. This put us ~0.5NM south of the sea mount where we set up our first drift at 11am. Surprisingly, we drifted at 3 knots/hr to the SSE taking us probably the furtherest distance from the seamount we've ever achieved while drifting. We managed something like a >12km drift.

Excellent and prolonged views of both White-faced and Wilson's Storm-Petrels. Common dolphins, Common bottlenose, Spotted dolphins and Spinner dolphins were seen. All interacted with the boat coming into the bow to ride the waves. Mixed pods of Spotted and Spinner then Spotted and Common bottlenose. The sea birds were concentrating around the pods of feeding dolphins.

BIRD LIST

(Note that the numbers in parentheses represent the approximate maximum number of that species in view at one time)

Wilson's Storm Petrel12
White-faced Storm Petrel9
Grey-faced Petrel5
Wedge-tailed Shearwater300
Flesh-footed Shearwater20
Short-tailed Shearwater 60
Fluttering Shearwater1
Hutton's Shearwater1
Fluttering-type Shearwaters4
Pomarine Jaeger2
Long-tailed Jaeger1(1)
Arctic Jaeger1(1)
Silver Gull70
Sooty Tern1
White Tern1
Greater Crested Tern7

OTHER

Oceanic Bottlenose Dolphin
Common Dolphin
Spotted Dolphin
Spinner Dolphin

The next Sydney pelagic trip is scheduled for Saturday 25th October 2023 departing from Mosman at 6.45am and Rose Bay at 7.00am.
All information on our trips including dates and contact details can be found on the website at sydneypelagics.info
Book at contact@sydneypelagics.info
You can also find us on Facebook and post photos at https://www.facebook.com/sydneypelagics


(Photographs Meysam Makvandi, Dave Irving, Martin Allen, Adam G and Greg McLachlan).

Martin Allen
bird

Meysam Makvandi
bird

Meysam Makvandi
bird

Adam G
dolphin


bird

Dave Irving
bird

Dave Irving
dolphin

Dave Irving
bird

Dave Irving
bird

Dave Irving
bird

Dave Irving
bird

Dave Irving
bird

Dave Irving
bird

Greg McLachlan
bird