Wollongong Pelagic

Buller's Albatross

Shy Albatross

Wandering Albatross

Today was our 40th Wedding anniversary and as a treat I had planned a little boat trip, a pelagic far out into the Southern Ocean.
We arrived at Wollongong Harbour at 7 AM in time to board the Sandra K booked with SOSSA on one of their monthly pelagics. Conditions looked ideal and although they thought it could have been a little livelier once out of the harbour there was plenty of swell for me , it was enough to make photography very challenging, bright sun , a rolling ship and fast moving birds do not make getting a good shot easy and there were countless out of focus, badly exposed and not to mention empty shots to erase just to get a few reasonable efforts.
Short-tailed Shearwaters appeared as soon as we left the harbour and remained with us constantly with up to a hundred in view all the time making it extremely difficult to distinguish other species as they were called by the experts on board, unfortunately the Short- tailed in particular had this year suffered a major catastrophe and many thousands were dying of hunger and being "wrecked" all along the eastern coasts probably why I had seen so many off Tasmania as well.
Never the less we were soon able to pick out a few Wedge-tails amongst the hoards and then Fluttering Shearwaters appeared as we ventured further out. Albatrosses also soon started to appear first the Shy/White-capped then our first Black-broweds and before long a single Buller's appeared and joined the growing throngs.  As we ventured further out the odd Australian Gannet passed by and then a magnificent Wandering Albatross with its huge wingspan appeared a gave several close views as it glided right over the boat a truly magical experience to be so close to such a magnificent bird.

Shy Albatross

Buller's Albatross ( and above)

Buller's Albatross

Wandering Albatross

The huge number of Shearwaters, Silver Gulls and Crested Terns which accompanied us throughout the day made a spectacular sight even if made picking out the rarer species more difficult. A Cambell's Albatross ( close relative of Black-browed) was picked out by our guide and we were all able to get good views as it glided close to the boat. Now we were out at the limit of our journey and spent some time drifting around trying to encourage more birds to the boat, I was lucky and a Grey-faced Petrel flew right in front of me making it easy to pick out. By this time the first of at least 2 Northern Giant Petrel had appeared and was flying round the boat eventually landing with the growing flock at the back off the boat hoping to grab some of the smelly chum being thrown out for them. A few Wilson's Storm-petrels put in a brief appearance but a Fairy Prion was even briefer only giving fleeting views to some ( luckily I just picked it up as it disappeared behind some waves) . By now over 20 Albatross mostly Shy/White-capped but a few Black-broweds were in constant attendance and up to 10 were milling around in the water behind the boat squabbling over the titbits.

Gibson's Albatross

Finally our 6th Albatross species of the day appeared when a Antipodean or Gibson's Wandering Albatross arrived at the melee along with another Wandering. As part of the purpose of the trip was for research a successful attempt was made to trap and ring this bird and so we were privileged to see this huge bird up close.

Ringing an Albatross

Shy Albatross

Shy Albatross

Dolphin sp

Northern Giant-petrel

Antipodean ( Gibson's) Albatross

Wandering,  Black-browed and Shy Albatross

Short-tailed Shearwaters scrambling for food

On the way back to shore a few Hutton's Shearwaters were spotted as were a pod of dolphins which briefly followed our wake, they were identified by our guide as being Tropical Spotted Dolphins although looking at the photo's I'm not convinced. Just out side the harbour a Parasitic Jaeger ( Arctic Skua to me) made a brief appearance to harass the Gulls and Terns which now included a few Kelp Gulls. This Pied Cormorant, an Australian Pelican and a Sooty Oystercatcher completed the days sighings as we arrived back in the harbour after a magical day.

Aus Pelican

Pied Cormorant