Whales, Whales, Whales, oh, and Some Birds.

It was a cool, clear and calm morning on Sydney Harbour as the Halicat departed Mosman Wharf with Josh, myself and several others on board. The boat soon became a little crowded as we picked up the rest of the day's passengers at Rose Bay.

The conditions during the week leading up to, and during, the July Sydney Pelagic were, well... Unfavourable, to say the least. Stiff westerly, to north-westerly winds had been blowing all week and although the sun was out for our pelagic, the poor conditions were the primary factor contributing to our average bird numbers/diversity for the day. Nonetheless, we had an enjoyable day on the water, encountering several high quality cetaceans and both of us were able to net lifers.

Exiting Sydney Heads, we came across several Little Penguins, Australasian Gannets, Silver Gulls and Black-browed Albatross. Our first highlight of the day materialised - an individual Southern Right Whale. A particularly uncommon whale off eastern NSW with about 2 - 3 seen each season, equivalent to about 1:1000 Right Whales to Humpback Whales. We followed it for a few minutes, until we decided to leave it alone rather than push it into the harbour.

Southern Right Whale

Young Australasian Gannet

We started the long haul across the 'Abysmal Plain' between the coast and the shelf. Along the way we encountered several small (<20) flocks of Fluttering Shearwaters and singles/trios of Fairy Prions. It was good to see moderate numbers of prions and they were pretty much a fixture throughout the day.

Fluttering Shearwater (the first time we've seen them close to the boat)

Fairy Prion (also the first time we've seen them close to the boat)

Just before the shelf we came across our first Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, Crested Tern and a pod of False Killer Whales seen pretty briefly and only by some, but confidently identified. At the shelf we began our slick, chucking burley over board to attract the birds. It took time, but eventually we had a trail of over 30 yellow-noses, several black-brows (one juvenile trying very hard to convince us it was a Grey-headed Albatross), a few Wandering Albatross, several Providence Petrels (always pretty distant), heaps of Fairy Prions and a single WHITE-FACED STORM-PETREL (lifer for moi). A large Mako Shark feeding on burley right next to the boat and taking occasional snaps at the albatross was also a highlight.

Providence Petrel

Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross wanting some fish

Wandering Albatross

No, you're not a Grey-headed Albatross, go away

Shortfin Mako

Eventually we headed off. It was a slow, rough trip back pushing into the head wind. The return trip was punctuated by excellent views of a Dwarf Minke Whale cruising lazily around the boat, to the enjoyment of all on board. Next, was a VERY quick fly-by of a LITTLE SHEARWATER which I missed, but Josh got, just! It's identification was later confirmed after photos were checked. My long overdue tick of BROWN SKUA finally eventuated and that was the final new bird for the day.

Dwarf Minke Whale

Brown Skua

We briefly trailed an adult Humpback Whale and it's calf just outside the heads before returning to the calm waters of the harbour.

A nice day out, but a shame about the lack of birds. In future we have decided only to book pelagics a couple of weeks in advance depending on conditions, rather than several months ahead!