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The morning of Sunday 26 February
was calm, with a very light south-easterly wind. We
boarded the White Pointer, a large shark cage diving
boat, with Poenas as the skipper. In Simonstown harbour
we met up with Cape and Hartlaub’s
Gulls, Cape Cormorants,
Swift Terns, and a few Sandwich
Terns and two Grey Herons.
Our trip across False Bay was quiet, with only a few
lines of Cape Gannet flying out to
sea that were of interest.
We picked up a Parasitic
Jaeger near Cape Point flying by itself without
the usual accompaniment of Swift Terns.
At Cape Point we stopped to check the weather with
the lighthouse keeper and admire the view; soon coming
into contact with White-chinned Petrels
and numerous Cory’s Shearwater
just beyond Cape Point. In this region we also picked
up a few Sooty Shearwaters and a
Pomarine Jaeger. The sea conditions
were unusual for this time of year, with warm sea
temperatures of 21 deg C recorded in False Bay; much
higher than the usual summertime temperatures of 13–15
deg C.
Long-tailed Jaeger on this Cape Town Pelagics trip
© Dalton Gibbs
At the 15 N mile mark we spotted a boat on the horizon
and made off towards her. A Sub-Antarctic
Skua met up with us on the way there and
we found our first Shy Albatross.
The boat was a shark longliner which was not processing
much of its catch and there were only a few dozen
albatross behind her. Nevertheless we quickly picked
up first Indian and then Atlantic Yellow-nosed
Albatross. Both Wilson’s
and European Storm-petrels made appearances
as we headed toward a second longliner boat nearby.
Great Shearwaters were behind this
boat in some numbers and we had good views of these
mixed in with White-chinned Petrels,
Sooty Shearwaters and Shy
Albatrosses.
Conspicuous by their absence were Black-browed
Albatross that are usually common in these
waters, but totally absent this day.
Although it was quiet behind the longliners, we had
good views of all the species around the boat, with
a Long-tailed Skua putting down next
to the boat for good views. Just before we were due
to start back we came across an unusual sighting of
a Sperm Whale that blew close by
and we had fairly close up views of this huge animal.
After this great sighting we started back, with a
smooth uneventful trip bringing us to Cape Point.
Once back in the relatively calmer waters of in False
Bay we headed across to the Castle Rock cormorant
colony where we found White-breasted,
Cape and Bank Cormorants
on nests. Two Crowned Cormorants
were found alongside a couple of African Black
Oystercatchers on a nearby rock. Near Simonstown,
African Penguin were out feeding
on shoals of bait fish, with resident tern species
along the bouy line as we entered the harbour. Despite
the highly unusual water conditions, we had a great
trip with some great birds.
Sperm Whale on this Cape Town Pelagics trip ©
Dalton Gibbs
Bird species seen and approximate numbers:
Swift tern – coastal
Sandwich Tern - coastal
Hartlaub’s Gull – coastal
Cape Gull - coastal
Cape Cormorant – coastal
Bank Cormorant – coastal
White-breasted cormorant – coastal
Crowned Cormorant – coastal – 2
African Penguin – coastal
Cape Gannet – coastal & pelagic –
50
African Black Oystercatcher - coastal - 4
Parasitic Jaeger - 1
Pomarine Jaeger - 1
Long-tailed Jaeger - 2
Sub-Antarctic Skua - 4
White-chinned Petrel – 200
Cory’s Shearwater – 500
Great Shearwater – 50
Sooty Shearwater – 20
Shy Albatross – 100
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross – 5
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross – 2
Wilson’s Storm Petrel – 100
European Storm Petrel – 75
Mammals:
Cape Fur Seal
Sperm Whale
Mammals:
Blue Shark
A message from Cape Town Pelagics:
A huge thank you to our experienced skippers who are
able to safely lead us to the best birding areas and
skillfully manoeuvre the boat into just the best position
while all on board are busy concentrating on the birds!
Coordinating a pelagic trip over a year in advance
with guests from all across South Africa and different
countries around the world requires an organised office
team. We thank them for their special eye for detail
- and for the sometimes last-minute rearrangements
and frustration if the weather delays the trip to
another day! Our biggest thank-you is to our Cape
Town Pelagics guides who take time out of their work,
often involving seabirds and conservation, and time
away from their families, to provide our guests with
a world-class birding experience. Cape Town Pelagics
donates all it profits to seabirds, and so all the
participants who join the trip make a contribution
towards bird research and conservation - a big thank
you from all of us.
Trip Report by Cape Town Pelagics
guide Dalton
Gibbs.
To book, simply email
or phone us, or submit a
booking enquiry online.
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