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HIGHLIGHTS: Antarctic
Fulmar, Southern and Northern Royal Albatross
A
Cape Town Pelagic trip left Simonstown on Saturday
August 8th guided by Cape Town Pelagics
guide Rob Leslie.
The
weather forecast was for perfect conditions and I
was looking forward to a great day at sea as the group
of eager birders assembled at the public jetty in
Simonstown. There was a stiff breeze blowing as we
left the harbour and the skipper told us that wind
was 19knts at Cape Point. Nevertheless I wasnÕt concerned,
but when we rounded the breakwater and I saw the Cape
Cormorants streaming from their normal roost
on Ark Rock to the sheltered rocks at Boulders the
image of a pleasant day at sea started fading. However,
once round the Point and past the coastal chop sea,
conditions moderated under the influence of the long
Atlantic swell and we were able to head out to the
trawl grounds.
We
set a course a few degrees north of the direct line
to the Cape Canyon to give us a more comfortable ride
intending to turn south once we reached the shelf
edge to approach the Cape Canyon from the north. The
first excitement of the trip was provided by a school
of about 20 Short-beaked
Common Dolphins who joined us to play in the bow
wave.
As
we approached the shelf edge we picked up two suitable
Òtrawler-sizedÓ targets on the radar to the south.
We made for the closest target, which turned out to
be the SAS Protea,
a Navy research vessel with a conspicuous lack of
birds. We turned to the second vessel an I&J trawler,
the Foxglove,
which passed us heading north towards Cape Town followed
by a huge cloud of birds. The Foxglove
passes the offal through a macerator before discharging
it thereby producing small fish bits that are bite-sized
for smaller petrels, which no doubt accounted for
the cloud of Pintado Petrels in her wake.
We
let the Foxglove
pass us and we dropped back in her wake enjoying the
birding spectacle. A beautiful white morph Southern
Giant Petrel gave a good
showing, but was soon eclipsed by a brief sighting
of an adult Northern Royal Albatross. About 5-10 mins
later, we were again treated to a brief visit from
a Northern Royal Albatross. I assumed that it was the same
individual that we had seen earlier, but another pelagic
vessel (about 5 nautical miles south of us) reported
seeing 2 Northern Royals together, so they could have
been two individuals and not 2 sightings of the same
individual.
The
Foxglove
was heading home at speed, doing about 15 knts (a
horse heading for home after a ride has nothing on
a trawler) and it took a major effort to catch up
to her again. We then slowed down letting the trawler
move off as we dropped back to work through the birds
in her wake. We were well rewarded by a Southern
Royal Albatross and an Antarctic
Fulmar as well as another Northern
Royal Albatross.
After
a terrific lunch surrounded by petrels
and albatrosses
we turned for home approaching the Point from the
north - which incidentally gave us a much more comfortable
ride than if we had gone south to the Canyon. Shortly
after we rounded the Point, we spotted a whale breaching
in the distance, but it was too far off to identify.
After a detour to view the Bank Cormorant breeding
colony off Partridge Point - the birds were in immaculate
breeding plumage we crossed False Bay to SimonÕs Town
well satisfied with the day out.
Bird Species seen and approximate numbers
NORTHERN
ROYAL ALBATROSS
2-3
SOUTHERN ROYAL ALBATROSS
1
Shy albatross
500
Black-browed Albatross
400
Yellow-nosed Albatross (Juv)
1
Southern Giant Petrel 10
Southern Giant Petrel – white morph
1
Northern Giant Petrel
8
White-chinned Petrel 500
Sooty Shearwater
300
ANTARCTIC FULMAR
1
Pintado Petrel
6000
Wilson's Storm Petrel
1
Cape Gannet
50
Subantarctic Skua
15
Kelp Gull
4
Jackass Penguin
Coastal
White-breasted Cormorant
Coastal
Bank Cormorant Coastal
Cape Cormorant
Coastal
Crowned Cormorant
Coastal
Kelp Gull
Coastal
Hartlaubs Gull
Coastal
Swift Tern
Coastal
Mammals
Short-beaked
Common Dolphin
20
Unidentified rorqual whale
1
Cape Fur Seal
few deep, lots coastal
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 Rob Leslie.
To book, simply email
or phone us, or submit a
booking enquiry online.
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