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The morning of the 9th
August saw a Cape Town Pelagic trip heading out of
Hout Bay Harbour guided by Dalton Gibbs. A light bank
of mist ahead of a cold front was pouring over the
mountain into Hout Bay as we set off in calm conditions.
Cape and Hartlaub's Gull were
knocking around the harbour, with a few Cape
and White-breasted Cormorants
on the marker buoys. One Crowned Cormorant
obligingly sat on a moored yacht for a close up view.
We soon passed under the Sentinel, a large imposing
overhanging mountain that was our last piece of land
before the deep.
A few lines of Cape
Cormorants were about as they set off into
the ocean to fish, while a little further out we can
across our first Sooty Shearwater that
flew on the light north-westerly wind. White-chinned Petrels a
ppeared in ones and twos, with the
first Shy Albatross appearing a few
miles out.
With these three species
in low numbers, we passed through the shipping lane
with a few tankers and ore carriers. Once through
the shipping lane we picked up on a boat on the horizon
and headed toward it. The water temperature rose to
15.9 C and the sea water colour started showing the
deep green of oceanic water. A Sub-antarctic
Skua picked us up and then trailed along with
us, providing good views. Next up were a few Black-browed
Albatross and the beautifully marked Pintado
Petrels that became more numerous as we approached
the trawler.
The stern trawler was the
Foxglove out of Cape Town and we stayed with her until
she raised her nets at 11:00. A few hundred birds
hung around her and we picked up Southern Giant
Petrel amongst these. The nets came up and
birds appeared from out of no where, and soon we had
several thousand birds behind the trawler. These were
Shy and Black-browed Albatross,
Pintado Petrels, White-chinned
Petrel, Sooty Shearwater and
Southern Giant Petrel.
A few dozen Wilson's Storm
Petrels made an appearance, moving in and out
of view; while Sub-Antarctic Skuas
hung around and robbed food from unsuspecting birds.
After some searching we
found a Northern Giant Petrel
which allowed close up views to pick up all the distinguishing
features. Further dedicated searching amongst the
hundreds of Shy and Black-browed
Albatross present turned up an Indian
Yellow-nosed Albatross. Three
sightings were made of this species during the course
of the morning; possibly the same bird. Flocks of
Cape Gannet dropped in behind the boat;
diving in amongst the Cape fur seals that followed
the net being lifted behind the trawler.
We enjoyed lunch in the
wake of the trawler, watching the spectacle of several
thousand sea birds as they wheeled around us. With
the wind starting to lift with the approaching cold
front, we turned for home as clouds rolled in off
the Atlantic.
The trip back was uneventful, with
Shy and Black-browed Albatross
in low numbers about the boat. Near to Hout Bay we
got close up views of a flock of terns, several of
which showed good markings of Antarctic Terns;
whilst in the harbour itself a Bank Cormorant
made a close appearance to complete the set of the
three endemic cormorant species of the Benguela Ocean
current system.
Bird species seen and approximate
numbers:
Antarctic Tern – coastal
H artlaub's Gull - coastal
Cape Gull – coastal
Cape Cormorant – coastal
Bank Cormorant – coastal - 1
Crowned Cormorant – coastal - 3
White-breasted Cormorant – coastal
African Penguin – coastal - 3
Cape Gannet – coastal & pelagic –
700
White-chinned Petrel – 800
Southern Giant Petrel – 12
Northern Giant Petrel - 3
Pintado Petrel – 4000
Sooty Shearwater – 600
Shy Albatross – 800
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross - 1
Black-browed Albatross – 1000 +
Wilson's Storm Petrel – 25
Sub-antarctic Skua - 25
Mammals:
Cape Fur Seal
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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