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A Cape Town Pelagics trip departed
Simonstown at 07h45 guided by Barrie Rose of Cape
Town Pelagics.
Another virtually windless day saw us stop briefly
to enjoy a pair of Southern
Right Whales loafing in our path off Millers Point. Closer to Cape Point
we picked a Subantarctic
Skua and a few Sooty Shearwaters.
Once clear of Cape Point we headed in a WSW direction
towards the shelf edge. Numbers of White-chinned Petrels and Sooty Shearwaters crossed our path and within 5 miles we had our first albatrosses;
Shy and
Black-browed Albatross.
A pair of Humpbacked Whales provided a brief diversion but sounded some 400m from us. We
were making good time and it took only one hour to
sight our first fishing boat. It was the 'Rooiberg'
a hake long-liner which was targeting Kingklip at
17 miles. The vessel had not commenced hauling its
line and processing fish and although there were good
numbers of birds in the area there was no frantic
activity. We added Pintado
Petrel and Wilson's Storm-Petrel to the list before deciding to
interrogate another liner about two miles further
offshore.
As we approached the 'Cyril Burrell' the mob of birds
was an indication that the vessel was hauling and
processing fish. Cape
Fur Seals were breaking up and feeding on the kingklip and odd hake amongst
them. We were soon enjoying the spectacle that so
typifies a Cape pelagic; albatrosses, petrels and
shearwaters at arm's length. Both Southern and Northern Giant Petrel and eventually an Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross joined the list.
After 2 hours at this vessel we moved south to catch
up with the 'Rooiberg' which was well into hauling
and processing. Although we spent some time with this
vessel and enjoyed more excellent photographic opportunities
we did not add to the list.
The steam home was calm and uneventful but for a large
flock of Sooty
Shearwaters
and Cape Gannets which congregated some 5 miles from Cape Point, probably
to feed on anchovy shoals.
Once inside Cape Point we visited the Bank
Cormorant colony at Partridge Point before
heading back to Simonstown.
Pelagic species seen:
Shy Albatross - 150+
Black-browed Albatross - 100+
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross - 3
Southern Giant Petrel - 2
Northern Giant Petrel - 2
Giant Petrel sp - 3
White-chinned Petrel - ca 1000
Pintado Petrel - 250+
Sooty Shearwater - 1000+
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel - 20+
Subantarctic Skua - 15
Cape Gannet - 300
Swift Tern - coastal and to 8mls
Kelp Gull - 40 and coastal
Cape Cormorant coastal and to 10mls
White-breasted Cormorant - coastal
Bank Cormorant - coastal
Crowned Cormorant - coastal
Mammals seen:
Humpbacked Whale - 2
Southern Right Whale - 2
Cape Fur Seal - 100+
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 Barrie Rose.
To book, simply email
or phone us, or submit a
booking enquiry online.
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