A quick report back on the Zest for Birds pelagic trip that went out on Saturday…
Date: 04 March 2023
Departure point: Hout Bay
Conditions: We left Hout Bay in the morning in windstill conditions with a glassy sea and had a very comfortable ride out into the deep. Skies ranged from partly cloudy to clear, and we even passed a couple of rain squalls on our way out, but they were a mile or two to our south, so didn’t affect us at all. As the day progressed, the wind started to pick up a little and was eventually in the 12-15 knot range. It also pushed the swells a little closer together making it a touch bumpy at times, but nothing over the top at all. Our return trip had a following swell and wind from the side, so was still a very comfortable ride home. Maximum sea temperature on the day was just over 20 deg C out in the deep.
Journey log: We headed out initially in a south-westerly direction from Hout Bay but, once we picked up news of a trawler, we diverted more to the west and, at our furthest point, were around 33 nautical miles from the closest bit of land and about 35 nautical miles from Hout Bay.
Other details: It was the usual Zest for Birds crew with Cliff Dorse and I guiding the trip and Grant Scholtz skippering the boat. Once again, we were fortunate to find a working trawler out in the deep and spent some time with her enjoying the spectacle of all the birds in her wake. We arrived at the trawler at around 09h00 and left her again at around 14h00, so had a good 5 hours with her. Bird numbers were really good again, especially for a summer trip, and there were literally thousands of birds in the wake of the trawler. After eventually pulling ourselves away from the action, we had a fairly uneventful ride home and were back in the harbour at around 16h00.
Birds seen on the trip:
Southern Royal Albatross
Shy Albatross
Black-browed Albatross
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross
Northern Giant Petrel
Southern Giant Petrel
White-chinned Petrel
Sooty Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Cory’s Shearwater
Manx Shearwater
Wilson’s Storm Petrel
European Storm Petrel
Cape Gannet
White-breasted Cormorant
Cape Cormorant
Hartlaub’s Gull
Kelp Gull
Sabine’s Gull
Swift Tern
Common Tern
Subantarctic (Brown) Skua
Parasitic Jaeger
Long-tailed Jaeger
Non-avian distractions on the trip:
A number of Cape Fur Seals
Dusky Dolphin
Long-beaked Common Dolphin
Report and Photo Credit thanks to Trevor Hardaker
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