SOSSA Wollongong Pelagic
Black-browed Albatross
Pomarine Jeager
Australian Gannet
Flesh-footed Shearwater
This month's trip to the continental shelf was pretty quite for the most part. For the likes of me though, there was still the odd lifer to get: this time in the shape of a few Long-tailed Jaegers. They were joined by their Arctic and Pomarine cousins throughout. Also of note were a good number of Flesh-footed Shearwaters, a Sooty Shearwater, three untimely Black-browed Albatrosses and an adult Yellow-nosed Albatross (very unlikely). We also encountered a nice pod of Pygmy Killer Whales.
But, the biggest surprise of all was the massive wall of weather that rolled over the horizon looking, for all the shipwrecks in the sea, like land! After a warning from the skipper to 'hold onto your hats' the air turned cold like a ghost had entered the room and it was upon us. With the Sandra K rolling from rail to rail on a decent swell and the wind battering spray against our faces, I held on for dear life all the way back to the Gong.