TRIP REPORT
October 13th 2003

A cosmopolitan bunch of birding enthusiasts led by Alvin Cope left Simon's Town at 07:00 on Monday 13 October 2003 aboard the MV Zest, on an Annealbatross Pelagic Trip, heading for the Deep Blue.

A Grey Heron watched us closely as we headed out of the harbour in a flat sea and a 12 knot N West wind and turned for the Point. A handful of Southern Right Whales kept an eye on us as we steamed down the Bay. At the Point and heading out to sea we saw a flock of confused Cattle Egrets - perhaps they thought the large quantities of Gannets and Terns near the Bellows were feeding on Grasshoppers.

The only excitement (in fact the only birds) for the first 10 miles, was a Sabine's Gull and a Pomarine Skua. At the current line, we came across a group of Bottlenose Dolphins which showed well and one or two Risso's Dolphins which showed their "glow" but did not surface. These were accompanied by a few Giant Petrels and Great Shearwaters.

A vessel was spotted and we went for it - a longliner, at 18 miles - but it was heading for its transmitter buoys and had no birds with it. We turned into the South West for a vessel which looked like a trawler.
As we approached the trawler, at about 23 miles from the Point, the bird numbers increased dramatically as did the number of species.

For over an hour, we were treated to brilliant views both Southern & Northern Giant Petrels , both Atlantic and Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross, Blackbrowed and Shy Albatross, Sabine's Gulls , Black-Bellied Storm Petrels and a boomerang Spectacled Petrel which came back several times.

The return journey, 12 miles from the Point, saw us in the middle of a mixed school of Long-finned Pilot Whales and Bottlenosed Dolphins - they appeared from nowhere and were suddenly all around us, as were a good sprinkling of birds.

Also of interest was the regular sightings of Blackbellied Storm Petrels all the way back from the trawler to 12 miles from the Point.
Another brilliant trip with lots of birds and mammals, and no casualties due to sea sickness .

Anne Gray

List of birds seen (without approximate numbers in brackets):

Shy Albatross
Blackbrowed Albatross
Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross
Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatross
Northern Giant Petrel
Southern Giant Petrel
Spectacled Petrel
Whitechinned Petrel
Sooty Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Pintado Petrel
Black-Bellied Storm Petrel
Wilson's Storm Petrel
Subantarctic Skua
Pomarine Skua
Parasitic Jaeger (Arctic Skua)
Sabine's Gull
Swift Tern
Common Tern
Arctic Tern
Cape Gannet
Whitebreasted Cormorant
Cape Cormorant
Crowned Cormorant
Bank Cormorant
Kelp Gull
Hartlaub's Gull
Jackass Penguin
----

Mammals

Cape Fur Seal
Southern Right Whale
Bottle-Nosed Dolphin
Long-finned Pilot Whale
(Risso's Dolphin)