Eden pelagics

Sat 01 September 2018 07:00am

Sandra Henderson

COG has booked the weekend of September 1 and 2 for two one-day pelagic trips. The outings leave from Eden Harbour at 7am, and return mid-afternoon. Each trip can accommodate 12 people, and the cost per person per trip will be $130.

Organising travel and accommodation will be each individual’s responsibility .

Bookings will only be confirmed when full payment is received. Payment must be made by July 31.  These trips need to be fully subscribed to ensure COG does not make a loss, and as is the case with all paid trips, preference is given to COG members. Once you’ve booked and paid, no refunds can be given unless a replacement can be found. No places will be made available to non-members unless the trips are not fully subscribed by COG members by end of July.

As with all boating activities the trip will be weather dependent and rough seas could lead to the cancellation or postponement of the trip.

Please book with Sandra Henderson (shirmax2931@gmail.com) as soon as possible, and indicate which day you prefer (Saturday or Sunday). Payment by direct deposit to COG’s bank account is preferred – details will be sent to those who express interest. These trips often fill up fast, so if interested please book early. Please note that because our March trip was cancelled because of poor weather, some places are already taken by people who had booked on that trip.

 

 

Post event report

After watching the forecasts anxiously for some days, it was a relief to find the boat skipper Mark was confident of both days being OK for our trips. On September 1 we had a very calm trip out to the continental shelf drop-off. A single Brown Skua followed the boat out for many kilometres, giving us very good views.  The variety of species seen on the trip out and at the shelf was very impressive, although numbers of most species were lower than usual. Five species of albatross was a great result, and other highlights included a Grey-backed Storm-petrel (rare for NSW), Providence Petrel, White-fronted Terns, Northern and Southern Giant Petrels, Common Diving Petrels and four shearwater species. The wind picked up dramatically, making for a very rough trip back into Eden. One COG member managed 16 lifers on this trip!

On the second trip, species diversity was much lower, but we still managed four albatross species, some fantastic views of White-faced Storm-petrels close to the boat, and more entertainment from the large numbers of cute Fairy Prions. On the trip back, three of us got brief views of a Cape Petrel.

Many thanks to boat skipper Mark, deckhand Lindsay, and our seabird expert Tobias Hayashi.

Sandra Henderson

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