As one seabird enthusiast once proclaimed: “Real birds eat fish.” That was certainly true of the species I was hoping to encounter on my first oceanic quest in the southern hemisphere.
A dozen of us boarded the first Sydney Pelagics trip of the year, chugging out of the famous harbour early one January morning. We soon left the silver gulls and crested terns behind, before coming across the first of a quintet of shearwaters: wedge-tailed, short-tailed, flesh-footed, Hutton’s and a single streaked, a scarce visitor from Japan.
Other notable species included the long-tailed skua, also from the northern hemisphere; the grey-faced petrel, which breeds only on New Zealand’s North Island; and a tiny Wilson’s storm petrel, fluttering low over the waves like a seaborne house martin.
But for me, the highlight of the trip was a seabird at the very opposite end of the size scale: the shy albatross. Several of these huge birds circled the boat, attracted by the foul-smelling mixture of oil and fish offal we were throwing overboard.
One individual was not shy at all: sitting in the sea just a few metres away, allowing me to obtain some memorable photos. The only albatross endemic to Australia, it nests on three islands off Tasmania, with a world population of just 25,000 breeding birds.
As ever with these mighty seabirds, it was a privilege to share in their life for a few hours, after which, tired but happy, we chugged back into port.
