Luckily for me the latest SA pelagic trip out of Port MacDonald was cancelled weekend of the 13/14th and moved to last weekend. This coincided with a long planned dive weekend in Mount Gambier so I did what any good birder would do and dumped my dive mates for the Sunday :-) :-)
Edge of the shelf is about thirty ks out with some interesting action on the way out provided by a group of feeding Australasian Gannets, but this post is more about the abundance of Albatross species.
I was amazed to see no less than five on the day and couldn't have been happier even with the 2.5m swell which made photography difficult and the stomach uneasy for most of the day.
We also saw White-faced and Wilsons Storm Petrels, Grey-winged and White-chinned Petrels and Fluttering Shearwater.
Black-browed
Bullers
Shy
Wandering
Yellow-nosed
Great haul of Albatross photos Rick. From the quality of your photos it looks like it was perfect conditions for photography - rather than you battling a big swell and a queasy stomach! Those species look quite similar it must be a challenge to id them.
Thats a beauty of the two shy albatross together.
That would have been an amazing experience, especially seeing the Wandering Albatross with its huge wings! Awesome Flight shots, especially the first.
Great stuff! I'm pleased to see you managed to get out on a Pelagic trip Rick. You have done well to see so many different species of Albatross. I saw a Black-Browed on my very first pelagic out of Mooloolaba and haven't seen an Albatross since then. That's one of the great things about Pelagic trips, you just never know what the day will bring!
Taking photographs is made difficult with rough conditions but I've always found it gets easier as the day progresses and you get your sea legs. I'm currently looking into joining one of the pelagic trips out of Eaglehawk Neck, in Tasmania later on in the year.
Samford Valley Qld.
Great photos Rick, especially like 1, 3, and 2
Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera
Great photos Rick. I like the last photo very much.
Barney.
Great shots Rick, I have not been on a Palagic but have been many times in a boat on the Ocean and can imagine it would be very difficult shooting conditions.
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
Mate these are awesome! Very jealous as I have never even seen one species of Albatross. Sounds like a good time had. 2.5m swell is a mill pond compared to the 5-6m swell when I first went out.
I know I'm a bit late to comment, but wanted to say these (and the Gannets in the other thread) are great. Looks like the pelagic trip was well worthwhile. I managed to track down a list of the future dates and unfortunately the next couple clash with commitments here in town. On the strength of what you've caught here, I think I'd like to make it on one of the trips further down the track, though.
Not sure how my stomach would fare if the swells are big, mind you. Let alone my photography. Good work getting the shots!
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Mike
https://flic.kr/ps/aF4bq
Great set and spoilt for sure Rick. Thats alot of albatross
Link to my Flickr Account
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14869355@N07/
One day I would like to see one of these birds. Fantastic photos!