Indeed,
Durban pelagic trips have boasted several mega-rarities that
have never been recorded in Cape seas, for example Streaked
Shearwater, Audubon's Shearwater, the new Mascarene Shearwater,
Matsudaira's Storm Petrel and Brown Booby. Weather conditions
in KwaZulu-Natal waters are also milder than further south
and it is a rare event when a pelagic trip is cancelled at
the last minute in the face of relentless gales and mountainous
seas. This also means that you are less likely to be crippled
by seasickness.
The first pelagic seabird encountered
leaving Durban Bay in the winter is the Subantarctic Skua,
a dozen or so of which lie in ambush just offshore waiting
for incoming gulls and terns that they harass and rob of their
food. The most abundant seabird is the Cape Gannet, which
follows the sardine runs north from the Cape. Thousands to
tens of thousands of gannets can be encountered, often spiraling
in white clouds over the ocean offering breath-taking close-ups
of their suicidal plunge-dives.
The Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross is the common
albatross in KwaZulu-Natal waters, both at and away from trawlers.
The larger Shy and Black-browed albatrosses are present in
lower numbers and have to be carefully searched for amongst
the hundreds of Yellow-noseds present at trawlers. This situation
is quite reversed from Cape waters, where the last two species
are common and the Yellow-nosed is the one to search for.
The albatross-sized Southern Giant Petrel is rather rare with
only singletons being irregularly recorded. Like elsewhere
in South African waters, the White-chinned Petrel is the most
abundant of the procellariform seabirds, present in many hundreds
at trawlers and ubiquitous in the open ocean. The distinctively
patterned Pintado Petrel is fairly common and the Sooty Shearwater
is usually seen. The diminutive Wilson's Storm Petrel, a bird
essentially identical in size, shape and plumage pattern to
the Little Swift, is best chanced upon when rough seas get
them moving around. One of the best pelagic ticks available
is the Flesh-footed Shearwater, singletons of which can be
found at trawlers and sometimes in the open ocean. This species
is fairly regularly recorded off KwaZulu-Natal but is a decided
rarity further south. Almost as exciting is the Great-winged
Petrel, easily overlooked for a White-chinned Petrel, which
often remains late into the summer when most of the other
pelagic seabirds have already departed southwards. Another
two uncommon species that offer a fair chance are Soft-plumaged
Petrel and Antarctic Prion.
All in all, about half of the regularly
recorded pelagic seabirds present in South African waters
are routinely seen off Durban. A
mixture of bait fish, fish oil and popcorn ('chum') is usually
taken along on the trips and thrown overboard to attract most
of these species to the boat under the right conditions. This
can give mind blowing arms-length views of these ocean wanderers
and birds such as Subantarctic Skuas, Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses, White-chinned
Petrels and Sooty Shearwaters will even take food directly
from your outstretched hand.
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