Departed Mackay 13:00 heading into a fresh ESE 15 knot wind.  Forecasts prohibited crossing the Capricon channel. Maide anchor at 16:00 at Scawfell Island. Continued north on falling sea at midnight towards Magdelaine Cay. Very little wildlife all day. A few common terns, crested terns and a lot of mackerel tuna. A couple of turtles (prob. green) and beach stone curlews on Scawfell Island, along with evidence of turtle nesting. 

 

Andrew McCutcheon: (Unid. fly) Chris Seers: Beach Stone Curlew David Donnelly: Scawfell Island

DAY 2 - 12 December 2006

Departed Scawfell Island just before midnight and headed north east . Dawn in the Hydrographers Channel with fresh (c. 20 knot) winds abating throughout the day. Brief views of a Stoke's Sea Snake and another unidentified in shallow Barrier Reef waters. Exited into a 2m sea and continued north towards East Diamond Islet reaching deep water after lunch. Good views of a pod of about 20 Short-finned Pilot Whales followed by numerous seabirds including a few Bulwer's Petrels (only once previously recorded off Queensland), Tahiti Petrels, Lesser Frigatebirds and a lone Australasian Gannet. Of note, we recorded nine White-tailed Tropicbirds, mainly in pairs, indicating a possible local breeding population, though none are known. 

 

Ian Montgomery: Bulwer's Petrel Ian Montgomery: Tahiti Petrel Ian Montgomery: White-tailed Tropicbird Bill Moorhead: Short-finned Pilot Whales Bill Moorhead: Short-finned Pilot Whales Bill Moorhead: Short-finned Pilot Whales

DAY 3 - 13 December 2006

Arrived East Diamond Islet at 08:00 and made anchor. A morning island visit was done to estimate numbers of breeding birds, including very large numbers of Red-footed Boobies and Lesser Frigatebirds but also Black and Common Noddies, Masked and Brown Boobies, Black-naped Terns, Sooty Terns, Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, several Red-tailed Tropicbirds and a few Great Frigatebirds. During the day, Fairy Terns were found with young . There were three birds, including a juvenile. This is a very significant sighting as it represents the first breeding record of the species for the region and potentially the New Caledonian exsul subspecies. In the evening, a brief visit was done after dark to count nesting turtles. Before we had left the vessel about a kilometre offshore, two nestlings were scooped from the sea and two others were found in the sand on the island. A total of 18 nesting turtles were counted on East Diamond Islet. 

 

Andrew McCutcheon: Red-tailed Tropicbirds Bill Moorhead: East Diamond Islet Fairy Terns (various photographers) Chris Seers: East Diamond Islet Andrew McCutcheon: Red-footed Booby Paul Walbridge: Greater (top) and Lesser Frigatebird David Donnelly: Green Turtle Hatchling Paul Walbridge: Black-naped Tern Chris Seers: Nesting Green Turtle Paul Walbridge: Masked Boobies Bill Moorhead: Common (fgd) and Black Noddy (bgd) Bill Moorhead: Brown Booby

DAY 4 - 14 December 2006

Cruised from just before dawn, arriving at Magdelaine Cay at 13:30, a small island with no vegetation. The Cay was covered with evidence of Green Turtles nesting. By late afternoon when we were leaving the island, individuals had begun to come ashore to lay eggs. There were relatively few birds on the island except for two Wandering Tattlers, an Eastern Reef Egret. There were also  Crested Terns all in breeding plumage. There were also Tawny Nurse Sharks in the shallows. The reef was in very good condition with fantastic diving and snorkelling. A few Grey Reef Sharks, White-tipped Reef Sharks and a Hammerhead Shark were seen by snorkellers.      

 

Nathan Waugh: Green Turtle Andrew McCutcheon: Crab Paul Walbridge: Wandering Tattler David Donnelly: Diving at the drop-off David Donnelly: Corals David Donnelly: Corals and sponges

DAY 5 - 15 December 2006

Cruised between Magdelaine Cay and Willis Island, departing after a dawn snorkel and dive. The reef-edge at Magdelaine Cay was ringed with a huge several hundred metre drop-off. Relatively high densities of seabirds were seen on the crossing to Willis Island, comprising species breeding commonly on the surrounding islands: Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Red-Footed and Brown Boobies, Black and Common Noddies, Sooty Terns. Visited Willis Island to meet the four permanently resident meteorologists. There was an abundance of common breeding seabirds on the island except there were no frigatebirds

 

Paul Walbridge: Buff-banded Rail Grant Penrhyn: Kathy and Sooty Terns Ian Montgomery: juv Red-footed Booby Andrew McCutcheon: Willis Island Met. Station Bill Moorhead: Juv Red-footed & Brown Booby Andrew McCutcheon: Sooty Terns

DAY 6 - 16 December 2006

Severe weather was forecast in three days so the decision was made to leave Willis Island on the evening of the 15th and travel overnight to South Flinders Reef. At dawn we were just past Herald Cay and arrived at Flinders Reef at 14:00. Only common pelagic bird species were seen but this included the largest number of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters recorded on the trip. A total of 162 were seen in the morning alone, which was almost as many as seen in the rest of the trip. There were also large numbers of Black Noddy and Red-footed Boobies. South Flinders Reef itself contains only a small sand cay. Consequently, there were very few seabirds. Snorkelling and diving however were very productive. Highlights included feeding White-tipped and Grey Reef Sharks, Tuna and a Hawksbill Turtle. 

 

Ian Montgomery: Wedge-tailed Shearwater Grant Penrhyn: Flying Fish Simon Mustoe: White-tipped Reef Shark David Donnelly: Japanese Bream David Donnelly: Grey Reef Shark David Donnelly: Clownfish

DAY 7 - 17 December 2006

Final day in the Coral Sea. Departed Flinders Reef at dawn and headed across the Capricorn Channel. The day began slow with very few sightings in the first hour, until we reached a water depth of about 1000m. The rest of the crossing was dominated by Tahiti Petrels (c. 50 individuals) and Bulwer's Petrels. A few White-tailed Tropicbirds were seen, lending further support to the view that they may breed in the area. At least one individual was immature. Note, a heavily-marked juvenile was seen inside the outer Great Barrier Reef on the 18th. Before evening, in the vicinity of Dingo Reef, an Indo-pacific Humpback Dolphin, several Bottlenose Dolphin (offshore types) and a mother and calf Bryde's Whale were seen, as well as two Devil Rays. 

 

Paul Walbridge: Tahiti Petrel Ian Montgomery: Tahiti Petrel Ian Montgomery: Wilson's Storm Petrel Grant Penrhyn: Bulwer's Petrel Grant Penrhyn: Bulwer's Petrel Grant Penrhyn: Bulwer's Petrel Bill Moorhead: Devil Ray Paul Walbridge: Mike Carter at the Big Eyes Bill Moorhead: Bryde's Whale Bill Moorhead: Bryde's Whale Chris Seers: Bottlenose Dolphin Bill Moorhead: Bottlenose Dolphin

DAY 8 - 18 December 2006

Weather began calm and on leaving Dingo Reef at dawn, eight Spinner Dolphins came into bow ride. Each animal was no more than 1.5m in length. A sighting of Bottlenose Dolphins and a heavily marked juvenile-plumaged White-tailed Tropicbird was followed by a brief view of a Bryde's Whale. Numerous Roseate Terns were also seen. By about 10am, the seas had risen to more than 2m, with a strong SE wind and observations ceased as we headed toward shelter at the Whitsunday Islands.

 

David Donnelly: heading towards Mackay