Australia's First NEW ZEALAND STORM PETREL

In the last two days, on the SOSSA pelagic out of Ulladulla and off Port Stephens pelagic (both quite close to the the shelf-edge off Australia), observers were treated to encounters with New Zealand Storm Petrels. This species was only rediscovered in northern NZ in 2003, after an absence of 150 years from the scientific record.

View other photos and a map of the approximate locations here.

Photo courteousy of Raja Stephenson

The conditions that swept these birds to our coastline appear to be driven by a very strong East Australian Current. As these maps show, there is a very large warm-core eddy sitting offshore eastern Australia. This is driving a narrow band of hot water south, whilst at the same time, a cold-core eddy to the south is squeezing nutrient-rich water against its edge (sea surface temperature map). The Port Stephens bird was seen along the edge of a strong cold-water upwelling, close to the coast. This is caused as the warm-core eddy drags surface water offshore, so nutrient-rich cold water comes up from below. The Ulladulla bird was seen further south, on the inside edge of the cold-core eddy. Further south, off Eden, these are the exact same conditions that every year, herald the appearance of Sperm Whales, which were also seen off Ulladulla.

Due to the very intense nature of this ocean current system at present, it may be advisable for anyone wishing to look for these birds, to charter immediately.