West Coast Albatross

In Western Australia the best place to see an albatross is several kilometres offshore during rough winter conditions. Frank O’Connor organises pelagic trips from Perth during the winter and details are found on his website Birding Western Australia.

During the August 2006 pelagic trip we saw 100 Yellow-nosed Albatrosses, 5 Shy Albatrosses, and 1 Black-browed Albatross. These are all medium sized albatrosses, which form a separate group sometimes knows as mollymawks. The larger group, including the magnificent Wandering Albatross, are mostly found further south from Perth in the Southern Ocean.

Prior to seeing my first close up, on this pelagic trip, I had been lucky to see the Yellow-nosed Albatross during the ferry crossing to Rottnest Island. The Yellow-nosed are the most common local albatross and are occasionally washed ashore on Perth beaches after a big blow.

The albatross is the world’s largest flying bird and a legendary traveller. An albatross will spend most of its life at sea, only coming on land to breed.

Albatrosses have mastered the art of flying to a degree unsurpassed in the world of birds. They are skilled at using the rising currents of air over the ocean to glide for hours without a single wing beat. When faced with a headwind they zig-zag across the wind like a sail boat tacking.

I can certainly recommend the winter pelagic trip. As well as a great variety of sea birds we also got close to some humpback whales. But make sure to take your sea-sick pills, if you are contemplating taking a pelagic. One of the secrets is they use oily, foul smelling, burly to attract the sea birds. If you are feeling queasy that will surely tip the balance.

Details and trip reports are on Frank’s website.