oceans

Departed Broome at 0820, to beat the seabreeze.  The chalky turquoise waters immediately west of Broome are always rich, influenced by enormous tidal mixing outside Roebuck Bay.  We saw 20 sea snakes during the day, and speculated that at least some of these would be either Stoke's or Golden Sea Snakes. They are difficult to separate in the field. There were also nine turtle sightings inlcluding Flatback Turtle, Loggerhead Turtle and Green Turtle.

The first full day at sea was a particularly exciting part of the trip. We awoke about 100 miles south east of Scott Reef and spent the day working our way up the shelf-edge in water between 700-1200m deep. South of Scott Reef we saw our only sea snake of the day, a Yellow-bellied Sea Snake. Although one of the most widespread species in the world, it is rarely seen in these parts and was a new species for most people.

Three days on Ashmore Reef including a visit to the waters around West Island.

The day we left Ashmore Reef we encountered an amazing number of cetaceans. A pair of Bottlenose Dolphins was seen just beyond the island but mid-afternoon, we encountered dozens more in a mixed pod with Melon-headed Whales, Fraser's Dolphins (right) and at least one Rough-toothed Dolphin.  The Bottlenose Dolphins were the very large robust offshore form and spent a few minutes at the vessel bow and their whistles were audible.

In about 350m of water at the edge of upwelling west of Ashmore Reef we had the largest encounter with Spinner Dolphins, that were feeding along with large numbers of Red-footed, Brown and Masked Boobies (right). On this and several other occasions during the trip animals were seen to actually spin. Characteristic of this species on other trips though, they were uninterested in the vessel and porpoised rapidly away (see right).

Throughout the day we had a steady stream of encounters with Tahiti Petrels, Matsudaira's Storm-Petrels and Spinner Dolphins.

The day started in water only about 100m deep. We encountered several pods of dolphins including Spinner and Bottlenose Dolphins but none offered good views. The second Loggerhead Turtle of the trip surfaced right next to the vessel and sea snakes were abundant.

The final day was characterised by a fresh south-westerly wind that prohibited access to the Lacepede Islands so after breakfast we headed south towards Broome. Close to the Lacepedes there were thousands of terns feeding, some in among tuna schools. A brief encounter with a pod of six Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins made it ten cetaceans for the trip and shortly after, an obliging Loggerhead Turtle surfaced close enough to the boat to allow a photograph to be taken.

In addition to the species listed, there were about 5,000 Brown Boobies, 10,000 Common Noddies and 2,000 Bridled Terns at the Lacapedes.