By Peter Ryan, onboard scientist, expert in general ornithology, seabird-fishery interactions, evolutionary ecology, marine debris, solid waste management, biology of oceanic islands.
Leg 1, Summary
We arrived in Hobart this morning on a lovely sunny morning, and were escorted up the Derwent by three successive groups of Common Dolphins. Several new coastal species were added, as well as one pelagic species (Buller’s Albatross). The leg 1 trip list comprised 56 seabirds (excluding coastal species in Cape Town on day 0), plus Lesser Sheathbill and Kerguelen Pintail. The most notable absence was Grey Petrel, although Arctic Tern and Southern Fulmar also were expected; we should see all three on legs 2 or 3. Numbers counted on transects were:
| Emperor Penguin | [2] | King Penguin | 34 |
| Macaroni Penguin | 54 | Rockhopper Penguin | 13 |
| Crested penguin spp. | 109 | Gentoo Penguin | 3 |
| Wandering Albatross | 79 | Southern Royal Albatross | 16 |
| Shy Albatross | 37 | Salvin’s Albatross | 2 |
| Black-browed Albatross | 57 | Grey-headed Albatross | 24 |
| Buller’s Albatross | 2 | Indian Yellow-nosed Alby | 20 |
| Atlantic Yellow-nosed Alby | 4 | Sooty Albatross | 18 |
| Light-mantled Albatross | 28 | Northern Giant Petrel | 50 |
| Southern Giant Petrel | 13 | Cape (Pintado) Petrel | 10 |
| White-chinned Petrel | 337 | Spectacled Petrel | 4 |
| Cory’s Shearwater | 238 | Great Shearwater | 3 |
| Sooty Shearwater | 6 | Short-tailed Shearwater | 2870 |
| Subantarctic Shearwater | 9 | Soft-plumaged Petrel | 188 |
| Great-winged Petrel | 108 | White-headed Petrel | 270 |
| Mottled Petrel | 30 | Gould’s Petrel | 8 |
| Kerguelen Petrel | 43 | Blue Petrel | 91 |
| Salvin’s Prion | 3321 | Antarctic Prion | 779 |
| Slender-billed Prion | 126 | Fairy Prion | 832 |
| Fulmar Prion | 17 | Diving petrel spp. | 236 |
| Wilson’s Storm Petrel | 151 | Leach’s Storm Petrel | 24 |
| Black-bellied Storm Petrel | 193 | Grey-backed Storm Petrel | 39 |
| Crozet Shag | 1++ | Kerguelen Shag | 25 |
| Black-faced Cormorant | 11 | Australian Gannet | 8 |
| Brown Skua | 29 | South Polar Skua | 3 |
| Long-tailed Jaeger | 25 | Kelp Gull | 21 |
| Silver Gull | 39 | Antarctic Tern | 1 |
| Kerguelen Tern | 1++ | Greater Crested Tern | 3 |
| Grey Phalarope | 1 |
The ACE team are enjoying Hobart’s hospitality for the next few days (plus some fun landbirds), then it will be back to sea for leg 2.