Port Fairy Pelagic

The Birdswing Wildlife Tours Port Fairy Pelagic departs from Port Fairy Harbour in western Victoria and heads south into the Southern Ocean, reaching the continental shelf approximately 30 nautical miles offshore. Berley (fish offal chum) is deployed throughout the trip to draw pelagic seabirds alongside the vessel — the technique on which all productive Southern Ocean pelagic birding depends. The 21-passenger vessel gives comfortable access to some of the most albatross-rich offshore water reachable from the Australian mainland.

Port Fairy sits at the eastern end of the Great Ocean Road, where the Bass Strait opens into the full Southern Ocean, and its shelf-edge waters are exposed to migrating Southern Ocean tubenoses from the Antarctic convergence zone. The eBird hotspot (L2312630) has accumulated records of at least eleven albatross species, making it one of the most albatross-diverse accessible locations in the Southern Hemisphere outside Antarctica. Both Southern and Northern Royal Albatrosses occur, alongside Wandering and Antipodean, Sooty and Light-mantled, Yellow-nosed and Grey-headed, Buller's and White-capped, and Salvin's and Black-browed Albatrosses. Among the non-albatross tubenoses recorded are Antarctic and Northern Giant Petrels, Southern Fulmar, Cape Petrel, Great-winged, Grey-faced, Soft-plumaged, White-headed, Blue, White-chinned, and Westland Petrels, and four prion species — Fairy, Salvin's, Dove, and Slender-billed. Storm-Petrels recorded include Grey-backed, Wilson's, and Black-bellied. Shearwaters represented include Flesh-footed, Wedge-tailed, Short-tailed, Buller's, Hutton's, and Fluttering.

Austral winter and early spring months (May–September) are optimal for the widest diversity of Southern Ocean wanderers as sub-Antarctic tubenoses move into the region. Birdswing Wildlife Tours is run by long-standing Victorian birding guide Andrew Silcocks; bookings and enquiries should be made directly at [email protected].