For many years leaving port on a Friday was seen as bad luck. Apparently not so on the Isabella Marine as this South African hake trawler leaves Cape Town harbour on a weekly basis, every Friday. This also appears to be regardless of the weather expected, which along the coast of Cape Town can result in a bit of a roller coaster ride on board. So we set out, the crew hoping for good fishing and me, well I was just hoping to see some good birds and hope that the trip would be enjoyable.
My previous trip at sea ahead of the ‘cold front’ did not prepare me for this trip. Very choppy seas, huge swells and gale force winds prevailed for the final two days of what was overall a very enjoyable trip. What bad weather does however do is bring in some interesting birds. For the fishermen however the difficult conditions and very cold water temperatures meant that fishing was poor throughout our time at sea. I was left with a smile on my face however when I saw an adult Southern Royal Albatross. This species of albatross is a vagrant to Southern African waters with a few individuals seen every year. I had never seen one before so the ‘twitcher’ in me got rather excited. Add to this three separate sightings of Wandering Albatrosses and I feel privileged to have been at sea even though the weather was far from ideal!