A Dream Realised - Port Stephens trip 2nd July 2016

Two juvenile White-bellied Sea-eagles ride the updraft from Little Island,
just offshore from Port Stephens, NSW.

I have always wanted to visit Broughton Island, just four nautical miles north of Port Stephens, NSW.  For some reason, I had never made the trip.  It is a fair bit of effort to get there, as the coastline is very rugged and there are numerous bomboras lurking barely submerged to catch the unwary.  There are minimal facilities on the island and no easy way to get there - which is just the way I like it.

Broughton Island is a locally-famous destination for mutton-birds, Green and golden bell frogs, fishing & scuba diving, and has some very strange mysteries associated with it.  Legends of Russian spies and whispers of submarines abound.  There is a miniature version of a "Tin-city" on the Island as well, and the locals are rightfully defensive and pretty secretive about the place.  The populations of king fish, snapper, teraglin, jewfish, blue groper, sea-urchins, lobsters, great white sharks and (in season) long-tailed tuna & juvenile marlin are very healthy indeed.  There are also several gutters nearby which are famous for "endangered" grey-nurse sharks.

I headed to Broughton for the first time on Saturday, 2nd July.  It was an extremely interesting experience, part of the "Canon Collective" promotional weekend.  I had the great fortune to spend the entire day with Darren Jew, who is one of Australia's greatest underwater photographers (and a thorough gentleman).  There were two other Canon Ambassadors (both very talented Pro photographers) and only three other enthusiast photographers.  What an opportunity !  It was one-on-one tuition with the very latest Canon Pro-DSLR bodies and lenses for the day. Serendipity !
     

We were originally booked for an underwater adventure, snorkelling at Broughton, but unfortunately it was called off due to weather.  All of my family and friends thought I was utterly nuts, as it is almost the middle of winter, and we've been enjoying quite a few frosts lately.  My family also reminded me several times of the sheer numbers of great whites in the area.  Thanks for the unwanted images in my brain in the wee-small hours of the night before the trip guys!

We eventually departed just before noon and fortunately conditions had abated considerably.  There was still about two metres of swell, with the very occasional three metre wave rolling through.  We headed out to do a spot of whale watching instead and had a fantastic experience.  We had very close encounters with numerous pods of humpback whales, Australian fur-seals, common dolphins and various sea birds including petrels, gannets, terns, silver gulls, black-browed albatross and a close encounter with one of my favourite birds - White bellied sea-eagles.         

Juvenile white-bellied Sea-eagle, Little Island, Port Stephens

Little Island is well-named.  It is a tiny pinnacle of rock, emerging straight out of thirty metres of water and exposed to the full force of the ocean.  We watched two juvenile Sea-eagles playing in the updraft for about 5 minutes, before they decided to give us a close inspection.  The air was filled with the sounds of motor-drives hitting over-drive as the Sea-eagles passed slowly overhead.  The 400mm zoom lenses combined with 50 Megapixel sensors gave absolutely spectacular results.  I was thrilled to bits.  Even the pros were smiling !      

Suddenly an adult female appeared from nowhere, and seemed to shepherd the juveniles away from the boat, and back towards Little Island.  We resumed our journey north, bound for Broughton.  It only lasted five minutes or so, but it was a pretty special encounter.     
     

Adult female, White-bellied Sea-eagle, Little Island Port Stephens.  

To be Continued