Survey/Expedition route:

The expedition begins in Broome, Northern Western Australia and will travel anticlockwise aboard the purpose built expedition yacht, Convergence. Roseate Tern and Common Tern can be seen in Broome Harbour as well as the rare Australian Snubfin Dolphin. Indo-pacific Humpback Dolphins are often seen in waters of the continental shelf as well as Brown Booby, Lesser Frigatebird, Bridled Tern and Little Tern.

As the expedition tracks north through the shallow shelf waters of Northern WA, Long-snouted Spinner Dolphin, Short-finned Pilot Whales and Bottle-nosed Dolphins should be seen. Crossing the shelf, the waters drop from less than 100m in depth to 3000m where it is anticipated the expedition will encounter the first true pelagic seabirds of the journey including Wilson′s Storm Petrel and Bulwer′s Petrel. The search will begin here for Streaked Shearwater, Wedge-tailed Shearwater and Tahiti Petrel as they are often seen along shelf waters feeding on the convergence of deep and shallow ocean currents. These waters are also among the most cetacean rich in the world.

Reaching deep water off the Western Australian coast the upwelling of cold currents will provide some of the birding and cetacean highlights of the trip. Some of the world′s rarest seabirds, whales and dolphins exist in these waters. It is expected the expedition will encounter Matsudaira′s Storm Petrel, Swinhoe′s Storm Petrel and possibly the extremely rare Jouanin′s Petrel. The numbers of Bulwer′s Petrels will increase as the vessel approaches this pelagic region and it is quit possible to see an incredible ten species of cetaceans over a few days. Apart from migrating Humpback Whales, our expedition leader Richard Baxter has seen Fraser′s Dolphins, Pan-tropical Spotted Dolphin, Risso′s Dolphin, Rough-toothed Dolphin, Melon-headed Whale and Cuvier′s Beaked Whale in the waters of this expedition leg.

For several more days the voyage will continue west, eventually entering the waters surrounding Australia′s Northern Indian Ocean jewel, Christmas Island. A day or two from the island we′ll start to see increasing numbers of Red-footed and Brown Booby and perhaps catch a glimpse of Abbott′s Booby, one of the world′s rarest seabirds. Numbers of Greater and Lesser Frigatebirds will increase and they will be monitored for occurrences of the world′s rarest frigatebird, Christmas Island Frigatebird.

Approaching the island the expedition will encounter what many consider to be the most beautiful seabird in the world, Golden Morph White-tailed Tropicbird.  Found no where else in the world other than Christmas Island, this stunning bird will be seen flying around the boat and cruising the local cliffs.  Christmas Island is home to tens of thousands of breeding seabirds and expeditioners will get good views of many on their nests atop the coastal terraces and rainforest plateau. cont...

...prev After a week on Christmas Island the journey continues south-west across the Indian Ocean to Australia’s second remotest territory, the rarely visited Cocos-keeling Islands.  The waters between these islands have never been surveyed and it is anticipated that data vital to the outcome of the expedition will be gathered in these waters.  Cocos-keeling is a perfectly formed coral atoll and the location where Charles Darwin formed his Theory of Atoll Formation during the voyage of The Beagle. The islands are a chance for expeditioners to stretch their legs with many kilometres of flat rainforest tracks to explore on foot or by bicycle.  Shallow lagoon waters support intact reef systems that are perfect for snorkelling and diving.  The southern end of Home Island is dominated by the original residence and grounds of the colourful, historical colonialists, the Clunies-Ross family.

Leaving the Cocos Keeling Islands the Convergence will set sail for Mauritius.  In the days approaching the Mascarene Islands the numbers of petrel and shearwater species will increase with a chance the expedition will see three extremely rare seabirds, Mascarene Petrel, Round Island Petrel (Trindade Petrel) and Barau's Petrel (recently discovered on Rodrigues).  Sooty Tern, White Tern, Lesser Noddy, Brown Noddy, Red-tailed & White-tailed Tropicbird, Masked Booby, Red-footed Booby as well Tropical Shearwater are all found in the waters surrounding the Mascarene Islands.

The voyage will stop briefly on Mauritius, Rodrigues and Reunion to provision Convergence  for the most demanding leg of the survey, when the expedition begins its track south to the most remote sub-Antarctic waters in the world. 

This five week Southern Ocean odyssey will depart from Mauritius and sail towards the isolated and highly inaccessible Sub-Antarctic Australian Territories of Heard and McDonald Islands.  These two Islands are the most southern of the Indian Ocean islands and the only land masses lying south of the convergence (APFZ). cont...

 

...prev As the expedition travels south, it will travel through the territory of the Mascarene Petrel.  This bird has only ever been photographed at sea once or twice and its foraging grounds are unknown.  As a target species of the expedition, members hope to record and perhaps photograph this extraordinary species at sea.  Continuing south, as the air and water temperatures begin to drop, the warm water species dominating the field data of the expedition will drop away and will be replaced by Albatrosses and other true Southern Ocean seabirds. 

After crossing the Antarctic Convergence (APFZ) the team will sail into some of the wildest ocean conditions on the planet to survey the waters on the far side of Antarctica, on the opposite side of the continent to the Antarctic Peninsula.  After two weeks of sailing Convergence will arrive at Australia’s Heard and McDonald Islands.

Glaciers cover 69% of Heard Island whose ice cliffs, active volcanos, isolated beaches and tempestuous seas have inspired many Antarctic explorers to plan expeditions to the islands, although few have ever made it.

Apart from millions of penguins and the largest grouping of Leopard Seals in the world, Heard and McDonald Islands are home to some of the world’s most vulnerable species of Albatross and Petrels.  Freezing temperatures and isolation have kept both Heard and McDonald Islands pristine.  They are the only Antarctic islands that are completely free of feral or introduced pests.

The expedition will spend seven days on the island surveying its bays and coves for pinniped and penguin colonies.  Any large amounts of marine debris will also be documented and possibly collected from the shores of Heard.  Leaving Heard, the expedition will then venture south for a day or so of ocean surveys before turning towards Fremantle, Western Australia to conclude the second final leg of the IOSE. cont...

...prev After a break over Christmas 2010 the expedition will continue to survey the waters of western and southern Western Australia.  Over nine days Convergence will cruise south along the Western Australian coast prior to heading east across the Great Australian Bight to arrive in Adelaide.  The final leg of this epic expedition travels from Adelaide, down the west coast of Tasmania to arrive in Hobart on 26 February 2011.