aquatic habits. During the day it can sometimes 
be momentarily glimpsed as it comes to the 
surface to capture a fresh bubble of air. However, 
at night, it can often be observed moving around 
in shallow water on the edge of dams and is easily 
caught in a net. During summer, usually on hot 
humid nights, large dispersal flights can occur 
between water bodies and large numbers can be 
attracted to ultra-violet light. 
It should be perhaps pointed out in closing that 
both Prionids have very powerful and razor sharp 
jaws. Careless handling can result in a painful nip 
that can draw blood. P. australis in particular is 
extremely pugnacious, and when really warm, will 
spin around like a wind-up toy, antennae waving 
around, looking for something to lustily attach 
itself to. These big beetles are best held between 
thumb and fore finger at the 'shoulders' where 
the wing covers meet. The 170 mm T. giganteus 
of Brazil is reportedly capable of severing a 
human finger with one snap and after being 
mauled by P. australis a few times I don't doubt 
it! 
Eaglehawk Neck Pelagic Trip—27November 2010 
Bill Wakefield 
T hirteen people on board the Pauletta left 
Pirates Bay Jetty at 7:00 am and headed down 
the coast towards the Thumbs then out via the 
Hippolyte to the continental shelf drop-off 
followed by a further couple of nautical miles 
further out to sea. The weather could not have 
been kinder to us as there was only a gentle 
breeze and a one to two metre gentle swell with 
barely a white cap to be seen. 
Not until we reached the Little Hippolyte were 
there many birds about, although we had passed 
small numbers of kelp and silver gulls plus a sooty 
oystercatcher sitting on their nests as we moved 
down the coast to the Thumbs. The pairs of 
Pacific gulls seen did not appear to be involved in 
breeding activities. 
Gannets, black-faced cormorants, gulls and 
crested terns were feeding around the Little 
Hippolyte with a good number resting on the 
rock. Interestingly, at least two of the gannets had 
what appeared to be full complements of tail 
feathers that were all black, perhaps indicating 
Black-browed albatross 
that they could possibly have been Cape gannets. 
On closer checking of their plumage from our 
photographs, it was possible to see that the black 
stripe leading down from below their bills was not 
long enough to identify them as South African 
birds. Their under-wings had a few dark coverts 
present showing that they were young birds. 
The usual complement of fur seals was present on 
the Hippolyte along with black-faced cormorants 
and our three species of gulls. On rounding the 
eastern side of the island, short-tailed 
shearwaters began to increase in numbers, and 
along with them a Buller's shearwater, passed 
close enough to permit us all reasonable views. 
Over the day we had ten sightings of this species, 
which exceeded the highest number seen on any 
single day's pelagic trip. Previously, the highest 
number seen in a single day was six. This together 
with the increasing frequency of dates on which 
we are seeing this species seems to indicate that 
there is a change in their distribution. 
Buller's shearwater 
Tasmanian Field Naturalists Club 
BULLETIN 341 January 2011 p9 
