Out In The Deep: Pelagic Birding Charter Log – 27 June 2026
Late June is the start of the best stretch of the Cape pelagic calendar. The water has gone properly cold, the Southern Ocean has pushed north, and the birds follow it. It is the time of year when a morning’s run out of Hout Bay Harbour can put you alongside species that spend the rest of their lives closer to the ice than to Africa.
Saturday 27 June delivered on that. Twenty-three seabird species logged, five albatrosses, both giant petrels, and a humpback whale for good measure. Here is the report back.
Date: Saturday 27 June 2026
Departure point: Hout Bay Harbour
Total logged: 23 seabird species, plus three marine mammals and fish
Birds Seen on the 27 June Pelagic Trip
- Northern Royal Albatross
- Southern Royal Albatross
- Shy (White-capped) Albatross
- Black-browed Albatross
- Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross
- Northern Giant Petrel
- Southern Giant Petrel
- White-chinned Petrel
- Spectacled Petrel
- Pintado Petrel
- Antarctic Prion
- Wilson’s Storm Petrel
- Sooty Shearwater
- Manx Shearwater
- Cape Gannet
- Cape Cormorant
- Crowned Cormorant
- White-breasted Cormorant
- Hartlaub’s Gull
- Kelp Gull
- Swift (Greater Crested) Tern
- Common Tern
- Brown (Subantarctic) Skua
Non-Avian Distractions on the Trip
- Cape Fur Seal
- Humpback Whale
- Oceanic Sunfish
What This Trip Says About Winter Pelagics
If you are weighing up when to book, late June is a strong argument for itself.
Winter is when Cape Town’s pelagic birding peaks. Cold water pushes subantarctic species north, albatross diversity is at its highest, and birds that are unlikely at other times of year become realistic. Five albatross species in a single day is a good return in anyone’s book.
The trade-off is honest. Winter seas are bigger, it is properly cold offshore, and more trips get stood down for weather than in summer. No two trips are the same either. A list like this one is a good day, not a promise. Seabirds follow food and weather, and the ocean does not consult the booking calendar.
Join the Next Trip
Days like 27 June are why people book again before they have even dried out. A full morning offshore, a list like the one above, and a humpback on the way home.
The winter season runs through to roughly September and it is the strongest window of the year for albatross diversity. If you are hoping to add subantarctic species to a list, this is the time to be on the water.
Trips depart from Hout Bay Harbour. See our Pelagic Birding Tours page for dates and availability, or read our guide to
what pelagic actually means if you are new to this kind of trip.
Contact us with your dates and we will tell you honestly what your window looks like.
