Monthly Archives: December 2001

Cliona celata: Boring Sponge–Race Rocks taxonomy

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cliona

Cliona celata: This closeup image was taken by Ryan Murphy in May 2010. Clicking on the image gives a very large magnification. Clicking on the image below gives a sample of that level of magnification.

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Porifera
Class Demospongiae
Order Hadromerida
Family Dysideidae, Tetilla
Genus Cliona
Species celata
Common Name: Boring sponge

Cliona celata is lobular in shape with wart like projections on it surface. This species is commonly found in colonies and the portions of the colony showing at the surface have projections appearing  as yellow in color. They are evenly distributed on the sponge and are inhalent and seive like. Below the surface, the Cliona celata shell may look like a honeycomb. Cliona celata is commonly referred to as the boring sponge because it bores into soft limestone, using an acid digestion technique thus forming systems of interconnecting chambers within the matrix of the substrate

The opened up hinge area of the Purple Hinged Rock Scallop. Calliostoma is the snail and Metridium is the anemone. G.Fletcher photo.

 

The sponge can also bore as a parasite into mollusc and barnacle shells. It is common on many of the purple hinged rock scallops that we see underwater at Race Rocks.

At Race Rocks, the boring sponge is commonly found around the Rosedale Reef area. Its exhibits a biotic association with the purple -hinge rock scallop (Hinnites giganteus ) . Below is a picture of a complete rock scallop with small yellow dots where the sponge is located.

Boring sponges are the small yellow dots on the outside of this live Rock Scallop

Boring sponges are the small yellow dots on the outside of this live Rock Scallop which measures 18 cm in diameter.

 

References: As of 2001

http://web.ucs.ubc.ca/csmecher/demospon.htm 

http://www.diveinfo.com/porifera

http://www.itsligo.ie/biomar/porifera/clicel.htm

Kozloff, Eugene.N, Keys to the Marine Invertebrates of Puget Sound, the San Juan Archipelago, and Adjacent Regions; University of Washington press, 1974.
Other Members of the Phylum Porifera at Race Rocks.

taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.  Dec. 2001–Misozi Phiri PC year 27

 

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Clear view of Mt. Baker

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Wednesday, December 26, 2001
TEMPERATURE:Max 6.9 —Min 3.7 c — Reset 5.0
MARINE LIFE: Today we enjoyed the sunshine, the view of Mt. Baker was outstanding. We had 3 Bald Eagles all immatures, spending about two hours sitting on the south east rocks, no prey taken. Just after 11am, 3 Orcas came into the area from the south west, they traveled through the kelp to the south and east of Gr. Race but stayed no longer than 30 minutes. A large bull Elephant Seal is hauled out on the closest of the south east rocks, tucked in just below the ridge, somewhat protected from the very chilly north east wind.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 3:18 AM

Christmas Bird Count 2001

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2001-12-24′, ’16:00:20′, ‘Yesterday Angus Matthews took Alan MacLeod, Andrew Harcombe, and Ron Satterfield out in the Pearson College boat, 2nd Nature for the annual Sooke Christmas bird count. The trip was postponed from the 22nd because of the 40knt. north winds. Following is a list of the birds seen between the Pearson College dock and Race Rocks- most of the sightings were in the area around Race Rocks. The highlight was the lone Iceland Gull, a very rare bird in this area! The first sighting of this bird for the trio of bird counters! Pacific Loon 14 Common Loon 1 Horned Grebe 1 Double Crested Cormorant 80 Brandt”s Cormorant 60 Pelagic Cormorant 12 Harlequin Duck 2 Surf Scoter 30 Bufflehead 60 Hooded Merganser 5 Bald Eagle 4 adult,2 immature Black Oyster Catcher 16 Black Turnstone 6 Surfbird 6 Rock Sandpiper 9 Mew Gull 15 Herring Gull 8 Thayers Gull 530 Western Gull 1 Glaucous Winged Gull 720 Common Murre 40 Pigeon Guillemot 8 Marbled Murrelet 6 Belted Kingfisher 1 Eurasian Starling 8 Common Flicker 1 You may check out the file on the Christmas Count with pictures at: http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/seabirds/xmascount/xmascount2001.htm Thank you Angus,Alan,Ron and Andrew, maybe it wasn”t blowing 40knots from the north but it was still a cold bumpy trip with 20 knots from the north east!’, ‘Carol or Mike S’, ’16:00:54 ,

Rare Iceland Gull recorded in Christmas Bird Count, 2001

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See the Index of the Christmas Bird Count. Thanks to Angus Matthews and the Pearson College boat, Andrew Harcombe, Ron Satterfield and I were able to get to Race Rocks this morning to count birds. Forty-knot northerlies prevented us from getting out there yesterday for the Sooke Christmas Bird Count. We had 9 ROSA and 6 SURF this morning but the highlight bird was an adult Iceland gull among a group of 1,200 gulls (mostly GWGU and THGU) at the west side of the main island. Here are the totals observed from Pearson College’s boat dock to Race Rocks and the Rocky Point headlands. The vast majority of these birds were at Race Rocks and vicinity.  —Alan McLeod 

Pacific loon 14 common loon 1 horned grebe 1 double-crested cormorant 80 Brandt’s cormorant 60 pelagic cormorant 12 harlequin duck 2 surf scoter 30 bufflehead 60 hooded merganser 3 bald eagle 4 ad, 2 im black oystercatcher 16 black turnstone 6 surfbird 6 rock sandpiper 9 mew gull 15 herring gull 8 Thayer’s gull 530 Iceland gull 1 western gull 1 glaucous-winged gull 720 common murre 40 pigeon guillemot 8 marbled murrelet 6 belted kingfisher 1 common flicker 1 Eurasian starling 8

icegull2-1

The rare Iceland gull Larus glaucoides (centre)

See the Index of the Christmas Bird Count.

Christmas Bird Count

Posted on by
Monday, December 24, 2001
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max 8.0C — Min 4.9C — Reset 6.7C — Rain 0.0
Merry Christmas To One And All!!!
MARINE LIFE: Yesterday Angus Matthews took Alan MacLeod, Andrew Harcombe, and Ron Satterfield out in the Pearson College boat, 2nd Nature for the annual Sooke Christmas bird count. The trip was postponed from the 22nd because of the 40 knt. north winds. Following is a list of the birds seen between the Pearson College dock and Race Rocks- most of the sightings were in the area around Race Rocks. The highlight was the lone Iceland Gull, a very rare bird in this area! The first sighting of this bird for the trio of bird counters!
Pacific Loon 14
Common Loon 1
Horned Greb 1
Double Crested Cormorant 80
Brandt’s Cormorant 60
Pelagic Cormorant 12
Harlequin Duck 2
Surf Scoter 30
Bufflehead 60
Hooded Merganser 5
Bald Eagle 4 adult,2 immature
Black Oyster Catcher 16
Black Turnstone 6
Surfbird 6
Rock Sandpiper 9
Mew Gull 15
Herring Gull 8
Thayers Gull 530
Western Gull 1
Glaucous Winged Gull 720
Common Murre 40
Pigeon Guillemot 8
Marbled Murrelet 6
Belted Kingfisher 1
Eurasian Starling 8
Common Flicker 1
You may check out the file on the Christmas Count with pictures at:https://www.racerocks.ca/2001/12/24/9651/
Thank you Angus, Alan, Ron and Andrew, maybe it wasn’t blowing 40knots from the north but it was still a cold bumpy trip with 20 knots from the north east!
HUMAN INTERACTION:11:30 am 1 Whale Watcher Boat
12:15 1 Rib with 2 divers (burrrr)
14:30 Discovery Launch (2 passengers)
Thank You Jane and Chris for holding the ‘fort’ so we could visit with family and restock the pantry.posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:11 PM

Orca predation and gulls

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-2001-12-20′, ’16:58:23′, ‘With the relatively calm sea today the hauled out Sea Lions slept the time away.The most action came from a few Northern Sealions on Southeast Rks. that went into the water to investigate the Orcas that came in from the West at 1:20pm.There was one bull,3 that could be females or juveniles and one fairly small one.It was really hard to get a good look as they didn”t stay on the surface very long.The whales made their way along the south shore of Gr. Race then veered out towards the Rosedale light buoy where they spent until 3:40 swimming back and forth with frequent tail slapping,breaching and slapping of flippers. 200+ gulls and 30 or so Cormorants stayed with whales I would guess feeding on any scraps floating about on the surface.Since the Orcas stayed well off shore,were quite ”noisy” and did not seem interested in the seals and sealions my guess is that they were residents. The last we saw of them they were headed SW. ‘, ‘Carol or Mike S’, ’16:08:56 ,

Male Elephant seal Vocalization

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Normally in past years, during the winter and summer, the 2 male elephant seals have stayed around the middle island. This year, this one large male hauled out onto the rocks to the south of the tower for a few days. In this video, note the clicking sound that he emits when his head is in the air. Thanks to Chris Blondeau and Jane Johnston for getting the footage for this unique piece of video late one evening in late December, when they were out relieving for Mike and Carol at the MPA.

Orca Feeding

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Thursday, December 20, 2001
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 5.7C — Min. 3.9C — Reset 4.2C — Rain 0.4 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:05 PM
 MARINE LIFE: With the relatively calm sea today the hauled out Sea Lions slept the time away.The most action came from a few Northern Sealions on Southeast Rks. that went into the water to investigate the Orcas that came in from the West at 1:20pm.There was one bull,3 that could be females or juveniles and one fairly small one.It was really hard to get a good look as they didn’t stay on the surface very long.The whales made their way along the south shore of Gr. Race then veered out towards the Rosedale light buoy where they spent until 3:40 swimming back and forth with frequent tail slapping,breaching and slapping of flippers. 200+ gulls and 30 or so Cormorants stayed with whales I would guess feeding on any scraps floating about on the surface.Since the Orcas stayed well off shore,were quite ‘noisy’ and did not seem interested in the seals and sealions my guess is that they were residents. The last we saw of them they were headed SW.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 4:58
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast — Vis. 15 Miles — Wind North North East 21 Knots — Sea 3′ Moderate — Low North East Swell — Occasional light Rain showers
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:33 AM

Eagles and Sea lions

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Wednesday, December 19, 2001
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.1C — Min 3.7C — Reset 4.9C — Rain 0.8 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:17 PM
MARINE LIFE:The Sea Lions seen on cameras 1 and 2 show about 1/2 the population presently hauled out, the other half are spread out along the east and south shores of Gr. Race and on the Southeast Rks.There are quite a few young Northern Sea Lions this year maybe an indication of a healthy population growth? The Northern Sea Lions presently hauled out, out number the California Sea Lions approximately 8-1,there being approx. 325 Northern Sea Lions hauled out this afternoon.
5 immmature Bald Eagles visited the area today but stayed only 50 minutes,arriving and leaving within minutes of each other,three sat over on the southeast rocks and the other two on the highest point on West Race. Was nice to have a day with light winds and even enjoyed a few glimpses of the sun!
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:21 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy — Vis. 15 Miles — Wind South East 5 knots — Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:23 AM

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-2001-12-16′, ’00:00:22′, ‘4 Bald Eagles visited the Reserve today,3 immatures and one mature.The first one -mature) arrived just after 9:30 this morning with it”s breakfast-an unidentified fish -grasped in it”s talons. The big bird set down on the NW bluff just above the boat house to eat. As the eagle tore off pieces of fish the 5 crows danced around it, wary, but anxious to get any bits that scattered.After only 5 or 6 minutes the eagle flew off leaving the crows to scour the rocks for any scraps however tiny! I did not see anything that would have scared the eagle,certainly not the crows! Just after 10 a.m. a lone California Sea Lion came ashore just east of the boat dock and proceeded to lumber across the island stopping every 3 metres or so to roll and rub on the grass.The reason we took note of the poor fellow is that he has a terrible scar around his neck -garbage in the sea or maybe some type of discarded fishing gear.Sea Lions with this type of wound, unfortunately are not that rare.We could not get close enough to see if it was just a scar or whether something was still in the wound.About noon 3 immature Bald Eagles landed on the ridge of West Race.They sat there for about 10 minutes until a boat approached -divers) and they flew over to N Rocks.After 1/2 hour or so they flew over to SE rocks where they stayed except for a couple of flights around the islands, unsuccessful attempts at getting a bird dinner.Two of these birds looked somewhat bedraggled with the mottled appearance of the head and tail feathers.The distinctive white plumage gradually appears with each molt over 4 or 5 years. Just before 1:30 I noticed two Orcas northeast of North Rks. They were being followed by several groups of Sea Lions at about 100 metres. The whales surfaced 4 or 5 times as they made their way south just at the edge of the east side kelp bed.The last we saw they were in front of the engine room 200-300 metres off shore.As we watched for the whales to come back a 3-4 metre bull Elephant Seal drifted by and came into the small east bay.I did get some video as he floated around with just his head and unmistakable nose above the surface.He stayed in the bay only 12-15 minutes,arched his back,flared his great nostrils,dove into a wave and was gone! We often hear the elephant Seals vocalizing at night, it sounds like a calf bellowing in a tin can, but not lately, and from the sound of the roaring 45+ knt. not tonight either!’, ‘Carol or Mike S’,