Blasting by the DND sent the 5 newly returned sea lions into water.
Slash hits the water to cruise by the dock.
18 eco-tour boats sited in channel close to sea lions (also later main dock where Slash was lying by boat house). Some of which were the following tour companies Sooke Coastal Expeditions (multiple returns)
Springtide , Eaglewing Tours., Five Star Whale Watching, Great Pacific Adventures, Prince Whales, Whale Watching (multiple returns) Laurie
A calm day so the whale watching boats are here. They all respected the guidelines for observation. It is important to emphasize the need to drive boats cautiously as baby seals in the water are vulnerable. See our file on ecotourism: http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/admin/ecotourism/ecotourism.htm I may have missed one or two boats but most are recorded below along with their numbers:
0950 West Coast Orca Spirit: 10 passengers
1045 Real Pacific Adventures: 8
Sooke Coastal Explorations: 3
Prince of Whales : 12
Cetacean : 6– (no lifejackets worn)
Sooke Costal Expeditions: 12
Shop@whalestore.com:; 12
Prince of Whales : 12
Springtide : 8
Orca Spirit: 6
Orca— —- 6
Great Pacific Adventures( King Salmon) : 26
S—- King? (Fibreglass) 6
Eagle wing tours: 26
Prince of Whales: 26\
Approximate total ecotourists in the reserve today: 180
Total funding they contributed towards ensuring the sustainability of the resource at Race Rocks: $0.00 Garry , 22:12:04
Chris, Jane, Morgan, Catriona on watch 1930hrs- chris 20:51:21
Chris ferried David and family of three to the island to relieve for Mike. Garry and former Thai student Amp Lao (year 27) went along for a quick visit. Garry
‘Orca’, 5, ”, ‘Garry’, ’12:56:42 ,
‘Orca’, 2, ‘Swam north past west side of Great Rock, breaching several times.’, ‘ LBPC students
California Sea Lion’, 40, ”, ‘ LBPC’
Northern Sea Lion’, 20, ”, ‘ LBPC’
Harbour Seal’, 15, ”, ‘ LBPC’, ’17:27:37 ,
Census from 1100 to 1600: Some passenger numbers
Prince of Whales– 30
Prince of Whales inflatable–9
Springtide– 58
5 star– 40
5 star- 48
red inflatable C11201 BC -12
Prince of whales– 25
Prince of whales inflatable –11
Seafun Safari–8
Pr.of Whales–25
Orca Spirit– 32
Prince of Whales–8
Spring Tide– 50
Great northern Adventures–`12
Great pacific adventures– 13
Spring tide –10
Wildcat –40
Inflatable–8
Inflateable–8
Orange inflatable?– 8
Possibly 3 or 4 boats were missed in this census during the day.
Total– 463
Garry
Possibly this species is Xanthoria candelaria
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Fungi
Division Ascomycota
Class Lecanoromycetes
Order Teloschistales
Family Teloschistaceae
Genus Xanthoria
Species candelaria
Common Name: Orange Lichen
The grey lichen on a ring on the outside is probably Lecanora straminea
| Other Members of the Division Ascomycota at Race Rocks |
 Return to the Race Rocks Taxonomyand Image File |
 The 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.
Garry Fletcher |
(‘2008-07-07 GF out to the island to change IPs to new network settings. ‘, ‘Garry’, ’13:00:05′),
(‘2008-07-08 GF out with Sam all day to finish the network changeover.\r\n’, ‘Garry’, ’13:08:32′),
Slash the elephant seal male was having a good sleep in the morning behind the boathouse.
I took this video clip of our resident elephant seal “Slash” asleep in one of his favourite spots behind the boathouse at Race Rocks. At 8:00 am he was in a deep sleep, interrupted only by the kelp flies on his face and a few itchy spots on his body. What was remarkable was the recurring pattern of breath holding. I made this video as a study of this aspect of what appears to be intentional sleep apnea. Since the filming was uninterrupted, one can time the various phases of a breathing cycle. Labels on the video point out the beginning and end of one such breath-holding cycle. I observed that he repeated a similar pattern for at least 15 minutes, the length of time I as was able to observe. GF.
Listen for the sounds and watch for the flaring nostrils.
You can see more elephant seal images and videos in the Elephant Seal Taxonomy.
West Coast Wildlife Adventures approached to view the elephant seal within 10 meters of the seal. I advised him he was too close since slash was there basking in the water. He had moved in to get a close look from a few metres. Images placed on ecotourism page on web. This is not the first whale watching boat that is coming in too close this season. With seal pups in the water this is a dangerous thing to do. See the ecotourism page for more information.’, ‘Garry’, ’12:41:23′),