| Daily Seawater Temperature and Density Record Shore Station | |||||
| Time Zone: PDT | |||||
| Station Race Rocks Lightstation | |||||
| Month: _April____________ | Year: 2012 | ||||
| Observer: Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific | |||||
| Date | Time | Sea Temp. °C |
Jar Temp. °C |
Hydro- meter No. | Observed Density |
| 1 | 6:35AM | 7.0 | 7.4 | 10,802 | 238.0000 |
| 2 | 8:15AM | 7.1 | 7.5 | 10,802 | 238.0000 |
| 3 | 10AM | 7.5 | 7.9 | 10,802 | 239.0000 |
| 4 | 11AM | 7.2 | 7.6 | 10,802 | 238.0000 |
| 5 | 11:30AM | 7.4 | 7.8 | 10,802 | 238.0000 |
| 6 Continue reading | |||||
Monthly Archives: April 2012
Ebb and Flow
We have had, and will be hosting, many students this week. Laura has been doing her marine biology review classes with the students. It is great to have company!
Though we don’t get a lot of flotsam and jetsam here, on occasion something unusual washes in. A few days ago I found a tupperware container in the intertidal zone. Much to my surprise, upon opening it I found a dead tiger-striped hamster in a ziplock bag. I can only assume a grieving child gave their beloved pet a burial at sea. I intended to give the wee creature a proper burial to add to the island’s biomass, but I left it alone for a few minutes outside and a raven flew off with the little morsel. The circle of life continues…
I will have the students do a thorough animal census this weekend. Meanwhile I have started painting the kitchen and planting a small garden.
Animal Visitors
Yesterday two Whimbrels were seen on the south shore of Great Race and this morning a posse of California Sea Lions was swimming about South Rocks barking in their distinctive manner. Garry alerted me to another weaner elephant seal pup on West Rocks. Today we have 5 e-girls here at the station: Bertha, Squall, Divot (she has raw sores/holes in her skin but seems otherwise healthy), Goat (this one crawled up to the weather station in the middle of the island), and 5086 (Fifty/Fiddy) whom I believe we first saw in December. I had thought Squall had left as I didn’t see her for a few days but turns out she had crawled up into the boathouse to get some peace and quiet!
Plenty of recreational fisherfolk are fringing the reserve. I suppose it makes a cunning sort of sense to hunt near the place where most of the fish are, but there is a self-serving element to that way of thinking that is reflective of why we need to have parks, reserves and preserves in the first place! Personally I prefer finding my dinner on the shore within the intertidal zone where I can be sure of what I am catching and can ensure there are plenty left to restock the locale. Unfortunately for me I won’t be eating creatures from the reserve though!
Today 6 kayakers lingered for quite a while at Middle Rocks; the Sea Lions didn’t like it and went in the water. We think of kayaks as benign but i have found that most animals prefer to know when the humans are coming and kayaks allow us to sneak up on them, ironically causing more panic than a motorized vessel. Yesterday I observed a huge submarine pass within 2 miles of the island. I reckon it was a Trident nuclear sub as it was escorted by the American Coast Guard. I can’t imagine the Sea Lions liked that either!
Animal Census Apr 18, 2012
Stellar Sea Lion – 20
Elephant Seal – 12
Harbour Seal – 200
Glaucous-winged Gull – 200
Brandt’s Cormorant – 250
Pelagic Cormorant – 10
Black Turnstones – 30 w/ 2 juveniles
Surfbirds – 10
Raven – 4
Crow – 1
Dunlin – 2
Sparrows – 6
Pigeon Guillemots – 150
Harlequin Ducks – 100
Canada Goose – 20
Bald Eagle (adult) – 4 (juvenile) 8
Black Oyster-catcher – 40
34 people have visited in the least 2 weeks
Bertha comes back!
A big sleek elephant seal arrived yesterday and proceeded to block the boat ramp until I shooed her away and was able to launch. At some point she rolled over and I saw the big scar on her belly! Bertha had returned, but was looking sleek and fully recovered from the challenges of giving birth and feeding her newborn 3 months earlier. Neither Squall nor Bertha paid much attention to one another, but I haven’t mastered the nuances of e-seal communication techniques so I may have missed something!
photos 1-3 credit Helene Cyr
A little tickle with the paddle after cajoling and pleading had no effect…
There are plenty of pigeon guillemots around to cheer up my day! I love their bright red/orange feet and the way they splash into the water when they settle down.
Puget Sound King Crab
I found this spectacular animal in the high inter-tidal zone, quite fresh. Not sure how or why it was where it was… it seems intact and undisturbed. Regardless it deserves to be documented, and I have frozen it so the students can study it later.
It appears to be a Lopholithodes mandtii. Puget sound King Crab.
Note: DO NOT COLLECT THIS CRAB! It is uncommon in Puget Sound/Straits and the Washington Fish and Wildlife dept. lists it as a protected species. Adults come up shallower to breed in late winter and spring. This is one of the largest crabs on the Pacific Coast of the 48 states. Carapace width can be up to 30 cm or more. It feeds on sea urchins and other echinoderms, has been observed eating sea anemones. Chelae are surprisingly cuplike, and lined with teeth and setae . Juveniles are a bright orange with prominent tubercles on the carapace, and may occasionally be found under rocks at extremely low tide. (http://www.wallawalla.edu/academics/departments/biology/rosario/inverts/Arthropoda/Crustacea/Malacostraca/Eumalacostraca/Eucarida/Decapoda/Anomura/Family_Lithodidae/Lopholithodes_mandtii.html)
Moulting Time
There are about 8-10 young and mostly moulting elephant seals in the reserve at this time. Between four and six have been lounging on the pier creating obstacles for the group of 10 students that spent the weekend here. The grumpy infected girl at the end of the dock made all of us clamber around the outside of the rail to get to and from the boat. Today I thought she looked a bit better. There appears to be an object imbedded in her lower palate; perhaps a barb or spine from a fish she was hunting. I hope it works it’s way out in time. Presumably elephant seals are pretty durable creatures… we will keep a close eye on her recuperation.
The students did a great job of weeding the scotch thistles from around the tower.
There are plenty of Pigeon Guillemots and Black Oystercatcher pairs on the island, with a few Harlequin ducks and Rhinoceros Auklets just offshore. The Harbour Seals should start giving birth soon. There is a large pregnant female on the foreshore near the engine room.
3 rental boats entered the reserve and broke all the rules for respectable human decorum here. I called the marina and they quickly responded by phoning the renters to warn them of their infractions. I was happy to see them promptly exit the reserve and head off towards the military ballistics range.
Home for Some
It is good to be back after two months of travel out in the world. Alex did a great job on the ongoing projects the station demands. Cheers buddy!
Squall is now 3 months old and in spite of all the doubters who thought she wouldn’t make it, she is doing awesome. She is sleek, fat, curious and spunky.
There is a yearling female on the jetty as well but she is going through an uncomfortable moult and she has an infection in her mouth that is bleeding and oozing. I hope she heals up in a hurry….
There are about 200 glaucous-winged gulls competing for nesting sites. They hang out all day but they all leave at dusk to sleep somewhere a bit safer I guess…
Change of Guardian
I am making final preparations to leave Race Rocks today after a 2 month shift. Mike Robinson will be returning to take over responsibilities. It has been a good time with some good storms, great students, and one special little elephant seal.
On Friday late afternoon for the first time I saw Squall in the shallow water near the jetty. She didn’t venture any deeper than 2 ft and was usually only partially submerged.
She spent a lot of time with her head in the 
water and sliding around on the rocks in the small breaking waves. She has been making her way down to the boat ramp area most evenings and back up in the mornings.
I have been working on finishing up two projects: compost container and building a base for a flammables container in the boat house.
There were 4 eco-tour vessels in the reserve on Saturday and 1 on Sunday.
Squall has just positioned herself directly in front of the basement door blocking my exit, I will miss her.
Mike Robinson back on Race Rocks as Ecoguardian
Excited to be back on Race Rocks after a few months of travel and city-life. Alex made some great progress on station projects while I was away.