Monthly Archives: September 2013

lightning!

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!!!Thunder and lightning!!!

Both Environment Canada and the Washington Marine text forecasts were spot on for the weather today. Fog and W 15 kts in the morning, W 20 kts off-and-on rain by midday, and W 30 kts and raining by evening.

There were a few sport fisherman out at 1135 during my boat count (7), but most were heading back to port.
8 marine tour boats, all before noon

9 oyster catchers
8 Canada geese
Lot’s of porpoising by sealions in the currents
One sealion by the derrick shed with an injured flipper
The elephant seal showed up and spent a few hours next to the jetty

Maintenance:
-ran desalinator
-photographed branded sealions for our contact at NOAA
-washed outside windows of main house with telescoping pole
-drained and rough-scrubbed the rainwater tank
-used a broom and the rain to scrub the main house porches
-inventoried first aid kit

critter tally

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5th day as Eco-guardian and things are getting easier.

-20 Canada geese this morning
-Spotted one pelican on North Rocks from the lighthouse during my morning mammal and boat count. Around lunch 5 more arrived. At Dinner time they joined up and flew south towards Port Angeles.
-Female elephant seal is napping behind the boat house as of 1500 hrs
-115 seals, mostly on Middle Rocks
-471 sealions, mostly on the northeast corner of the main island
-8 tour boats
-Several courteous sport boats checking out the wildlife in the reserve

Ran desalinator. Re-did sealion fencing on the jetty.

 

Pelicans

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end of calm weather

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No recreational fishing effort count this morning due to fog
Fog cleared mid-day, and is now blowing back in with the help of 30 kt winds
High tides in the evening mean that nearly all the reserve sealions are camped outside the main house and near the jetty
There are now 8 Canada geese on the island making a mess of things.

Maintenance:

  • Ran desalinator and fixed leak on high pressure dial
  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Cleared debris and tidied up around buildings
  • Wrote an SOP for water sampling

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Off island yesterday from 1200 to 1700 for Pearson College paperwork and orientation. Returned in time for evening water sampling. 3 marine mammal tour boats were watching sealions on the jetty when I returned. Perfect, glassy water all day.

 

perfectly calm day

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2 whale watching boats
1 sport fishing boat within reserve boundaries
Coast Guard helicopter flew over

Wind less than 1kn all day, clear skies, and perfectly glassy water

Ran desalinator this morning, freshwater tank is almost full. Spoke with the desalinator technician about some particulars of the system but some mysteries still remain

Reset the Davis instruments weather system so that it uploads data again

A river otter lives under a wood pile next to the tank shed

September 9/13

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1040hrs DND started detonating explosives at Bentinck island  – 3 explosions followed by approx 10 minutes break and 3 more. sealions took notice and stood up,but few moved.

 

First day on watch.
Foggy all day so no boat count.
Chris and Erik have left all the systems in order so I just double checked things and settled in.

A nice, patriotic photo for my first day as EcoGuardian at Race Rocks

A nice, patriotic photo for my first day as EcoGuardian at Race Rocks

September 8/13

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Morning Weather: winds West 6kts,  seas Rppl,  Fog all around
Chris off station between 1100-1730hrs

marine traffic: eco-tour boats: 3

marina mammal count: west rock: 4 sealions , 3 seals, middle rocks: 142 sealions, 52 seals, north rock: 42 seals, Great Race Rocks (including east islets): 350 sealions, 65 seals

solar panels cleaned.

New Ecoguardian at Race Rocks

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We welcome Courtney Edwards to Pearson College campus. Courtney will be assuming the position of Eco-Guardian at Race Rocks, on rotation with Alex Fletcher. She will be starting (officially) Monday Sept 9/13 and be stationed at Race Rocks until December. She will return in March 2014 for the Spring rotation.
courtney

Courtney is a native islander who studied at UVIC and holds an MSc in Geography.
Her research and field work centered primarily on Aquaculture and bio-fouling. Courtney has extensive experience with field work in areas as diverse as invasive seaweed study, Aquaponics and greenhouse operation, GIS and surveying. She also worked as an outdoor guide and naturalist, and holds kayaking and scientific diving credentials.