The Board of the Friends of Ecological Reserves has posted their first set of Information Requests to the National Energy Board and Kinder Morgan as Intervenors in the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project . Their concerns focus on the Ecological reserves of Southern Vancouver Island such as Race Rocks .
See this link with a further link to all intervenors Information requests.
The following is a draft copy of a graph I am working on to illustrate the growth of the elephant seal population at Race Rocks over the past few years. The information has been retrieved from logs of current and past Ecoguardians and photos and notes taken over the years.
To be continued: G. Fletcher
Clear skies. Light NE in the am, glassy calm by evening. Force 0.
Barometer dropped a little, but levelled off this evening at 1024 hPa. Forecast is for moderate Easterlies tomorrow.
4 tour boats in the afternoon.
5 bald eagles this morning. The Elephant seals were in the water again first thing this morning. They came back up onto the island around 0900, and then went back for a late afternoon cool down. A new juvenile came ashore today with some very uncomfortable looking scabby-molt. The large male is next to the diesel bunker. Many of the seal are fully moulted now and look sleek and healthy. I’m curious to see how long they stick around. Many of the Steller Sea lions were not in the reserve this afternoon when I came back on the boat. No sign of Guillemot nesting on the bluff yet.
Off station for most of today for groceries and errands.
Took in garbage and recycling.
Took hedge trimmer into maintenance for servicing.
Traded broken VHF antenna for a working antenna.
Clear skies. Light West winds
5 tour boats
6 halibut boats on the edge of the reserve
The Pearson College students left today. And they did a great job cleaning the Science house, which is much appreciated.
I found a Black Oyster Catcher nest today. It is East of the Keeper’s House, down towards the rocky beach. Two eggs.
Strong West winds all day. Overcast with sunny periods. Force 5.
Barometer is steadily rising, no up to 10190 hPa. Forecast is for West wind to continue.
6 tour boats
1 dive boat
2 recreational boats passed through
4 halibut boats on the edge of the reserve
Patchy clouds. Strong Westerlies, low West swell. Force 5 most of the day.
Barometer on the rise since last night. Forecast is for more strong West.
4 tour botas
2 halibut boats on edge of reserve
1225 fly-over by a small plane
The Elephant seals have officially moved all the way to the other side of the path. They are now next to the water tank shed. Not sure why they decide to move, or how they choose the location, but they are busy creatures in their own way. There are lots of Gull nests taking shape all over the island. No sign yet of any of eggs or nesting though. There are still 3 Canada goose goslings being aggressively guarded by their parents.
Erik dropped off an Advisee group for the weekend.
-Checked battery bank specific gravity
-topped up batteries
-put voltage controller back together
-Ran generator and monitored inverters and battery bank
Light variable North wind most of the day, blowing strong West this evening. Clouds and intermittent rain all day. Force 1 in the am, Force 5 this evening. The barometer levelled out just above 1000 hPa around 1800. The forecast is for strong West, diminishing to slightly-less strong SW overnight.
4 tour boats
3 halibut boats on the edge of the reserve
I’m used to seeing the little zodiacs out for the marine tours, but there are a couple tour boats that are really really big. I usually catch them out of the corner of my eye and have to do a double take. It’s a bit like suddenly seeing a small house sitting off the island where it is normally just empty water. It’s crazy that a boat that big will casually pass past the end of the jetty, through a narrow channel that is ripping with the fastest currents on Southern Vancouver Island.
The males Elephant seals are more active and aggressive and have lots of little sparing battles throughout the day. The females might growl, but otherwise they are pretty chill. There doesn’t seem to be any patterns in groups in terms of sex, with the males and females spread out pretty evenly. Although the larger males tend to spend more time away from the group. There are still 2 small juveniles (nicknamed Jellybean and Peanut since they are so darn round and cute). One of the young adult males spent some time ‘chasing’ me while I scoped out the other E-seals. He also chased some sea gulls for a while. They definitely don’t hesitate to growl at the Canada Geese or Gulls when they are too close or fly over. I’ve been keeping my eye out for any E-seal flipper tags, but haven’t seen any in a while. Lots of Pigeon Guillemots today.
Strong Westerlies, clear skies. Force 4-5
Barometer is falling again, with a strong West wind warning overnight.
The Washington Marine text forecast has not been updating since yesterday.
4 tour boats
3 halibut boats on the edge of the reserve
RIP Farley Mowat: acclaimed Canadian author, and ardent environmentalist.
I saw another pair of Canada geese with a single gosling today. There are now 3 goslings in total. I realized the other day that there are no Black Turnstones around any more, I guess they’ve gone North for the summer breeding season. There is a pair of Oyster catchers setting up shop on the steep slope East of the jetty, I hope they make a nest there where it is easy for me to observe them. The Cackling goose and White Fronted goose are both still on Great Race. The animal highlight of the day was a mystery bird. It was up really high above Great Race when I first came out this morning. It was mostly white underneath and was clearly an offshore bird because it had that albatross-esque silhouette. It made a really awkward, throaty sound, almost like a heron. On the Race Rocks species page the only offshore birds list are the Sooty Shearwater and the Laysan Albatross. The Shearwater is ruled out because it is grey underneath, so my best guess is that this morning I saw a Laysan albatross.
-Trouble shooting temperature issues on inverter 1
-Finished leak repair on outside of Science house door
-Washed Keeper’s house windows
Strong Westerlies all day. Clear skies. Force 5
The barometer has been pretty level, the forecast is for the wind to ease overnight and pick up as strong Westerlies again tomorrow afternoon.
6 tour boats
3 halibut boats on the edge of the reserve
Business as usual in the reserve today. The Elephant seals are still in the front yard. The Sea lions are on Middle Rock. Lots of Gulls. My windows are in dire need of washing after being seriously bombed by the Gulls. The challenge is that there are two very aggressive Canada Geese nesting next to the tap I need to use to get the pump running off the rain water collection tank. We have a truce for getting firewood but I get attacked every time I go to the compost. I’m hoping that the Geese and I can work something out for using the hose.
-Ran desalinator off the PV panels
-Worked on SOPs and shift calendar
-Started cleaning sludge of roof of energy building
-Worked on Science house basement door
Light to no wind. Clear skies. Force 0.
Barometer is steadily rising. Forecast is for a ridge approaching overnight, strong West winds tomorrow.
5 tour boats
2 recreational fishing boats passed through the reserve.
2 recreational boats fishing for halibut just outside the reserve boundary
1 recreational boat jigging just outside the boundary
When I went outside last night around 2200 to take my water sample there were no Gulls. Normally, I turn on the outside light to clear out the Gulls right next to the house because it’s really unnerving to have them flying around your head with just a little headlamp for light. And as I walk down the paths the Geese and Gulls make a tonne of noise and fly out of the radius of light made by my headlamp. But last night it was completely quiet, not a Gull on the island, which is really eerie when you’re used to a constant bird orchestra. And then this morning, they were all back in their usual spots. There were 6 Bald Eagles in the reserve this morning, so maybe that’s why the Gulls left for the night. I saw a Gull take a few stabs at one of the Canada goose goslings while the adult Geese weren’t looking, but it was chased off by the male Goose. It was a hot day for the Elephant seals, and they either went down to the water, sat in some nasty puddles, hid in the shade of the buildings, or tried a combination of those strategies throughout the day.
-Cleaned air intakes on the Xantrex inverters in an attempt to cool down Inverter 1
-Took down the broken VHF antenna by climbing up into the Science House attic
-Changed desalinator HP pump oil
-Found a new Goose nest on the South side of the island
-Ran the crane for the monthly check