Monthly Archives: September 2014

Generating History

Posted on by

High clouds settled in today and there were even a few minute raindrops for a short time in the late morning and early evening. Hazy marine air was evident along the coast to Victoria while across on the American side, it looked like it might really be raining in the Elwha Valley, Olympic National Park. The barometer continues its slow slide, which started last Thursday. The westerly wind is forecast again for tomorrow and it has already started.

A Humpback Whale feeding and resting to the south of the rocks and Killer Whales to the west, continued to draw whale–watching boats from Victoria and a total of 22 were noted in the Ecological Reserve today, mostly observing pinnipeds (Steller’s and California Sea Lions, Harbour and Elephant Seals). One commercial, charter, fishing boat also stopped by to watch the sea lions.

One of the Brown Pelicans came back today and some members of the Victoria Historical Society group saw it on their way out to the island. Three groups of twelve people each had historical tours of Race Rocks today.

The historians were very interested in Garry Fletcher’s on-site presentations about the history of Great Race Island, the 500 year-old plus, indigenous rock cairns and the 154 year history of the Lighthouse. Race Rocks is designated as a heritage site but that only means it is registered in Ottawa, not offered any conservation protection. The Race Rocks Ecological Reserve protects Race Rocks’ biodiversity and natural history and is part of BC Parks, but it does not include human history.

Federal law passed specifically three years ago to protect historical lighthouses does not apply to the six original Imperial Lighthouses, of which this is one. Race Rocks  light-tower pre-dates the confederation of Canada and it is the only stone-constructed light tower and one of a handful of standing stone structures this old, in western Canada. It needs protection. You can learn more about its’ fascinating history through this web-site under history. There is even historical video footage of the demolition of the historic, granite, light-keeper’s house in the 1960s by bulldozer and explosives. Fisgard Light which was completed six weeks before Race Rocks is a much less impressive brick tower and is endowed with full heritage protection by Parks Canada.

With 37 visitors to attend to, I did not spend much time making ecological observations today. I did a few maintenance chores before they arrived, washing windows, sweeping the main walk-way with an historical broom and weed-eating around the fly wheels of an old Fairbanks-Morse engine from the turn of the last century, with an historical weed-eater from late in the last century. There are quite a few pieces of old Fairbanks-Morse machinery lying around that could be of historical interest. Here is a YouTube link to a similar 1906 Fairbanks-Morse engine, running. What a beast. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTiK2B88EJs

My last tasks of the day are to move deionized water, delivered with the guests by Courtney on MV Second Nature, up to the energy building, and to make fresh water with the desalinator, while the historic Lister generator tops up the batteries which are powered mostly by solar panels.

Blustery

Posted on by

It was a blustery day dominated by the west wind today and with the wind came some cloud cover and cooler maritime air. The barometer rose slightly and then started to drop late in the day. It is likely that we will get both fog and showers tomorrow.

I saw Killer Whales off to the southwest, early, but only had glimpses and wasn’t able to identify them. Whale watching was down to a dull roar with only seven commercial whale-watching boats noted in the reserve today. There was no illegal fishing activity and only one recreational boat that came in to watch the sea lions.

These young Steller's Sea Lions have been wrestling for hours and are taking a break here without either conceding defeat.

These young Steller’s Sea Lions have been wrestling for hours and are taking a break here without either conceding defeat.

The bigger, young, male Steller’s Sea Lions spend hours each day practicing their sparring skills as they try to grab the other by the throat or hold the head of their opponent down through brute force. This activity usually happens in the shallow water next to the haul-out, so they are actually moving around on the rocks underneath them but in the water. It appears to be all in good fun and involves a lot of lunging, avoidance, feints, attacks and parrying. All good practice for when they are big enough to haul out on the breeding grounds and fight with more grim determination to hold their ground and pass their genes on to the next generation.

Brown Pelicans blown in by the westerly winds.

One of the Brown Pelicans blown in by the westerly winds and a young gull.

The west wind blew in four Brown Pelicans today and their arrival seemed to herald a change of season. They were buffeted by the heavy winds and didn’t stay for long.

Other visitors today included the electrician and his assistant/daughter(?) and her friend, who would like to be an eco-guardian some day. The electrician was tilting up the last row of the flat solar panels and inspecting the solar-powered system.

Solar panels provide much of the electricity used on the island and the generator is just used to top-up the batteries. The plan is to add wind generation, which would further enhance sustainable, off-grid, power generation. There is certainly enough wind.

Sizzling September

Posted on by

Summer continues on Race Rocks with light easterly winds switching around to westerly this evening. It is still clear but there are more clouds tonight than I have seen in a while. Overall the barometer has been slowly dropping since last Thursday yet still remains relatively high. Although there is a gale warning in effect for tomorrow, the winds will be westerlies, which usually means good weather, but may bring in the fog.

Killer Whales to the south and southwest of Race Rocks drew quite a few tour boats again today. A total of fourteen whale watching boats were observed in the reserve, all well behaved. There was no illegal fishing observed.

Another ring-necked, California Sea Lion was photographed today. It appears to be healing although no rehabilitation tags were observed on this animal and it was difficult to tell if the entanglement was still there or not.

This California Sea Lion appears to be recovering from a ring-neck injury. No tags to indicate rehabilitation.

This California Sea Lion appears to be recovering from a ring-neck injury. No tags to indicate rehabilitation.

Unlike some of the ring-neck sea lions this wound appears to be clean and healing.

Unlike some of the ring-neck sea lions this wound appears to be clean and healing.

Most of the sea lions hauled out at Race Rocks appear to be in good shape. Here is a photo of a well fed Steller’s Sea Lion.

A big male Steller's Sea Lion is well fed and appears to be enjoying resting in the water.

A big male Steller’s Sea Lion is well fed and appears to be enjoying resting in the water.


The total number of Double Crested Cormorants and flock size, seems to go up everyday. Today I saw my first returning Surf Scoters flying in from the west. Rhinoceros Auklets, Common Murres and Heerman’s Gulls are very active around the edges of the reserve. The Heerman’s Gulls sometimes rest on the big rafts of bull kelp.

The Bull Kelp is on its’ way out and is epiphytized with red and green algae. Much of the area on the large blades have gone into zoospore production and the spore patches are clearly visible.

Bull kelp sporophylls are the lighter areas of the blades. This is where millions of zoospores are produced to make the microscopic over-wintering gametophytes.

Bull kelp sporophylls are the lighter areas of the blades. This is where millions of zoospores are produced to make the microscopic over-wintering gametophytes.


This last large tidal series has ‘littered’ the tide lines with floating kelp, wood and debris. A dock with a braced super-structure heading out to sea with the tide in Race Passage was reported as a hazard to navigation.

A lot of maintenance work has been accomplished over the last few days. The Jetty exclusion zone is now working well. The science house perimeter is functional. The weed-eater is working well and the compost is mulched in with hay. Many little things are a bit cleaner and tidier than when they were found.

Super September

Posted on by

It just keeps going, for now. The barometer is not doing much; the gentle outflows are keeping the fog out. The smog from the interior is cranking up the sunsets. It is supposed to change by Wednesday though, so enjoy it while you can.

There were 24 whale watching boats observed in the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve and Rockfish Conservation Area today. Most of them came in the afternoon and spent time to the south of the reserve watching cetaceans before or after coming in to see the sea lions.

Most of the Whale Watching boats are very well behaved and respectful but there are a few boats that may be pushing the boundaries in terms of slowing to 7 knots within the Reserve and/or speeding before leaving the Reserve. The same may be said for dive charters and some sport’s fishing charter boats. The speed limit is 7 knots within the Reserve.

A dive charter operator out of Victoria was back again today with divers and the operator of the vessel sped around the kelp bed, an area with lots of sea lions in the water, after dropping off his divers. In the end he had to come back to the drop-off point to pick up the divers, so not sure what the point was. One Pedder Bay Marine rental boat was reported jigging in the reserve again today.

Maintenance work took priority over observations today and Alex helped with all kinds of entropy-fighting activities including fence mending, moving concrete blocks, and fixing the weed eater. Now I will be able to put aside some hay for composting in the winter without bringing in off-island seeds or continuing to use the little hand scythe. He also contributed some great ideas for improvements like adding vertical rubbing strakes on the jetty, painting a mark on the marine railway carriage to indicate the depth required for loading/unloading the whaler and sending an e-map showing the 40m contour to all the operators who frequent the Reserve.

Summer Continues.

Posted on by

It was a sunny day and clear except for the smog and smoke coming from the east with very light winds. The trend continues until at least Wednesday when showers are forecast.

The whales and tour boats were elsewhere today and the only touristic activity were recreational boaters and the Juan de Fuca Warrior Dive Charter which made two trips to the reserve with divers.

No time for ecological happenings or photographs today as I was busy fighting entropy. I did have a couple of visitors, one of my brothers and his friend who used to be a lighthouse keeper. They were fishing nearby and dropped in.

They both helped set up the fire hoses for filling the cistern and I ran the fire pump, the desalinator and the generator. Their visit was short as the fish were calling. This afternoon, I tried unsuccessfully again to start the weed-eater and hand scythed a swath of hay for the compost.

This evening after the seawater sampling I launched the boat and picked up my husband and a few supplies. The air is definitely fresher in Metchosin but it was good to get back to the rock for an incredibly spectacular sunset.

Real Summer.

Posted on by

When the good weather comes and stays in September, a friend of mine, who is a west coast, hereditary chief says, “well, white man’s summer is over, now we’ll have real summer” and that is what we are having. It continues, with more on the horizon until at least next Thursday.

Phone and Internet were down here last night so I am posting both days’ logs here.
Yesterday there were only four tour boat visits to the reserve observed and two of them were by the same boat at different times, its’ second visit minutes late to see spectacular whale action. No illegal fishing activity was observed. No visitors. Today was more active with lots of Southern Resident Killer Whales in the area – 27 boats. Some may be speeding in the reserve but it is hard to tell where the boundary is without a range finder.

Yesterday was census day and while compiling and organizing, numbers and photos on the computer, there was a sea lion ruckus outside. When your only neighbours are sea lions and they are calling, you look.

The Steller’s were up and alert stretching out their necks and roaring. The California Sea Lions were barking their heads off (not unusual). About one body length off the jetty a huge, adult male, Bigg’s Killer Whale rose, blew and dove. Two other females (?) and a small calf followed and they were in hot pursuit of either a seal or sea lion. They came up in the kelp to the northwest, one of the females spy-hopping at the east end of the kelp bed while the others looped around to the northwest. The chase culminated at North Rocks where the Harbour Seals haul out.

I lost sight of them on the other side of that islet where I assume they ate dinner. Returning to the house after the uproar died down, I was congratulating myself on the stunning photographs I had taken when I realized that the memory card was sitting in the computer.

Something of interest (to me at least) was a tightly packed group of about fifteen large, male Steller’s Sea Lions that swam into the area where the Killer Whales had just been in front of the jetty. They were in tight formation and swam around together like that for quite awhile, at the surface, heads up and agitated. After the Killer Whales had left the area, small groups of California Sea Lions were observed ‘porpoising’. Maybe they were practicing evasive, aerial actions. That would be an evolutionarily, advantageous activity in which to be well versed. A whale watching boat arrived about five minutes after all of the action.

Charismatic Megafauna census September 11, 2014
Bigg’s Killer Whales 4
California Sea Lion 373
Steller’s Sea Lion 240
Elephant Seal 4
Harbour Seal 151 (maybe 150 now ; – )
Canada Goose 8
Pelagic Cormorant 4
Double Crested Cormorant 11
Least Sandpiper 2
Killdeer 2
Black Oystercatcher 4
Black Turnstone 10
Pigeon Guillemots 0
Glaucous-winged Gull 113
California Gull 31
Heerman Gull 3
Ring-billed Gull 2
Gull sp. 17 (bigger hybrids?)
Savannah Sparrow 7
Fox Sparrow 1

Today, a large adult Humpback Whale was noted, travelling west, passing less than one nautical mile south of the reserve. Travelling in the opposite direction, later in the day was a very large pod of Killer Whales, said to be Southern Residents by the Whale Watching boats talking on the VHF radio.

Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales being jockeyed for position by a dozen whale watching boats.

Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales being jockeyed for position by a dozen whale watching boats.

I shot more brand-marked sea lion photos today and yesterday and looked for different entangled animals resulting in photos of two entangled, ring-necked Steller’s Sea Lions; one with heavy fishing line like halibut gear and the other too far away to tell. These photos will contribute to a study on sea lion entanglement and we are hoping the disentanglement team might be able to visit and help relieve one of these animals of their plastic noose.

A Steller's Sea Lion ring-necked with heavy fishing line.

A Steller’s Sea Lion ring-necked with heavy fishing line.

[caption id="attachment_15543" align="alignright" width="300"]Steller's Sea Lion that is ring-necked/entangled and sits in the water at South Islands with its' head up. Steller’s Sea Lion that is ring-necked/entangled and sits in the water at South Islands with its’ head up.

Maintenance chores today and yesterday consisted of fixing fences, fixing the internet/phone (with help from Jonathan over the phone), trying to fix the weed-eater, hand scything hay for the compost pile, seawater sampling, window washing, and fixing the weather system.

Killer Whales, Porpoise and Sea Lions Galore.

Posted on by

It was another glorious day at Race Rocks and the trend is continuing. The barometer rose slowly until late afternoon and then levelled off and dropped a bit. The forecast is for outflow easterlies that are so good at keeping the fog at bay.
Following a little too close.
There was a flurry of whale watching activity today as Southern Resident Killer Whales went past Race Rocks going east with the tide. After the main pod had passed, there were 15 whale watching boats in the reserve and I noted a total of 32 over the day.
Crowded in front of the jetty
I saw two Harbour Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) feeding in the reserve. They are such smooth, quiet, little divers. They seemed to be feeding on some sort of forage fish that were flipping at the surface. Very tidy and well behaved compared to the sea lions.
Tide is coming up.
Some of the choice spots for hauling out are quite crowded now and there is a lot of jockeying for position in the California Sea Lion mosh pit where it is not unusual to see animals running across others to find a comfy sleeping spot. They stack in like cord-wood and must keep each other warm.

Here are a few shots of the California Sea Lion with the orange tags (no numbers) that has been ring-necked but seems to be healthy and vigorous. I didn’t find the ring-necked Steller’s today.
Stopped scratching for a moment.
Healing Ring-neck.Healthier ring-neck

Alex Fletcher solved my bird mystery: the mystery birds are Killdeer that arrive just after dark each night. Alex has heard them in the winter too. They must roost on the island and then leave for the day, as I have not seen them in daylight yet.

I finished the fence today, did more cleaning and made fresh water with the desalinator. By the time I went to turn off the generator the Sea Lions were laying on my fence. Hmmm, that is not not very effective.

Cut and Recycle Plastic Straps

Posted on by

Beautiful weather continues and today’s lack of fog and strong winds made it a really perfect summer day. The barometer rose steadily all day and the outlook is for more of the same.

Thirty-five whale-watching boats were noted in the reserve today and some may have been missed as I made a mad dash to “civilization” during the late afternoon slack tide. It is quite a process getting the boat launched and then back up into the boat shed but the good coffee I picked up made it all worthwhile. Back on the rock now with 600 sea lions and one Elephant Seal.

Killer Whales were within sight today, out in Juan de Fuca Strait, but not in the reserve and that was why there was high traffic by the boats, stopping by to see the sea lions.

I spent an hour this morning in the tower, photographing the tagged/branded animals that I have been recording. It is really nice to have a birds’ eye view of the rookery. Speaking of rooks, there were two ravens this morning. Until today I have only seen solo ravens. The evening bird continues to be a mystery to me, I can only describe the call as being high pitched and saying something like chee bedee be dee be dee. From the few glimpses I have had of it in the dark (not very good glimpses) I would say that it flew like a shorebird. (turned out to be a killdeer)

Common Murres and Rhinoceros Auklets are feeding in deeper water around the reserve now and today saw an influx of California Gulls into the reserve. The Heerman’s Gulls continue to join mixed-species, feeding flocks and forage on their own but I have not seen any landing on Great Race. There are more and more Canada Geese landing every day and they are eating every new little green thing that is not a thistle. Can they be classified as pest-like?

Another reason to both cut and recycle plastic straps. Three ring-necks observed today.

Another reason to both cut and recycle plastic straps. Three ring-necks observed today.

I photo-documented more entangled sea lions today to follow up on work being done by Wendy Szaniszlo, the Vancouver Aquarium and others. I observed two California Sea Lions ring necked, one is doing very poorly with an open wound and liquid coming out of it. It looks like a white plastic strap. The other may have already been treated as it looks and acts healthy. As I was coming into to land at the jetty in the tidal race, I noticed a Steller’s Sea Lion that was ring-necked. I did not get a chance to photograph it as landing here is already exciting enough by myself. I will look for it after chores in the morning.

Chores were basic today, cleaning and organizing, sharpening tools and almost completing the new fence.

Bigg’s Killer Whales Kill in Reserve.

Posted on by

The barometer rose all day and so did the westerly winds, so by the time the tide started to ebb, the opposing forces made spectacular waves. Tonight is the last full moon of the summer and it is in perigee, closest to the Earth, so it appears to be a big one, marking the third of a trilogy of super-moons we have been enjoying. It also means bigger than usual tides, making things seem even more dramatic. It was clear all day, no fog, but there are low clouds sneaking in along the Olympic Mountains and the look of fog out to sea. The westerly is supposed to be a little tamer on Tuesday.

Twenty-one tour boats were noted in the reserve today as well as one dive charter boat. A couple of the whale watchers looked like they were pushing the speed limit in the reserve and pushing the marine mammal viewing regulations outside the reserve. No illegal fishing was observed.

I am adding photos to the sea lion branding/tagging observations and that will make the data much more rigorous. Another entangled, aka ring-necked California Sea Lion was photographed. This time it looked like plastic strapping cutting a deep and infected wound.

Bigg’s Killer Whales visited again today. It appeared that they chased Steller Sea Lions all the way here from at least Albert Head. It was very dramatic here as they wove in and out of the kelp and through the tidal rips and standing waves, going with the tide and at great speed. One exhausted male Steller’s hauled out just as the chase was passing and he looked as though he may have been part of it all. He collapsed in a heap and immediately went to sleep. He was the lucky one. The kill happened in the reserve, just southwest of Great Race. There appeared to be a fairly small baby in the family of whales. The group was purportedly the T-61s (not sure of the source however). I tried to take photos so will report back with verified identification information once that comes in.

I finished some more of the set up to protect the ‘Science House’ today and started to clean out the northwest entrance to the generator room. There is a lot of very satisfying cleaning here, when you sweep you really get results, today it was many, many, generations of Ligia pallasii exoskeletons. Wow it’s a moult room instead of a cloak room.

The Race Pushes out Illegal Fishers

Posted on by

The day started and ended beautiful and clear, with thick fog coming and going, in between. The westerly winds were unabated and are still gusting over 25 knots as I write this at 21:30. The barometer ended up a little lower than it started with a few ups and downs. It looks like more of the same for tomorrow.

There were only three tour boats noted today and they were following Bigg’s Killer Whales to the west. With lots of Southern Resident Killer Whales, in the Gulf Islands that is probably where the main fleet was working today.

There was another Pedder Bay Marina rental boat with three male Asians fishing illegally in the Rockfish Conservation area today but by the time I tried to hail them on the radio and find the number for DFO Observe, Record, Report, the tidal flow had booted them out of the reserve. They tried again but were repulsed again by the mighty Race. Go tide. I also watched a small, skillfully sailed vessel virtually fly through with full sails and the westerly astern plus a big flood tide whipping him along.

Moving the 100 lb. propane tanks yesterday bugged my knee so I had a slow day today and learned how to use the camera (a little). Here is a photo requested by the Eco-Reserve Warden, Garry Fletcher. He asked for a photo with sea lions in the foreground and a ship in the background. Voila. (Okay, next time the horizon will be level.)

Seals and Sea Lions in the foreground, ship in the background.

Seals and Sea LIons in the foreground, ship in the background.

There are still a few technical details to figure out on how to make an electric fence to keep the big sea lions from leaning their way into the basement of the Science House. I am trying to train them to stay off the house by tapping two rocks together but they are not easily intimidated and some of them are downright ornery.