June Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity (At 1m depth taken 1 hour before high tide)
July Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity (At 1m depth taken 1 hour before high tide)
August Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity (At 1m depth taken 1 hour before high tide)
September Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity (At 1m depth taken 1 hour before high tide)
The sunrise this morning was a brilliant band of red, silhouetting Mt Baker and foretelling of the blustery day to come. A true autumn storm arrived, with a north wind sustaining 20 – 25 knots (up the tower), most of the day. Air temperature was a little cooler than the sea surface temperature of 11.3oC today. There was also heavy rain and a falling barometer in front of the low. It is at 987.5 now ~ 5PM and it is still looking for the bottom. The forecast is for more of the same.
I keep expecting the whale watching industry to shut down for the season, but no, even today there were half a dozen visits to the Ecological Reserve. Ocean Magic surprised me as she came out from behind the north-west “hill” and flew past my living room window: definitely travelling at more than 7 knots through the Reserve. As yesterday, there were also open boats, with ruddy faces looking out from under hoods and hats. The temperature this afternoon reached a high of 10.5oC but with all that water falling from the sky and wind pushing it around, it didn’t look that comfortable just sitting in an open vessel.
A dozen Northern Elephant Seals have moved in and today they were lined up like hydrodynamic sausages, in front of the boat shed doors. ‘Gat’ (#5850-6967) is right in the middle of the pile and ‘Flake’ sleeps alone behind the boat-shed. There are at least two females and at least five sub-adult males. Sealions did not haul out on Great Race in the usual numbers today perhaps it was more comfortable on Middle Rock. There were still Humpback Whales just south of Rosedale Reef but most of the birds seemed to be hunkered down on the rocks. The Black Turnstones seem almost giddy with all the freshwater and are busy taking baths in the bigger puddles
Collecting the water sample was a bit wild today: first I had to get by the elephant seals and then the whole jetty was awash with the big waves that were rolling in. Quite exciting and successful. It was also a great day for collecting rainwater, looking on the bright side of the dark. This was the first day out here that I just took it easy. I lit a fire and read a book. Starting to think of home and my own hearth as my stay draws to a close. This is my last week at Race Rocks until spring.
It was another north-northeasterly day on Race Rocks. There was even some sunshine during the late morning and early afternoon but it clouded over for the latter part of the day. The barometer is dropping again and the forecast is for windy, cloudy and wet.
The weather did not deter the hardy whale watchers and nine tour vessels were observed in the Ecological Reserve.
Killer Whales, Humpback Whales, Steller and California Sealions, Northern Elephant Seals and Harbour Seals were also observed from the Ecological Reserve creating the draw for tourists.
Most of my day was tied up with supporting the water technician’s visit to repair the desalinator, briefing fending off Elephant Seals, stowing fire hoses and entering/organizing data. During my tower trip I was able to see all of these species and noted three new brands on Steller’s Sealions on MiddleRock.
The barometer climbed right out of its 996 hole today and there was glorious sunshine mixed with dark and nasty, west to southwest squalls. Some of the gloomier squalls also brought thunder and lightening. Band after band of bright and dark passed from the southwest. There was also a substantial groundswell. All of the weather drama made for a spectacular sunset.
Six brave whale watching boats were observed in the Ecological Reserve today and the folks in open boats must have had an interesting time during the big, mid-afternoon windstorm with a sudden and sodden downpour. I was out in the middle of it too, standing by, on the end of the jetty, waiting for a landing, but was too rough. It was gusting ~ 25 knots when I left the lighthouse to meet the boat and there were about 300 sealions hauled out in front of the science house.
There were also five adult Brown Pelicans on South Rock in the middle of this tempest’s blast. They can huddle down into a very low aerodynamic, face into the wind, posture and they didn’t get blown away.
The sealions retreated to the water during the deluge and have only now hauled out again en masse, three hours later. Many of the Stellers are in full molt now and some of them are looking quite scruffy. ‘Flake’ is the only Northern Elephant Sea of the ten blocking the jetty this morning that looks like he is still moulting. He may have a skin condition, as it is quite pink and raw looking.
The biggest of this crew is starting to “sprout” the big proboscis for which the adult males are famous. It looked to me like it was quite uncomfortable and kept awaking and thrashing around and garbling. They must feel really heavy on land after being at sea so much of their life.
Flake, (top left) and other Northern Elephant Seals have taken over the entrance to the boat shed and jetty.
The seal on the left kept awaking from sleep disturbed and the one on the right would grip him each time it happened. I wonder if it hurts having your nose grow that fast?
Today was census day and the results are listed below. I missed the Harbour Seals due to the ferocity of oncoming squalls but will try to catch them tomorrow.
Steller Sealion 318
California Sealion 381
Northern Elephant Seal 10
Canada Goose 22
Greater White-fronted Goose 1
Harlequin Duck 5
Double-crested Cormorant 118
Pelagic Cormorant 19
Brown Pelican 5
Black Turnstone 9
Surfbird 5
Sanderling 3
Western Sandpiper 2
Dunlin 2
Black Oystercatcher 12
Killdeer 2
Glaucous-winged Gull 150
Thayer’s Gull 1200
California Gull 2
Western Gull 7
Heerman’s Gull 4
Gull sp. 50
Common Murre 3
Fox Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 1
Savannah Sparrow 15
There was a big blow last night and I learned that this house can whistle; with three distinct tones, synchronously, very musical. This morning there was a swell from the southeaster and an even bigger groundswell coming in from open sea to the west. Add the tidal race to the mix and you can imagine that the wave patterns created were mesmerizing.
It seemed like the day was in recovery from the storm, with gentle winds from the north-northeast, light rain and overcast. The pattern of barometric pressure change was not so reassuring, falling since noon it is now back below 998 hPa. That is where it was for last night’s big blow. It looks like the forecast is for more of the same.
There were six whale-watching boats observed in the Ecological Reserve today; five Canadian and the almost daily visitor from Port Angeles, called Island Explorer. The big draw, other than Race Rocks itself, were abundant Humpback Whales in the area. It certainly wasn’t the weather. At least two of the Humpback Whales were in the Ecological Reserve .
There were four Elephant Seals on the marine railway today, Gat (#5850-6967) , Flake and two larger animals. They ‘played’ together and then slept together for most of the day. More sealions than have hauled out since about a week ago, were also sleeping soundly throughout the day today, perhaps recovering from last night.
The three entangled Stellers sealions that are proposed candidates for disentanglement were all attending, two of them hauling out close to the living-room window of the science house.
When I was doing the seawater sample I noticed a couple of Harlequin Ducks foraging on the north side of the island. I would like to see them on the underwater camera.
More shorebirds were observed foraging on the abandoned sealion haul-out today; Dunlin, Western Sandpipers and Sanderlings were foraging with the Black Turnstones. The smaller birds were kneading the substrate with their feet and probing. That area is completely covered in a mat of sealion hair from their moult.
Even though it was a dark and gloomy day, the solar panels managed to keep up with operational, electrical use. The generator is just cooling now after topping up the batteries for the night.
It was another day of mixed weather at Race Rocks. Gentle breezes less than five knots, tended north to northeast all day. While the sea surface appeared calm, there was a big sea running that caused spectacular waves on the west side of the islands. The barometer rose until noon and then started to slip back down. Although it looks like rain coming on the horizon now, it was a fairly dry day while apparently pouring down over on the American side.
In spite of many Humpback Whales in sight from Great Race, the season must be winding down, as there were only five whale-watching boats observed within the Ecological Reserve and only one sports fisher stopped by for a look at the seals and sealions.
The interesting, new (to me), Steller’s Sealion brand of the day comes from almost as far away as yesterday’s George Island animal whose branding location was indicated by the ‘Y.’ Today’s ‘T’ stands for Marmot Island which is just off the southeast end of Kodiak Island. So both of these animals are from the western Alaskan Stellers Sealion population, west of 140 degrees west. The western population is considered to be endangered due to its inexplicably, declining numbers. How interesting that these guys are hanging out here, where there is a lots of food right now, far from home.
This branded Stellers Sealion was born on Marmot Island just off Kodiak Island, Alaska. He was branded as a pup, July 4, 2010.
Second Nature, with Courtney at the helm, brought out the chimney specialists who cleaned and inspected the chimneys in both houses. A young Frenchman from Lille who is volunteering at Pearson College came along as well. I did some more trouble-shooting with the desalinator and called an expert for help. I strung the fire-hoses and fired up the Briggs & Stratton and pumped seawater into the cistern. The hoses are getting a nice fresh water rinse over-night.
Weather was happening all around Race Rocks today but it was pretty nice here. There was a significant swell, which is nice to watch, unless you want to launch a boat. Across the Strait, on the American side, it was really pouring on the Olympic Peninsula especially in the Elwah Valley. Here, clouds came and went, it rained a little, it shone a bit and the barometer was actually up and steady after yesterday’s low. Forecast is for more of the same.
There were only two whale-watching boats observed in the Ecological Reserve today and one was a “new” catamaran vessel that I have not seen before, called “4-Ever Wild”.
Juan de Fuca Warrior spent the day with a crew diving in the Ecological Reserve most of the day again today. I forgot to mention that yesterday there were three happy kayakers enjoying a paddle in the Ecological Reserve and unwittingly getting a little too close to the sealions.
Some of the photos of sealions taken from the tower actually show Elephant Seals too. Can you spot the Elephant Seals in these two photos?
I spent quite a bit of time troubleshooting web-cams, “watertight boxes”, power and ethernet lines, not very successfully, but maybe tomorrow. I changed both of the cartridge filters on the desalinator today. I worked on further organization of the brand, tag and entanglement data for both species of sealion and got some new photos of brands.
The Steller Sealion in the background Euju 299Y was I believe, tagged on St. George Island in the Bering Sea. The Y refers to that location which is close to 5,000 kilometers away from Race Rocks. Looking for confirmation of this amazing voyage.
Today was a transitional day that started with a spectacular sunrise of backlit clouds with lots of pinks and reds. That was a warning of things to come. It didn’t blow much until just before sunset and then switched from the dithering north and northeast winds of the daytime to a steady westerly of 20 knots, gusting to over 25 knots. The rain was not far behind.
This warm blow feels and smells like a pineapple express, even above the essence of sea lion. The barometer track from last night to this one was a diagonal drop but the forecast shows some hope for sunshine tomorrow and then back to southeast.
There were ten commercial whale watching boat visits to the Ecological Reserve today and even more activity in Race Passage. There were multiple Humpback Whales in the neighbourhood again today. It was also a busy day for sports-fishing boats and people racing around in speedboats. There were several speeders in the Ecological Reserve including a young family who had rented at Pedder Bay marina.
A Harbour Seal hauls out in the Jetty bay most afternoons now. It is very photogenic with its little pink tongue and great stretches. Check-out those not so cute, formidable looking nails (aka claws).
Another favorite resident here is the Black Oystercatcher.
I did the usual chores today, clean-up, wash solar panels, sample seawater and run the generator for a couple of hours to top up the batteries. I tried unsuccessfully (again) to fix the wind direction input on the weather station and to get the weed-eater going.
Pam Birley from England just sent this great image which she took this afternoon on underwater camera 2.
Link to other observations by visitors on the webcam by clicking on the Webcam Visitor observations link in the line below.
Thanks to Rick Page, a Board Member of Friends of Ecological Reserves for forwarding these images of Brown Pelicans taken at Race Rocks today. He says ” I was in the bow of the boat and noticed the profile of the pelicans from a long way out as they stood on the peak of West Rocks.”
