Monthly Archives: October 2014

Gentle Breezes

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There were gentle breezes from the north and northeast with mostly sunny skies today, a nice reprieve from yesterday. There was no groundswell and the barometer continued its 20 degree climb until late afternoon. As the sun set, the breeze swung over to the southwest and now that is night, it is back to northwest. The outlook is a switch back to southeast winds as another low approaches.

There was quite a bit of fishing activity in the distance around Race Rocks but nothing observed in the Ecological Reserve itself. Cedar, a sailboat registered in Victoria cut right across the kelp beds north and east of Turbine Rock, under power and managed to come out the other side without stalling or snagging a rock.

No problem cutting right through kelp beds, heading for the haul-out.

No problem cutting right through kelp beds, heading for the haul-out.

A few sports-fishers passed through, doing the speed limit with two exceptions.

Perhaps speed limit signs need to be installed or the DFO notice needs to be recirculated?

Perhaps speed limit signs need to be installed or DFO notice needs to be recirculated?

Ogden Point Dive boat, JdF Warrior spent the day, as is usual on Saturdays, diving in the Ecological Reserve.

This boat brings divers to the Ecological Reserve every Saturday, for multiple dives.

This boat brings divers to the Ecological Reserve every Saturday, for multiple dives.

Up to three o’clock, just one whale watching boat was observed in the Reserve. After three-thirty a dozen boats went through on their way, to and from the whales.

It was a quiet day until mid afternoon, in terms of ecological observations. I finally got a photo of one of the Killdeer that I hear calling just about every night. Until today I have just had glimpses of it in the dark.

I finally saw one of the mysterious Killdeer that usually arrive after dark and leave before dawn. The distinctive call drew me to the bird.

I finally saw one of the mysterious Killdeer that usually arrive after dark and leave before dawn. The distinctive call drew me to the bird.

There didn’t seem to be much happening so I had a look at the underwater camera and in a few minutes had seen three species of rockfish, Sebastes melanops, s. maliger and S. nebulosus, large, adult male and large female greenlings and then of course the lavendar carpet of coralline algae, orange cup-corals Balanophyllia elegans, the ubiquitous red urchins, Stronglyocentrotus fransiscanus and the beautiful white plumose anemones Metridium farcimen. Wow, that is a window on the underwater world.

Marine protected areas can grow big healthy, rockfish like this one that will then disperse young to adjacent fishing areas.

Marine protected areas can grow big healthy, rockfish like this one that will then disperse young to populate adjacent fishing areas.

After 3PM there was an explosion of cetacean activity and mixed species feeding aggregations all around Race Rocks. I didn’t see any whales right in the Ecological Reserve but they had the place surrounded. There were at least four Humpback Whales and three separate pods of Killer Whales.

Multiple pods of Killer Whales were feeding in the vicinity of Race Rocks today.

Multiple pods of Killer Whales were feeding in the vicinity of Race Rocks today.

The Humpbacks were breaching and fin slapping as well as exhibiting their more dignified behaviours of blowing and diving. A whale watching boat skipper said on the VHF radio, that he had seen seven Humpbacks between Secretary and Race Rocks and there were at least another two to the east of Race Rocks. The Killer Whales were slowly heading to the west and again the whale watchers said that there were both Southern Residents (J & K) and transient or Bigg’s Killer Whales to the east of Race. The Sea Lions were also off foraging today and groups of Steller Sealions could be seen working feed together in Race Passage and beyond. There were many thousands of birds forming some really huge, mixed species, feeding flocks to the southeast. Race Rocks really is an amazing location for both biodiversity and productivity.

Now to the more mundane: for an unknown maintenance experience, I tackled the grease gun today and greased the nipples on the desalinator and the winch. I continued to clean the roof of the energy building but its low centre and dam forming aluminum struts are starting to frustrate my efforts.

It was so nice in the afternoon, I thought I would make more hay for the compost but was sorely defeated by the weed-eater, which refused to start. This was the beginning of my mechanical problems. Next, I went to run the desalinator and the high-pressure pump wouldn’t start. My faith in engineering was restored by the trusty Lister generator. At the turn of the switch, it whined and roared into life and topped up the solar powered batteries for the island. With another turn of the switch it shuddered and stopped and silently cools as I write this blog.
ZaCa U:W cam oct 17

Wild and Wet.

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It was a wild and wet day at Race Rocks with waves breaking over the jetty and the feeling of the first storm of the season. Even though it rained fairly hard in the morning, there were only sprinkles in the afternoon, as the wind switched from northeast to southeast and then back to north. The barometer kept on its downward slide, started yesterday afternoon until mid-afternoon when it started to climb again. The climb may be short-lived though as the forecast is for more of the same.

There were no vessels noted in the Ecological Reserve today, but at least one came fairly close.

Race Rocks Ecological Reserve is on the edge of a busy shipping lane.

Race Rocks Ecological Reserve is on the edge of a busy shipping lane.

Great Race and the other islets that are not awash in the heavy seas, are almost completely covered with birds and mammals right now. It really is a natural haven.

Mixed species flocks of gull dominated by Thayer's rest and preen on the east end of Great Race.

Mixed species flocks of gull dominated by Thayer’s rest and preen on the east end of Great Race.

With close to 900 seals and sea lions, thousands of gulls, and hundreds of other seabirds, it is surprising that there are still some unoccupied bits of terra firma around the house.

Double-crested Cormorants have significantly increased in number over the last two months.

Double-crested Cormorants have significantly increased in number over the last two months.

The tagged Northern Elephant Seal 5850_6967 which I am going to call Gat (the noise he makes and Tag backwards) and his little buddy Flake spent the whole day asleep, pressed up against each other and the back of the boat house.

The animal on the right, Gat will be three years old in January. How old do you think Flake (on the left) is?

The animal on the right, Gat will be three years old in January. How old do you think Flake is?

Something that most, but not all of the Elephant Seals have here, is extremely white mucous coming out of their noses. They are such amazing divers and spend so much of their life diving, that the default position for their nostrils is closed. Many truly marine birds and even marine iguanas have ways of conserving water and secreting salt through nasal glands and I am curious if Northern Elephant Seals can secrete salt that way? Will report back on my findings about the mystery of the white snot.

White mucus can be seen on the noses of many of the hauled out Elephant Seals.

White mucus can be seen on the noses of many of the hauled out Elephant Seals.

I had no visitors today and could not go anywhere due to sea conditions but thanks to conference calling, I was able to attend a wonderful meeting at Government House in Victoria. The meeting was about a new initiative to empower youth stewardship in British Columbia, a legacy project of the Lieutenant Governor. Very exciting news will be shared in November. Yes, you will have to wait.

For outdoor adventure I swept walkways and cleared the marine railway of woody debris and seaweed, adding to the woodpile and enhancing the compost pile with some lovely bull kelp. Otherwise I did the regular maintenance to keep things going.

The Tie That Binds

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It was another northeast day, with really not much happening weather wise. It blew NE about ten knots, was mostly overcast in the morning, with some sun in the afternoon. The barometer rose gradually all morning and then started to slowly slide after noon. It is expected that tomorrow’s southeast will bring rain, starting late tonight.

The whale watching boats were busy in the afternoon with Humpback Whales to the southeast of Race Rocks and more activity out to the west. A total of eight tour boats were seen in the Ecological Reserve.

Today was mega-fauna census day and these are the results:
Steller Sealion 298
California Sealion 508
Harbour Seal 79
Northern Elephant Seal 9
River Otter 2
Canada Goose 22
Greater White-fronted Goose 1
Harlequin Duck 5
Double-crested Cormorant 61
Pelagic Cormorant 15
Black Turnstone 9
Surfbird 5
Black Oystercatcher 38
Glaucous-winged Gull 145
Thayer’s Gull 1482
California Gull 3
Western Gull 7
Heermann’s Gull 35
Gull sp. 52
Common Murre 1
Common Raven 2
Fox Sparrow 2
Savannah Sparrow 15

Here are a couple of shots of Surfbirds, alone and with Black Turnstones.

Surfbirds resting in the Jetty Bay.

Surfbirds resting in the Jetty Bay.

Subi & Bltu
The census was challenging due to the numbers and species of gulls and the fact that both Steller Sealion and Harbour Seal numbers were lower than expected during the morning count, so they were re-counted in the early evening. I generally like to count Harbour Seals on the morning low tide but the tide wasn’t really doing much today. The evening counts were higher for both the Steller and the Harbour Seals. Two new Elephant Seals arrived today. They are both moulting, the smaller one hung out with the dual tagged three year-old, which appears to be staying on. The bigger animals may have gone back to Middle Rock as there were still six animals visible there.

Ring-necked animals as well as tagged and branded animals were also re-surveyed today. I am still working on the branding data from a month ago. Two of the ring-necked Steller Sealions that have been observed since August are still here and languishing as the plastic straps cut into the backs of their necks. I am putting out an appeal to the disentanglement crew again.
Euju plastic_strap Oct16
Euju oct 16 close-up
The second ring-necked animal ‘highlighted’ here is also branded on its’ left side 946R. I believe that it was branded at its’ natal colony which from the R should be Rogue Reef in southern Oregon. From the number it was branded after 2009 but I will find out more.

If it is not lying on its' left side this ring-necked Steller's Sealion is easy to tell apart from the others.

If it is not lying on its’ left side this ring-necked Steller’s Sealion is easy to tell apart from the others.

Like the other Steller it has plastic strapping, which is visible on the ventral surface.

Like the other Steller it has plastic strapping, which is visible on the ventral surface.

This is a bit gory but I hope it will inspire the disentanglement team to come to Race Rocks.

This is a bit gory but I hope it will inspire the disentanglement team to come to Race Rocks.

The Atlin Post passed by Race Rocks today but did not slow. Must have been in a hurry.

The Atlin Post passed by Race Rocks today but did not slow. Must have been in a hurry.

Did not do much maintenance today other than the basic cleaning, making water with the desalinator and electricity with the generator.

Entodesma navicula: Northwest ugly clam–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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es_absolnew

The siphons of Entodesmata navicula Northwest ugly clam. Photo by Erik Schauff

Staff member Erik Schauff  sent me this image which I had not been able to identify so after sending it over to the experts, Andy Lamb identified it.  It normally has a shorter reach of the siphons and a more orange colour.

Classification:  ( WoRMS)
Animalia (Kingdom)
Phylum Mollusca
Class Bivalvia
Subclass Heterodonta
Infraclass Euheterodonta
Order Anomalodesmata
Superfamily Pandoroidea
Family Lyonsiidae
Genus Entodesmata
Species: E. navicula (Adams & Reeve, 1850)
Common Name Northwest ugly clam.
Return to the Race Rocks Taxonomy Index

The Race Rocks Taxonomy files are the result of collaboration between students, faculty, staff and Volunteers of Lester Pearson College— Garry Fletcher

The Tale of Two Tags

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It is a beautiful evening with God rays and backlit clouds after light westerly winds and rain showers for most of the day. The afternoon swell told of offshore storms but the wind waves here were fairly calm throughout the day. The barometer continued yesterday’s slide in the morning but climbed out its bowl after lunch and is still climbing as the sun sets over behind Neah Bay. Tomorrow looks finer but strong wind warnings continue and it looks like it will turn to another southeaster by evening.

The sun was setting north of the Straits of Juan de Fuca when I arrived at the end of August. Now it sets in behind Neah Bay

The sun was setting north of the Straits of Juan de Fuca when I arrived at the end of August. Now it sets in behind Neah Bay

In spite of wet, cool weather, the whale watching boats continue to ply their trade and a total of four boats were noted in the Ecological Reserve today. There are also hardy sports-fishers, still looking for the big one. Most of those boats steer around the Ecological Reserve and a minority of those who pass through, still do not heed the Ecological Reserve speed limit of 7 knots.

More on the tagged Elephant Seal spotted last Sunday. I thought that I had found another tagged animal yesterday because even though I was fairly sure it was the same animal #6967, the tag I spotted was #5850. I finally managed to get a photo showing both tags.

Mark re-capture or re-sight data is used to estimate population numbers and tendencies. These two tags tell of an interesting story about assumptions and how we need to be careful of our assumptions as they can hide the truth.

Mark re-capture or re-sight data is used to estimate population numbers and tendencies. These two tags tell of an interesting story about assumptions and how we need to be careful of our assumptions as they can hide the truth.

Patrick Robinson, Director of Ano Nuevo Reserve, explained that they are double-tagging Northern Elephant Seal weaners with non-matching numbers and it was interesting to learn why. Mark-racapture is a technique long used by biologists to determine population sizes and is based on known proportions, the number of individuals marked versus the total number counted. The students at Pearson College use this technique to estimate limpet populations. Mark re-sight is similar and, you guessed it, recapture is not necessary, just re-sighting. Adult bull Northern Elephant Seals can weigh up to 2,000 kilos, be 4 meters long and are known to be aggressive so I am really relieved that recapture is not needed to do the math. What is messing up the math is the assumption the animals that have lost their tags are dead and of course it is much more complex than that even if they have two tags.
Researcher Lisa Schwarz, of Dan Costa’s lab at the University of California Santa Cruz, is experienced modelling demographics in other species of marine mammal, including the Southern Elephant Seal. She is now looking at problematic assumptions about tag loss that can reduce perceived survival rates in Norther Elephant Seals. In Southern Elephant Seals, her team found that the “assumption of independent tag loss produced an underestimate in the proportion of animals with zero tags which led to underestimates in survival.” It turns out for many species that they are more likely to lose both tags than just one. They also found that tag loss varies with age, sex and health. Her work on Northern Elephant Seals will further refine the demographics modelling for this species. That is the backstory of the tale of two tags which is of course really just the tip of the iceberg. If you want to read more here is a link to Lisa’s paper on Southern Elephant Seals. http://www.esajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1890/ES12-00132.1

Lisa Schwartz is interested to see if Northern Elephant Seals' tag loss patterns are similar to their southern 'cousins'. The results may have implications for predicting accurate survival rates in young animals, adult males and females.

Lisa Schwartz is interested to see if Northern Elephant Seals’ tag loss patterns are similar to their southern ‘cousins’. The results may have implications for predicting accurate survival rates in young animals, adult males and females.

Maintenance chores were mostly of the indoor variety today after getting pretty soaked doing a quick town run in the boat. I have improved my landing technique and tie two lines crossed in front of the bow while winching the boat aboard the cradle. It seems to reduce the stern movement a little. The swell was also more manageable today. Picking your weather for boating forays is key to safety at Race Rocks.

Musical Rocks at the Race

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It was another north-easterly day, with an ocean swell running up and down the islets of the Race. Although it was mostly overcast in the morning, periods of sunshine dominated and it was a pleasant, autumn day. The barometer continued to climb until about noon and then slipped back down, but not as far as yesterday’s low. The marine forecast is for variable winds in the morning and west Wednesday evening with periods of rain during the day.

In the pinniped world of Race Rocks, haul-outs are shifting around like musical chairs. Steller Sea lions are now abundant on North Rock, which in September was the exclusive domain of Harbour Seals. There is a small Harbour Seal hauling out in the jetty bay now and most of the California Sea Lions have moved to the south and west side of Great Race. Middle Rock, which had ten Elephant Seals, a few weeks ago, now has over one hundred Steller Sea Lions and five of the Elephant Seals have moved back onto Great Race. They arrived all wet and big-eyed this morning and moved in for all day slumbering. All of these pinnipeds make interesting sounds, music to their ears, I am sure, and they all distinctly different. More on that another day.

It is quite delightful what you can see out your kitchen window here. I looked out while doing dishes this evening and saw two large Humpback Whales to the south, just outside the Ecological Reserve near Rosedale Reef. There were no boats around, just the two of them blowing and diving, circling around in the same area, taking fairly short dives and showing their big flukes in a beautiful display of might and grace. The dishes were quickly superseded with the spotting scope and binoculars. A sport fishing boat approached, slowed and stopped a respectful distance away and just sat there taking it all in, for a long time. When they left the scene, they did so slowly, giving the whales a wide berth. I believe that this sort of respect insures a better viewing experience as well as protecting the whales. Earlier in the day, I stopped for tea and was just heading for my book when I looked out the kitchen window and saw this plain, medium-sized shorebird foraging with the Canada Geese. It was a Dunlin in winter plumage.

Dunlin?Dunlin?3

Routine maintenance was augmented with getting the Underwater Video Camera (Camera #2 on this web-site) hooked up to the Internet and starting winter preparations such as getting the furnace running. I had hoped to join the marine science class by boat for their kelp forest adventure but the swell and wind waves were a bit too large to launch and retrieve the boat.

Pteraster tesselatus: Slime star –The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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A useful defense mechanism is evident in the slime stars. They will fill a bucket full of slime when picked up, this can be toxic to other invertebrates.

Slime star photograph by Ryan Murphy

Slime star photograph by Ryan Murphy,2010

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Subphylum: Eleutherozoa
Class: Asteroidea
Order: Velatida
Family: Pterasteridae
Genus: Pteraster
Species: P. tesselatus

rmjellystar

Slime star and nudibranch–photo by Ryan Murphy

Other Members of the Phylum Echinodermata at Race Rocks.

taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.  2014 Garry Fletcher

 

Beroe sp. : Ctenophore-Comb jelly–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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Ryan Murphy took this image of a Ctenpphore in 2010. This is one of the large forms of “plankton” in our waters.

Combjelly

Phylum Ctenophora – Sea gooseberries & comb jellies
Class Nuda – Sea gooseberries & comb jellies
Order Beroida
Family Beroidae
Genus Beroe

References
http://faculty.washington.edu/cemills/Ctenophores.html: This reference provides a good general description of the characteristics of Ctenophores . Note the discussion on the fact that they are not bioluminescent as many believe.

Claudia Mills and Stephen Haddock have a technical chapter of Ctenophores with good diagrams.

This file is provided as part of a collaborative effort by  the students, faculty, volunteers and staff of Lester B. Pearson College– 2014-Garry Fletcher

 

Northeast Winds Switching to Westerlies.

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Northeast winds predominated from early morning until late afternoon when they switched around to west-southwest. There were only sprinkles of rain, until the switch and once the wind turned, you could see laden clouds scudding across the foothills and pouring in through the Strait. It started raining in earnest, early evening and is blowing 25 knots from the WSW as I write this blog. The barometer bottomed out today at just over 1000 hPa and is now steadily vacillating in that trough.

There were still hardy whale watchers out in spite of the weather and five whale watching boats were noted in the Ecological Reserve during the day. There was a surprising amount of sports fishing activity in the vicinity. Everyone was well behaved in the Reserve.

Steller Sea Lion numbers seem to be on the rise with over 110 individuals hauled out on Middle Rocks with the Elephant Seals and several hundred more on Great Race. Two more of the smaller (two year old) Elephant Seals and a bigger sub-adult scooted up the ramp, under the fence and off to their favourite Great Race haunts. It is surprising how fast they can move doing the wave. Later I watched two of them sparring, in practice for a fighting adulthood.

It is a treat to have the Harlequin Ducks back from their rushing mountain summer streams. They are such thoroughly white-water birds and seem to seek out exciting places to forage.

Other than the regular duties, I spent some time cleaning up the boat today after a wild landing in the northeast waves. There are a couple of improvements that would improve landing safety including auxillary bunks on the trailer. These could act as a tunnel and help centre the boat so that as a wave comes in and lifts the stern, the boat is not pushed off track. More weight would also be good and so would a bailer that is lashed on. Yes it was a good work-out.

Thanksgiving Edition (No Turkeys Here.)

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The day started with a hazy, overcast sky and an ocean swell rolling in from the open Pacific. Although visibility was 10 to 15 nautical miles, the marine air gave everything a soft, muted look and both Port Angeles and Victoria looked further away than they actually are. In the morning, winds were light to gentle breezes starting in the southwest and swinging over to southeast. In the afternoon it shifted to north-northeast and became noticeably colder and wetter.
The ocean swell became dramatic by mid-afternoon, exploding over north rock and making a rolling break into the jetty bay, surging right over the jetty. Although the barometer was higher today than it has been all week, it is now slowly dropping and Monday ‘s forecast is for more clouds, wind and rain. Hmmm sounds like October.

Whale watching activity was fairly brisk today with seven boats in the Ecological Reserve. Everyone was fairly well behaved. Seaking Adventures was certainly giving a lot of throttle in the Reserve, crossing from Great Race over to North Rock but that may have been because he was bucking the tide. There were also a couple of sports-fishing boats passing through the Reserve in a hurry, Foghorn Charters was one of those two.

Some operators may not know that the speed limit is only 7 knots within the Reserve.

Some operators may not know that the speed limit is only 7 knots within the Reserve.

A large Humpback Whale passed through the Reserve westbound, late afternoon, there were no whale watching boats around.

A lot more gulls arrived with the cool wet weather and are roosting just about everywhere on Great Race now. I am curious what the numbers will be for this week’s census on Wednesday.
CaGu California Gulls resting and preening on Great Race.[/caption]

Western Gulls are a little north of their usual range here and hard to distinguish from Glaucous-winged X Western Gull hybrids.

Western Gulls are a little north of their usual range here and hard to distinguish from Glaucous-winged X Western Gull hybrids.

With the influx of California Gulls it is going to be tricky distinguishing and counting all the large gulls. A gull that is easy to distinguish and also a favorite of mine, is the Heerman’s Gull.

Heerman's Gulls are our most exotic looking gulls.

Heerman’s Gulls are our most exotic looking gulls.

Another avian visitor spotted today was the small to medium sized sandpiper pictured below, I think it is a Western Sandpiper but would like confirmation.
WeSa
There were two young Elephant Seals on Great Race today and one of them was “tagged as a weiner in 2012” at Ano Nuevo Island in California “and hasn’t been seen since, so this is an important data point” according to Dr. Patrick Robinson, Año Nuevo Island Reserve Director.
Mian 6967
The second Elephant Seal was sleeping on the marine railway in the morning.
mian jetty

Race Rocks has become Canada’s main Elephant Seal colony. It is important as a fall haul-out location for sub-adults, as well as a winter birthing and mating site and spring moulting site.
Race Rocks is an ecological treasure located at a key location next to busy shipping lanes and popular sport-fishing grounds. I am thankful to those who had the vision to protect this amazing area and thankful to be able to experience it.
roro close to RR
roro & maersk