April Almost Gone

Posted on Thursday,April 30, 2015 by Anne Stewart

The wind didn’t do much today other than puff a few light breezes in from the west with a few periods rising to 5 to 10 knots. It was mostly overcast with a few bright interludes and generally rather unremarkable in terms of weather. When the sun did shine through it had intensity foretelling the growing season. The barometer was fairly steady all day and is just starting to drop as I write this. The forecast is for a mix of sun and cloud, a chance of showers and a strong wind warning in effect for Friday afternoon.

There were nine whale watching vessels observed in the Ecological Reserve today, a bit of a spike, possibly due to a large cruise ship at Ogden Point.

I watched a Harbour Seal tearing up and eating a fish today. It looked like it might have been a lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus).

This Harbour Seal was really exerting itself to rip up a lingcod.

The Pigeon Guillemots are getting really comfortable on land again.

This female elephant seal has no tags and I have been calling her circle sister because of the circular marks on her back. As you can see her moult is almost complete and the circles are at least a little visible on the new coat so I will still be able to identify her as an individual.

This is the back left side of the newly moulted “circle sister”, still identifiable by the small circular scars.

Today was animal census day and the results are as follows:

Northern Elephant Seals 30 (12 on Great Race)

Harbour Seals 102

California Sea lions 23 (includes brand C323)

Northern Sea lions 55 (includes brand 460Y)

Sea Otter 1

Canada Geese 18

Brant ~210 (passing through)

Pacific Loon 1

Harlequin Ducks 8

Pelagic Cormorants 5

Double Crested Cormorants 6

Bald Eagle 2 adults, 2 sub-adults

Killdeer 1

Black Oystercatchers 9

Black Turnstones 8

Whimbrels 10 (yesterday)

Pigeon Guillemots 268

Glaucous-winged Gulls 317 adults, 5 sub-adults

Common Raven 1

Barn Swallows 2

Savannah Sparrow 10

Red-winged Blackbirds 4

There were no visitors today. Chores were routine.

Crankypants Has a Number.

Posted on Wednesday,April 29, 2015 by Anne Stewart

By mid-morning, the light southwesterly winds left over from yesterday’s blow had wandered over to south and they stayed southerly until early evening when they turned back to west. The barometer continued the slow ascent begun early yesterday, throughout the day. Although there was a mix of sun and clouds today, light levels were high and reached over 1000 W/m² at the peak. Forecasters are calling for strong westerly winds again, with a chance of showers Thursday.

Four Whale Watching vessels were noted in the Ecological Reserve today, visiting on return from the west, heading towards Victoria. No sports fishing vessels were noted in the ER.

The Canadian Coast Guard Helicopter (Fisheries and Oceans) dropped by today to service the light, which went dark the night before last. Dave (pilot) and Derek (technician) were a welcome sight in their lovely little Messerschmidt, which was carefully put down at the base of the light tower stairs.

Dave and Derek preparing for take off.

Ten Whimbrels stopped for a rest and a feed today. These amazing migrators are on their way to the arctic tundra from South America and it was a treat to see them here.

Whimbrels stopped for a rest and a feed in the inter-tidal today.

I kept an eye on the Bald Eagles today and yes, they are fishing.

It was a right "hand" catch, transferred to both feet and then tucked up under to the tail to hide it from sight.

It was a right “hand” catch, transferred to both feet and then tucked up under the tail to hide it from sight.

Ten of the elephant seals managed to go through the measuring device today while I was sitting, waiting for them with the camera. I also spotted tags on the young female Northern Elephant Seal with serious skin issues. I may have mentioned her in a previous blog, I called her psoriasis sister last fall and Courtney named her crankypants in spring 2014. She is very vocal and easily disturbed by the other seals. She is usually off by herself but today she was caught in a traffic jam for daily ablutions, which really seemed to upset her. I have observed her many times last fall and this spring but never noticed the tags before. She moves as if in pain, complains loudly and leaves a trail of blood. She has many open wounds that look like holes and cracks. The right tag is number A114 and although it is difficult to read the left side, it is perhaps A476. She has all four tags still.

Crankypants has right tag number A114.

A branded Steller’s Sealion # 411R was noted today. She looks big for a female but that is what the record says, branded as a pup in July, 2005 at Rogue Reef, which is in the very southern end of Oregon. I will check with Pat Gearin on this identification.

There were no visitors other than the Coast Guard crew and maintenance chores were all routine.

Spring Wind Blowing.

Posted on Tuesday,April 28, 2015 by Anne Stewart

It was a day defined by wind, starting in the wee hours of the morning, with 30 – 40 knot northeasterlies which calmed just after dawn, then switched to equally ferocious westerlies. The afternoon westerly subsided to 20 – 25 knots early then built back up to 25 – 30 knots as I post this log blog.

The barometer’s fall, started Monday, was short-lived: it started to rise again in early hours today and is leveling off as the day ends. The forecast calls for afternoon westerlies tomorrow and the gale warning remains in effect. They are calling for only a 60% chance of showers and precipitation is taking on new meaning here south of latitude 48^o18’ N. What we consider normal rain and showers on the outer coast just doesn’t materialize in the same way here in the Mediterranean climate of Race Rocks. It is so much more of a desert than the outer west coast.

I only saw one whale watching boat today and they were travelling east, well south of the Ecological Reserve. Sports fishing boats were also notably absent. Very wise considering the sea state, wind and current conditions today.

The Northern Elephant Seal moult is taking a new dive into the unconscious with fewer hours awake and active. Some animals have not moved more than a few metres in 24 hours. The larger females seem to be leading the race to moult and the two biggest females and largest male are almost 75% moulted. The soft grey fuzz look is taking over from a once brown and tattered look.

Two of the larger animals on the island are close to 75% moulted, a male (left) and female (right). Young males behind are not as far along.

The seals are also moulting their “whiskers” which are referred to by biologists as vibrissae. It is thought they vibrissae are helpful in detecting vertically migrating prey at depths of greater than 500 meters. Of course it is a bit hard to make observations in situ but recent anatomical work on how these whiskers are enervated revealed over 1500 nerve axons per vibrissae giving more weight to their importance as sensory organs.

This female elephant seal has moutled her facial hair and skin, revealing a soft looking gray fuzz. Note that the “whiskers” and “eyebrows” are also moulting. These are important sensory hairs called vibrissae.

This young Northern Elephant Seal has moulted most of its skin and fur around the head area. You can also see that it has lost its eyebrow “hairs” also known as vibrissae.

More animals are arriving on Great Race Island and there are now fourteen ‘lawn ornaments’ and the lawn is well a truly crushed (Really beats mowing.)

Stellers Sealions hauled out on South Islets. Note the young, branded animal # 460Y, one up from bottom left.

The Steller’s (or Northern) Sealions, and a few California Sealions continue to haul-out on South Islands and I spotted a brand today on the youngest Steller’s that I have yet to see here. #460Y was branded as a pup at St. George in northern California, in the summer of 2013, making it less than two years old at this stage. There are several other Steller’s Sealions that are the same size and appearance that may also be that young.

#460Y was branded in July 2013 . This young animal and probably several others its’ size are less than two years old and may still be nursing occasionally.

There were no visitors today and maintenance was routine.

Misleading information in recent STANTEC report on Whales.

Posted on Monday,April 27, 2015 by Garry Fletcher

Also see the APRIL 23 post with graphs on Whale Observations from Race Rocks 2009-2014.
I believe that the increasing frequency in recent years in the number of humpback whales observed in the area which will be affected by increased tanker traffic from the Kinder Morgan/ TMX project has not been taken into account In the Consultant’s report issued today “ Quantitative Assessment of Increased Potential for Marine Mammal-Vessel Interactions from the Trans Mountain Expansion Project TRANS MOUNTAIN PIPELINE ULC TRANS MOUNTAIN EXPANSION PROJECT –-Prepared by: Stantec Consulting Ltd. 500 – 4730 Kingsway Burnaby, BC, V5H 0C6 Ph.: (604) 436-3014,

Quoted from the report :
“While the BC CSN data includes numerous opportunistic sightings of humpback whales in the study area over the course of the last four decades, the majority of the Marine RSA is generally not recognized as a humpback whale hotspot, although the western extent just overlaps with the eastern-most extent of humpback whale critical habitat –(Fisheries and Oceans Canada 2013a). As such, and since actual humpback whale density values for the Marine RSA (Regional Study Area) do not exist, this species was assigned a density according to the lowest density observed for humpback whales during the surveys reported on in Best and Halpin (2011) elsewhere in BC ((Williams and Thomas 2007) did not observe any humpback whales during their summer 2004 survey in this area) This value corresponds to roughly 10 whales distributed across the majority of the Marine RSA

——As a result, humpback whales were assigned a proportion of time in the study area of 0.17 (i.e., two months of the year) based on the largest concentration of sightings from the BC CSN data (British Columbia Cetacean Sightings Network 2013)”

Here is a good example, in my opinion, of how a decision having long term implications regarding the welfare of a species recovering from near extinction may be completely misdirected if based only on a consultants interpretation of officially published scientific resources which can quickly become dated.

G.Fletcher

Fine Day in Spite of the Forecast.

Posted on Monday,April 27, 2015 by Anne Stewart

Light northeasterly winds brought some morning showers and kept it cool until late morning. The light northeasterly continued in the afternoon but solar radiation levels went up to a high of over 800 watts per m²bringing up air temperature to a high of over 13^oC. The barometer was fairly steady until noon and then started to fall very gradually. The marine forecast has a strong wind warning in effect overnight diminishing to a 20 knot westerly by early afternoon tomorrow. As I write this in the early evening the north-northeasterly is freshening to over 20 knots.

Three whale watching vessels were observed in the Ecological Reserve today… Sports fishing vessels were observed fishing nearby but not in the ER.

More measurements and individual moult progression, observations were made on the Northern Elephant Seals on Great Race today.

A very cooperative “pose” for length measurements. Note the little tail up in the air between the rear flippers.

Traffic jam on the elephant seal measuring device.

Pigeon Guillemots and Glaucous-winged Gulls were observed mating today, so nesting sites will soon be imperative.

Pigeon Guillemots are getting prepared for nesting.

Six Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) landed on the light-tower and then paid a short low elevation visit to Great Race Island today. This is possibly a new record.

A brief visit was made by six Red-winged Blackbirds.

Savannah Sparrows may be nesting somewhere nearby: I am still looking for their nests.

At least ten Savannah Sparrows are seen daily now.

There were no new visitors today and maintenance chores were routine.

Agelaius phoeniceus :Red-winged blackbird–the Race Rocks taxonomy

Posted on Monday,April 27, 2015 by Garry Fletcher

This was our first photographic record of this species as a migrant at Race Rocks. It nests in the marshes throughout BC , and locally in the tidal marshes along Taylor Beach

A brief visit was made by six Red-winged blackbirds on April 27, 2015-Photo by Anne Stewart

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Icteridae
Genus: Agelaius
Species: A. phoeniceus

Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766)

Other Members of the Class Aves at Race Rocks.

Return to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File

The 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.

Killer Whale # T103 possibly.

Posted on Sunday,April 26, 2015 by Anne Stewart

The day started with a gorgeous sunrise with lots of golden light pouring under a low violet cloud layer, scattering pinks, reds and oranges. The wind was out of the northeast at 10 – 15 knots and stayed that way until early evening when it turned to west. The barometer continued the climb it started Friday morning, until late in the day when it hit ~1020 hPa and levelled out. The forecast is for east winds and rain.

Six whale watching vessels were noted working in the Ecological Reserve today, one in the morning with a videography crew and five in the afternoon associated with the Killer Whales. Five out of six totally respected the reserve and the regulations.

Although the ER was surrounded by Sunday sports fishers, there was no fishing observed in the ER. One sports fishing charter boat, white ~ 21 – 24’ long, came through Middle channel at high speed, heading towards Victoria.

There were Bigg’s Killer Whales (transients) in the area today and we watched as a large male, possibly T103, made his way from Church Island, through Race Passage and on towards Constance Bank, with a bevy of whale watching boats. Five of those boats also passed through the Ecological Reserve

A branded, male Steller’s Sealion was noted today, hauled out on South Islands. He was branded 603R, as a pup in July 2007, at Rogue Reef in southern Oregon. That makes him 8 years old this summer.

Steller’s Sealion # 603R is an eight year old male branded in Oregon, near the California border.

Bald Eagles continue to attack the geese, the Black Oystercatchers continue to gang up on the Raven that may be up to some tricky business with their unsheltered ‘nests’ and the Pigeon Guillemots are spending a lot of time on the jetty and ashore, practicing landing, taking off and walking around. The Glaucous-winged gulls are mating which is quite an acrobatic feat of balance and the Northern Elephant Seal moult is progressing quite fast in the larger animals.

Northern Elephant Seals hauled out near the desalination building.

As the moult progresses, the skin and fur peal off revealing a new, gray look.

There were no new visitors today and the work/maintenance was routine.

Population Explosion

Posted on Saturday,April 25, 2015 by Anne Stewart

During the early morning there were light winds from the north but it soon switched to west and blew 25 to 30 knots mid-morning. The wind dropped down to a lazy 5 to 10 from the west and swung through south to east and back again, during the rest of the afternoon. The barometer rose steadily all day and even though there were showers early on, the day ended in glorious sunshine with a 10 knot wind from the west, southwest. The forecast is for the wind to turn to east and bring more showers.

Five whale watching vessels were observed within the Ecological Reserve and they were all very respectful of the speed regulations although several were as close as 20-30 meters from the shoreline of Great Race. Two kayakers were noted in the Ecological Reserve in the late afternoon. Several halibut sports fishermen fished just outside the conservation area closed to fishing, respecting the boundary of the closed fishing area.

Casual, ecological observations were made in the inter-tidal at 0.9m and above today in the shelfing area just east of the derrick on the north side of Great Race. A widespread settlement event has occurred recently and juvenile barnacles (<1mm) carpet the mid- to upper inter-tidal area including any unoccupied rock and even occupied shells of sessile organisms like big, old California Mussels.

This population explosion will provide food for many whelks and opportunists and emphasizes incredible competition for space here in the intertidal. The more ephemeral algae of the high inter-tidal are starting to bleach out including some of the higher Porphyra spp or Pyropia spp (nori) and a small red that may be Rhodymenia sp. The following community of intertidal organisms in addition to those list above, were noted (in no particular order) in the area examined.

Enteroctopus dofleini Giant Pacific Octopus

Katherina tunicate Black Leather Chiton

Semibalanus cariosus Thatched Barnacle

Balanus glandula Acorn Barnacle

Pollicipes polymerus Gooseneck Barnacle

Mytilus californianus California Mussel

Gnorimosphaeroma sp. Sex changing Isopod

Lirabuccinum dirum Dire Whelk

Prasiola sp. Small green algae indicative of high nitrogen location

Ulva spp. Sea lettuce

Nucella spp. Whelk

Alaria marginata Winged Kelp

Anthopleura elegantissima Aggregating Anemone

Epiactus prolifera Brooding Sea Anemone

There were also at least four limpet species, several species of periwinkles, coralline algae, red algal turf and red crust.

Today there were 30 visitors. Catrin brought her first year biology students for a field trip and they were divided up into three working groups of eight students each. Erich from Victoria came with the group. Two volunteers from the College accompanied the group and Courtney drove them all out and back in Second Nature (six trips in total). Earlier I picked up Alex in the Race Rocks Whaler who is staying on. he was very helpful with all the landings, loadings and embarkations.

Other than working with all three groups of students which was a real treat, other chores were routine today. Some students, especially biology and marine science students really benefit from exposure to such a biodiverse and productive site as Race Rocks. Most students enjoyed the visit, many observed species they had never seen before and some even collected extensive data for next years individual investigations.

Bumpers come aboard as the last group of students head back to Pedder Bay aboard Second Nature.

A Changeable Spring Day.

Posted on Friday,April 24, 2015 by Anne Stewart

During the early part of the morning, the flag hung vertically, stuck to the flagpole, wetted by fresh rain. Later in the morning, when it occasionally fluttered, it was from almost imperceptible, easterly zephyrs. After lunch it blew north 10-15 knots for a while before switching over to the afternoon westerlies mid afternoon. Although there was significant rain (see figure below) throughout the day, there was also lots of sunlight and we surpassed yesterday’s level by over 30%. The barometer started rising in the early morning and by 17:30 was at 1008 hPa. The forecast for Saturday is for a continuation of the afternoon westerly pattern.

A graph of the past week’s rainfall recorded by a Davis instruments tipping bucket rain gauge. Check the web-site for lots of cool data.

Only one whale watching boat was observed in the Ecological Reserve, just at dusk, although several headed west and back through Race Channel. One sports fishing boat fished very close to the boundary at Rosedale, but clearly outside. The Life Saving vessel ‘Spirit of Sooke V’ came through middle Channel this afternoon at a very stately pace and then swung around and went in between South and Great Islands and returned to the west.

A pod of at least four Killer Whales passed to the south of Race Rocks, heading west at ~07:00. It was not possible to determine which population and there were probably quite a few more than four. They were quite spread out and moving fairly fast, travelling about half way out to the US/Canada border (yellow can buoy) from Race Rocks. A flock of 23 Black Brandt flew through Middle Channel about the same time, also heading west. The Barn Swallows appear to be staying on the island somewhere; at least they were here bright and early. This place is certainly a haven for an insectivore. I hope they stay.

Pigeon Guillemots are members of the auk family, related to murres. They swim underwater using their wings and steer with their feet.

Right now they are in their alternate, or breeding plumage, otherwise in the winter their colouring is more like a winter murre or murrelet with lots of white, gray and dark gray.

The Pigeon Guillemots are spending more time on land as spring progreses. These true seabirds are ill equipped for walking with their feet used as rudders for underwater flight, and set far back on their muscular little bodies. I don’t think they are actually nesting yet but certainly getting use to land. Their favorite roosting spots are in the surge channel between the energy building and the science house, on the jetty and its’ upland scree and cliff area and on the little cliffs just southeast of the light-tower.

Now that the winds have settled down, the eagles are back and making determined attempts on the Canada geese. They also spend a considerable time on the pinniped haul-out rocks.

I keep expecting the Harlequin Ducks to leave and head for the mountains, where they nest and lead their summer lives. There are at least four here still and probably more.

Harlequin Ducks are also supreme under-water swimmers and specialize in white water: in rushing mountain rivers and streams in breeding season and in the sea the rest of the time.

A new (to me), young, female Northern Elephant Seal joined the Great Race elephant seal group today bringing the total to nine, five males and four females. #5850, the three year old male, embraced the new female (literally) and although he is the smallest of the males on the island, while the other males were practicing their jousting he had his ‘pinky’ out and was snuggling up to the new arrival. It is the first time I have seen seals hold ‘hands’.

A student group is arrived just before dinner and are staying over. They will be part of a first year biology field trip that will be here most of tomorrow. Work was routine today but the day was anything but routine. Amazing place.

The Day After Blue Planet Day

Posted on Thursday,April 23, 2015 by Anne Stewart

Winds started out very light from a northerly direction and eventually backed all the way through east, southeast and around to westerlies, 15 to 20 knots and gusting, in the afternoon. Although there were some clouds and showers it seemed to be a nice day, but when you look at cumulative solar radiation values they were less than half of yesterday’s values at just below 300 Langleys. The barometer fell gradually all day and levelled out near dusk ending up at ~100.5 HPa. The strong wind warning remains in effect and is forecast to be strongest in the afternoons for the next few days.

Whale watching boats were back today after the storm subsided and four were observed in the Ecological Reserve. They were meeting and exceeding the Marine Mammal Regulations and although a couple of the smaller cowboys did manage to get between Great Race and South Islands. They were going so slowly and cautiously that the sealions that didn’t even wake up as the boats passed by.

No sports fishers or other vessels were observed in the ER.

Black Turnstones in all their summer finery.

One branded Steller’s Sealion was noted hauled out on the South Islands. This female with brand # 120Y was born at St. George Reef, California in 2002.

Female Steller’s (or Northern) Sealion # 120Y. This animal was born in northern California and will be 13 years old this summer.

Today was animal census day and the results are as follows:

Northern Elephant Seals 34 (8 on Great Race)

Harbour Seals 44 (note 137 counted following day, less windy)

California Sea lions 11

Northern Sea lions 38

Sea Otter 1

Canada Geese 18

Harlequin Ducks 4

Pelagic Cormorants 4

Double Crested Cormorants 5

Bald Eagle 2 adults, 2 sub-adults

Killdeer 1

Black Oystercatchers 10

Black Turnstones 15

Surfbird 23

Dunlin 4

Pigeon Guillemots 383

Glaucous-winged Gulls 488 adults 18 sub-adults

Caspian Tern 1 (flying through)