Daily Archives: Monday,April 27, 2015

Misleading information in recent STANTEC report on Whales.

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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.

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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 m2 bringing up air temperature to a high of over 13oC. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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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.

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.

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.