diesel delivery

Posted on Tuesday,January 19, 2016 by Alex Fletcher

Ecological

Wind N 10-15 knots.
the second female elephant seal made her way towards the mother and pup and settled across the path from them.
Geese are starting to be more regular in the area, a flock of 20 visited the island today.
Falcon on the East side of the island, looked larger than a peregrine but couldn’t get a good look.

Vessels

Second Nature, diesel delivery
2 eco tour boats

Maintenance

Chris brought 4 diesel drums filled at Victoria harbour to island after noon. Offloaded with derrick and transported across island to engine building.
Sent shorefront pressure washer and used engine oil from derrick off island.

bald eagles

Posted on Monday,January 18, 2016 by Alex Fletcher

Ecological

N 10-15 N becoming E 25, partly clear sky
Pigeon Guillemots made a return to the waters around the island, this is the first time i have seen/heard them since starting my shift
21 bald eagles counted in the reserve. the broke-beak eagle was perched on a solar panel on the engine building in the morning.
Second large female e-seal was by boat house throughout day. Chuckles down by compost bin. Mother and pup doing fine. Chunk has been going off island at night and returning in the morning, staying close to females and keeping Chuckles away.
One neck-ringed California sealion seen on west side of main island

Vessels

1 ecotour

Maintenance

Contacted tidy tanks re dip chart
Contacted re wood stove parts delivery
Cut and chopped fire wood
Cleared ramp

Second large female e-seal

Posted on Sunday,January 17, 2016 by Alex Fletcher

Ecological:

Wind SE 25-30 knots becoming light in the evening.
16 Green Winged Teals were in the mud flats NE of main house.
An unusual bald eagle with a damaged beak was on and around the island throughout the day, quite close to the main house at first.
Before dusk a second large, pregnant looking female elephant seal was near the jetty and had hauled out up beside boat house just after dark.

Vessels

3 ecotour

Maintenance

Cleared ramp
Sharpened chainsaw, cut and chopped firewood.

e-seal pup a male

Posted on Saturday,January 16, 2016 by Alex Fletcher

Ecological

Wind NE 5-10 knots increasing to 15-20 in the morning then becoming light in the afternoon.
The e-seal pup was figuring out how to roll on it’s back today which gave a view of its underside where the penis hole was visible behind his umbilical cord. A few seagulls were quite interested in the umbilical cord. They would sneak up while mother and pup were asleep to grab it and try to pull a piece away. By the end of the day there was only a stub left, the birds have done a good job of post-birth cleanup in the area. The mother is very protective of the pup and growls and chases off anything that gets too close.

penis hole visible bellow umbilical stub

Maintenance:

Had let derrick engine oil drain out overnight. Put new 15 W 40 oil in.
Cleared ramp and ran the derrick to clear larger logs

Nursing successfully

Posted on Friday,January 15, 2016 by Alex Fletcher

Ecological

Wind 15 knots NE increasing to over 30 knots overnight
Just before noon, within 24hrs after birth, I saw the pup take what I believe was its first taste of milk. There seems to be three key ingredients to successful nursing: motivation, location and suction. All three have to combine for success, there was a lot of trial and error, and what seems to be frustration, on the way. Once the pup latched on to the right spot the suction and slurping sounds were clearly audible. Since nursing has begun, both mother and pup seem less agitated, the pup is taking longer sleeps and the mother is getting more rest.

View from kitchen window with elephant seal family in foreground. In the background a US aircraft carrier identified as a “Unspecified US Govt Vessel” travels at a remarkable 24.5 knots according to the Marine Traffic website.

Vessels

1 ecotour

Maintenance

Ran the derrick and lifted out 2 logs. With engine warm, I drained the engine oil out of the derrick’s old Lister engine and changed the oil filter.
Cleared debris from ramp.

Sea Surface temperature as Indicators of Climate change

Posted on Friday,January 15, 2016 by Garry Fletcher

From https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/research-monitoring-and-reporting/reporting/envreportbc/archived-reports/climate-change/climatechangeindicators-13sept2016_final.pdf

Elephant Seal Birth Videos 3- wide angle

Posted on Thursday,January 14, 2016 by Alex Fletcher

This 3 minute video shows the birth at a wide angle taken on a gopro camera mounted on top of the bunker/desalinator building. The camera is in a weatherproof housing so the sound is not very good.

At 0:45 the pup is out
At 1:40 Chunk starts climbing over the pathway
And at 2:27 Chunk comes in contact with the pup