The first thing I saw this morning was a bald eagle landing over by the Energy Building, right where the elephant seals had been last night, and a place where they normally don’t land.
I headed over there and my suspicions were affirmed; the newest weaner had been killed in the night and many birds were feasting on his corpse.
Unlike the previous weaner who had simply had his skull crushed by teeth, this one had been virtually torn to shreds, making it much easier for the birds to begin feasting.
Chunk was lying nearby, but this time I cannot be sure that he was the culprit, as he didn’t seem to have any blood on him, and Chuckles had been with the weaner last night.
The old river otter returned today. It must be blind or in some way sensory impaired, as it is easily approached without seeming to notice ones presence. I say this because I encountered it quite closely by accident, and yet it didn’t seem to take much notice of me until I was only a few feet away.
Encountered quite a few surfbirds on the beach.
Maintenance
Stacked more firewood.
Cleared logs off the ramp.
Boats
Two eco-tours came by this afternoon.
One fishing boat passed through the reserve.
One unidentified boat spent some time floating on the edge of the reserve, but I saw no indication of fishing.
48 knots falls into the “storm” category. Only “violent storm” and “hurricane” are higher on the scale. The house is shuddering.
Water: 2′ chop, later at least 5′
Sky: overcast and some rain
Ecological
The mother elephant seal on Great Race was gone this morning, making the fourth pup a weaner. He is much smaller than the previous weaner was, and over on Middle Rock the mother is still with her pup, who was born approximately 8 days before, and is quite larger. All this makes me think the mother has left prematurely?
In the morning Chunk spent some time chasing the weaner, but he was too slow to catch him and he gave up, later heading over to Middle Rock.
Chuckles showed up on Great Race afterwards and has been watching the weaner.
At one point I found the weaner chewing on a wire cord underneath the big old yellow diesel tank by the Energy Building.
Today was the first day that I saw a great blue heron at Race Rocks! Not a first in general though, or for Race Rocks.
Pam Birley also noticed the heron and she took some photos with the webcam.
After analysing the elephant seal pup on Great Race, I am fairly certain that it is a male pup.
Mum and pups on Great Race and Middle Rock were alone most of the day.
For the first time, I saw a bald eagle eating from the dead elephant seal pup out on the rocks.
Maintenance
Stacked firewood.
Cleared the ramp three times.
Started replacing dead light bulbs in the Student’s House.
Moved the weaner’s body away from the main house with ropes and the derrick, helped by Chris, Jeff, and 3 volunteers from the college.
Boats
Second Nature came by for a couple of hours in the afternoon, crewed by Chris, Jeff, the IT guy, and 3 volunteers. They helped move the weaner and checked up on various electronic systems.
One eco-tour came by in the late afternoon.
Other
There were 6 more DND blasts today.
Two massive blasts that shook the house at 10:15 and 10:17. Birds and mammals quite disturbed, but they settled back down.
The newest female elephant seal was gone this morning.
Chunk mated with the current mother on Great Race today. Unlike the other times I have seen him initiate mating, the female did not fight back or try to get away. She seemed okay with it, and her pup lay beside her as it happened.
Chuckles spent the day on the south-east corner of Great Race.
Status quo on Middle Rock with the mum and pup.
Lady left the island at 3:30, just after the 5th and 6th DND blasts.
Watched a bald eagle tear away at weaner’s head for over half an hour at dusk. This was the first time I had seen an eagle approach the corpse. Fascinating.
Maintenance
Mopped up the remaining water in the Energy Building.
Stacked more firewood in the water shed.
Cleared logs and debris off the ramp three times.
Other
There were 6 very powerful DND blasts today coming from Bentinck Island. They came in three pairs, each pair spaced out from the other. I was outside for the first two and they hurt my ears. I was inside for the final four, and they shook the house considerably.
After when I walked around the island, I noticed that nearly all the birds and sea lions had disappeared. There was only 1 sea lion on Great Race, and he appeared to be injured, which would explain why he was the only one who stayed. There were about 10 sea lions left on South Island, and 20 Harbour Seals. No cormorants. The blasting must have scared the rest off.
Spotted 9 immature bald eagles on South Island with one mature eagle a bit farther away.
Status quo with the elephant seals, although I have my suspicions that the female whom Chuckles tried to mate with yesterday is not the grieving mother, but a different one arrived the night before, and the grieving mother departed.
The pup out on Middle Rock seems to be getting quite large. Perhaps he’ll become a weaner soon?
There were over 50 harbour seals in the reserve today.
Saw a northern sea lion branded with 443Y.
Maintenance
More cleaning in the Student’s House.
Stacked firewood in the water shed.
Boats
No eco-tours today.
One fishing boat passed nearby.
A large container ship seems to be anchored out in the strait towards Victoria.
Chuckles attempted to mate with the grieving mother on Great Race.
Chunk appeared to be mating with the mother on Middle Rock.
Lady, mum and pup still on Great Race.
Maintenance
Continued cleaning in the Student’s House.
Discovered a leak in the main house; positioned a bucket to catch the water.
Did the old method of water sampling along with the regular one.
Boats
One fishing boat passed through the reserve today. It appeared to be going too fast, but conditions were worsening rapidly, so it appeared they were just trying to get into harbour.
Going too fast?
Other
The foghorn went off today from 12:37 until about 13:00.
Discovered quite a bit of water on the floor in the entrance ways to the Energy Building. I checked for leaks in the ceiling but found none; I presume the water seeped in under the door. With near constant rain all day, the entire island is turning into one big puddle.
Wind: 5-10 knots SE, late afternoon up to 33 knots from the West
Water: rippled, later wavy
Sky: foggy in the morning, overcast in the afternoon
Ecological
Chunk spent the day on Middle Rock with the mum and pup.
Lady, Grieving mum, mum and pup, were in the same spots on Great Race.
Chuckles arrived on Great Race in the late afternoon.
Conducted a census.
California Sea Lions: 87
Northern/Stellar Sea Lions: 50
Harbour Seals: 21
Elephant Seals: 8
Cormorants: 742 (of the 742, I think that at least 10 were Male Brandt’s, 131 Double Crested, and 200 Pelagic; my identification is improving, but many were either too far away, or indistinguishable to me.)
Seagulls: 605 (131 had darker plumage and therefore must be immature gulls?)
Pigeon Guillemots: 50
Bald Eagles: 30 (23 juveniles, 7 adults)
Black Oystercatchers: 13
Canada Geese: 10
Harlequin Ducks: 8 (4 male, 4 female)
Black Turnstones: 6
Surfbird: 3 (unless they were Rock Sandpipers?)
Raven: 2
American Pipit: 2
Maintenance
Did some more cleaning in the Student’s House.
Boats
In the morning, one fishing boat passed through the reserve. The occupants did not fish in the reserve; they were going slow and appeared to be observing.
In the afternoon, one large eco-tour boat came through the reserve.
According to the Davis Weather Station, today had the highest recorded temperature at Race Rocks for any February 12th since the station was set up in 2006. Today’s high was 11.6 C, beating last years record of 9.8 C.
Ecological
In the morning Chuckles went over to Weaner’s corpse and looked at him, rolled him around, and sat on him. Then he left the island.
Chunk came back and rejoined the two females and pup.
Middle Rock mum and pup still there.
I decided to start calling the new female Lady.
Maintenance
Conducted a fuel inventory list for Jeff of Maintenance. Good news: there is more than enough fuel to last until after I leave.
Scraped rust off of the two empty 55 gallon diesel barrels and spray painted them to extend their useable life.
Boats
Jeff and an assistant came by at about 14:00 to drop off food supplies, a ramp for the diesel tanks, and to have a look at the Davis Weather Station wind reader. Unlike the other day though, the wind reader seemed to be working just fine.
One eco-tour boat came by at about 15:00. It seemed to be closer to the sea lions than the guidelines allow.
