Monthly Archives: November 2016

A Visitor

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles (Mt. Baker visible)
  • Wind: 5-10 knots NE
  • Sky: gently overcast
  • Water: calm

Ecological

  • 5 elephant seals on Great Race.
  • 19 Canada Geese on the island.

Maintenance

  • Regular chores.
  • Kyle brought me some items for future application.
  • A thermometer and a 1″ H valve.

Boats

  • A few eco-tours came by today.
  • Kyle brought Natasha out for a visit.

eco-tour-4-11

A Very Nice Day

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles (Mt. Baker visible)
  • Wind: 5-10 knots North
  • Sky: clear and sunny
  • Water: calm
  • A very beautiful day, with a nice sunset
  • A good night for stargazing!

Ecological

  • Conducted the weekly animal census.
  • Saw several branded sea lions today.
  • California sea lions: U690, U105, and 8427 (I think I got those correct)
  • Steller sea lions: 420Y and 347Y (those are definitely correct)
  • Also saw one sea lion with a neck ring, presumable from plastic.
  • No harlequin ducks today.
  • One of the male elephant seals was trying to mate with the female.
  • This seems like an odd time of year for that?
  1. California Sea Lions: 728
  2. Northern (Steller) Sea Lions: 493
  3. Harbour Seals: 48
  4. Elephant Seals: 5 Great Race (4 males, 1 that I think is a female)
  5. Seagulls unspecified: 672
  6. Thayer’s Gulls: 247
  7. Glaucous-winged Gulls: 30
  8. Cormorants unspecified: 329
  9. Double Crested Cormorants: 24
  10. Pelagic Cormorants: 11
  11. Brandt’s Cormorants: 2
  12. Black Turnstones: 19
  13. Canada Geese: 6
  14. Black Oystercatchers: 6
  15. Dunlins: 2
  16. Savannah Sparrows: 2

Maintenance

  • Cleaned the solar panels.
  • Tidied up a few odds and ends.
  • The usual chores.

Boats

  • A few eco-tours today.
  • One rental boat came through the middle of the reserve.

Visitors

  • No visitors today.
  • Quite a nice, relaxing day today.
  • The kind of day that makes one appreciate being alone.

Re-engaged

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After Monday’s difficulties with the log, yesterday was even worse as I was unable to log on to the website. The problem seems to have been only temporary though, because I am now able to log on using both my computer and the main house computer.

Here is a summary of yesterday and today, along with photos from Monday.

Monday 31 October 2016-Photos

Tuesday 1 November 2016-Report & Chore Day

  • Weather
  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0-5 knots E
  • Sky: rain
  • Water: calm
  • 5 elephant seals on Great Race today.
  • Had to push the dead sea lion out past the jetty where it finally floated away.
  • An inquisitive seagull floated up to the corpse and gave it a peck.
  • Spotty the harbour seal was back on his rock near the jetty.
  • Couldn’t log on to the Race Rocks website.
  • Finished gathering data for the month end report.
  • Completed October month end report for Kyle.
  • Entered and sent off October seawater report.
  • Ran the desalinator.

Wednesday 2 November 2015

  • Weather
  • Visibility: 5 miles
  • Wind: 15-20 knots NE
  • Sky: overcast with showers
  • Water: 2′ chop
  • Fierce waves crashing against the jetty today.
  • Expected to be windy overnight, with things calming down by noon tomorrow.
  • Lots of Canada Geese on the island today.

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