Monthly Archives: February 2018

Elephant Seals

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 20-30 knots SW throughout the day
  • Sky: sunny with cloudy periods
  • Water: very rough

Boats/Visitors

  • No boat traffic today and no visitors

Ecological

  • Bernard, the dominant male elephant seal, continues to protect the two pups by scaring off the other males from trying to mate with the pups or kill them. It is surprising and unusual behaviour for a male elephant seal but I am grateful for his protection!
  • The elephant seal pups enjoyed a splash in their first puddle today. They should be ready to head into the ocean sometime in the next few weeks.

 

Protective Father Elephant Seal

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knots NW
  • Sky: sunny with cloudy periods
  • Water: mostly calm, a bit choppy

Boats/Visitors

  • Saw two ecotour boats go by
  • No visitors

Ecological

  • Bernard was keeping an eye out for the pups today, looking up from his sleep every time one of them would cry out, which is less frequent and high pitched now too as they continue to grow. Having a father elephant seal protect it’s pups like this after the mother has left is not ordinary behaviour so this has been very interesting to watch.
  • Lots of Canada Geese landed on the island today, around 6-10 pairs that are very territorial with each other. I assume they’re getting ready for nesting season as that generally starts around March.
  • Still a decent number of cormorants, black oyster catchers and black turnstones around too.

Notes

  • DND blasting has started up again with several loud explosions going off each day for the past few days.

Persistent Male

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Weather

  • Visibility: 10-15 Miles
  • Wind: 20-40 knots SW throughout the day
  • Sky: cloudy with sunny periods
  • Water: very rough

Boats/Visitors

  • No boat traffic today and no visitors

Ecological

  • Still trying to figure out what Bernard, the dominant male elephant seal, is up to with the pups. Some days he protects them against other males and will sleep close to them throughout the day, and other days he is either just gone or will sleep away from them while other males attack them and fight over them with each other. Today he decided to defend them against a smaller but very persistent male that has been harassing them the most. Nonetheless the pups are doing well and seem unharmed.

Peaceful Day

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 5-10 N/NE, picked up to 25-40 knots SW overnight
  • Sky: sunny and clear
  • Water: mostly calm, choppy at times

Boats/Visitors

  • Saw two ecotour boats go by
  • No visitors

Ecological

  • The pups were left alone last night and today, thankfully. Had a peaceful day of sleeping in the sun and recovering from being attacked several times over the last few days.
  • The male elephant seals all kept to themselves today.

Views From England

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Today I received a nice note from Pam Birley, our devoted follower from Leicestershire  Great Britain who often captures great images with our remote cameras. She writes: “Couldn’t resist taking these pics today.   Spectacular views this morning at RR. ”

Note the nictitating membrane on the right

So I just went on camera 5 and found one of the eagles still in close range:

Fighting Males and Surviving Pups

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 5-10 N/NE, picked up to 20-30 knots overnight
  • Sky: cloudy with light snowfall and fog
  • Water: large rolling swells throughout the day

Boats/Visitors

  • Didn’t notice any ecotour boats or divers around today
  • No visitors

Ecological

  • Woke up at 4:30 am to the sound of the elephant seal pups being attacked by a big male elephant seal. Pretty sure it was Bernard, their father, but hard to tell. Was surprised to find both pups seemingly unharmed and sleeping peacefully in the morning when I got up.
  • One of the younger, smaller males took the opportunity to try to mate with one pup while two of the bigger males were fighting, but luckily she got away from him after a few minutes of panic. Very difficult to watch I must say. These males are all fired up from the mating season and most don’t get a chance to mate, especially if they are smaller in size.
  • Saw about 10-20 Pigeon Guillemots chasing each other and diving into the water.

Census & Independent Pups

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 1-10 knots N/SW
  • Sky: sunny and clear
  • Water: mostly calm

Boats/Visitors

  • Didn’t notice any ecotours go by today
  • No visitors

Ecological

  • Bernard left the two pups today, not sure if he’ll return or not.
  • The pups are almost the same size now. Both are nice and plump and seem healthy.
  • Lots of Black Oyster Catchers and Cormorants around lately

Census

  • California Sea Lions – 85
  • Stellar Sea Lions – 60
  • Elephant Seals – 5 (two pups, three adult males)
  • Harbour Seals – 5
  • Cormorants – 200
  • Seagulls – 150
  • Bald Eagles – 5
  • Black Oyster Catchers – 15
  • Black Turnstones – 10

Mother Elephant Seal Departure & Snow

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 5-10 N/NE
  • Sky: cloudy with heavy snowfall and fog
  • Water: mostly calm

Boats/Visitors

  • Had a nice visit from a veteran ecoguardian Guy Ouradou along with a pearson college alumni member for a quick visit to the island.

Ecological

  • Some time in the night the mother elephant seal left the island to feed and let her pup become independent and eventually make it’s own way to the water.
  • Surprisingly Bernard (father elephant seal) has still been very close and protective to the two pups that are now side by side.

Cormorants and Elephant Seals

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 5-18 knots N/NE
  • Sky: cloudy in the morning then cleared up by afternoon
  • Water: mostly calm, a bit choppy at times

Boats/Visitors

  • Didn’t see any ecotours today
  • No visitors

Ecological

  • Mother elephant seal was a bit distant from her pup today and is looking really thin. Pretty sure she’ll be heading off soon.
  • Lots of cormorants around lately. Counted around 200 on the south rocks this morning.

Bernard the Protector

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 5-15 knots N/NE
  • Sky: cloudy in the morning then cleared up by afternoon
  • Water: mostly calm

Boats/Visitors

  • Saw a few ecotours go by today
  • No visitors today

Ecological

  • The mother elephant seal is getting noticeably thinner from feeding the pup for weeks and not having eaten anything for some time now. I suspect she will be leaving her pup soon to feed and to let the pup tone up a bit before she makes her way to the water for the first time to feed herself.
  • Bernard (adult male elephant seal) has been doing a great job of protecting his two pups and female from the three other males on the island.