Monthly Archives: January 2020

The Last Two Days of January

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Wind: yesterday 5-20 knots from W to N, today 0-40 knots from N to W
Sea State: yesterday rippled, today calm in the morning and up to 1 m chop in the afternoon
Visibility: yesterday 0-15 NM, today 1-10 NM
Sky: yesterday fog then sun, today overcast and rain
Temperature: yesterday 7-9 °C, today 8-15 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.95 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

It’s been a mix of weather over the past two days. Yesterday began with the fog signal beeping. Later in the morning, it got sunny. It was overcast this morning and afternoon. This evening, it got quite warm up to 15 °C and wet as a storm came in from the west.

There were six ecotour boats in the reserve over the past two days.

Three visitors were on the island today to work on the generator. For at least the next few days, the island is still on backup power. The web cameras and several other non essential systems on the island will remain off to conserve energy.

See the photos below for some views from the past two days:

Seawater Observations for January

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Day Time Temp ºC Salinity ppt
1 9:15 8.3 32.3
2 9:18 8.2 32.1
3 9:39 8.3 32.0
4 9:43 8.1 32.0
5 10:00 8.2 31.8
6 10:16 8.2 31.7
7 10:27 8.3 31.6
8 10:31 8.2 31.9
9 10:57 8.2 31.9
10 14:44 8.2 31.4
11 12:28 8.2 31.9
12
13 14:24 7.7 31.9
14 14:42 7.6 31.9
15
16 8:13 7.6 32.1
17 8:33 7.5 32.1
18 8:55 7.9 32.0
19 10:33 7.9 31.7
20 9:55 8.0 31.6
21 10:13 8.0 31.5
22 10:30 7.9 31.5
23 11:02 8.0 31.6
24 12:18 8.1 31.7
25 12:24 8.1 31.7
26 13:03 8.2 31.6
27 13:46 8.1 31.6
28 14:26 8.1 31.5
29 15:10 8.2 31.5
30 16:11 8.0 31.5
31 8:20 8.1 31.5

*The observations are missing from January 12 and 15 because the wind and large waves prevented me from safely accessing the jetty.

January 28 and 29

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Wind: yesterday 5-15 knots from N to NE, today 6-36 knots from E to W
Sea State: yesterday rippled, today rippled in the morning and up to 1 m chop beginning late morning
Visibility: yesterday and today between 5-15 NM
Sky: yesterday overcast, today rain in morning and sunny in afternoon
Temperature: yesterday 7-9 °C, today 8-12 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.67 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The blasting at nearby Bentinck Island wrapped up this morning, after three days and about 25 blasts. The sea lions left the jetty completely this morning after a few loud blasts. It sounded louder this morning because the northerly wind, coming from the direction of Bentinck Island.

Since the power issues began last week, the Environment Canada weather station at the top of the tower has not been reporting the hourly weather conditions for Race Rocks Lightstation. Replacement communication equipment is being sent out, so hopefully the weather will be recorded again within the next few days.

Two eco tour boats were in the reserve over the past two days. The only visitors to the island were Greg and Alex, a Year 39 Pearson student, who came by yesterday to drop off jerry cans of gas for the back up generator. Alex was reminiscing about visiting Race Rocks and SCUBA diving as a student.

See the photos below for sights from the past two days:

DND Blasting

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Wind: yesterday 0-10 knots from E, today 0-46 knots from NE to E
Sea State: yesterday rippled, today rippled in the morning and up to 2 m chop in the late afternoon and evening
Visibility: yesterday and today between 10-15 NM
Sky: yesterday sun, today mostly sunny with rain in evening
Temperature: both days 6-10 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.96 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

For most of the past two days it has been sunny with calm winds. A storm warning is materializing this evening that is bringing rain and strong winds of up to 45 knots from the east.

Today, the Department of National Defence was conducting blasting training at nearby Bentinck Island. I heard ten blasts today that shook Race Rocks. See the photo and video below.

Video clips of two blasts that occurred this morning. It takes a few seconds for the sound to reach the island and the sea lions to react. The sounds of gulls and bald eagles can also be heard.

Weekly Census

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Wind: yesterday 0-15 knots from E to S, today 0-10 knots from E to N
Sea State: yesterday and today rippled
Visibility: yesterday and today between 10-15 NM
Sky: yesterday cloudy with periods of rain and sun, clear overnight, today cloudy with periods of sun
Temperature: both days 7-10 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.08 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The five day old elephant seal pup died overnight. It was in rough shape yesterday, possibly from attacks by other elephant seals. In the morning yesterday, it had fresh blood on its face and the alpha male was lying on the pup. Ravens and black turnstones have been pecking at the seals face occasionally for the past day.

The first elephant seal pup, which is fending for itself now as a weaner, was lying on its back today and I could tell it was a male. See the photo below. I am not sure the sex of the other pups, as I haven’t had a good look at their abdomens.

There were four visitors to the island yesterday. Jeff brought out Greg, Alex and Ric to work on the power issues. They hooked up a backup generator to help power the island and top up the batteries. In the afternoon, Greg brought a diesel delivery. Now, the island has a full supply of fuel for when the main generator gets fixed within the next few days. In the past few days, there has a been some power generated by solar energy, which has helped keep the batteries charged. Thanks to some IT help from Dan at the college, now there is internet for the weather systems and monitoring the power.

Four eco tour boats were in the reserve over the past two days.

Results of weekly megafauna and bird census done on Saturday afternoon:
10 elephant seals (3 pups, 3 adult females, 4 adult males)
355 california sea lions
111 steller sea lions
6 harbour seals
36 bald eagles (29 adults, 7 juvenile)
2 ravens
312 pelagic cormorants
62 double-crested cormorants
51 brandt’s cormorants
972 gulls (the majority are thayer’s gulls)
2 canada geese
61 black oystercatchers
1 whimbrel
7 harlequin ducks
41 surfbirds
47 black turnstones
1 snow bunting
1 fox sparrow

We Have a Weaner

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Wind: yesterday and today 5-25 knots between E and N
Sea State: yesterday and today rippled with afternoon NE swells of up to 1 m
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 3-10 NM
Sky: both days mostly cloudy with periods of rain
Temperature: both days 7-10 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.07 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

On Tuesday night, the first elephant seal mother left the island, leaving her 24 day old pup to fend for itself. The mother had the tail flipper tag T562. The pup is still hanging out with the harem on the lawn.

The island is running on reduced power due to an issue with the generator, which is in the process of being fixed.

Four eco tour boats were in the reserve over the past two days. There were no human visitors on the island.

See the photos below for a few sights from the past two days:

Fourth Elephant Seal Pup

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Wind: yesterday 1-21 knots varying directions mostly N, today 0-24 knots swinging around N to N
Sea State: yesterday rippled, today up to 2 m swell
Visibility: 10-15 NM
Sky: both days mixture of sun, clouds and rain
Temperature: yesterday 7 to 9 °C, today 8 to 9 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.25 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The elephant seal harem has a new addition. In the early afternoon yesterday, another pup was born. Since December 29, there have been four births, which is a record for an elephant seal pupping season on Race Rocks. Unfortunately, only about half of pups tend to survive, due to aggression from other elephant seals, learning to nurse, weaning and predation.

There were three visitors yesterday to do some maintenance on the desalinator: Greg, Warren and Cole. Warren and Cole got a once in lifetime opportunity to see the elephant seal birth. They were walking from the desalinator building to the main house, when Warren noticed the pregnant seal had more flippers than usual. Within less than a minute, the female slid up a grassy incline and out popped the pup. It seems like she used gravity to her advantage. All the humans went into the house, so as not to disturb the seals. The new mother vocalized with the pup and the pup wriggled around. The pup appeared larger than the other three at birth. Perhaps it is a male, as male pups tend to be larger than female pups.

What followed next was difficult to watch. Just ten minutes after the pup was born, it was attacked by another mother. The elephant seal mother that gave birth to the third pup, tossed around and bit the new pup, drawing blood between the eyes and on the head. After a few attacks and several minutes passing, the new mother appeared to intervene and put itself between the aggressive seal and her pup. The mother that gave birth to the second pup also appeared to intervene, by approaching and also putting itself in the middle. Out of the five adults in the harem, the third mother was the only one that showed aggression towards the new pup.

Today, Alex and Greg visited for a couple hours in the middle of the day to problem solve a power issue that presented itself yesterday. It’s great to have a lot of people on land supporting the various off grid systems on Race Rocks.

Here are a few photos from the past two days of the flora and fauna on Race Rocks:

Bald Eagle Convocation

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Wind: yesterday 5-33 knots SE to N, today 8-20 knots NNE
Sea State: yesterday up to 2 m swell, today rippled
Visibility: 10-15 NM
Sky: both days mixture of sun and clouds
Temperature: yesterday 5 to 8 °C, today 7 to 8 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.39 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

For the past two mornings, there were many bald eagles in the ecological reserve. Today, 34 were seen perched on the West Rocks. Many more were catching fish and perched around the other islands. There appeared to be a lot of fish in the water, based on the swarms of gulls, cormorants and the feasting bald eagles.

This afternoon, two whale watching boats toured around the islands after watching the orcas in J pod, which were a few kilometres to the east and south of Race Rocks. Two other eco tour boats were seen in the ecological reserve over the past two days.

See the photos below for some sights from the past two days:

Weekly Census

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Wind: yesterday 8-33 knots S to W, today 2-24 knots W to NE
Sea State: rippled
Visibility: 10-15 NM
Sky: both days mixture of sun and clouds
Temperature: yesterday 3 to 8 °C, today 2 to 4 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.63 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The snow is melting quickly, bringing puddles and mud.

The one day old elephant seal pup appears to be doing well and nursing a lot. It’s moving around and wiggling more than the other two did in their first couple days. The alpha male has been mating numerous times with the mother of the oldest pup.

In the early afternoon, I wandered around the island and peered out from the top of the tower to count the mammals and birds. There were some notable omissions in this fourth week of conducting the census. I didn’t see any geese today. The only sign of the honking birds was a lot of poop and tracks in the snow. I also did not see any black oystercatchers. It is possible the birds were scared off by the loud explosions. The Armed Forces were blasting yesterday and today at the Department of National Defence land-based demolition range on Bentinck Island, the closest land to Race Rocks. Directly after each blast, I witnessed sea lions stampeding into the water and birds taking flight. According to a 2017 article On the firing line with the navy, in the Victoria newspaper Times Colonist, the detonation range is used for training members of the Canadian Navy on how to use explosives. The navy has apparently made efforts to lessen the effects on marine life.

Results of the weekly megafauna and bird census:
10 elephant seals (4 females, 4 males, 2 pups)
200 steller sea lions
242 california sea lions
107 harbour seals
8 bald eagles (7 adult, 1 juvenile)
56 brandt’s cormorants
124 pelagic cormorants
43 double-crested cormorants
178 Thayer’s gulls
12 harlequin ducks
9 black turnstones
1 snow bunting

A Third Elephant Seal Pup is Born

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Overnight a third elephant seal pup was born to the mother who arrived at Race Rocks on Monday, January 6. On the lawn in front of the house, there are now three pups hanging out with their mothers, a pregnant female and the alpha male.