Well, I think the beautiful weather is about to change – with rain warnings all weekend long!!
Today was pretty perfect, nearly no wind and blue, sunny skies. The sea lions didn’t destruct the fence over night (a true miracle) but I’m sure I’ll pay for it tomorrow in the rain.
After getting some work done in the morning I spent the afternoon watching killer whales and humpbacks feeding and bothering each other off the South side of the island!
Pretty perfect day all around.
The never ending battle of sea lions vs electric fence continues!
They behaved themselves overnight with only a couple posts knocked over which in their defence…could have been the wind.
However today was not remotely windy and every time I went outside the fence needed some level of repair. Down by the jetty was jam packed with California sea lions, a few stellers, and even two elephant seals. Throughout the day they continued to rip down lines and tear out the screws, but I managed to keep up with it (or so I thought).
I had just come inside and sat down with a cup of tea when I looked out my window to see a giant steller lounging on the jetty with the electric fence resting on his back….a good indicator that it was grounding out somewhere.
Something tells me the fence isn’t very hot…
Back outside I went and found the source of the problem – a piece of fence so frayed it was hanging on for dear life and it was clear that no current could run through that. I fixed the fence with fresh fencing material and adjusted the other area around the jetty so that nothing was touching the cement.
Fixed!
I plugged the fence back in and crossed my fingers. No one was back on the jetty by the time it got dark so we’ll see how the night goes!
As per usual, whales everywhere today!
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** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
The following article from the Victoria Times Colonist with a video of an interview with Dr. Martin Haulena of the Vancouver Aquarium appeared in the Times Colonist on October 29 2024 concerning the rescue of an entangled sea lion at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve:
Not much to report today! Rainy and grey all day with the wind picking up in the afternoon and still going strong as I write this.
The sea lions took a toll on the fence over night as they usually do but it still managed to keep them out, except for one lone Cali who was happy to head back over.
The humpbacks were EVERYWHERE today. Every direction I looked I either saw a breach, a tail slap, or a blow and it certainly made the moody weather a little brighter.
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** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Mammals
Steller sea lions: 312
California sea lions: 1052
Harbour seals:145
Elephant seals: 1
Birds
Bald Eagles: 2
Gulls: 773
Canadian Geese: 18
Turnstones: 10
Whimbrels: 3
Cormorants: 602
Sparrows: 2
Harlequin ducks: 7
Vessels:
Eco: 11
Private: 4
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** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Today felt like summer! 20 degrees, sunny, and windless, just beautiful!
The sea lions really did a number on the fence over night, a few broke right through and I had to shoo 3 of them back from various areas. There was one particular sea lion that couldn’t figure out how to get back across the fence so I lowered an entire section for him and in true Cali fashion he panicked and ran through an entirely different section and tore it all down. The fence was unplugged of course, but I swear when a sea lion’s fight or flight reflex kicks in the rest of their brain shuts off and they just flail.
Flight over fight is often their choice
There were whales for miles in every direction, so easy to see when the ocean is as glassy as it was today. T049C Neilson cruised through the reserve today, he is a 26 year old transient killer whale who typically travels alone. He also has a love for playing with buoys and crab traps – often resulting in panicked calls to DFO from people thinking he’s entangled. Not the safest hobby to take up when you’re a whale.
Overall today was rather casual, lots of time outside in the sun and an afternoon spent fixing the fence….again!
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** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Last night’s northern lights were as incredible as I could’ve hoped for! This is the second time now that I have been lucky enough to witness them from Race Rocks.
This morning the sky was still colourful – this time with a beautiful sunrise accompanied by a logging humpback just off the south side of the island. It slept there as I completed my morning fence repairs, surfacing for a big breath every few minutes.
The sea lions had a hay day with the fence over night, and I’m sure there will be just as many repairs needed tomorrow. Good thing I love them anyway!
Both female elephant seals are still here which always makes my day, they aren’t big fans of the sea lions but manage to tolerate them.
Greg brought 3 loads of water over today – topping the fresh water tank up 4000L which means its now full!
I filled the generator up with diesel and we brought the small tank up as well so I won’t have to try and move it on my own any time soon. I spent the afternoon topping up battery electrolytes and rolling fire hoses before moving inside to get some work done.
Another beautiful day out here, sure doesn’t seem like October!
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Nothing too wild to report today!
The two female elephant seals that have been hanging around the south side of the island have now been on the boat launch all day. The one with the green tag is L334 who I spotted here in the spring. She was tagged in Ano Nuevo, California and Race Rocks is the first place she was spotted after being tagged a year prior – such a far journey! I updated the Ano Nuevo team and will be interested to see if she’s been seen anywhere else lately.
Greg brought over some fresh water today as the sea water by the jetty is still too full of sea lions and their feces to pump into the cistern.
Tons of humpbacks around all day today, and I hear the northern lights might make an appearance tonight so I’ll keep you posted!
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** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
When I first saw the Steller pup a couple of days ago I was SO excited. As previously mentioned, Race Rocks is not a rookery so pups are not born here. The nearest rookery would be near Ucluelet and the other well established rookeries are much further north.
I reached out to a few people and I’m told that this pup could have been from the rookery near Ucluelet – which is still very far, or perhaps the mom didn’t give birth at a rookery and rather a different haulout site, which isn’t totally out of the question.
Fast forward to today and I’m photographing the pup when I hear what sounds like a baby goat screaming behind me. I turned around to find yet another Steller pup and its mom! And yes – baby Stellers sound like goats/sheep and often yell out a loud “BAAAAAH”.
Pup 1
Pup 2
I spent about an hour watching these two babies interact with their moms and other sea lions around them, taking so many photos that I’m surprised my camera didn’t catch fire. I finally headed back to the house and stopped dead in my tracks as I noticed a third pup and its mom on the rocks next to the jetty!
Pup 3!!!!
I ran back to the south side of the island to make sure no one took a swim and the other pups were still there. So we now have three whole Steller sea lion pups!
I mentioned in my blog post a couple days ago that we’ve seen nursing moms and pups before but those were much older pups so this is new. These are 2024 pups which means they were born sometime around June-July and are only a few months old!
I can’t wait to watch them over the next 3 weeks and see who else shows up!
I think his mom might be ready to find a babysitter!
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Over the week I’ve been here I’ve seen the same entangled Steller every day, usually on the same side of the island. Since he had been sighted so regularly we made a plan with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society (VAMMR) to make the trip from the mainland to disentangle him.
The head veterinarian at VAMMR is the only person here in BC that is trained and capable of darting a sea lion with a sedative in order to remove whatever it is entangled in.
There are so many factors that go into planning and executing these response efforts.
Basically, all of these factors need to line up on the same day in order for a response to be planned. That day was today! Both teams available, no wind, good tides, animal seen all week…well until Sunday.
I did not see the sea lion Sunday or Monday despite my best efforts and requests for vessels in the area to keep an eye out. The animal being in the area is of course the most important aspect and without him there is no disentanglement to be done. The response was called off last night, teams standing down until he was re-sighted – a very reasonable decision.
HOWEVER…Guess who was perched on the rock next to the jetty this morning when I did my morning walk around? Yep, you guessed it, our big ol’ Steller with a packing strap tightly wrapped around his neck, and I’m not at all surprised. This is a frequent and very frustrating occurrence in the marine mammal field and had the team come out today I’m sure we wouldn’t have been able to find him. That’s just how it works sometimes.
What now?
From here, we continue monitoring and planning. We all know we want to help him, so as the Ecoguardian I will continue to let both teams know each day that I see him. We will all work together to find another day where we can tick all the factor boxes and get out here to successfully remove the entanglement. It’ll happen!
For now – here is a video of a recent disentanglement done by VAMMR and DFO so you have a bit of an idea what goes into it.
Other things from today:
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** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **