Wildlife Notes:

There were many humpback whales seen throughout the day to the south of the ecological reserve. They did not come close enough to this rock for any great photos. Although that did not stop me from trying. Many ecotourism boats spent time out there observing and must have got excellent photos from their vantage.

Three California sea lions have landed on the main island. This advanced team marks the beginning of the takeover that will last into the fall and winter, when several hundred of them will sleep, bark, and attempt to occupy any surface. The Californians have not always been the best neighbours at Race Rocks when it comes to the human built infrastructure. So far these three have been respectful and keeping to the perimeter.

A few times today, I saw a very small and fast bird flying around the middle of the tower. I wonder if it is living in the currently malfunctioning foghorn sensor nearby where I caught glimpses of the quick bird. Coast Guard technicians are planning to visit next week to do maintenance on their equipment like the foghorn. I will keep looking out with binoculars for the fast flyer. Hopefully the bird is actually living in the recently installed nesting boxes attached to a post above the ecoguardian’s back porch.

Facility work:

• Run generator in the evening to top up the batteries after not getting enough solar energy on the mostly cloudy day
• Clean windows in the lantern room so I can better spy on marine mammals
• Clean ecoguardian’s house windows so I do not have to look out through guano

Vessels:

•  Ecotourism: 20
•  Private: 1

Weather:

• Sky: Cloudy in morning with some sunny patches in the afternoon and evening
• Wind: west 16-29 knots
• Sea: 1′ to 2′ chop
• Air temperature: low 12 °C, high 16 °C
• Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.5 °C

Photos from today:

*All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail.