A bit of a foggy morning, but nevertheless magical morning on Race Rocks. During my morning perimeter walk I found a few posts of the fence knocked over and the sea lions brazenly taking over the jetty. I need to work on my scare tactics it seems. Greg and Richard arrived again this morning with hopes to fix the water maker. Unfortunately, the desalinator still needs new parts so we pulled out the hoses to fill the storage reservoir from the skiff. The guys went and grabbed another tank full to fill so I’ll have plenty to use while the water maker issues get fixed.

Wildlife Notes

• 3 actively feeding humpback in Race Passage, sea lions also mobbing around the whales picking up the leftovers
• Observed the sea lion with flasher in mouth in the same spot again
• A California sea lion had previous entanglement, with partial rope still embedding in the neck
• A couple little shorebirds swooped in, and with the help from Merlin I identified them as a Western Sandpiper and a Sanderling

Facility Work

• Electric fence repairs
• Cleaned solar panels
• Took daily water sample
• Assisted with re-fills of water tank via fire hose with Richard and Greg
• Swept and mopped basement floor of main house

Weather:

• Sky: Foggy in the morning, gone around 11am. Sunshine with distant haze from fog to the south and some smoke from prescribed burnings to the NW. Fog came in again heavy and quick at 4:30PM, virtually no visibility until it cleared at 6pm.
• Wind: W 8-10kts in AM, down to SSW 3-6kts by afternoon
• Sea state: Calm, small ripples <0.5m swell
• Air temp: High 12C; Low 10C