Woke to a very calm and clear beautiful day. Fall on Race Rocks is proving to be a lovely season to be out here. The tidal currents were fairly still early this morning allowing me to see every ripple in the water made by a whale or sea lion. Even still enough for a couple of stand-up paddle boarders to cruise along the kelp on the south side of the island. What a day for it! Said goodbye to the students in the afternoon who hopefully got some nice R&R. Later in the afternoon, I had the pleasure of waving and saying hello on the radio to two good friends passing by the Rocks, one whale watcher and one oil spill response. They gave me a heads up about the incoming killer whales and where to keep a look out – thanks Sydney and Taylor!

Wildlife Notes

• ~ 5 humpbacks, again mostly on the South/East side of the reserve
• Quite a few black Turnstones were feeding near the SW fence in the morning
• 2 Male Bigg’s Killer whales  (T060D & T060E) passed by at a distance. They traveled Northeast through Bentinck Island passage toward William Head

Facility Work

• Electric fence was in surprisingly good condition – minor adjustments made
• Cleaned solar panels
• Took daily water sample
• Re-filled battery water
• Re-filled generator tank

Weather:

• Sky: Partly cloudy, slight marine haze
• Wind: 3-4kts ENE
• Sea state: Calm
• Air temp: High 14C

Vessels:

Many eco-tourism vessels out today watching humpbacks and the killer whales (perhaps around 10 vessels at any given time). A few private vessels, likely fishing came through and a pass by my friend in the oil spill response vessel.

Very blurry proof of Killer Whales!