Weather:

• Sky smoky and foggy (washington wildfires continue)
• Visibility less than 1 NM
• Wind 25-30 knots W
• Sea state: swells breaking at 1m

Visitors:

• Greg visited today with supplies- thanks Greg!
• The last of the first year students visited yesterday in small groups. We have been enjoying showing them around the island and hope to see more students soon.

Ecological Observations:

• The sea lion population seems to be steadily increasing. Interestingly, the stellar sea lions tend to stay on the further outcroppings while the california sea lions are happy to haul out all around the main rock. The two species intermingle, but typically only in the area of our jetty.
• We were joined again by a young elephant seal yesterday! Unfortunately we still haven’t been able to get a clear look at the green tag visible.
• A small group of black turnstones came through today, accompanied by a single surfbird.
• Boris the sea lion has returned! We have been anticipating his return as the sea lion population climbs. Boris was first spotted last year, when he arrived with what appeared to be a propeller injury to his skull. We were uncertain if he would survive, as according to Marty (vet, MMR), sometimes these injuries can cause brain infections if the skull fragments. He is easily identified by the scar that remains, and his unusual behavior- he doesn’t seem to be bothered by our presence much at all. To view previous posts about Boris, click the “boris” tag under this post!