It seems my luck continues and it happened to be another clear morning for my animal census day. But even better, the clouds formed and gave the perfect cover so I didn’t have to stare out into the glare and shadows of the sun. The tides were not as low today sitting at about 2m this morning which I suspect had an effect on how many birds and pinnipeds I saw today. This afternoon students from Pearson College arrived with Bella to spend the night enjoying all the island has to offer.

Animal Census Report:

I started my count around 7:30am at nearly a 2m tide. There were a lot more cormorants than my previous count, perhaps due to the time of day as I counted them later in the day the last census. A few less sea lions, I suspect more were out foraging this morning.

Mammals:

• Steller sea lion: 331
• California sea lion: 749
• Harbour seal: 70
• Humpback Whales: 8 (one tail slapping in the evening)

Birds:

• Glaucus-winged Gull: 391
• California Gull: 1
• Western Gull: 4
• Cormorant Spp: 1605
• Black Turnstones: 14
• Surfbird: 2
• Savannah’s Sparrow: 6
• Harlequin Duck: 1

Facility work

• Electric fence maintenance
• Cleaned solar panels
• Water sampled
• Animal census

Weather

• Sky: Overcast all day
• Wind: ESE 3kts
• Sea state: Calm
• Air temp: 12C

Vessels

Up to 5 eco-tourism vessels watching whales to the south of the island at any given time.

Tail Slapping

* Humpback whale photo taken with telephoto lens and cropped