Merry Christmas
Ecological Notes:
- Although there are still no Elephant Seals hauled out here, a picture of one temporarily hauled out at Trial Island looks like one of the females normally here
- The Snow Goose is again hanging out with the Canada Geese…… they often chase it a bit, so perhaps when I though it had left, it was just away from them hiding
- I always feel bad when I’m moving Sea Lions down the ramp and notice an injured one ….. when I am aware of one, I try to move them more slowly
Visitors:
- A quick touch and go run by Greg for a quick grocery top up before the holidays…. He also delivered bottled water for drinking, and some for the battery top ups
Facility Work:
- Bucked and split another load of firewood, stocking up for the cold months of January and February
- Lots of daily fixes on the fences in the heavy winds
- Twice a week top ups to the battery fluids
- Transferring fuel to the generator building as often as possible
- Topped up the cistern and put away the hoses
- Sometime the calendar blurs a bit out here, other than set weekly chores….. but every now and then you get a reminder of the passage of time…. Printed out the tide and current tables for 2026
- Cleaned the outside of the main house windows ….. even with all the rain, there is salt and other debris sticking
- Cleaned the solar panels a couple times for the same reason
- Don’t know how the wind managed to break this with the door latched closed, but it had a previous repair, so maybe it was extra weak
Noted Vessel Traffic:
- Occasional Eco-Tourism vessels
- A couple private vessels transiting and observing in the reserve
- All behaved appropriately
Weather Events:
Typical December weather, many variable wind directions and strengths. On and off rain nearly every day.
- Wednesday, December 24:
- Sky: Overcast, rain most of the day
- Wind: Mostly N, 10-15kts in the morning, dropping briefly to 0 mid afternoon, then rising again
- Sea: 2 ft waves most of the day
- Temperature Low 5.5oC, High 8oC
- Thursday, December 25:
- Sky: high and low overcast, rain squalls
- Wind: ENE shifting to NNE mid day, 10 – 15 kts
- Sea: medium cop all day
- Temperature Low 5oC, High 6.5oC
- Friday, December 26:
- Sky: full mix of high and low overcast, rain squalls and sunny breaks
- Wind: W rising early morning to a mid morning high of 38kts
- Sea: lots of chop, very messy around the reserve, but overall not to bad in the strait as wind is currently running with tide
- Temperature Low 5oC, High 8oC (much cooler “feels like” temperatures though)
10 minutes after a big rain squall
** Any wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Weather – Current:
https://tempestwx.com/station/190757/
Weather – Past:
https://tempestwx.com/history/190757