What a wonderful place to be for a couple nights. Lucky me to get to come back to the Rocks to help out in between Kendra’s and Eva’s shifts.

Weather
Friday, October 30
Wind: NE 6-24 knots
Air temp: 8-9C
Sky: Cloudy
Sea state: 1-2′ chop

Saturday, October 31
Wind: variable 0-12 knots
Air temp: 8-13C
Sky: Cloudy in morning, clear in afternoon
Sea state: calm

Census on October 31
The Census was conducted with the help of the visiting Pearson students in the morning. A few of the species were not present in the morning, so they were counted in the afternoon by the ecoguardian.

Mammals
Steller sea lion: 108
California sea lion: 92
Harbour seal: 15

Birds
Bald eagle: 2
Canada goose: 5
Cormorant: 594
Gull: 466
Black oystercatcher: 24
Common murre: 1
Harlequin duck: 1
Surfbird: 10
Black turnstone: 30

Facility Work

• Ran desalinator for a total of 12.25 hours over the past two days to make about 900 L of freshwater.
• Tested the water pump and the new permanent hose to refill the cistern. Pumped seawater from the jetty for three hours. A tank of gas in the water pump lasts for 1.5 hours.
• Tested the water level in the 24 batteries and topped up with distilled water.
• Replaced the Canadian flag.
• Took depth soundings of fuel tanks to complete the totals in the month end report.
• The newly maintained main diesel generator ran on auto for 25 hours over the past two days. The less powerful back up gas generator had been standing in for the past several weeks.

Photos by Pearson Student Jeanne

Photos by Ecoguardian Nick