Weather:

• Visibility 10-20 NM, great visibility especially in the few hours before sunset
• Sky partially overcast
• Wind 5-15 knots W
• Calm seas for the most part, other than strong ebbs and floods

Visitors: Some pleasure craft over the past days. There have been some supply deliveries as well as a few visitors for various reasons. Today we saw what looked to be a private vessel enter the reserve and put a diver in the water. The dive lasted less than ten minutes and when the diver was back in the boat, they left quickly.

Ecological Notes: 

• The elephant seals are all here still – the two large and two small ones from earlier in the week. The two larger seals and one of the smaller ones have hauled themselves up high onto the island, and the other smaller seal looks to be more comfortable closer to the water. Look for them on the webcam!
• We’ve had a few more strange seagull deaths with the same symptoms: gradual weakening (reluctance to fly and a lethargic walk), separation from the rest of the seagulls, eventually progressing to being unable to fly, and finally silent coughing/choking movements followed by death.
• Two orcas spotted on Monday, behind north rock and heading east.
• There’s still a heavy sea lions presence, mainly on the jetty and the surrounding rocks, and around the base of the lighthouse.
• Mid week we had around 20 eagles in the area and were able to catch a few quick pictures of them in flight!