Light airs from the southwest and a light overcast sky, dominated the first part of the day. At about 16:00, an abrupt directional switch to west by northwest saw winds rise to 20 to 30 knots within a few minutes. Those winds were accompanied by moderate rain and a darkened, overcast sky. The wind direction remained the same but velocity dropped to 5 – 10 knots after the storm passed through leaving sunshine and outrageous double rainbows in its wake. The barometer continued to fall slowly today and the forecast calls for west winds and a 40% chance of showers.

There were five whale-watching boats observed in the Ecological Reserve today all during the downpour. One sports fisher was observed speeding in the go-slow area.

A sea otter was spotted in the Ecological Reserve again today, after being either absent or well hidden for almost a month. Thanks go out to the operator of the Prince of Whales vessel in the area, for radioing the location and description to me.

On land, there are many flowers blooming on Great Race right now. Many of the flowers are heritage plants, part of the legacy left by light keepers from 155 years ago and on.

Flowers lined the original route to the tower and keeper’s house.

More heritage flowers.

An exception to the imported non-native plants, are the Mist Maidens blooming right now. There are several patches but the most vigorous one is in the scree above the Pigeon Guillemot nesting area, just uphill from the boat-house. Mist Maidens or Romanzoffia tracyi are considered to be a rare plant and I will take some photos to share with you tomorrow if the light is better.

A group of visitors were here today using the science house and Great Race for a retreat. Courtney brought them out on Second Nature and stayed to help trouble-shoot a few issues with the generator and aggressive geese. Alex left with Courtney in the afternoon.