Census Results:
Mammals:
- Elephant seal: 2 (female and male)
- Steller sea lion: 34
- California sea lion: 11
- Sea otter: 1
- Harbour seal: 78
Birds:
- Bald eagle: 1
- Canada goose: 3
- Cormorant: 33
- Gull: 584
- Black oystercatcher: 20
- Pigeon guillemot: 131
- Whimbrel: 1
- Surfbird: 28
- Black turnstone: 137
- Song sparrow: 2
- Least sandpiper: 1
-
- Female elephant seal in the jetty bay
-
- Male elephant seal on the left and female on the right
-
- Female elephant seal blowing bubbles in the jetty bay
-
- Elephant seals beside the jetty while I was collecting the seawater sample
-
- A bazaar of pigeon guillemots
-
- Least sandpiper
-
- Gull chicks panting on a hot 23°C afternoon
-
- Canada geese mowing the grass
-
- Harbour seals on South Seal Rocks
-
- A pair of nursing harbour seal mothers and pups on south seal rocks
-
- Three young gull chicks on a very empty corner of the helicopter pad
-
- Steller and California sea lions on Middle Rocks
-
- Black turnstones, surfbirds, and one whimbrel gathering during the evening in the East Bay
-
- Sea otter in the kelp bed near the South Islands
-
- Bald eagle landing on South Island after flying over Great Race Rocks and freaking out the rest of the bird population
-
- Four black oystercatchers on South Seal Rocks
Facility work:
- Reacquaint myself with the standard operating procedures and various systems on the island
- Check boat electronics, safety equipment, and winch
- Clean solar panels
- Sample seawater
Vessels:
- Ecotourism: 23
- Private: 5
Weather:
- Sea: Rippled
- Sky: Clear in morning, then partly cloudy
- Wind: Variable light winds overnight until sunrise ~06:00, when wind switched to easterlies varying from 3-14 knots throughout the rest of the day
- Daytime air temperature: low 13 C, high 24 C
- Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.6 C
** All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **