Both Monday and Tuesday were foggy for much of the day, as can be typical in August.  At about 11 am on Tuesday, the fog signal stopped sounding when the fog was at its most dense.  The Coast Guard and nearby marinas were notified.  Most boats have GPS and/or depth sounders so a grounding was unlikely but still a concern. It started up again at 1 pm, then off again an hour later. The Coast Guard hope to be able to come tomorrow to repair it, but in the meantime a navigation advisory has been issued.

Ecological Notes:

• The alpha male elephant seal has been present both Monday and Tuesday, but the young female headed back to the water sometime late Monday or early Tuesday.
• Steller’s sea lion (431Y) was seen again on Tuesday.
• A Short-billed Dowitcher remained on East Beach on Monday.
• An unofficial tally of sea lions during high tide on Tuesday evening produced a count of 456 (not separated by species).
• A Common Murre was seen aground beside the jetty on Tuesday afternoon. This is an unusual behaviour for this species away from their nest site.
• See photos below for more ecological sightings.

Weather:

• Yesterday (Monday, August 22):
  • Sky: Foggy in the early morning becoming partly cloudy
  • Wind: W 10-31 kts
  • Sea: light chop to 3′ seas
  • Temperature Low 12^oC, High 15^oC
• Today (Tuesday, August 23):
  • Sky: Foggy most of the day
  • Wind:   W 17-29 kts
  • Sea: moderate to heavy chop
  • Temperature Low 12 ^oC, High 15 ^oC

Facility Work:

• Solar panels cleaned daily. Windows washed.
• Batteries topped up on Monday.
• Fences are being checked and downed posts reset daily.

Vessel Traffic:

• Many Canadian ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve. Cruise ships are going through daily.

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

Alpha male elephant seal and young female come nose to nose

California sea lions swim with their tails up!

Glaucous-winged Gull chicks nestled in compost

Float seen east of Great Race

Standing waves in Race Passage

Common Murre

Seal lions moving closer to the fence line

Seal lions moving close to the fence line. Downed post was picked up and straightened without causing a stampede, although the sea lions were paying close attention.

Young Glaucous-winged Gull with a “toy”

Black Turnstones have been moved inland by sea lions on East Bay beach

Sea lions on East Bay beach

Alpha male elephant seal seen from the tower

Navigational warning issued when foghorn failed