The Race Rocks 14′ Boston Whaler boat has not been used in a while. After the elephant seals cleared the ramp for their post swim afternoon nap, I lowered the boat to the water with the electric winch. Once I made sure the motor was running properly, I took the boat out for a quick 20 minute ride, including idling to take photos and look in the binoculars. I had back up by VHF radio and cellphone in case anything went awry. Pearson’s boat Second Nature was in the area, taking alumni on tours around the Ecological Reserve. The station boat is running well. I look forward to more around the rocks tours over the coming weeks. I do need to troubleshoot the GPS/SONAR unit before I go out next. Oddly, it was working fine in the boathouse. Race Rocks would be boring if everything worked all the time.
The sea lion population continues to climb with 60 on Middle Rock and 13 on Great Race by the jetty. That is a big difference to yesterday afternoon when there were no barks or belches coming from the main island, just the occasional elephant seal bellow or sleep apnea snort.
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- Two elephant seals are swimming in the jetty bay. 13 Steller and California sea lions are hauled out on the rock.
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- 60 Steller and California sea lions on Middle Rock
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- Mother and pup harbour seal
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- Young harbour seal playing in a tide pool on South Seal Rocks
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- Sea otter in kelp seen from the lantern room
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- Pearson 40-year reunion participants on a boat tour of Race Rocks
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- Elephant seal traffic on the boat ramp
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- Lowering the boat down the ramp with the electric winch. I used the electric leaf blower to rid the boathouse of the gull feathers that have blown under the door.
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- Almost in the water
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- She floats!
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- A view from the east side of the ecological reserve
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- Slowly motoring through Middle Channel on the way back to the jetty
Facility work:
- Launch boat and take it out for a spin
- Tidy boat house
- Clean windows on ecoguardian’s house
Vessels:
- Ecotourism: 27
- Private: 5
Weather:
- Sea: up to 2′ chop
- Sky: Partly cloudy, fog (and foghorn) from 20:26 onwards
- Wind: W 16-30 knots
- Air temperature: low 11°C, high 13°C
- Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.1°C
** All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **