Trevor and Flo Anderson, lightkeepers at Race Rocks from July 28, 1966 until March 2, 1982 had a very pleasant visit at Race Rocks today. Trev and Flo provided endless stories of their 16 years here and certainly provided some historical tidbits for our benefit. Many, many things have changed on the Island since the Anderson’s time. Garry accompanied while Erik drove the boat.
Misery took his time in occupying the pathway as we were trying to get by.
There were 4 visitors to the island today.
At 0742hrs PDT a vessel passed at very high speed from W to E over Rosedale Reef.
Human Interaction
At 0835hrs PDT a floatplane flew W to E over the south side of the Reserve under 1000 ft.
At 1035hrs PDT a small RHIB entered the east side of the Reserve near North Race at high speed. The vessel proceeded to transit the main passage to the south side of Middle Race where they approached within 30 metres of harbour seals on the Rocks. At least 25 seals took flight to the water.
At ~1100hrs PDT a vessel was spotted entering the Reserve from the east at high speed.
At ~1330hrs PDT a vessel was spotted transiting the main passage at very high speed. Communication was made with the vessel and it slowed.
At 1510hrs PDT an Oak Bay Marine Group vessel was spotted fishing within the limits of the Reserve. Pedder Bay Marina was alerted. The vessel was halted by another recreational fishermen before PBM staff could respond.
At 1515hrs PDT an OBMG vessel was spotted speeding in the waters west of Great Race. The vessel eventually departed.
At 1515hrs PDT a recreational vessel was spotted fishing near West Race. The station vessel was launched to intercept the violators and they departed shortly thereafter.
At ~1900hrs PDT a recreational vessel was spotted speeding into the eastern portion of the Reserve in the direction of the North Race-Middle Race channel. The vessel slowed before entering the channel.
Divers from Ocean Educations arrived in the afternoon to dive off the front side of the island.
There were 18 visitors to the island today.
Pleasure: 10 Eco-Tour: 5
At 0842hrs PDT a floatplane flew W to E over the south side of the Reserve.
At 1017hrs PDT a floatplane flew in from the E, banked over top of the south side of the Reserve then headed SE towards the Puget Sound region.
There was 1 visitor to the island today.
Posted by Adam
At 1230hrs PDT a vessel (13K 116013) was observed entering the Reserve under high speed from the west. Within 100 metres of Great Race, the vessel slowed, passed near Rosedale Reef, then turned around and sped back out to the west under high power.
Mid-afternoon, a vessel was spotted drifting into the NW side of the Reserve while fishing. The vessel departed after about 10 minutes.
At ~1515hrs PDT a red eco-tour zodiac (company name not visible) transited the main channel from E to W at a speed greater than 7 knots and fast enough to keep the vessel up on a plane.
At 1533hrs PDT a floatplane passed from E to W over the north side of the Reserve.
At ~1600hrs PDT a whale watching vessel approached closer than 100 metres to a California sea lion hauled out near the derrick. The vessel was actually within the kelp bed off the rocks. Upon sighting me [Adam] the vessel backed off and sped through the main channel to the west. After passing between West Race and Middle Race, the vessel throttled up well within the limits of the Reserve.
Posted by Adam
Mid-morning (exact time n/r) a small aluminum vessel with 4 persons on board entered the main channel and transited W to E to the NE corner of Great Race at which point they proceeded to throttle up, maneuver around the kelp beds and out of the Reserve.
At 1350hrs PDT an aluminum vessel with 4 persons on board was spotted fishing in a line drawn directly westward from North Race. A license number was not recorded.
At 1357hrs PDT a vessel was spotted transiting the west side of the Reserve at high speed (14K 27490).
At 1357hrs PDT a fibreglass vessel (WN 0516 NH) was spotted fishing on the W side of Great Race within the limits of the RCA. This incident was reported to the DFO Fisheries Violation Reporting Hotline.
At 1425hrs PDT a pod of orcas passed over Rosedale Reef from E to W. A whale watching boat(red/orange RHIB, name not visible)previously outside the Reserve and following the whales, approached within 100 metres of the pod and followed the whales into the Reserve. As the whales passed through the Reserve, the vessel headed south towards the green buoy but ultimately passed on the Reserve side of the buoy. This action is in violation of the PWWA guidelines stating that eco-tour vessel operators must not follow whales into the Reserve. Photos of the incident were taken.
At 1430hrs PDT, Chris, Garry, Andrew and son, two photographers and an employee from the Development Office arrived at RR for a tour/meeting.
There were 7 visitors to the island today.
Posted by Adam Harding
At 0836hrs PDT a floatplane flew W to E over the south side of the Reserve under 1000 ft.
There were 2 visitors to the island today.
Posted by Adam
At 1438hrs PDT a float plane flew E to W over the north side of the Reserve under 1000 ft.
At 1614hrs PDT a float plane flew W to E over the south side of the Reserve under 1000 ft.
There were 2 visitors to the island today.
Posted by Adam
At 0837hrs PDT a floatplane flew from W to E over the south side of the Reserve at an altitude less than 1000 ft.
At 1015hrs PDT an aluminum vessel with red markings and a red canopy passed at high speed over Rosedale Reef.
There were 2 visitors to the island today.
Posted by Adam
A scientist from DFO’s Institute of Ocean Sciences visited RR this morning to discuss the collection of seawater temperature and density readings.Â