#5928 Moulting in 2013
Tag on female #5928 in February, 2016
Alex noted in his last log that he had heard another pup out on middle island and was able to see it from the tower. Today we have a clear shot at it from camera 1 . The pup seems quite lively. The unfortunate thing is that every year there has been a pup born out there, the next big storm washes it off, so as far as we know there has never in the past 8 years been a surviving pup from the middle island. Here’s hoping for no storms for the next few weeks??? not likely..
This morning the large female that had been on the lawn near the other mother and pup for several weeks gave birth to a new pup sometime last night. View on the lawn on the North side of the tower on Camera 1.
Second Elephant seal pup. It was born on January 27, 2016. Cam1 photo.
We have somehow missed getting a photo of this Dogwinkle.. stay tuned!
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Gastropoda
Order Neogastropoda
Family Thaididae
Genus Nucella
Species lamellosa (Gmelin,1791)
Common Name: Frilled Dogwinkle
Other Members of the Phylum Mollusca at Race Rocks.
| Return to the Race Rocks Taxonomy and Image File |
 The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams. |
I received this photo today of a river otter who likes curling up and going to sleep just down the slope from the remote control camera 5 from Pam Birley. Odd behaviour considering that they are usually very secretive out there on the island.
I am just doing up my final notes for my oral presentation to the NEB Kinder Morgan TMX hearings in Burnaby on Thursday, and have noted that river and sea otters have not been recognized by the consultants of the oil company as being significant marine mammals in the Strait of Juan de Fuca . Only the Humpback and Southern Resident Orcas and the Northern Sealion are considered as representative of the marine mammals in the path of tanker traffic. So we are supposed to believe that the Northern Sealion is a proxy for all the other marine mammals in terms of impact.
We had pointed out in past submissions that the elephant seal birthing colony is rather unique also, but no separate recognition has been forthcoming for harbour and elephant seal birthing colonies.
Today I had a look at the E-seals on the lawn using Camera 1 with the following pics.
G. Fletcher
In preparing for the oral presentation that the Friends of Ecological Reserves will give on January 28 in Burnaby, as an intervenor for the National Energy board Hearings, I have recently updated or graphs on Humpback and Orca sightings by the Ecoguardians at Race Rocks: The posts done by our Ecoguardians tagged for orcas or humpback whales assisted in this tabulation.
| Station Race Rock Lightstation | |||||||
| Month: December | Year: 2015 | ||||||
| Observer: Lester Pearson College UWC | |||||||
| See other Salinity and Temperature Monthly Records | |||||||
| Date | Time | Sea | Jar | Hydro- meter No. | Observed Density | YSI Salinity | YSI Temp °C |
| Temp. | Temp. | ||||||
| °C | °C | ||||||
| 1 | |||||||
| 2 | 8:40 | 32.8 | 9.4 | ||||
| 3 | 9:35 | 32.5 | 9.8 | ||||
| 4 | 10:07 | 32.5 | 9.0 | ||||
| 5 | 10:25 | 32.6 | 9.0 | ||||
| 6 | 10:43 | 32.3 | 9.1 | ||||
| 7 | 11:00 | 32.3 | 9.4 | ||||
| 8 | 11:17 | 31.6 | 10.0 | ||||
| 9 | 11:35 | 32.5 | 9.1 | ||||
| 10 | |||||||
| 11 | 12:07 | 32.5 | 9.2 | ||||
| 12 | 12:26 | 32.3 | 9.1 | ||||
| 13 | 12:57 | 32.0 | 9.2 | ||||
| 14 | 13:35 | 32.5 | 9.3 | ||||
| 15 | 14:17 | 10,802 | 32.4 | 9.2 | |||
| 16 | 8:57 | 32.5 | 8.9 | ||||
| 17 | 8:35 | 32.6 | 9.1 | ||||
| 18 | 8:51 | 32.5 | 8.9 | ||||
| 19 | 8:55 | 32.6 | 8.9 | ||||
| 20 | 8:12 | 32.4 | 8.9 | ||||
| 21 | |||||||
| 22 | 10:55 | 32.3 | 8.9 | ||||
| 23 | 10:50 | 32.3 | 8.9 | ||||
| 24 | 15:05 | 32.3 | 8.9 | ||||
| 25 | 14:00 | 32.3 | 8.7 | ||||
| 26 | 13:05 | 32.2 | 8.7 | ||||
| 27 | 14:10 | 32.3 | 8.7 | ||||
| 28 | 16:50 | 32.5 | 8.7 | ||||
| 29 | 8:30 | 32.2 | 8.7 | ||||
| 30 | 8:22 | 32.2 | 8.4 | ||||
| 31 | 8:15 | 32.1 | 8.3 | ||||
| Recorded by Race Rocks Ecological Reserve Guardian for Lester B. Pearson College | |||||||
Cormorant grouping on the south west corner of Great Race Rock.
This year on Dec 27, the North East swell was too significant to allow the Ecoguardian to launch the station boat to pick us up for the Christmas Bird Count, so Alex Fletcher completed it on his own. Due to the high winds, there were very few birds remaining on the island but he did get a good count of those there by walking around the island. From remote camera 1 I was able to see the two concentration of gulls and the one group of Cormorants on the main island.
This picture is included to help in identification.
Alex got some good pictures of the gulls and it seems that most if not all are Thayer’s Gulls.
Thayer’s gulls on the north-east corner of the island
Thayer’s Gulls photo by Alex Fletcher
See the Christmas Bird Counts at Race Rocks back to 2001:
Christmas Bird Count 2015
bald eagle: 3 A, 2 J
Cormorants: 174
black oyster catchers: 40
Thayer’s gulls 192
Buffleheads 2 (1 pair)
Black turnstones: 29
Dunlin: 2
Harlequin Duck 1
Marine mammals:
Northern sea lion: 76
Cali sea lion: 40
Cystodytes lobatus photo by G.Fletcher.. 1980
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
subphylum Urochordata,
Class Ascidiacea
Order Enterogona
Family Polycitoridae
Genus Cystodytes (Ritter 1900)
Species lobatus
Common Name: Lobed compound tunicate
| Other Members of the Subphylum Urochordata at Race Rocks |
 Return to the Race Rocks Taxonomyand Image File |
| The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.
Garry Fletcher |
