Pam Birley of England made the first observation today for this year using the remote control camera 5, of the return of the pigeon guillemots to their nesting grounds here on Race Rocks . She commented: “I haven’t seen them mentioned by the guardian yet but I took this screenshot on 3rd Feb”.
Author Archives: Garry Fletcher
Elephant Seals From the Remote Control Camera
Three mother Elephant seals and two of the pups, the newest pup is hiding beyond the top right mom.
This year, so far there has been a very successful set of births of Elephant seals at Race Rocks. This is the 13th year that Elephant seals have been breeding and having births in the ecological reserve. Currently three females and four pups along with a large male can be seen from the remote-controlled camera 1 from the top of the tower:
26 days old Elephant seal pup and the male ~8 year old male.
nursing Elephant seal pup born January 12 2021.
Elephant seal pup born December 22 2020.
Seawater Temperatures and Salinities at Race Rocks 2019-2020
This graphic analysis was done by Peter Chandler of the Institute of Ocean Sciences.
Recent Changes and Updates on this website
A year ago , we lost the services of storage on a Telus service without any warning. As a result all files, photos and documents, which had URLs starting with racerocks.com were not accessible, but fortunately I had a backup, so now I have been gradually getting caught up in transferring several hundred items to this wordpress site which now carries the racerocks.ca archives.
Some of the more significant files which have been updated are as follows:
- The Race Rocks Species list and Image Gallery- species photographed at Race Rocks
- Weather and Physical factors at Race Rocks– all the abiotic factors pages have been redone– example: tidal currents: and wind
- Media Coverage of Race Rocks stories
- Archive of Events at Race Rocks
- .The History of the Development of the racerocks.com millenium Project
- The Situation with MPA status for Race Rocks
- Archives of the Tidal Energy project
- The Contributions of Pam Birley of Leicestershire England
- Current and Archived Video
- Archival records 1859-1906
- A translate dropdown menu has been added to the top of most pages and it should always be embedded at the top of the log posts if one logs in from the URL racerocks.ca
- Two archival files from the 1980s and 1990s have been added recently; The Salmon Enhancement Activity and CoastWatch program activity
- Transects for Environmental Monitoring at Race Rocks
Investigations on Correlations
Questions on whether or not there are correlations in nature between two or more observed events can often be an idea for interesting investigations. Here are some examples:
Solar radiation and UV levels
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- Solar radiation in a day
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- uv radiation in a day
- In graphs aboveof a sunny day in late February both UV and Solar show a rise at the same time of day .. However check at other times of the year in the records at http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?id=72 to answer the question about whether there is always a correlation between these two abiotic factors.
- Temperature and salinity: : examine this graph and see if you can make some conclusions about the correlation between seawater temperature and salinity , or between temperature and any of the other factors shown in the weather station graphs
- Wind speed and barometric pressure : here you might look for examples of negative correlations– in the file from the race rocks weather station http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?compare wind and barometric pressure data,
- Link to the satellite page from the Physical factors page to the satelite page, and on it go to the Weather Model – North Pacific Surface Pressure and Wind website . Track one of the low barometric pressure circles across the Pacific and predict what effect it will have on wind in 6 or 12 hours.. This works especially well in the winter months
- Go to the pages of photographs done by Pam Birley taken on the Race Rocks cameras. Since they are published by the month, look for correlations in her observations . Are all species always seen at the same time of the year, ie does presence correlate with season. See if you can use her pictures to show presence/absence of migratory or resident species and correlate that with seasons.
Christmas Bird Counts 2017-present year
Records for 2017 to 2020–
THE ANNUAL CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT AT RACE ROCKS
This data below may be highlighted, copied and pasted to an open EXCEL file. It will then be usable for statistical manipulations and graphing exercises.Some of the records reflect seabirds observed on the trip from Bentinck Island out while on the boat. Due to inclement weather ( that means a wind above 15 knots from the north East usually, ) In 2018 and 2019 observations were carried out from Great Race Rock Island only, and the surrounding area visible from there.
Linked below are the count returns by year. Included are some of the photographs taken of the members by those who were able to make it out for the counts, –Garry Fletcher
See this link for all past bird counts
2020_ Matthew and Courtney Cameron
2019- Nick Townley ( stormy- observed from land only)
2018- Alex Fletcher (stormy , observed from land only)
| SPECIES | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | ||||||||
| Double Crested Cormorant | 10 | 20 | 208 | 10 | – | |||||||||||
| Brandt’s Cormorant’s | 14 | 50 | ? | 750 | ||||||||||||
| Pelagic Cormorant |
18 | 75 | 59 | 20 | ||||||||||||
| Common Murre | 1* | 3500 | 0 | 25 | ||||||||||||
| Rhinocerous Auklet | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Black Oystercatcher | 42 | 24 | 4 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Black Turnstone | 59 | 38 | 42 | 50 | ||||||||||||
| Surfbird | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Dunlin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||||||
| Ruddy Turnstone | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Sanderling | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Pigeon Guillemot | 10 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||||||||||||
| Marbled Murrelet | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Ancient Murrelet | 0 | 90 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Pacific Loon | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Common Loon | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Red Throated Loon | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Canada Goose | 0 | 12 | 0 | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Harlequin Duck | 10 | 10 | 6 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Long-tailed duck | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Bufflehead | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Surf Scoter | 55 | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Common Goldeneye | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| White winged Scoter | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Red-breasted merganser | 18* | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Common Merganser | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Hooded Merganser | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Red-necked grebe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Horned Grebe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Harlequin Duck | 10 | 10 | 6 | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Mew Gull | 14 | 800 | 48 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Thayer’s (Iceland) Gull | 8 | 150 | 281 | 75 | ||||||||||||
| Herring Gull | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Ring-billed Gull | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Heermann’s Gull | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Iceland Gull | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| California Gull | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Western Gull | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| WesternXGlaucous-Winged Gull | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
|
Glaucous-Winged Gull
|
69
|
250
|
0
|
10
|
||||||||||||
| Harlequin Duck | 10 | 10 | 6 | 0 | ||||||||||||
|
Bonapartes Gull
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
||||||||||||
| Rhinocerous Auklet | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Merlin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Peregrine Falcon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Bald Eagle, Immature. | 0 | 0 | 5 | ? | ||||||||||||
| Bald Eagle, adult | 4 | 10 | 25 | 15 | ||||||||||||
| Killdeer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Rock Sandpiper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Western Sandpiper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Black Bellied Plover. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Red-necked Phalarope | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| American Pipit | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| European Starling | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Song Sparrow | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Fox Sparrow | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Savannah Sparrow | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Snow Bunting | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| North Western Crow | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Raven | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Brown Pelican | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Great Blue Heron | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| SPECIES | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |||||||
Christmas Bird Count at Race Rocks 2020
Today was the annual Christmas bird count. Martin Stewart provided the transportation on the boat Ecosphere for Matt and Courtney Cameron to go out to Race Rocks Ecological reserve from Pedder Bay with Garry Fletcher.
Observations were done from the marine a out through Pedder bay and then we docked at Race Rocks to be met by Courtney the Ecoguardian. We had only a brief window of time, probably an hour there before the wind started to pick up from the North East, but that was adequate to get a good count of the birds on shore.
Pam Birley from England took these photos on camera 5 :
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- Ecosphere arrives with the birdwatchers.
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- Garry, Courtney and Matt Cameron arriving
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- A few of the many Cormorants today
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- Cormorants
Striking in their abundance were the and Pelagic and Brandts Cormorants. On leaving we circled around the South side of the islands and out past West Rock where there were also large numbers of cormorants. From West Race Rocks we went over to Emdyck Pass behind Bentinck Island and found another large gathering of Cormorants, and some alcids. The other bird that seemed much more frequent than previous years were the Black Turnstones
On the island, after stepping carefully past a male elephant seal on the jetty, we were able to view the new pup and mother elephant seal with the large male up on the lawn by the house.
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- male elephant seal
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- family and pup
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- Matt and Courtney
The following three sets of data are from their e-bird posts,
The Problem with Ocean Fouling/succession-
When installing equipment underwater in a high current zone where the water is laden with nutrients from upwelling as it is at Race Rocks, it becomes obvious very soon that any new substrate placed underwater becomes an instant habitat for the settlement of many invertebrate and algal species. For this page I have brought together different examples from the work we did over the years at Race Rocks. . It should be noted that the word “fouling”is a rather perjorative term, seen from the point of view of a natural process interfering with human wishes. However, it simply represents ecological succession, a perfectly natural event in a highly productive environment, and too bad that it inconvieniences us!
This video from 2001 shows what the condition of the growth of life was on a sensor bar that we installed in water at 8 meters depth just off the Jetty at Race Rocks: The sensors were for monitoring Oxygen, salinity, ph, and turbidity. Without constant attention by our divers getting accurate data from sensors like these over a long term would not be possible. This video was taken after three months in the water .
In September of 2011 we ended the experimental Tidal energy Project at Race Rocks. This file has images of the turbine covered in fouling organisms when it was raised for the final time:
Examination of the tidal energy installation after being installed for 6 months
The engineers concern for the kind of materials they were going to use in constructing the turbine were addressed by having the Pearson College Divers install a series of succession plates that could be monitored for growth over several months.
Video inspection done by Chris Blondeau on turbine inspection before removal, June, 2011 The growth of Invertebrtates is quite incredible. Since ther is little opportunity for predators like starfish to browse on this column, growth is unimpeded. This led us to decid that the i meter wide .. 15 metre high column should remain in place after the turbine was removed as such it has turned out to be such a unique habitat.
Another example of succession is evident in the way that kelp attaches to a solid substrate and can end up in modifying the environment. In this case moving rocks from ocean to shore.
Measurement Exercise
Today we had a request from Meghan Byrne, a 6th grade science teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District. She was doing a lesson with her students on size and scale and she was interested in using the following picture from this blog of the elephant seal measuring device – and letting students determine its length.
So I thought that would be a good exercise to include here for school students. Ecoguardian Mara has provided the following photos of the boat ramp rail so you can now calculate the length of the small elephant seal.
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- full measuring tape in cm and inches
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- start of the tape
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- ending of distance on the tape
Be sure to calculate the length of the Elephant seal in both centimeters and in inches. Then you can also convert it to Metres and Feet .
Mara sent another picture of a larger male, the brackets on the rail can just be made out so calculate his size.
Seawater Data: Salinity and Temperature, November 2020
Also available from DFO here, along with data from other sites on the West Coast.
November -2020:
| DATE | time | Degrees-C | Salinity-ppt |
| 1 | 13:30 | 9 | 32.3 |
| 2 | 14:30 | 9.2 | 31.8 |
| 3 | 15:00 | 9.3 | 31.7 |
| 4 | 16:00 | 9.3 | 31.8 |
| 5 | – | ||
| 6 | – | ||
| 7 | – | ||
| 8 | – | ||
| 9 | 8:00 | 9.2 | 31.6 |
| 10 | 9:00 | 9.3 | 31.7 |
| 11 | 10:00 | 9.1 | 31.5 |
| 12 | 11:00 | 9.2 | 31.3 |
| 13 | 12:00 | 9 | 31.7 |
| 14 | 12:30 | 8.8 | 32 |
| 15 | 13:00 | 8.6 | 32.2 |
| 16 | 14:00 | 8.7 | 31.9 |
| 17 | 14:30 | 8.8 | 31.7 |
| 18 | 15:30 | 8.7 | 31.8 |
| 19 | 16:30 | 8.6 | 31.6 |
| 20 | – | ||
| 21 | – | ||
| 22 | 8:00 | ||
| 23 | 9:00 | 8.8 | 31.8 |
| 24 | 10:00 | 9 | 31.7 |
| 25 | 10:30 | 9.1 | 31.8 |
| 26 | 11:00 | 9 | 31.9 |
| 27 | 12:00 | 8.8 | 31.6 |
| 28 | 12:30 | 8.9 | 31.5 |
| 29 | 13:00 | 8.9 | 31.6 |
| 30 | 13:30 | 8.8 | 31.7 |