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Aziz Sonawalla | Race Rocks Ecological Reserve- | Page 2
The island has been shrouded in dense fog for the last 48 hours and the fog horn has been going off continuously
Boats/Visitors/Sightings
The fog has reduced the number of whale watching boats in the area, or at least I cannot see many due to the fog.
Marine mammals
The harbour seals have really taken to liking the little rocky beach on the southeast side of the island. These days you can spot about 20 of them on the rocks there, including the pups – although I have only seen one pup over the last few days, not sure where the second one went.
Lots of ecotour boats between 12 and 1 pm, and a few private boats as well, making race passage quite crowded
Mammal Notes
Some steller sea lions have arrived on the northwestern rocks! It’s hard to get an accurate count from this distance, but I estimate 12-15 including one really big one (a webcam viewer informed me that the big bull is branded “76Y”). Photographed below.
I got a closer look at the injured californian sea lion that was hanging out near the guest house earlier, and it definitely has an injury on its hind flipper. I saw it try to get into the water yesterday and it was pretty much dragging itself.
The injured female seal has nestled itself by the boat shed. I don’t see any further injuries on it.
Census
Elephant Seals
Male = 4
Female = 1
Sea Lions
California = 2
Steller = 15
Seagulls = 480 adults (a big part of them remain on the smaller rock islands during low tide), ~100 babies (hard to estimate)
Kyle visited the island today and brought Nick along, who is a former Ecoguardian and currently works as a facilitator for Pearson’s PSYL program. They brought my my food supplies and Kyle gave Nick a tour on some of the newer systems here.
Lots of whale watching boats in the area today
Saw a bunch of canoes paddle past the island, headed south. I believe they originated from Beecher Bay. Photograph below.
Marine mammals
Noticing a slow rise in the steller sea lion population on the northern rocks. There’s at least one really massive sea lion. I’ll get an accurate count later this weekend.
The injured seal that showed up a few days ago with predator marks and molting fur, returned to the island today and seemed to be more injured. I think it is a female. I’ll keep an eye on it.
Possible humpbacks far south of the island – too far to see the whales, but there was a gathering of whale watching boats in the spot where the humpbacks like to hang out.
The early seagull chicks have grown a lot, and are currently 2/3 the size of the adults.
Today was the first day the seagulls seemed to be (relatively) less aggressive – not sure if it was because of the strong wind or the fact that the chicks can now move themselves to safety.
Marine mammals
The californian sea lion that was earlier seen near the guest house, has returned there.
Saw a female elephant seal on the island after a while. That makes 3 males and 1 female on the island
I think there are more than 2 harbour seal pups near the island, although I haven’t been able to confirm yet. Attached is a picture.
An average amount of ecotour boats came into the reserve
Quite a few sail boats and other private vessels in the area
Mammal Notes
An update on the last post about baby harbour seals: looks like there are two of them, not one! The family of four was spotted on the northeast tip of the island.
A few californian and one steller sea lion on the surrounding rocks.
Census
Elephant Seals
Male = 4
Female = 0
Sea Lions
California = 3
Steller = 1
Seagulls = 520 adults (a big part of them remain on the smaller rock islands during low tide), ~100 babies (hard to estimate)
Pigeon Guillemot = 85
Eagles = 2
Oystercatchers = 12 adults, 4 babies (haven’t spotted any new chicks since last week)
Harbour Seals = 64 adults, 2 babies
Geese = 0
River otters = 2 adults, possible kits on the island but haven’t been spotted
The 2 geese that had a nest near the crane have now abandoned their nest – haven’t seen them in a couple of days and one single egg remains unhatched.
Marine mammals
Lots of seal news!
After reports of an injured harbour seal in the area, I finally spotted one on the boat ramp today. While this seal has several scars and some bloody wounds, it doesn’t however match the description of the injured seal we received, so maybe it’s a different one. This one I spotted doesn’t seem to have any serious injures, just several small ones.
Spotted an adult and baby seal just behind the crane today! They were originally spotted the other day by Nikola from the top of the lighthouse when the Communications team came for a visit, but I couldn’t get a photo earlier. They are extremely adorable!
River otters
I caught a glimpse of a pair of river otters for the first time today, running down the jetty with what seemed to be either a seagull chick or an egg. There were two of them, but they were too fast for me to get a picture.
Technical
10 days now without having to start up the generator! We are 100% solar!
Kyle visited the island along with Jake from maintenance and the Communications team
Kyle and Jake took some of the bed fixtures out of the guest house and replaced some of the tube lighting
I had lunch with Brian and Nikola from the Pearson Communications team, and gave them a short tour of the island
Lots of ecotour boats in the area today!
Birds
Spotted several new shore bird species that I haven’t seen before this summer – photographed below! (I’m not sure if I’ve identified the species correctly)
The number of gulls on the south rocks has increased dramatically over the last few days – about 100-150 more I would guess. I’ll do a proper count on Sunday.
Marine mammals
Several humpback whales on the south side near the bouy! They made numerous rain-blows and attracted a lot of whale watching boats.
2 californian sea lions on the island today
Technical
Kyle brought lots of new LED bulbs for me, and I’ve replaced all the bulbs in the Ecoguardian house with the new ones. They are significantly more power efficient and brighter too!
Quite a few ecotour boats in the area today, especially in Race Passage
Bird Notes
The first set of seagull chicks are growing fast – one of the first things to develop are long legs. I spotted some of them flapping their wings in imitation of the adults, but they are still a long way from flying.
Mammal Notes
A lone sea lion made it all the way up on the main island until the guest residence! It would get aggressive if I got even slightly close to it. I first thought it might be injured, but I saw no scars or bleeding anywhere.
Census
Elephant Seals
Male = 3
Female = 0
Sea Lions
California = 1
Steller = 0
Seagulls = 350 adults, ~70 babies (hard to estimate)
Pigeon Guillemot = 60
Eagles = 4
Oystercatchers = 8 adults, 4 babies (haven’t spotted any new chicks since last week)
Water: Calm in the morning, small waves in the evening
Boats/Visitors/Sightings
An average number of ecotour boats in the area
A few fishing boats just outside Pedder Bay as well
Birds
Just when I thought the Seagulls couldn’t get any more aggressive, they did just that. Noticed the first dead baby seagull, possibly due to a predator bird, and the adult seagulls around it were extremely violent.
Marine mammals
3 Elephant seals on the island today – all male.
Technical
Placing the new batteries on the insulated rack and the technicians’ work on the grid has made an impact – over the last 48 hours the island has only consumed 3% of the battery charge. Will continue to monitor charge and voltage over the week to see the effect.
Wind: 15-20 SE in the morning, 5-10 N in the evening (quite unusual)
Sky: partly cloudy
Water: Ripply
Boats/Visitors/Sightings
Kyle again brought several technicians from PTTP to do further work on the energy systems. They were able to connect the system to the internet which now allows them to remotely monitor solar input and usage. I also helped them lift the new batteries off the floor and place them on to an insulated rack.
Noticed an ecotour boat from the United States going around the reserve, and I’ve never seen this boat before. Maybe it was a 4th of July special?
Birds
Most seagull eggs have hatched, but some still remain whole. The seagulls are extremely aggressive now, and hard hats are a must for any visitors at this point.
A couple of juvenile bald eagles are making the rounds on the island – I initially mistook them for golden eagles, but Kyle explained they were simply juveniles.
Marine mammals
Kyle and I went to grab some photos of Ollie the sea otter that lives in a kelp patch near turbine rock.
We also spotted a humpack’s blow but by the time we got close it was gone.
