There was a man who arrived close to the reserve in a row boat. Upon talking to him I learned that he rowed here all the way from Port Angeles and was headed to Victoria, but the tide pushed him to Race Rocks instead. After rowing around the reserve for a few minutes, he headed on to Victoria.
Bird Notes
Noticed a sudden rise in number of immature gulls. Photographs below.
Marine Mammals
The latest elephant seal count is at 5 males and 1 female.
There are two California Sea Lion young ones around the jetty, with an adult (presumably the mother).
Spotted the HMCS Calgary leaving Pedder Bay and heading out towards the open ocean
Technical
Yesterday Kyle and Guy visited the island to go over all the energy and support systems. They identified some issues with the desalination pump, and the solar panel grid. There will be a technician coming soon to fix those.
Bird Notes
I saw a whole flock of Pelicans fly over the island – about 15-20 in number.
Not too many ecotour boats around today. A few private boats
Technical
Guy brought the chimney cleaner to the island today who cleared and vacuumed all the chimneys on the island.
Bird Notes
The Seagulls have been getting increasingly aggressive, as is expected this time of the year due to their eggs. I spotted the first dead, adult Seagull of the season that I suspect was killed by another Seagull.
There are notably fewer Seagulls on the island this year compared to previous years.
Marine Mammals
Elephant Seal counts remain the same since yesterday. 4 males and 3 females.
Not too many ecotour boats around today. A few private boats
Marine Mammals
The harbour seals were yet again on the closer rocks (between the south rocks and the main island). Not sure what’s attracting them, or if this is usual, but they were gone when the tide rose to cover those rocks
Elephant Seal count remains constant from yesterday, with the exception that the third adult male who remained in the water is now ashore.
Average amount of ecotour boats around the island today
Marine Mammals
The additional male Elephant Seals from yesterday remained on the island today, causing yet another fight between a new adult male and the existing adult male. Neither was seriously injured.
Some harbour seals got closer to the main island than I’ve seen before – they usually hang out around the south islands.
Saw some whale watching boats gathered probably a couple of kilometers away in the south, and with my camera I got some shots of the orcas they were watching. It was too far to see the orcas themselves with the naked eye, but I could see the water sprays they were making.
Average amount of ecotour boats around the island today
Another group from the Kule foundation came for a tour of the island.
Marine Mammals
It was an exciting day for Elephant seals as 2 new males showed up, bringing the total count of male Elephant seals to 4. One of the new males stayed in the water on the south side of the island, but the other came on to the shore which led to a fight between the new adult male and the existing adult male. The new adult male was slightly injured near the mouth during the fight. Guy filmed part of the fight, and the video is below.
The sea lions were barely seen today on the shore, I assume because of the rain. This affected the census count.
Garry Fletcher (ER Warden) and the IT team from Pearson College came ashore this morning. The IT team worked on replacing some of the wiring at the top of the lighthouse while I gave Garry a brief rundown of the happenings on the island.
A group of 9 visitors from the Kule Foundation came for a tour later in the afternoon. They spent close to an hour exploring every part of the island, including the top of the lighthouse, as Guy and I provided information, facts and stories.
After a Seaking Adventures boat violated the rules of the reserve day before yesterday and went into the eastern channel, I called the company this evening to give a warning. They explained that they have a new driver who is new to the area, but assured me that there would be no more boating violations on their part.
HMCS Edmonton was headed towards Pedder Bay this evening, along with a tail of two hard-hulled inflatables.
Bird Notes
A Pelican spent a good part of the afternoon on the island, just north of the student house. I haven’t seen this Pelican here before in the last 10 days that I have been at Race Rocks.
More seagull eggs. None hatched yet. Seagulls are relatively less aggressive than usual for this time of the year.
Marine Mammals
Garry spotted a new male Elephant Seal on the island today. It’s a fairly young one with remarkably unmarked/scarred skin. We believe that’s because it may have recently finished molting.
The volunteers were able to complete as much of the reordering of the batteries as possible currently. The old batteries that need to be disposed have been put aside and place for the new batteries has been created. An electrician will come soon to rewire the new batteries to move them.
Boats/Visitors/Sightings
All the visitors departed this afternoon after an enjoyable stay. They were also kind enough to scrub down the guest house, beyond the basic cleaning, and leave it in an amazing state.
Marine Mammals
There were 3 female and 1 male Elephant Seals on the island today.
One of the whale watching boats entered the channel on the East side of the main island. I was busy trying to get them to reverse out and couldn’t run to get a picture unfortunately. I’ll be on the lookout for the same boat again.
Guy brought several volunteers and visitors to the island today! The volunteers helped Guy place some of the old batteries on the upper shelves of the battery room. Guy was also able to help me with the desalination and power washer issues. We were also able to test the YSI meter to confirm that it is giving inaccurate readings and needs to be fixed.
Marine Mammals
There were 3 female and 1 male Elephant Seals on the island today. The second male from yesterday was nowhere in sight.
Quite a few ecotour boats today, especially ones I haven’t seen around the island before
I noticed a helicopter in the distance, in the direction of Port Angeles, which I think might be a Coast Guard helicopter. It seemed to be circling a certain area for about 15 mins. Didn’t see any other vessels around.
Technical
The desalination pump doesn’t seem to be drawing water anymore. I initially thought the tide was too low for the pump to draw the brine, but even at high tide it doesn’t seem to be drawing any water. I’ve contacted Guy about it and he will be looking into it tomorrow.
Marine Mammals
There were 3 female and 2 male Elephant Seals on the island today. The second male was a new arrival and it caused a fight between the two males. Neither was seriously injured during the fight – it lasted a few minuted before both returned to the water.
