Author Archives: Carol and Mike Slater

Northern and Calif Sealions still here.

Posted on by
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 13.0 C  Min. 9.3 C  Reset 12.0 C Rain .06 mm
MARINE LIFE: 1 juvenile Bald Eagle which again arrived in the afternoon and made several unsuccessful attempts to land on Great Race.There is a group of about 9 Northern Sea Lions spending a lot of time swimming along the north and east shore of Gr. Race could be the same group I saw and heard in the early hours yesterday.Can hear the California Sea Lions barking off and on during the night,they are hauled out on Middle Rock and the sound carries over this way very well with the westerly.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 ecotour boats and 3 pleasure craft. Angus out in Second Nature with group from DFO. Late afternoon Chris out in Second Nature with the students who will be here webcasting etc. A full load with food,supplies and air tanks. Hope the weather gets a little nicer for them.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:59 PM

Good MorningWEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis. 15 Miles Wind West 15 Knots  Sea 1 – 2 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:45 AM

Still 5 goslings and 5 oyster catcher chicks.

Posted on by
Tuesday, May 28, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.9 C  Min. 8.9 C Reset 11.0 C  Rain 1.0 mm
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature Bald eagles this morning then 1 juvenile late in the afternoon that made several attempts to hunt on Gr. Race but so far the gulls and oyster catchers have been able to drive it away Still 5 goslings and 5 oyster catcher chicks.A noisy group of sealions circled the island a couple of times in the early a.m. at one point could see their wet heads shining in the path of the moon which was very bright off and on as the clouds rolled past.
HUMAN INTERACTION: There were 6 ecotour boats and 7 pleasure craft through today. Station boat to Pedder Bay and back.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 8:16 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Obscured  Vis. 0 Miles Fog  Wind North 7 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:59 AM

Black Oystercatcher eggs not all hatched

Posted on by
Sunday, May 26, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.9 C  Min. 8.8 C  Reset 12.1 C  Rain 2.0 mm
MARINE LIFE: 1 juvenile and 1 mature bald Eagles. The gulls are still busy nest building, mating and keeping the eagles at bay. Most of the Pigeon Guillemots have paired off, mated and are now among the rocks were they lay their eggs as deep in a rock crevice as they can.The Oyster Catcher chicks are still in the nesting area as of this morning since not all eggs are hatched.Once the last egg is hatched the chicks will all be moved down the shore closer to the food source but above the high tide line.The low tides during the day will afford the chicks a steady diet of limpets, mussels,chitons and the like.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 17 pleasure craft and 14 ecotour boats today. Although the Swiftsure was less than ‘dramatic’ we did enjoy watching a mini race about 17:00 as three returning boats ‘caught’ the brief westerly all be it only 15-17 knts. The one boat that was second of the three ‘stood’ off the shore and had just that extra wind to move ahead. An audience small, granted -just the two of us- but it was exciting none the less. By 18:30 the wind was back down to 5-6 knts and the 25 or so remaining boats took a long time to pass by, a nice show of the colourful spinnakers against the grey-black rolls of fog to the west.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:27 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast �� Vis. 12 Miles �� Light Rain �� Wind West 5 Knots �� Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:47 AM

Swiftsure-a ‘driftsure’ this year!

Posted on by
Saturday, May 25, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 15.2 C  Min. 8.5 C  Reset 11.9 C  Rain 2.2 mm
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature Bald Eagles today. The gulls were very busy this afternoon gathering nesting material,there are always some early nesters then a large group all at once, then there are the stragglers that seem to leave things to the last minute.There are some very fussy nest builders and then others that have nests that are quite sparse and somewhat messy.Last night there were at least 2 elephant seals just off shore snorting and bellowing so loud it woke me up about 2 a.m. expected to see them hauled out on the boat dock in the morning but they were back over by Middle rock floating about, quietly! Angus reported 2 or 3 Orca in Race Passage as he was coming across from the college just after 09:00.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Hyaku in from the College -Angus and group to do the live webcast for the Swiftsure-a ‘driftsure’ this year! A little rain this morning and no wind to speak of, a beautiful day on the water for all but the racers.Hyaku to Victoria and back with mechanic and parts-engine repaired and ‘purring’ nicely again.The Swiftsure boats started coming through the passage quite late but with a lot of spinnakers was a colourful sight.A couple of race boats came through between North Rocks and Gr. Race, one was very close going between West Race and Gr. Race and used great skill and energy to manoeuvre through the reefs and tide.In addition to the sailboats there were 47 Ecotour boats and 26 pleasure craft through the reserve.Took pamphlets out to 2 pleasure craft fishing off the east shore of Gr. Race. 1 Dive boat dove the West Race in the morning then returned for an afternoon dive north shore of Gr. Race.The weather forecast is not too encouraging as far as wind is concerned, light in the a.m. but some hope with possible westerly 10-15 knts. in the afternoon.Should be a colourful spinnaker run to the finish line, that is if there are any boats left in the race! Last I heard over 100 boats had pulled out of the race.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:37 PM

 

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast  Vis 10 Miles Light Rain  Wind West 6 Knots Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:45 AM

Black Oystercatchers hatch

Posted on by
Friday, May 24, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 13.9 C  Min. 7.0 C Reset 11.0 C
MARINE LIFE: 1 mature Bald Eagle today which spent most of the time on North Rocks but did manage to circle over-head just before dark,the gulls and oyster catchers took flight as usual and drove the big bird out to sea. The eagle continued towards Bentinck island the ‘triumphant’ gulls returned to the usual noisy reception of the other birds.I can’t say things really quieted down as like the past few nights the birds are quite active. At times it sounds like we have neighbours living in the attic,noisy neighbours with heavy boots! Such small birds but they can make quite a racket especially when a bunch of them land at one time when all else is quiet! We have Oyster Catcher chicks! I saw one but know there are others. As I walked around to check out the nests the adult birds went into a frenzy of warning ‘chirps’ so I knew it wasn’t just eggs they were protecting. Did a boat tour this afternoon,counted 14 California Sealions, 6 Northern Sealions and 5 Elephant Seals hauled out on Middle Rock, also 5 California Sealions hauled out on the south slope of the SE rocks. A couple of Elephant seals are off the north shore of Gr. Race tonight, can hear them snorting so must be just off the dock.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 5 Ecotour boats, 2 pleasure craft. Station boat to Pedder Bay and back-had to get the flat tire on the truck repaired-was a great day to be on the water. Hope the wind picks up a little for the Swiftsure tomorrow -can’t believe I said that after all the complaining I’ve done over the last while about the wind! But really what is a sailing race without wind!
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:19 PM

 

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear  Vis 15 Miles  Wind West 8 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:51 AM

The chicks are growing quite fast,not surprising as they eat their way around the island several times a day.

Posted on by
Thursday, May 23, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.3 C  Min. 7.3 C Reset 11.2 C
MARINE LIFE: 1 mature, 1 juvenile Bald Eagles today.The goose family still at 5 goslings.We look for them every morning hoping to count 5, so far so good. The chicks are growing quite fast,not surprising as they eat their way around the island several times a day.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 3 Ecotour boats and 1 orange inflatable with no identifying markings, one person on board. The boat made several trips around Gr. Race then sat out front for about 40 minutes before taking off toward the SW. Hyaku was out with Chris, several visitors and drums of oil for the diesel engine (oil change after repairs )
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:02 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy  Vis. 15 Miles  Wind West 17 Knots Sea 2 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:39 AM

Still 2 pair of geese and 5 goslings!

Posted on by

 

Tuesday, May 21, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.1 C  Min. 7.5 C  Reset 10.8 C  Rain 0.4 mm
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature and 1 juvenile Bald Eagles. Still 2 pair of geese and 5 goslings! 5 Sealions hauled out on the SE rocks first thing this morning but left just after noon.The gulls are still busy gathering what they can find for nest building,stopping every once in a while to squabble over territory.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 1 ecotour boat and 1 pleasure craft today. Mike spent most of the day in the engine room cleaning up oil-seems the duty engine has a leak in the fuel line, hope the standby engine keeps on ‘ticking’ or we will be in the dark and cold with nothing but the sound of the wind!!
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:07 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy  Vis. 15 Miles Wind West 17 Knots  Sea 2 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:23 AM

eagles were displaying some unusual acrobatics

Posted on by
Monday, May 20, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.2 C  Min. 8.8 C  Reset 10.0 C  Rain 3.8 mm
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature Bald Eagles today. The eagles were displaying some unusual acrobatics,they would take off, fly in circles closer and closer then one of them would go almost upside down right under the other bird and splay it’s talons towards the higher one.I have seen them fly at each other like this when one has some food the other wants but neither bird had anything in it’s beak or talons.We watched them for about 20 minutes until they were well north of the island.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 3 pleasure craft and 2 ecotour boats through the reserve also one rigid hull with divers,which at one point had obviously lost sight of it’s divers. Fortunately a tour boat out of Sooke was in the area and had spotted the divers and was able to guide the dive boat to them for pick-up. The dive boat made about 10 frantic trips around Gr. Race but the divers had drifted quite a distance SSW of the reserve when finally picked up.We are always nervous when there are divers out here and always relieved to see everyone return to the boats safely.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:03 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast Vis. 15 Miles  Wind West 4 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:29 AM

Managed to plant green onions and carrots

Posted on by
Sunday, May 19, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.2 C  Min. 7.0 C Reset 11.0 C  Rain 0.2 mm
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature Bald Eagles today.The Eagles did not make many attempts to come over Gr. Race today until early evening, could be because we were outside most of the time working in the garden.Managed to plant green onions and carrots with a little help from a budding 3 yr.olds green thumb! The showers are helpful but could do without the incessant wind! Enjoyed watching 3 crows trying to take a bath in a puddle no bigger than a tea cup,for some reason they don’t visit the pond as do the gulls,sparrows,geese and starlings.
HUMAN INTERACTION: There were 8 pleasure craft and 5 ecotour boats and 2 kayakers through the reserve today.Station boat to Pedder Bay.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:58 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy  Vis 15 Miles  Wind Calm  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:33 AM

International Boundary Survey Measurements.

Posted on by
Saturday, May 18, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 13.3 C Min 7.1 C Reset 11.9 C  Rain 0.4 mm
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature and 3 juvenile Bald Eagles today.The gulls were busy as usual keeping the eagles away from the ‘big’ island. The goslings enjoyed the pond this morning and needed more than a little ‘encouragement’ to move on by the adults! The other pair of geese spend some time with the ‘family’ but no sign of any more goslings.Counted 15 gull nests but so far no eggs.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 1 Dive boat this morning which returned for 2nd dive in the afternoon.There were 5 ecotour boats and 7 pleasure craft through the reserve today.  Station boat to Pedder Bay and back.We had three visitors from Washington State, David,Tim and Mike for the day long task of gathering the annual International Boundary Survey Measurements.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:08 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis 15 Miles Wind South West 7 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:47 AM