Author Archives: Carol and Mike Slater

Moon jellyfish

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Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast  Vis. 15 Miles Light Rain  Wind West 7 Knots  Sea Rippled
MARINE LIFE: The Eagles arrived early a.m. as usual 14 mature and 5 immature but as the weather deteriorated about 11:30 with the front moving in from the west with 30+ knt winds, all but 3 matures left the area. A small group of surfbirds spent most of the afternoon along the shore by the boat dock somewhat protected from the wind. The 3 Canada Geese spent another day grazing in the grass in the northeast quadrant of Gr. Race then as the winds increased tucked in behind the rocks in the east bay area. We counted 7 Moon Jellyfish( Aurelia aurita) floating amid the logs and debris in the tide wash east side of the boat dock.Most of them were 15-16 cm wide. In the sea they looked bluish -white and translucent.Unfortunately they were somewhat battered as they washed towards shore and Garry said that they were on their last legs so to speak.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2nd Nature in just after 9 a.m. with Angus,Garry and Chris for a informational staff meeting. Nice to have a visit especially this time of year even if short.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:29 AM
Tuesday, February 05, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.1C Min. 5.9C  Reset 6.7C  Rain 0.9 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:07 PM

Canada Geese

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Saturday, February 02, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max.7.1C  Min. 4.8C Reset 6.5C
MARINE LIFE:The bull Northern Elephant Seal still spending part of the day, usually early morning floating along the south shoreline then hauling out on the rocks below the tower.We hear him vocalizing as he spends part of the night on the north side of Gr. Race.5 Canada Geese flew onto Gr. Race late morning, we heard them some distance away as they ‘honked’ in from the Northwest.The last 7 years we have had geese visit this time of the year. Sometimes they stay a couple of days,last year two pair stayed off and on for three weeks.14 mature Bald Eagles – 2 immature today.
HUMAN INTERACTION: At 1:30 Noticed a small open boat with three persons aboard jigging in the area between West Race and Gr. Race.Launched the Whaler to take out an information pamphlet and although the fishers were familiar with the Race Rocks Web site, did not know about the ‘no take’ guidelines. 2 Kayaks ( 2 persons ) in the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:58 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy Vis. 15 Miles  Wind North East 8 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:17 AM

Herring ball feeding

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Friday, February 01, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 7.1C Min 4.3C Reset 5.1C Rain 0.6 mm
MARINE LIFE: 15 mature and 3 immature Bald Eagles today. They were feeding with several hundred gulls, cormorants, common murres and scoters in small but frequent fish balls, mostly outside the reserve.
HUMAN INTERACTION:2nd Nature in with Garry and guests and also Angus with guests and the mail!
posted by Carol or Mike S at 9:03 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis. 15 Miles  Wind South 9 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:18 AM

Light snow

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Tuesday, January 29, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 2.5C Min. 0.0C Reset 1.1C Rain 3.0 mm — Snow 2.0 cm Total Precipitation 5.0 mm
MARINE LIFE: 14 Bald Eagles -all mature- arrived as usual early a.m. but gradually left as the weather deteriorated in the late morning.The snow showers were heavy enough at times to activate the fog horn, however the ground was too warm for the snow to accumulate.5 mature eagles returned as the weather cleared and stayed for most of the afternoon.
HUMAN INTERACTION: at 1:25 pm 1 tour boat came through the reserve.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:06 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast Vis. 1 1/2 Miles – Light Snow  Wind North East 5 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:42 AM

Elephant seal (probably Slash) comes to Race Rocks

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Friday, January 25, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 6.9C Min. 1.9C  Reset 3.8C Rain 25.8 mm
MARINE LIFE: This morning we had a special visitor hauled out just below the boat house and although he did not stay long enough to get a video camera organized we hope the 35m photos turn out ok. The adult male Northern Elephant seals seen lately atop middle rock look quite big from a distance but up close it’s amazing! In the early morning before daylight we heard an elephant seal vocalizing and it sounded very close by,turns out he was very close! Over the 12 years we have been here quite a few juvenile elephant seals have hauled out along the boat ramp, some have even made their way half way across the island but never before has one this size come ashore. This fellow has a very dark brown coat and estimate his length 13-15 feet and weighing at least 3000lbs. Although he was not afraid of us he was very wary and gave us a few ‘bellows’ as we inched towards the tank room to get the video camera-unfortunately he decided to amble down the ramp and back out to sea, it was great to see him so close.There were 11 (8 mature) Bald Eagles today but they left the area when a weather system roared in from the west about 2:30. The horizontal hail only lasted 30 minutes and the wind let up in about an hour but the great birds did not return.There was no blasting as had been scheduled.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:05 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis.15 Miles  Wind West 30 G Knots Sea 5 Foot Moderate – Low South West Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:28 AM

Sealions disturbed by DND blasting

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Thursday, January 24, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.9C Min. 5.9C  Reset 5.9C  Rain 8.2 mm
MARINE LIFE: Today we monitored the scheduled detonations at the D.N.D. site on Bentinck Island. There were three sets of blasts,each consisting of two detonations separated by about 2 minutes.The first blast at 10:54 sent the gulls,cormorants into the air and alerted the sealions hauled out on the middle rock.About 20 animals moved towards the water then the second blast went off and caused a stampede of all the hauled out sealions. The birds as usual settled back down in a minute or two. Very gradually a few at a time, 10-15 sealions returned to the haul out areas.The Elephant Seals raised their heads and looked around but did not move away.The Second set of blasts at 11:53 and 11:55 cleared Middle Rock of sealions and also sent 40-45 Harbour Seals hauled out on the western slopes of the Southeast Rocks scrambling into the water. The Last 2 blasts( 12:48 and 12:50 ) sent the 5 sealions that hauled out again about 20 minutes after the 11:55, back into the water. Do not know the size of the detonations but they shook the cameras and most of the pictures on the walls.There are more blasts scheduled for tomorrow.There were 7 Bald Eagles – 4 mature.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:21 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast �� Vis. 15 Miles �� Wind South West 17 Knots �� Sea 2 Foot Chop – Low West Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 8:13 AM

3 day summary

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Wednesday, January 23, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 7.7C Min. 4.9C  Reset 7.7C  Rain 3.4 mm
MARINE LIFE: 7 (5 mature) Bald Eagles.Group of 22-24 Black Oyster Catchers were around most of the day and at times paired off and spent 45-60 minutes along the shore near traditional nesting areas.Saw 5 Harlequin Ducks, all male, in the east bay area.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2nd Nature in with several guests and 1 tour boat.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:05 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast  Vis. 15 Miles Wind East 9 Knots  Sea 1 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 10:14 AM
Tuesday, January 22, 2002
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast Vis. 15 Miles Wind West 23 Knots Sea 3 Foot Moderate – Low South West Swell
MARINE LIFE: 9 Bald Eagles (5 mature) today. 24 Black Oyster Catchers spent most of the day along the south shore of Gr. Race and at times paired off and spent 1/2 hour or so in nesting areas.Saw 4 male and 2 female Harlequin Ducks in the East bay area early afternoon.
HUMAN INTERACTION:2nd Nature in with Angus,Garry,Chris and Guests approx.2:30pm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:33 AM
Monday, January 21, 2002
Good Evevening
TEMPERATUER: Max. 6.C  Min. 2.2C  Reset 3.7C  Rain 2.0 mm
MARINE LIFE:6 (4 mature) Bald Eagles today. Very stormy all morning with a series of squalls coming in from the west,by 2 pm the wind decreased to 12 knts and we enjoyed some sunshine.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:09 PM

students to RR

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Saturday, January 19, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 6.5C Min. 4.4C Reset 6.0C  Rain 6.4 mm
MARINE LIFE: there were 7 (5 mature) Bald Eagles today.
HUMAN INTERACTION:2nd Nature arrived 10:30 – Chris brought a group of students over to do some cleaning etc. on the specimen tank.Mike and I left the station in good hands and made a quick trip in the boston whaler to the corner store, mmmm fresh fruit and milk.We returned just as Chris was picking students up for return to campus at 4:30.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:06 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy Vis. 15 Miles  Wind West 17 Knots  Sea 2 -3 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:55 AM

Blasting continues

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Friday, January 18, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 5.7C  Min. 3.8C  Reset 4.7C  Rain 3.6 mm
MARINE LIFE: At 8:30 there were only 75-80 sealions hauled out on middle rock, not all the animals have returned since the blasting yesterday.The first blast at 9:58 alerted all the sealions and 20-25 went into the water,the second blast 2-3 minutes later sent all but 6 animals scrambling into the sea.The last blast at approx. 10:25 sent 12 of the 20 sealions that had hauled out after the 10:01 blast, back into the water.There will be blasting exercises again next week on the 24th and 25th.There were 11 (7 mature ) Bald Eagles today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:03 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER : Sky Overcast Vis. 15 Miles Very Light Rain Wind North 8 Knots Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 8:07 AM

Blasting disturbs birds and sealions

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Thursday, January 17, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 6.1C  Min. 2.7C Reset 4.7C
MARINE LIFE:At 8:30 there were 150-170 Sealions, 2 large bull and 1 smaller Elephant Seals on Middle rock. With the first blast at 11:10 the gulls and cormorants took flight, most of the sealions were alerted and some went into the water. When the second blast went off 2 minutes after the first, the sealions scrambled over each other in a rush to get to the water.The elephant seals although alerted (raised their heads and looked around ) did not move off their spots. With each blast the eagles,gulls and cormorants all took flight but within 1 or 2 minutes settled back down. During the hour between blast series 10 to 15 sealions hauled out again but appeared to be somewhat ‘edgy’ and were much quicker to move into the water when the blasting occured again.There were 14-7 mature Bald Eagles in the M.P.A. today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:11 PM
The smoke, some of it coloured that can be seen at times in camera one is coming from the D.N.D. property,there may at times be blasting sounds. These exercises will continue until friday afternoon.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 9:53 AM