Author Archives: Carol and Mike Slater

Aug21-24

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Saturday, August 24, 2002

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 17.1 C  Min. 10.1 C Reset 15.0 C
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:17 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Obscured  Vis. 1/8 Miles Fog  Wind West 25 Knots  Sea 2 – 3 Foot Moderate  Remarks Vis. North West >> North East 2 Miles
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:38 AM

Friday, August 23, 2002 Good Evening

TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.9 C  Min. 9.9 C Reset 10.8 �C

HUMAN INTERACTION: The fog finally lifted just before 11:00 and we counted 25 Ecotour boats, 2 sailboats and 1 dive charter,also station boat to Pedder Bay and return.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:19 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Obscured  Vis. 1/8 Miles Fog  Wind West 19 Knots  Sea 2 – 3 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:37 AM

Thursday, August 22, 2002

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.5 C  Min. 9.3 C C      10.7C
Very chilly with the fog in and out all day, heard boats going by but visibility too poor to see them.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:15 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy  Vis. 10 Miles Vis. South East >> South West 3 Miles Fog Wind West 11 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:26 AM
Wednesday, August 21, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max Min. 10. Reset 12.C
MARINE LIFE: The gulls are spending less time ashore now preferring to fish from the kelp beds. A group of about 20 cormorants spent the morning on the east end of the southeast rocks and the black turnstones seem to favour the little east bay.
There were 7 Ecotour boats and 2 pleasure craft through today also the Hyaku was in with Angus and 2 guests.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:09 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Vis. 15 Wind West 17 Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:33 AM

a small group of Orca passed through

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Tuesday, August 20, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 16.0 C  Min. 10.3 C  Reset 12.7 C
MARINE LIFE: There is plenty of fish around but many of the sealions have left and wonder if the high level of boat traffic is having an impact.Between noon and 13:00 a small group of Orca passed through between Gr. Race and North Rks. heading west.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 36 Ecotour boats through today also Second Nature in for two dives off the dock and one dive late afternoon at West Race.The station boat to Pedder Bay and back.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:14 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis. 15 Miles  Wind West 21 Knots  Sea 3 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:34 AM

45 Ecotour boats through today

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Monday, August 19, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 15.2 C  Min.8.9 C  Reset 13.7 C
HUMAN INTERACTION: There were 45 Ecotour boats through today unfortunately sealions were disturbed to the point of being scared into the water by Malaspina Express, Ocean Explorations (Wahoo) and Prince of Whales(Countess)
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:26 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Obscured  Vis. 1/8 Fog Wind West 19 Knots  Sea 2 – 3 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:41 AM

number 624 branded

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Sunday, August 18, 2002

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 14.1 C  Min. 9.0 C  Reset 12.0 C
MARINE LIFE: A correction on the tag number for the California sealion that has been hauling out on the dock, closer look shows the number 624 branded on his back and yellow tags on the front flippers show # 568
HUMAN INTERACTION: At 09:00 Orca Spirit travelled too close to islands and too fast. There were 19 Ecotour through the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:08 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Obscured �� Vis. 1/8 Miles Fog �� Wind South West 11 Knots �� Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:40 AM

some young get very aggressive, pecking at the parent’s bill and face to be fed

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Saturday, August 17, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 20.3 C  Min. 8.3 C  Reset 13.5C
MARINE LIFE: The young gulls are quite skilled now in their flying so there are few incidents of fights because of landing in other gull territory.Most seem to be feeding themselves although there are still some young that get very aggressive, pecking at the parent’s bill and face to be fed.The parents swing their heads, walk away and if the harassment continues fly away.Nice to see a healthy generation of young gulls this year about 120 fully fledged so far.
HUMAN INTERACTION:There were 25 Ecotour boats, 3 pleasure craft,the 3M boat,1 dive boat in the reserve and Second Nature made 2 trips today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:07 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Obscured  Vis 0 Miles Fog  Wind West 13 Knots Sea 1 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:21 AM
Friday, August 16, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 21.1 �C �� Min. 9.0 �C �� Reset 11.7 �C
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:17 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear �� 6 Miles Fog �� Wind North East 10 Knots �� Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:41 AM

Coast Guard chopper landed :young were scattered about and subsequently attacked

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Thursday, August 15, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 16.0 C Min. 9.9 C  Reset 11.0 C
MARINE LIFE: A few more sea lions arrived during the night, total count approx. 70 California and 11 Northern. The Californian branded # 62 spent most of the day hauled out on the end of the dock, a bit of a loner. At 09:20 a Coast Guard chopper landed on the grass next to the south side of the tower, the adult gulls flew off but the young were scattered about and subsequently attacked by some adults. A call to Coast Guard has remedied the problem- in future we will give them a reminder heads-up at the start and end of nesting season. Thank you Marc and Phil.The 7 geese made a short- about 1 hour – visit just after 6 this morning.
HUMAN INTERACTION:There were 24 Ecotour boats, 3 pleasure craft and 2 Zodiac Military Police boats through the reserve today. Unfortuately the 2 military and 1 ecotour boat the ‘Tsunami’ breached the ‘no wake’ policy, passed this info on to D.F.O.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:45 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear  Vis. 10 Miles Wind Calm Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:01 AM

 

problems with safe landings

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Wednesday, August 14, 2002

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 20.0 C  Min. 11.1 C  Reset 14.5 C
MARINE LIFE: Most of the young gulls are flying now but still hesitant about landing in the water.They continue to have problems with safe landings but getting better, not so many fights today.
HUMAN INTERACTION: There were 27 Ecotour boats, 8 pleasure craft and Second Nature through the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:05 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear  Vis 15 Miles  Wind West 15 Knots  Sea 1 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:19 AM

practicing the art of landing

Posted on by
Tuesday, August 13, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 24.9 C  Min. 11.5 C  Reset 19.0 C
MARINE LIFE: The number of sea lions continues to increase,most seem to arrive in little groups during the night.This morning counted over 50 hauled out and several small groups floating about in the kelp. There were 6 Northern sea lions swimming along the south shore when the Orcas passed by just after 20:00.The whales were headed east after feeding near Beechey Head and surfaced only twice as they went through the reserve.The geese did not visit today, guess that is it for this year,miss them in a way but there are better places for geese! The young gulls are still spending a lot of time practicing the art of landing and there were a lot of close calls with several chicks getting quite a ‘roughing-up’ from some of the more aggressive adults.Saw 4 young with pecks on their heads that drew blood and some tail feathers pulled out. The adults fly out just off shore and call to the young but they are very reluctant to follow , so it gets quite noisy at times.One California sea lion hauled out for a couple of hours on the end of the dock, he had # 62 branded on his back.
HUMAN INTERACTION: There were 33 Ecotour boats and 9 pleasure craft through today, Hyaku did a tour through in the evening.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:33 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear �� Vis 15 Miles �� Wind East 7 Knots �� Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:15 AM

a group taking fish just off shore on the west side of Gr. Race

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Sunday, August 11, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 19.1 C  Min. 7.3 C  Reset 12.5 C
MARINE LIFE: The geese, 1 adult and the 5 young, flew in late this morning and stayed around until about 16:00, then headed over towards Pedder Bay.They still come every day but there is really not much for them to eat, I expect they will eventually stop coming altogether any day now.We are used to the ‘barking’ sea lions all night, but the 30+ gulls landing and taking off from the roof still wake us often, why they fly at night I don’t know but they are noisy.
HUMAN INTERACTION: There was one dive boat, 6 Ecotour boats and 9 pleasure craft in the reserve today. Unfortunately there are still sports fishers who have either not familiarized themselves with the fishing regulations or are just ignoring them but today, because the tide was too low to launch the station boat we had to call Chris to come out in the Hyaku from the campus to speak with a group taking fish just off shore on the west side of Gr. Race. It is the responsibility of people to be informed of the current regulations as stated in the Tidal Waters Sports Fishing Guide issued by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.Race Rocks is a Marine Protected Area and is a no take Zone.The monitoring policy is that if you are seen fishing we will ask that you move out of the area and any fish caught be thrown back, your boat registration and/or operator’s name recorded and submitted to Fisheries. The boat in Question today is 14K 29105.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:14 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy �� Vis 15 Miles �� Wind West 5 Knots �� Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:43 AM

the sea lion shakes the fish back and forth at the water surface and the gulls rush over to pick up any bits that break awa

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Saturday, August 10, 2002

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 19.0 C  Min. 9.9 C  Reset 11.5 C
MARINE LIFE: Middle rock is the favoured haul out spot for the 20 or so California sea lions now in the reserve, the fishing is good and have seen several good sized salmon caught. There is great activity as the sea lion shakes the fish back and forth at the water surface and the gulls rush over to pick up any bits that break away.Many of the gull chicks are able to fly but are still not following the adults out to sea to feed, they peck persistently at the adult’s bill hoping for food and do eventually get some but the push is on for them to learn how to feed themselves.There are fewer Pigeon Guillemots coming ashore everyday now and the Black Oyster Catchers are away for long periods of time.
HUMAN INTERACTION:There were 25 Ecotour boats, 1 pleasure craft and the Marine Mammal Monitor boat in the reserve today. The station boat made a return trip to Pedder Bay and a trip to the Campus in the afternoon to return Ryan back to civilization – Thank you Ryan!
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:31 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Partial Clouds  Vis. 10 Miles – North East To South 5 Miles Fog  Wind West 16 Knots  Sea 1 Foot Chop
posted by Ryan Murphy at 5:33 AM