Author Archives: Christine Chourmouzis

Spring time!

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It is lush, green and peaceful on Race Rock – a stark contrast to late August 2024 when I was last here. The gulls have are only started to build nests and without territory to defend or chicks to protect, they are quite mild-mannered. With few sea lions and a smaller gull population compared to last August, the air smells almost fresh.

Armeria maritima – Thrift in bloom at Race Rocks.  The thrift was once on the British three pence coin.  If you were “thrifty” you would be able to buy something with this small amount of money.  Source: Armeria maritima – Wikipedia

I was thrilled to see two young female elephant seals sleeping side by side, freshly molted and shining silver. They will be good company and fun to watch. An older mid-molt female is also present but she mostly keeps to herself.

Two by two – Pairs of gulls, geese and elephant seals

 

Facility work

  • cleaned the solar panels
  • getting familiar with the site and modifications to the water and power systems

Vessels

  • ecotourism: 17
  • private: 1

Weather

  • Overcast, periods of rain, NE light to moderate breeze

It is my time to leave

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Once again, this is my last night on Race Rocks.

Wildlife notes:

The sea lions are steadily increasing each day and the sea gulls might have doubled in number in the last week. More gull chicks have fledged, leaving their parents guarding the old empty nesting areas. The female elephant seal may also have moved on as I have not seen her for a couple of days.

Facility work:

  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Ran generator and desalinator, fresh water tank is full with 4500L
  • Operation walkway – work in progress

Vessels:

  • 23 Ecotourism, 3 private

Weather:

Periods of fog until early afternoon then partial cloud. Wind direction variable, light to gentle breeze. Daytime temperatures: low 12, high 16.

 

I will miss this magical place

 

 

Drizzle

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Wildlife:

Today was a quiet, moist, calm day. I found a few more wet dead gull chicks, some quite decayed and a recently killed gull about 6 weeks old. I also discovered another wounded CA sea lion by the Jetty. He is known as Friar Tuck and was disentangled by the Marine Mammal Rescue folks in 2023.  I hope his wounds heal better than the one who hurt its flipper. This is the fourth sea lion I have seen with a past or present entanglement.

Facility work:

  • For the first time I did not clean the solar panels. The rain did it!
  • Worked on tasks to help the next Ecoguardian – started on month end report, data entry for seawater data, washed floors, tallied supplies etc.
  • Operation walkway–work in progress

Vessels:

  • 19 Ecotourism, 1 private

Weather:

Winds moderate NE in the morning, gradually veering throughout the day to light W by early evening. Periods of light rain or drizzle throughout the day. Daytime temperatures: low 13, high 15.

Whales!

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Wildlife notes:

About six killer whales cruised the eastern shoreline passing through the channel between Great Race and the South Islands. It was first time I had seen the whales so close to shore and was very surprised by the behaviour of the sea lions. They did not make a mad rush to get out of the water. Instead, they dove in, grouped up, and seemed to guard the shore and pursue the whales. They followed them through the channel around the west end of the South Islands and along the southern shores of the South Islands until the whales left the area. The ones left on shore continued to sleep or just casually gazed out. It was incredible and not at all what I expected.  Maybe they are like the gulls, drawn to a spectacle, and were just out there to watch the drama of something being attacked and killed.

Going around the west side of South Islands

In pursuit on the south side of South Islands

Whales leaving the area, heading east.

Facility work:

  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Cleaned windows Keeper’s House and Student House
  • Operation walkway – work in progress

Vessels:

  • 25 Ecotourism, 4 private

Weather:

Fog <1/4 mile visibility in the morning, dissipating by 11:00 then scattered clouds.  Winds variable, light to moderate most of the day.  Fresh NW fresh in the early evening. Daytime temperatures: low 14, high 18.

Population shift

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Wildlife notes:

On Wednesday’s Census, there were 155 sea lions on Great Race Rocks. Today there are 296. They aren’t just grouping near the Jetty but on a variety of beaches, stretches of the shore line, around the fog horn and even the helicopter pad which seems quite the hike from the shore. The turnstones and surfbirds have been forced up higher on East Beach as the sea lions move in. East Beach has been a great place to observe new bird species. I wonder if the new birds will still visit this area with the sea lions there. They are calling for rain tonight and tomorrow. I look forward to this and hope it will reduce the aroma in the air.

Sea lions starting to collect on East Beach.

Sea lions on the Helicopter Pad.

The two Birthday birds photographed yesterday are now only one. Either they are still vulnerable at this age or the one has fledged. I am hoping for the latter and wish this young bird well on its journey.

There were whales in the area about a mile to the south as evidence by the collection of ecotourism vessels.

A collection of ecotourism boats presumed to be whale watching

Facility work:

  • Clean solar panels
  • Operation walkway – work in progress

Vessels:

  • 27 Ecotourism, 1 private

Weather:

Clear skies in the morning, partial clouds early afternoon, rain clouds in early evening. Gentle SE breeze until early afternoon, fresh SW in the early evening. Daytime temperatures: low 14, high 19.

Happy Birthday

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There are likely many birthdays on the island today but the two I know about is the seven-week birthday of the chicks that hatched on the NE corner of the house on June 28th and mine. The chicks have lost their speckled down, are approaching the size of their parents and can stay in the air for 16 seconds!

I have never had so many in attendance for my birthday party. Thousands were cheering and barking all day with the island nicely covered in white icing to celebrate my >400 weeks.

7 week-old sea gull chicks

Wildlife notes:

On a less cheery note, the California sea lion that injured its flipper around the beginning of July is not doing so well. It can not weight bear on that flipper and the wound appears to be infected. It is staying on the Jetty or nearby very close to the shore.

Aug 16, 2024

July 5, 2024

July 5, 2024

Facility work:

  • Clean solar panels
  • Topped up battery fluid
  • Ran the generator and desalinator
  • The Jetty is now fully electrified – there is still a path open so the elephant seal can come up the boat ramp and access the interior of the island.

Vessels:

  • 15 Ecotourism, 3 private, 1 kayak

Weather:

Skies overcast in the morning, scattered clouds by evening. Moderate to fresh westerlies. Daytime temperatures: low 12, high 17.

Entangled California sea lion

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Wildlife notes:

A third entanglement was sighted this morning on the shore near the Energy Building. Unlike the other two, it was a California sea lion. From yesterday’s Census, 293 sea lions were counted, for an entanglement rate of 1%. Studying Stellar sea lions in Alaska and northern BC, Kimberly et al 2009 reported a 0.67% entanglement rate and in some parts of the world this percentage is much higher. Despite education campaigns like Loose the Loop, this problem doesn’t seem to be getting better, at least here. It is not just sea lions that are affected. Over 100 different species of marine wildlife get entangled in debris. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada, have been busy lately rescuing entangled whales in BC (CBC article) and the number of entangled whale is increasing (CBC article).

This graphic from the Pinniped Entanglement Group (PEG) illustrates the common causes of entanglement. Source: https://pinnipedentanglementgroup.org/sources-of-entaglement/

It is hard to see these entangled animals and know that for some, it will be a slow, painful death.

California sea lion sighted Aug 15 near the Energy Building. Since the area around the neck is dry and there is no discharge from an open wound, this is considered a non-active entanglement. It may be a scar from a previous entanglement.  Hopefully this animal stays around here so it be checked by the Marine Mammal Rescue staff.

Facility work:

  • Clean solar panels
  • Cleaned windows on Keeper’s House
  • Scrubbed side deck on Keeper’s House

Vessels:

  • 18 Ecotourism, 1 private 

Weather:

Skies partly cloudy. Fresh westerly breeze until 15:00, increasing to near gale in the evening.  Daytime temperatures: low 13, high 17.

Aug 14 Census

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Mammals

sea otter: 1
elephant seal: 1 female
harbour seal: 34 (6 South Islands, 1 South Seal Rocks, 19 Middle, 1 Turbine, 7 North Is.)
Stellar sea lion: 185 (48 Great Race Rocks, 136* Middle, 1 Turbine)
California sea lion: 108 (107 Great Race Rocks, 1 Turbine)

Birds

cormorant: 45 (21 South Islands, 24 Great Race Rocks)
gulls**: 761 (33 South Islands, 4Turbine, 7 North, 717 Great Race Rock)
oyster catcher: 20
pigeon guillemot: 123
surfbird: 46
black turnstone: 149
ruddy turnstone: 3
harlequin duck: 1
barn swallow: 1
Canada goose: 7
song bird: 3

*  Note: all sea lions on Middle Rock were counted as Stellar sealions, there may be a couple of California sea lions mixed in.
** Note: Gull counts do not include this season’s chicks

Wildlife notes:

The entangled Stellar sea lion was not spotted today on Great Race Rocks. A Stellar sea lion with a dark coloured stain around its neck (possibly a packing band), reported previously by naturalists on the ecotourism boats, was sighted on Middle Rock during the census.

The Stellar sea lion on Middle Rocks with a possible new entanglement is located in the bottom centre of the photo and has a dark coloured ring around its neck.

I wish I could sleep like a sea lion, on any surface, cold, hard, flat or bumpy and with only a log for a pillow.

Visitors:

Greg and Gabe came out to work on the electric fence

Facility work:

  • Clean solar panels
  • Electric fencing work – Jetty is now 3/4 electrified.

Vessels:

  •  27 Ecotourism

Weather:

Clear skies. Moderate to fresh westerly breeze. Daytime temperatures: low 13, high 15.

Daily seawater readings

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I used our herding board for the first time today. Ours isn’t red and I wasn’t moving little piglets. Ours is a sheet of plywood with two cupboard handles and I was trying to send the California sea lions off the Jetty so I could take the daily seawater reading. The surface seawater temperature and salinity data have been collected at Race Rocks since February 1921!

It is great to take part in this long-standing tradition and as a tribute, I wanted to share some information on Race Rocks and the other light stations on the BC coast, ranging from the most northerly station on Langara Island, Haida Gwaii to Race Rocks.  The only station with a longer data collection period is Departure Bay.

Location of lightstations. Source: BC Lightstation Sea-Surface Temperature

Data collection period. Source: BC Lightstation Sea-Surface Temperature

Race Rocks and Pine Island are different from the other stations in that they show the least amount of seasonal variation and have the flattest curves of monthly average temperatures over the past 30 years. These two stations also have lower temperatures than the other stations in their geographic areas.

Monthly temperatures from 1991-2020. Source: BC Lightstation Sea-Surface Temperature

Temperatures at lightstations grouped by geographic area. Source: State of the Physical, Biological and Selected Fishery Resources of Pacific Canadian Marine Ecosystems in 2022, page 44

At Race Rocks the temperature increases have been greatest in the most recent period ranging from 1994 to 2023. And one last pretty graph… a plot of daily temperatures for the 2023 data for Race Rocks, showing the months that were colder or warmer than expected.

Graph of daily temperature observations for Race Rocks. Source: BC Lightstation Sea-Surface Temperature

Daily temperature observations at Race Rocks for 2023. Source: BC Lightstation Sea-Surface Temperature

Sea surface temperature in B.C. waters has been increasing over the long term and salinity in the NE Pacific has decreased in recent years. It is of great concern. To learn more about the implications of rising ocean temperatures and salinity changes and Canada’s oceans in general (in order of increasing detail and scientific complexity):

Wildlife notes:

The entangled sea lion moved yesterday to Middle Rock and was not seen on Great Race Rocks today. No out-of-the-ordinary wildlife sightings today.

Facility work:

  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Operation walkway – work in progress

Vessels:

  • 16 Ecotourism, 1 private

Weather:

  • Overcast until late afternoon. Winds westerly varying from moderate to strong breeze. Daytime temperatures: low 13, high 17.

Entanglement

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Wildlife notes:

A Stellar sea lion entangled in fishing gear has been sighted several times since Aug 10 in the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve on Middle Rock and Great Race Rock. For a middle age female, which will grow very little after the age of 6, the outcome of entanglement may not be as bleak as for a young male which will continue to grow until the age of 11 (Kimberly et al 2009).  Rescues are extremely challenging and costly. Successful rescues have been carried out at Race Rocks in 2020, 2019, 2017 and 2009. Hopefully this sea lion stays here in a place where it can be accessed and helped.

To learn more and watch a disentanglement operation see

  • Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society video
  • SeaDoc Society, a program of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine video

 

Facility work:

  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Operation walkway – work in progress
  • Ran generator and desalinator

Vessels:

  • 20 Ecotourism, 3 private

Weather:

  • Overcast all day. Winds SW varying from gentle, moderate to fresh breeze. Daytime temperatures: low 12, high 17.