Two tiny harvest brodiaea (crown brodiaea) about 5cm tall were found on the rocks west of the Student Building. It is a native plant not yet found on Race Rocks.  The closest sighting I could find was by the famous botanist Adolf Ceska on the shore across Race Passage in the 1985. It grows from southern BC to California on dry grassy sites or rock bluffs and has traditionally been harvested for its small, nutty flavoured corm which can be eaten raw or cooked.

Harvest brodiaea (Brodiaea coronaria)

Wildlife notes

The gulls are in various stages of courting, nest building and incubating. About 20% of the built nests have eggs in them. Some gulls have not yet built nests and there are areas (compared to last year) not yet fully occupied by courting pairs. There are few sea lions, the pigeon guillemots have been out for most of the day and the three year-old (L334) elephant seal returned today after being absent for a couple of days.

Facility work

• cleaned the solar panels
• brought firewood rounds into the basement ahead of tomorrow’s rain, started organizing wood pile for splitting and stacking

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 13
• Private: 2

Weather

Westerlies 20 knots and partly cloudy in the morning. Skies overcast in the pm, winds 8 knots by evening. Daytime temperatures 11 to 13 degrees.

Wildlife notes

The house is shuddering, the seas tossed and the grass wind whipped. The gulls are mostly on their bellies, head to the wind.  Their beaks are the best wind vanes around revealing the small wind shifts caused by the terrain and structures. The pigeon guillemots and cormorants were out feeding, the sea lions lounging on the rocks and the elephant seals asleep in the grass, unbothered by the winds.

Facility work

The high winds kept me off the roof today but the batteries were so well charged yesterday that the dirty solar panels were able to bring the charge back up to 97% by sundown today.

• battery fluid top up
• daily water sample
• house cleaning
• no solar panel cleaning

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 0
• Private: 0

Weather

Clear skies. Winds W to WNW 28 to 39 knots, gusting to 46. Daytime temperatures 10 to 11 degrees.

Old Lister left the island today in pieces.  She was dismantled and carted away as part of a larger push to remove old equipment, batteries, fuel drums and other toxic materials from the island.  It all went well thanks to a safe and well executed plan, a hardy team of helpers and some very cooperative elephant seals.

Old Lister, the retired Lister 25 KW Diesel Generator Set

Mike operating the belay system to control the decent of the cart down to the boat ramp.

The cart held anchored in place while the crew handlines the boat toward the ramp. The two year-old (center) and the large adult female elephant seal (right) eager to go for a swim were surprisingly tolerant of the activities.

Loading the first and heaviest component.

The two year-old decided she had enough after the first two carts were loaded and headed back uphill.

The team celebrating the successful mission! All the heavy pieces made it aboard.  The rest of Old Lister can leave the island with a much smaller work crew.

Facility work

• removal of Old Lister
• solar panel cleaning

Vessels

• ecotourism: 3
• private: 1

Visitors

The work crew composed of 3 Pearson staff, 1 alumni and 4 additional helpers

Weather

Skies clear. Westerlies 6 to 22 knots until 3pm, then reaching 40 knots with gusts of 46 by 6pm. Daytime temperatures 11 to 15 degrees.

Wildlife notes

When I left Race Rocks on Feb 5th 2026, Sylvia and Ms. B. Lackie, her 17 day-old pup, were the only two elephant seals on the island.  Sylvia left shortly after her pup was weaned and Ms. B. Lackie stayed a lot longer.  Month later now, the grass is knee high and there are 5 different female elephant seals here on Race Rocks. The most famous of these is L334.  She was tagged as a weanling in March 3, 2023 in Ano Nuevo State Park in California. Each year thousands of elephant seals return to the park to breed and to molt (here is a link to their live camera to see just how many and how tightly packed they are).

In May 2024, the one-year-old L334 came to Race Rocks to molt. In her first year she traveled about 750nm to get here and quite possibly did the journey alone.  She came again to molt in April 2025, and is here again this May as a three year-old.

L334 – The 3 year-old elephant seal born in Ano Nuevo State Park, California, coming back from her daily swim. Behind her is a mature female.

L334 and her tag

Using L334 as a size reference, I figure we currently have one, two, three and four year-old juvenile females and one mature female. Note, the one year-old cannot be Ms B Lackie as elephant seals don’t molt until the year after they are born.

The 1 year old is mid-molt, the two to four year-olds are in the late stages of molt and will be leaving soon.  The large adult is just preparing to start her molt.

From  left to right: The two year-old at the end stages of her molt and the “scruffy” one year-old mid way through her molt.

From left to right: The mature female preparing to molt, a four year-old in the late stage molt, and  the three year old L334, also in late stage molt.

Facility work

• topped up battery fluid
• cleaned house
• ran the desalinator
• cleaned solar panels

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 17
• Private: 3

Weather

Sunny. Winds W 5 to 20. Daytime temperature 9 to 13 degrees.

This is my last night on Race Rocks. Everything was terrific. The weather was spectacular and watching the elephant seals grow and shrink was incredible. I will miss their interactions and calls – the moms haunting bellow and the pups indignant squawks, and the calls of the gulls and oyster catchers, the chatter of turnstones, the barks and growls of the sea lions, the roar of the current… just too much to list.  It is such a blessing and a privilege be here.

Thank you Greg and Richard for your support, and welcome to Race Rocks Cedric! You have a full cistern, 4000L of fresh water, piles of firewood to split, and the joy of watching the young pup explore the island and learn how to swim.

Piles of fire wood rounds waiting for the new splitter to arrive.

Another pile of fire wood.

Facility work

• topped up battery fluid
• organized and cleaned house

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 3
• Private: 1

Weather

Marvelous day. Partly cloudy. Sunshine. Gentle to moderate breeze veering from NE to SE. Daytime temperature 9 to 11 degrees.

Wildlife notes

The wounded Olympic gull was not seen today, dead or alive. The carcass of the dead California sea lion on East Beach has gone from brown to pink, to white and is now being unwrapped.  The birds have peeled back the skin on its skull!

On to more pleasant things… an image of the elephant seals, mom and the growing pup, asleep in the hollow. In the image below, on Sylvia’s chest just below her right front flipper is a round scar.  I think she may have been here last spring to molt.  In the May 18th 2025 post is a female with the same scar. Her hatred for the gulls is not new. In the May 31st 2025 post that same female is seen bellowing at a gull.

Sylvia and Ms. B. Lackie on day 16

Facility work

• cutting firewood
• helping Richard to finish the install of the new LED lights, hang the new framed marine charts and fix the down spout on the Keepers house.

Visitors

Two groups of students came to take notes on the wildlife and view the elephant seals.

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 2
• Private: 0

DND Activity

There were no detonations today but a lot of helicopter activity and impressive exercises. They were dropping inflatable boats and swimmers into the ebbing current in Race Passage.

Weather

Partly cloudy. Winds mostly light from the northeast. Day time temperatures 9 to 12 degrees.

Wildlife notes

A sickly wounded Olympic gull has been walking around the island for days. It can’t fly and doesn’t walk quickly or in proper quick footed gull fashion with a stretchy neck. It may have been attacked by something but the eagles here aren’t interested in this easy target.

Day 15 for Ms. B. Lackie.

Facility notes

I had fun this morning on the boat ramp cutting up a Douglas-fir log that was gifted to us a few days ago.  It is always interesting to plan a job when there is only your small self around … no man-handling, just blocks and rails.

I cut off the easy to get elevated parts of the log, then made cuts most of the way through down the length of the log, and am ready to pull on the yellow line to roll the log over in order to complete the cuts.

I also learned how to change the filters and oil in the generator.  Mike and Greg came by to pick up the splitter for warranty work and do the oil change. I took notes, photos and wrote instructions, so I should remember months from now when I am here next.

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 3
• Private: 2 paddle boarders

Weather

Cloudy. Gentle northeasterly breeze. Daytime temperatures 9 to 10 degrees.