Author Archives: Alex Fletcher

Pelicans and a Peregine

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Since the last post there have been several visits of Pelicans to the reserve.  My first sighting of 3 of them was on Saturday afternoon just before dark.

Dec 2-Pelicans on North East side

On Sunday evening a flock of around 20 pelicans landed on the West rock, joining the elephant seals that were there.  The light was really poor so I couldn’t get a very good quality image.   There has recently been a sighting of a similar size group close to Victoria, likely the same ones.

Dec 2-Pelicans on West Rock

Dec 3-Brown Pelican

 

 

 

 

On Dec 3 there were 4 Pelicans sighted in the reserve as well as a Peregrine Falcon.

Misery has been on the main island   up near the South side of the tower for several days. I have seen up to 8 other elephant seals on West Rock including a male that looks nearly as big as Misery.

Peregrine Falcon at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve

On Tuesday morning and again in the evening the wind picked up to 40 knots from the West.

Dec 4-West Rock elephant seals (not Misery)

 

 

 

 

 

Change of Guardian

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Wednesday morning we switched guardians, Mike has finished a 3 month shift and I will be here for the next 4 months. It has been 8 months since i was last out here, nice to see that Mike and Julie have done a great job out here and that the place is in good shape.

I have been on the lookout for the pelicans that Mike has observed out here and was thinking they were gone. But this morning, while photographing a sealion taking down a fish I noticed a large bird in the frame.  The pelican must have been on the east face of the Eastern rocks which is out of sight from the main island.

On Wednesday the winds picked up to over 25 knots.  Misery hauled out on the main island that night and stayed here until yesterday.  After making his way down the ramp and through the debris he stayed at least an hour amongst the logs, floating and making bubbles.


This morning Misery was out on West rock with at least 3 female elephant seals.


Not a lot of traffic in the reserve the past days.  On Wednesday two whale watching boats toured around the elephant seals on West rock and today there is a dive boat off the west side.

 

Change of Guardian

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I am making final preparations to leave Race Rocks today after a 2 month shift.  Mike Robinson will be returning to take over responsibilities.  It has been a good time with some good storms, great students, and one special little elephant seal.

On Friday late afternoon for the first time I saw Squall in the shallow water near the jetty.  She didn’t venture any deeper than 2 ft and was usually only partially submerged.

She spent a lot of time with her head in the water and sliding around on the rocks in the small breaking waves.  She has been making her way down to the boat ramp area most evenings and back up in the mornings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been working on finishing up two projects: compost container and building a base for a flammables container in the boat house.

There were 4 eco-tour vessels in the reserve on Saturday and 1 on Sunday.

Squall has just positioned herself directly in front of the basement door blocking my exit, I will miss her.

 

Marine Traffic and Blasting

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Marine traffic in the reserve has increased over the last 2 weeks with vessels in the reserve almost on a daily basis now.  For the most part they respect the DFO’s requested speed limit of less than 7 knots within 400 meters of the rocks.  It appears that the requested marine mammal viewing distance of at least 100 meters generally does not hold much weight, though it is sometimes challenging to judge distances.   There aren’t very many sea lions yet so less incentive to get very close.  While there is a juvenile elephant seal learning to swim in the reserve we are being extra cautious about boat traffic.

Personal Watercrafts in the reserve

Saturday, March 24: 4 vessels including 1 private, 1 ecotour and 2 personal water crafts (PWCs).  The PWCs came into the reserve around 1600 well in excess of the 7 knot speed limit creating a lot of noise and causing the sea lion on the South islands to exit the rocks for the water.  These vessels generally do not carry radios (or if they do they wouldn’t be able to hear them anyway), their ID is next to impossible to see, and they likely are not aware of DFO guidelines.

Monday, appear to be within 100 meters of elephant seals on middle rock

Sunday, March 25: 3 vessels including 2 eco tour, 1 private.  The ecotour vessel Constance operated by Prince of Whales exited the reserve Sunday afternoon from the South side of the island.  They appeared to accelerate beyond 7 knots within 400 meters of Great Race.  I established radio contact with them on marine VHF channel 79 to let them know and request that they follow the DFO’s guidelines.  The vessel operator believed he been beyond 400 m, I appreciated their cooperation.

Monday, March 26: 5 ecotour vessels.

Tuesday, March 27: Strong E wind and swell, no vessels.  DND raised their red flags to signal blasting.  I went off island to take the station whaler in for maintenance and repairs so did not record any blasts.

Thursday, again, appear to be within 100 meters of elephant seals on middle rock

Wednesday, March 28: 3 ecotour vessels including one I haven’t seen before, the King Salmon operated by Great Pacific Adventures.  This was the loudest and most polluting diesel vessel i have seen in the reserve, I could smell it on Great Race and it left a haze behind it.  DND blasts recorded at 1004 (heavy), 1009 (medium), 1018 (light).

Thursday, March 29: 2 ecotour vessels.

Friday, March 30: 3 ecotour vessels including one called the Jin Jang I haven’t seen before.

Bird and Mammal Count

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At least 8 orcas passed by Race Rocks Sunday morning

For Sunday March 25:

Black Oyster Catcher (Haematopus bachmani): 7 pairs

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis): 3

Surfbirds (Aphriza virgata): 100+

Cormorants (Phalacrocorax penicilatu, P. pelagicus, and/or P.auritas): 200+

Gulls (mostly Larus glaucescens): 230+

Pigeon Guillemots (Cepphus columba): 30+

Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus): 5

Harbour Seals (Phoca vitulina) : 30+ S islands

Northern Sea Lions (Eumetopisa jubatus): 14 S islands, 1 Middle Rocks

Elephant Seals (Mirounga angustirostris): 3 Middle Rocks, 1 Great Race

Orcas (Orcinus orca): 8 in the morning going E between S Islands and Rosedale Reef Buoy

Students at Race Rocks

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On Friday afternoon Erik brought out 7 students as well as Natasha and Julien to Race Rocks to stay for the weekend.
The students helped with several projects on Saturday afternoon including:

-cleaning solar panels;

-completing the building of compost containers;

-edging the edges of pathways;

-cleaning and sealing conduit boxes to camera 5;

-assessing electronic devices;

-moving a propane tank;

-topping up heating fuel, and

-moving the dugout canoe.

On Sunday Chris came out around noon with Jane and 3 kids to pickup the group and return them to campus.  Thanks to everyone for a great weekend and for all the help.

We have had clear skies, a brief 20 knot NE Sat morning but fairly calm for the rest.

Squall takes the plunge!

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This morning was the first time that I have seen Squall take to the sea.  While i didn’t actually seen her in the water I saw her coming up the boat ramp clearly wet after having been in the water.   It may be that she has gone in the ocean previously at night or when I wasn’t around but this is the first time I have even seen her near the boat ramp, which, with its gentle smooth slope, is the preferred haul out for elephant seals on the island.  Maybe it is just a coincidence but this morning we also reached the highest barometric pressure (115 hPa) that we have had in almost 2 weeks. She will be 10 weeks old tomorrow.

The female elephant seal tagged 5086/4665 left the boat ramp area on Tuesday.  6355 is still in the south bay.

On Monday Erik brought out 3 students to the island who stayed overnight and returned the following day.  Today a group of 9 will be coming out the island for the weekend.

Elephant Seals, Divers

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On Wednesday afternoon the elephant seal with double green tags 5086/4665 hauled out again on the boat ramp and has remained around the jetty for the past days.  Today I noticed another elephant seal in the South bay with green tag # 6355.  This appears to be the same one that Mike reported in early January. 

Squall has been over by the fog signal the past two days but made her way back towards the flagpole at sunset today.  According to Pam, Squall turned 9 weeks old today.

Today there were two vessels in the reserve. In the morning Pinnacle Scuba Adventures (they have a video with some nice underwater shots on their site) brought a group out and dove near the jetty.  They paid a visit to the underwater camera and gave the lens a wipe, thanks!

In the afternoon a Prince of Whales ecotour vessel visited the reserve while the current was ebbing into a +25 knot W wind, looked like a bumpy wet ride.

 

Stormy, Misery gone, Surfbirds

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Early Monday morning there were strong winds SE and again this morning, over 40 knots. Yesterday there was periods of snowfall blowing in from the West.  Pressure falling, more wind expected tonight.

Misery left the main island on Friday evening, I have not seen or heard any sign of him since.  I suspect he might be gone for the season.

Surfbirds

Since the stormy weather Monday I have not seen either of the moulting female elephant seals.  Since Misery left Squall has been more active.  She has been moving around the island more and doing tail biting exercises.   She is attracted to puddles and has gone down to the crane deck a few times and seems curious about the ocean.  I have still not seen her approach the water though.

On Sunday there was a large flock (+150) of Surfbirds (Aphriza virgata) and maybe a few Black Turnstones (Arenaria melanocephala) in the East bay.

On Tuesday one eco tour vessel entered the reserve.

Have been working on a new compost containing system lately, have poured 6 concrete footings/anchors over the past few days.  On Monday did maintenance on the fire pump.

Green tags 5086/4665

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For the past few days there have been 2 female elephant seals moulting around Great Race.  The first picture was taken on Thursday in the channel between the main island and South Seal Rocks.  At the time I was only able to see her one green tag # 5086.  I have also noticed one of them hauling out in the East Bay.

This morning when I went to launch the whaler she was on the boat ramp and was pretty stubborn about moving out of the way.

I was able to get a closer look at her tail and see a second green tag # 4665.

Visible in these last two photos, one of the tags has become a substrate for gooseneck barnacles.  I appreciate that someone is working to tag and track these animals but I have a hard time believing that these tags aren’t a nuisance to the animals and that over the long distances they travel and hunt these wouldn’t create a noticeable amount of drag and encumbrance.

On Friday afternoon Erik and Laura came out to Race Rocks in second nature with a group of student divers as well as 6 visitors who toured around the island.  Erik cleaned and moved the underwater camera, Pam got a good image capture. There was a dive boat in the reserve this morning.