Author Archives: Alex Fletcher

Pearson College Students at Race Rocks

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Jake and Aaron installing tilt kit on a second block of solar PV panels

On Friday afternoon Chris brought a group of 5 students and Jake to stay on the island for the weekend.   The group was a big help with several projects including installing a second solar PV tilt kit on the roof of the Engine Room, helping build a rainwater capture system, relocating construction materials, and transferring diesel for heating.

On Saturday Danie made marine life observations on the South side of the island, she counted 5 sealions, 40 Cormorants, 10 gulls, and 7 Black Oyster catchers. Also on Saturday Julie did a Marine Sciences research experiment on the relationship between ocean current strength and depth.  While conducting the experiment we had some trouble with the outboard engine fuel line on the Whaler so Chris came out in Second Nature to get us going again.

Today around 11:00 hrs Chris came back out to the island to take them all back to campus. It has been another great weekend with students at Race Rocks, big thanks for all the help and good times.  Also. thanks to Jake for taking the lead on the tilt kit and to Chris for providing support and transportation on the weekend.

Chris taking students back to campus in Second Nature

Weather and Marine Life

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Cormorants silhouetted on South Rock at sunrise

Have continued to have high atmospheric pressure and nice weather over the weekend. On Saturday I passed by Middle Rocks in the Race Rocks whaler and it looked like Misery was accompanied by three female elephant seals.  He seems to be spending his time laying on Middle Rock while the weather is calm.  Three bald eagles cruised over South Rock yesterday afternoon and a couple were around today as well.

Seals splashing around in a kelp bed at low tide, sunset

 

Marine Vessel Traffic

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On Friday the eco-tour vessel Luna operated by BC Whale Tours entered the reserve around 16:00 hrs.

On Saturday a private vessel # WN3603RP passed through the reserve in the afternoon.  It appeared to be traveling over the speed limit of 7 knots as it departed the reserve.

Pinnacle Scuba Adventure dive boat off of Middle Rocks

Today dive boats from Pinnacle Scuba Adventures  and Ogden Point Dive Centre brought divers into the reserve.  Around noon a private vessel # BC1752393 entered the reserve coming from the direction of Victoria.  It appeared to be traveling over the speed limit of 7 knots and passed near a diver who was close to the surface.  I was unable to get a response from them on the VHF radio.  Around 1500 hrs a Prince of Whales eco tour vessel passed through the reserve.

Clean Panels, High Pressure and Sprouts

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The solar tilt kit that we installed last week seems to be doing a good job keeping the panels clean, one less block to wash!  In the background I think you can make out the lump that is Misery on Middle Rock.

Atmospheric pressure today was the highest it has been in the past month. This has corresponded with nice mild weather out here the past few days. Pressure peaked around midnight and has been falling throughout the day. Winds have been picking up since the afternoon, gusting over 25 knots West.

 

I have mainly been organizing and cleaning in the house today.  For lunch, I harvested some of my first crop of island grown alfalfa sprouts.

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Parts for Rainwater Harvesting

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Went off island around noon today to go to the college and the hardware store. Should now have all the parts for connecting a rainwater collection system off the south side of the roof on the main house.  By using rainwater to feed into the cistern we can reduce the amount of salt water we need to pump from the ocean for desalinating.  It should also increase the efficiency of the water filtration system while reducing the frequency of filter changes.

The weather was really nice out here today, very clear and quite warm.  The female elephant seal has remained on the boat ramp. She gave me a couple barks today which was nice because she hadn’t seemed very lively before.   Misery is still on Middle Rock with sea lion accompaniment.

This evening I am standing by on the VHF radio while Erik is doing a night dive with students off of Fossil Point.

#6360 tagged female elephant seal

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The female elephant seal has stayed on the boat launch all day.  She changed position and I was able to see her ID tag # 6360.

Misery is currently hauled out on one of the West Rocks along with about 30 sea lions. He has not been back on Great race for several days. There were also around 10  sea lions on East Rock today.

East Rock

 

Update and Female Elephant Seal

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Rainbow taken by Jake last week

Sorry for the log neglect the past few days. I have been off island a bit and adjusting to a new computer, here is a quick update:

Saturday we were again unable to get off the island due to the weather but made it off Sunday to drop off Jake and stock up on food.  Jake was out for 6 days (had planned on 3) and was good company and a great help while he was here with the solar tilt installation, lots of clean up and putting his carpentry skills to work building shelving and storage space. Thanks Jake!

Yesterday the weather was good (t-shirt) and sea was calm so I made a quick trip off island again to get plumbing parts for a rainwater capture system.

On my return there was a female elephant seal hauled out near the jetty. She seems quite small and not afraid of me at all.  She was quite stubborn about clearing the rail to let the boat back into the boat house.

 

Windy

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A 45 knot West wind hit us last night and brought in large swells from the Pacific all day today.  They were rolling into and over the West side of the jetty all morning and into the afternoon.  Looking out towards the Pacific you could see large sets of waves coming in at intervals of 2 – 5 min. We were unable to launch the whaler in the morning and the group of students coming from the college had to be canceled.

The tilted solar panels seem to be holding up fine in the winds so far.  I have finished topping up the other half the battery bank.  Jake has helped me exchange the old fridge in the main house for a new more efficient one, install some shelving and cabinetry in basement of both houses and continue to clean and organize.

Yesterday at sunset Misery made his way into the water by the jetty.  He was back up behind the boat house this morning.  With the rough seas most sea lions have been in the water today though a few were clinging to helicopter rock this morning and about 10 were hauled out on east rock this afternoon.  3 eco-tour boats came into the reserve this afternoon on the south side.

Another windy one tonight, currently 30 knots east.

 

 

Cleaning and Battery Maintenance

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Yesterday Jake and I worked in the morning cleaning out the basement of the Science Center to make it more functional when students and other guests stay there.  In the afternoon Jake did some organizing in the Eco Guardians basement and in the boat house and I worked on topping up the liquid in the battery bank.  It took me about 3 hours to get through half of the 96 batteries at which point it was dark and time to run the generator. I will try to finish the other half today or this weekend.  It looks like with the last rain water has been leaking through a roof vent on the NE side of battery room, there was water pooled on the floor which I mopped up, will keep an eye on this.

Misery was on the island all day yesterday near heli pad. Was vocal last night and is now over near the science center.

I had planned on leaving the island today to take Jake back to Pearson College and to run some errands in town but there is a gale warning, NE swell into the jetty, and barometer is falling so we will stay put until tomorrow.