Author Archives: Alex Fletcher

Census

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Ecological 

  • Wind NE 15-20 increasing to 25 knots, clear sky, temperature low.
  • Census. Numbers are low or zero for some species likely due to persistent cold temperature and wind which causes them to seek more shelter.  Notable there is a relatively high count of Califiornia sealions, most of which were sheltered on the leeward, south side of Great Race:
    • California sealions: 102
    • Northern sealions: 72
    • Elephants seals: 2M 1F
    • Harbour seals: 53
    • Bald Eagles: 2A 1J
    • Cormorants: 27
    • Gulls: 40
    • Harlequin ducks: 4

Vessels

  • 2 ecotour

Maintenance

  • Reboot of overloaded UPS in tower, communications restored.
  • Wood clearing, cutting and chopping
  • checking for potential freeze ups due to cold temperature

Never Ending North East

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Ecological

  • Wind NE 10-20 knots all day and all night and forecast to continue…barometer is trending upwards.  Clear sky most of the day. Temperature has been getting down to zero at night and sea water temp is at its lowest as of recently, 8.5 C.

Vessels

  • 3 eco tour boats in the reserve.  One of them passed through the channel between the inner South Island and Great Race while sealions were on the south island and southern shore of Great Race. The passage itself is less than 100 meters wide so it is impossible to go through there while sealions present without being less than 100 meters from them.  Additionally there was a second tour boat from the same company on the other side of the South island so the sealions were surrounded, this can increase likelihood of a disturbance.  A few sealions did exit into the water as the boats passed by.  UPDATE Jan 2: We received an email on Dec 31 from the captain of the boat involved in this incident.  He apologized for his mistake going through this passage and creating a sealion disturbance.  The other tour operator radioed him to tell him that passage in this channel is not allowed.   He had not been aware of it.  He said he would not do it again and would help spread the word.  We appreciate him getting in touch with us and are thankful for his accountability and commitment to preventing this kind of incident from occurring again.   

Maintenance

  • Tracked cable from offline charge controller to identify which row of panels it is connected to, second row from South side of roof.
  • fixed saw horses which were wobbly
  • scrapped and touch-up-painted diesel barrel with anti-rust paint
  • Cleared wood from ramp, ran derrick to haul in 2 decent logs.
  • Microwave connection went offline in the evening (internet and phone), will deal with it in the morning.

rain water tank

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Ecological 

  • wind NE 10-15 knots increasing to 20 later in the day
  • 3 elephant seals remain on main island, both males and the moulting female.

Vessels

  • 2 pleasure craft
  • 3 eco-tour including a US vessel From San Juan Island, Washington.  One eco tour vessel appeared to be within 100 meters of sealions hauled out on the South Islands.DSC_9474

Maintenance

  • talked we Chris re Race Rocks maintenance issues
  • worked on re-installing rainwater storage tank.  Installed two new cleanout caps on downspouts and added lanyards so that they can be opened but not removed. Added a 1 1/2 ” pvc ball valve at base of tank for a cleanout so that it is easier to cleanout the tank in place without having to cut pipes.
  • Removed electric fence insulators from jetty to avoid snagging on boat lines and damage from storms.

NE wind settles in

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Ecological

  • Wind N 5-10 knots backing to NE.  Atmospheric pressure rising slowly.  With the N-NE Wind comes colder temperatures, more driftwood, and more swell on the boat landing. Forecast is for it to persist throughout the week.

Vessels

  • I went off island in the morning and returned just before sunset.
  • I could see one big eco-tour boat leaving from Race Rocks on my way back out.

Maintenance

  • I picked up 2 new boat rollers for the dolly at Trotac, one of the forward rollers had fallen apart and another was starting to fail.
  • Picked up 2 threaded cleanout caps for 3″ pvc for the cleanouts on the downspouts to rainwater tank, one had gone missing.
  • Installed 2 new rollers on dolly.
  • Reviewed Generator/battery logs for past year.
  • I have been running a watt meter on the composting toilet for the past week to get an idea of energy consumption. In one week it used 23 KWH of energy, roughly 3KWH per day, to heat and ventilate the toilet.  For comparison the fridge here uses about 1 KWH per day.  So it is roughly equivalent to running 3 fridges, 24 hours a day.

Storms and calms Dec 21-27

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Ecological

  • Dec 21. Wind SE up 35-40 knots in the morning.  This combined with a higher than normal high tide. Barometer dipped below 990.
  • Dec 21. Nursing Northern sea lion seen on west side of Great Race, first time I have seen this here and apparently only the second time we have gotten photographs of this here.  Solo humpback west of race rocks. Barometer dipped below 990.
  • Dec 22. Wind shifted to West and increased overnight, by morning it was 5-10 knots W but there were still heavy swells coming in from the straight. Barometer dipped below 990 again today. At high tide the large sets of waves were breaking over the jetty and spray from waves was reaching above the helicopter pad.  Sealions were surfing reef break off South side of Great Race.  2 branded sealions: 409Y and 315Y (photo) observed.
  • Dec 23. Strong westerly overnight again and high tides. Wind picked up to 30 knots SW in the evening.
  • Dec 23.  A second female elephant seal came onto the island bringing total to 4 on Great Race, she is smaller than the other one and going through catastrophic molt.
  • Dec 24. Relatively calm day, partly clear, wind NE 5-10 knots. Atmospheric pressure on the rise.
  • Dec 25. Relatively calm day, partly clear, easterly picked up later in the day.  Over past few days there have been more sea-lions on Great Race than I can recall from previous years at this time.
  • Dec 26. wind NE 10-15 knots increasing to 25 N in the evening.  Atmospheric pressure reached 1030 early in the day before starting to descend.  Chuckles (smaller male e-seal, name short for Chunk-Holes in reference to the many tooth marks across his back caused by Chunk) sustained more wounds overnight from Chunk, he was hiding up at the base of the tower in the morning.
  • Dec 27. N wind over 20 knots and rain, pressure falling.  River otter around derrick deck.  Had to cancel transport for Christmas bird count  at RR due to weather. Chuckles still at base of tower, I dont think he has gone off island for about a week, at least its raining now so he will get a rinse.

Marine Vessels

  • Dec 22. 2 Eco tour
  • Dec 24. I went off island in the morning and returned just after noon.  2 ecotour vessels in afternoon.
  • Dec 25. I went off island mid morning and returned mid afternoon.  1 ecotour in afternoon.
  • Dec 26. 1 eco tour.

Maintenance

  • Dec 21. Got prices on stove parts.  Lots of wood to clean up on boat ramp.
  • Dec 22. Stormy most of the day.  Checked water levels in batteries. Cut and chopped fire wood.
  • Dec 23. Stormy day. Lots of wood to clear of ramp. Sent stove parts price list to Chris for approval.  Sent photos of chimney in student house attic to Jeff.  Made parts list for town run.
  • Dec 24. Picked up plumbing parts (at Andrew Sherret) for rainwater tank and leaky water line in basement and bar oil for chainsaw (Slegg). Picked up pressure washer from shorefront. Pressure washed rain water tank and put tank back in place.  Brought in jerry cans for gas but marina was closed in the afternoon.
  • Dec 25. Lots of wood to clear off ramp.  Cut logs and ran derrick to haul a couple.
  • Dec 26. Lots of wood to clear off ramp. Transferred one barrel of diesel to tidy tank and filled day tank. Filled jerry can for derrick.  Topped up derrick engine fuel and oil (low and needs a change). Derrick battery was too low to turn over engine so plugged in trickle charger for 2 hours after which it started up.  Pulled several logs onto deck.  Got electric chainsaw sharpener running off a spare boat battery, sharpened chainsaw.  Cut firewood. Re-stocked firewood in main house in advance of cold and wet weather coming. Missing cap for downspout clean-out to rain water tank.
  • Dec 27. Cleared, cut and chopped wood.

Dec 19th and 20th

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Ecological

  • Wind has continued to shift between predominantly West and South East reaching a peak of over 30 knots Sunday afternoon
  • Both male elephant seals have remained mainly on Great Race. Saturday morning there were signs of fresh wounds on the smaller male’s back.
  • Pelagic cormorants, with iridescent green and purple tinted black plumage,  were clearly distinguishable in the sunlight Saturday morning
  • A california sealion with brand number 8240 was seen Sunday afternoon

Marine Vessels

  • Saturday afternoon two ecotour vessels were seen in the reserve. They entered from around West Rock and proceeded up middle channel against a ~4 knot ebb while there were sealions hauled out on the West side of the Great Race.
    Traveling against the current as well as within 100 meters of marine mammals are both careless and unprofessional.
  • Sunday afternoon a group of sailing yachts circumnavigated race rocks passing inside the reserve occasionally.  They were out when windspeed was peaking at 30 knots.

Maintenance

  • Assessed wood stove and contacted supplier to get prices on replacement parts, two baffle tubes are burnt out, bottom brick liner is broken into several pieces and baffle is a bit worn.
  • Worked on generator fuel transfer, had some problems with transfer pump over loading filling pipe and backing up with fuel.  Spoke with Jeff about it and locating fuel gauge on day tank (its on the South side, against the wall).  Transferred one barrel of diesel to tidy tank then filled up day tank.
  • Sunday battery voltage was bellow 48V at 2 pm so started generator early and ran desalinator for 8 hours.
  • Oil level on desalinator high pressure pump was above fill line so drained some out before starting up.

Other

  • Went off island Sunday morning for some supplies and returned around noon.  Picked up a plug in watt meter to measure energy loads of appliances and re-stocked on newspaper for fire starting.

Shift Change Dec 18th

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Jasper departed from Race Rocks early in the morning and I arrived around noon.  I have been off the island since my last shift ended in early March.

Thanks to Jasper and preceding guardians for keeping things tidy and running smoothly out here. Also, a big thanks to Courtney Edwards. Today was her last day working at the College. Over the past two years Courtney has contributed greatly to Race Rocks and Pearson College both as an Ecoguardian and Shorefront Manager.

Ecological 

  • Wind was blowing west 20-25 knots when I arrived and dropped over the afternoon.
  • both male elephant seals were on the main island when I arrived
  • a small female elephant seal hauled out mid afternoon, headed across the island, checked out the sealions off the south side then headed back to boat ramp, avoiding Chunk on the way.

Maintenance

  • picked up new tools/parts and pelican case for the boston whaler
  • spoke with Jasper and Courtney about energy system, battery maintenance, etc.

Marine Vessels

  • only our station whaler, leaving and returning.

Other

  • Unloaded supplies and unpacked.  Toured facilities to get reacquainted and take stock of new systems and maintenance needs.

Feb 27-March 1

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Feb 27: wind 10-20 knots N to NE, cloudy and some rain.  2 whale watching boats.

Chunk was back on the island again. As he came up from the boat ramp the female left the pup to get away from Chunk.  Chunk spent a while sniffing the pup and then stayed with it for a while.  Eventually he continued up the path but didnt pursue the female.

Feb 28: Sunny, wind 5-10 NE.

Working on cleaning, packing, finishing up a few projects for the upcoming end of my shift. Finally got around to finishing with the shoreline garbage sorting/inventory.  This is all the garbage that washed up around the jetty during the past 3 months.  The majority of it came in during the heavier NE wind storms.  It includes: 82 lids, 9 lighters, 16 plastic straws, 6 pens, 106 shotgun shells of wadding, 5 shoes/sandals/soles, 12 plastic cigarette/cigar butts, 2 party balloons, as well as countless random plastic pieces, soft plastic and various size chunks of styrofoam.

March 1: Partly sunny, wind variable 10-20 knots, light rain in late afternoon/evening.  The female elephant seal has now been away from the dead pup for a couple days, resting on the lawn in front of the main house.  The ravens and eagles have begun eating the softer tissue on the pup’s face.  Chunk has been very docile lying next to path on the way to the guest house, we have been passing back and forth past him for various tasks and he barely moves.  The female has stayed by the main house, also very passive and resting.

Packing, cleaning and finishing up: cleaned tank room, did month end records, switched out empty propane, sealed compass on whaler, firewood stacking, topped up battery bank.  Preparing for end of shift tomorrow and switch with Nick.

Feb28-2

Virginie working on the woodpile

 

Feb 26, derrick, Yellow tag 5086

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Wind E 10 increasing to 20 N. Cloudy, rain in evening. DND blasting continued.

Courtney came out in the morning and brought Kim.  We worked most of the day on setting up the rest of the scaffolding, fixing the derrick cable, and taking down the scaffolding.  Had the new wire rope installed and working by afternoon.  Worked on fire wood and replaced (new) leaky pvc valve in desal with a brass one.

I was finally able to get a clear view of the female elephant seals yellow flipper tag, # 5086. Yellow tags indicate that this elephant seal comes from San Miguel Island or Santa Rosa Island.  We have had several previous sightings of an eseal with a 5086 tag, including this sighting by Julie https://www.racerocks.ca/2012/07/07/new-and-old-faces/ but they were always green tags and this one is clearly yellow.  At some point the pup’s body got flipped over and it is now possible to determine that it is male.

 

Feb 24-25

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Feb 24: Sunny in morning, cloud in afternoon, Wind west 15-20 knots increasing to 30 knots in the afternoon. Blasting again today.  2 whale watching boats in the reserve.  Went off island afternoon to return guest and pick up a plumbing part.  Installed new compass on the whaler, measured wire rope for derrick and made a few calls to find a source for new wire rope.

Chunk came on the island during the night and was pursuing the female elephant seal in the morning.  Eventually she returned to the be next to the pup’s body.

Feb 25: Wind variable, light increasing to 10 knots.  DND blasting again today.  Courtney came out in the afternoon with Tristan, Jake, Chris W, Garry and a guest.  They brought out scaffolding for the derrick and new wire rope to replace the broken one.  Chris W worked on cam 5 utility box connections.  The monitor for the computer weather station is not working.  Tristan, Jake and Courtney started setting up scaffolding under the derrick winch.  I was able to detach the old wire rope and attach the new one into the drum.