Author Archives: Julie Bowser

Animal Census

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Low winds today picking up in the afternoon/evening. Clear skies for most of the day. Forecasted winds of 15 knots for tomorrow morning rising to 30 in the afternoon.

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Animal Census (by Anne):

Steller Sea Lions 229
California Sea Lions 388
Harbour Seals 81
Glaucous-winged Gulls 301 (including 29 chicks)
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Pelagic Cormorant 1
Canada Goose 11
Black Oyster Catcher 11
Black Turnstone 1
Greater Yellow legs 1
Very large mixed species feeding groups to the west southwest of reserve including 100s of Rhinoceros auklets, Common Murres, Heerman’s Gulls and California Gulls.

37 whale watching boats

5 recreational boats

3-4 trips from Second Nature

Baleen whale this morning spotted feeding in the same place as yesterday evening, to the SW end of the reserve.

Anne continued with training today. James from Hybrid Plumbing came out to fix the water heater this morning. Changed cartridge filters on desalinator. Prepared for shift change.

 

 

Baleen at sunset

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Fog in the morning that burned off around 1030h. Winds reached 35 knots mid-afternoon. Light winds forecasted for tomorrow morning and increasing in the afternoon. Barometric pressure still dropping.

2 whale watching boats

1 recreational fishing boat

Last of the gull chicks are learning to fly. Another elephant seal arrived on the boat ramp today, bringing the number to four. Spotted a baleen whale off the SW side of the reserve at 2030h this evening as the sun set.

Courtney came out in Second Nature with a tour group this morning of alumni and then made another trip to do maintenance on the desalinator (which is now in working order). Cistern was very low so Anne and I ran the pump for most of the day. Continued with Anne’s training.

Orcas visit and Anne arrives

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Clear skies. Winds dropping to zero knots midday. Barometric pressure dropping since noon yesterday. Forecasted winds rising from 15-30 knots during the day.

19 whale watching boats

7 recreational boats

Another visit from Second Nature this morning with alum. A pod of Orcas came through the reserve this morning entering from the west near West Rocks coming through Middle Rocks and North Rocks into the Middle Channel.

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I was off the island today to pick up Anne Stewart for training.

Animal Census

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Fog all day. Northwest winds 5-15 knots all day. Barometric pressure from peaking at 1810.0 midday but only dropping to 1610.0 hPa. 15-20 knot winds predicted for tomorrow with fog.

Animal Census:
161 Gulls
47 Guillemots
3 Elephant seals
537 Sea lions (Steller and California)
3 River otters
4 Double-crested cormorants
120 Harbour seals
15 Black oystercatchers

13 whale watching boats

5 recreational boats

Second Nature also came out for two visits today with some alumni that are here for the ten year reunion, although they did not dock. Still having hot water and desalinator issues. Prepped for shift change.

Business as usual

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Overcast. Winds 5-10 knots most of the day. Barometric pressure rising until this evening. Winds forecasted to be 15-25 knots tomorrow.

16 whale watching boats

3 recreational boats

1 commercial fishing boat passed through

Many sea lions on the main island now. There is lots of interaction between the Californias and Stellers. In the evening, the Californias take over the northeast lawn and the Stellers tend to stay on the outer edge of the rock though many do squish their way into the lawn resting area. There are three juvenile elephant seals that have been spend their days on the ramp. They make their way into the waters in the evening.

Finished cleaning out the tank room. Backflushed the desalinator although it is having issues with the high pressure pump. Been working on cameras 1 and 5 which are down.

Photos

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Newly hatched oystercatchers on the south side of the main island last

Newly hatched oystercatchers on the south side of the main island last

Rain gutters pre-cleaning

Rain gutters pre-cleaning

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whale watchers near Middle Rock

Whale watchers near Middle Rock

Branded sea lion #8595

Branded California sealion #B101

 

 

 

 

 

Cleaning the cable for underwater camera 2

Cleaning the cable for underwater camera 2

Young male elephant seal with bloody mouth

Young male elephant seal with bloody mouth

Orca dorsal fin and onlookers

Orca dorsal fin and onlookers

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Branded California sea lion #8595

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dead gulls. Seems to be a high number this year.

Dead gulls. Seems to be a high number this year.

Black Oystercatcher near the jetty

Black Oystercatcher near the jetty

Juvenile Black Oystercatcher on the north side of the main island

Juvenile Black Oystercatcher on the north side of the main island

 

Lots of fog

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Lots of rain this morning and heavy fog all day. Winds dropping from 15+ knots in the morning to zero this afternoon. Winds tomorrow forecasted to be 10-15 knots with fog in the morning.

17 whale watching boats

2 recreational boats

Two electricians came to the island from today to tilt another row of solar panels. We loaded Second Nature with a load of trash/junk from the tank shed for its return trip. Continued on tidying the tank shed.

More sea lions

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Winds between 5-15 knots for most of the day. Barometric pressure peaking midday. A few showers forecasted for tomorrow and risk of thunderstorms tonight.

18 whale watching boats

3 recreational fishing boats

A float plane did laps around the island this morning around 0900h taking counts on some marine mammals. Another one passed through the reserve this afternoon.

More than two hundred sea lions on the main island now and more on Middle Rock. I noticed today that although the population on the main island is mixed Stellar and California, there is a higher density of Californias on the main island and a higher density of Stellars on Middle Rock. A tagged elephant seal arrived today but I could not get close enough to its tags without frightening it.

The PSYL coordinators arrived around 1900h this evening and will be here two nights.

Rhinocerous auklet

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Clear in the morning and overcast a bit in the afternoon. Low winds getting up to 10 knots in the evening. Barometric pressure dropping during the day. Strong wind warning in effect for tomorrow and forecasted fog.

7 whale watching boats

5 recreational fishing boats

The was a Rhinocerous auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata) in the water off the north side of the island. Haven’t seen many of these this summer. There was also a small flock of Surfbirds (Aphriza virgata) on the SW end of the main island just after sunset.

Worked on the tank shed a bit today. Talked with Environment Canada and Coast Guard regarding maintenance issues. Everything is now in order.

Sea lions are here

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Mostly clear skies. Fog late morning into early afternoon. Winds between 10-15 knots most of the day. Barometric pressure rising the first half of the day and falling in the afternoon/evening.

6 whale watching boats (hard to say with fog though)

2 recreational fishing boats (PBM rentals)

2 recreational dive boats

Down to three elephant seals on the island currently. The sea lions have crept further up the east side of the island. There are an estimated 60-70 on the island now. The fence is still deterring them from the jetty, etc. Big moon tonight (supermoon tomorrow) but still the bioluminescent phytoplankton is visible!