Author Archives: Julie Bowser

Summer Solstice

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It’s 2200h as I’m writing and the sky is still brightly lit.

Clear day. Winds 10-20 knots for most of the day.

A recreational fishing boat tied up to the jetty today to settle some engine troubles. Two different fishing boats were anchored on the edge of the south boundary of the reserve.

A boat of divers were in the reserve for about an hour this morning along the east side of the island.

2 float planes crossed overhead.

A bald eagle made his regular visit for lunch in the afternoon and captured a gull.

 

 

June 20th

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Clear. Westerlies all day with speed averaging around 20 knots.

1 cruise ship passed by in the morning

1 tour boat

3 cargo ships passed through the strait throughout the day

1 helicopter passed over the reserve at 1300h

Business as usual on the reserve today:

-Another female elephant seal has arrived, bringing the current count to 5
-A California sea lion was hanging out on one of the south islands
-The pair of Caspian terns was back again today

Submarine in the reserve

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–For June 19th–
Overcast. Northwest winds from 0-20 knots all day.
1 tour boat
1 recreational fishing boat passed through the reserve
2 trips to the reserve with Second Nature
Gales reached 45 knots in the late evening.
A military submarine passed through the strait this afternoon south of the reserve and was accompanied by several boats.
Two groups of visitors came to tour the island this morning. Courtney left mid-morning with Chris Blondeau on the way back from the first trip. On the second trip, Chris came to check the water heater installation.

 

Change of Ecoguardian

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I’m very grateful to have spent another wonderful summer out here at Race Rocks but today is my last day on the island. Tomorrow, Max will take over for a week and will be training the following person who will be here for the fall.

Collecting salinity and temperature measurements with the new YSI instrument off the jetty

Collecting salinity and temperature measurements with the new YSI instrument off the jetty

The DFO has sent out a new YSI instrument which means we can take salinity measurements now which will be posted that the end of the month with the temperature and density readings.

 

Weather has been very calm with low winds with the exception of yesterday when the wind picked up and we got some rain.

Marine-Mania!

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Elephant seal snoozing

Elephant seal snoozing, #6375 in the background

Another female elephant seal, significantly larger than the tagged #6375, has visited twice this week. It is not tagged. The tagged female has also stayed around. Yesterday, she was resting in the shallow water and blocking the boat ramp as I was returning from the mainland in the Whaler. I left the boat tied up so not to disturb the seal and returned in an hour. The seal had moved to a very crowded area that many of the sea lions use as their water entrance/exit and was snapping and chasing the sea lions. I assume this was playful behaviour although the elephant seal was quite aggressive.

This first image shows the seal waiting at the surface.

 

 

Then the seal approaches the sea lions on its back, provoking them.

 

 

And with a splash, the chase ensues!

 

 

A new project on-the-go is a daily count of the number of fishing boats. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans are wanting to monitor the impact of sport fishing in the area. We survey an area from Beechey Head to Albert Head. On some days, there more than 100 sport fishermen in the area.

 

Tagged elephant seal #6375

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The tagged female has returned, but on the opposite side of the island. Her number is 6375, which means she’s been returning to the island since 2011 or earlier. Pictured below, she is dosing on the south side of the island.

Female seal, August 15

Female seal, August 15

We have had very low winds in the last few days. Even though summer months typically have less wind, it is very rare to see 0.00 knots as the wind metre read yesterday. We also had our first rain of the summer.

A week of visitors!

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The group from Discover Channel and Ogden Point Dive Centre

The group from Discover Channel and Ogden Point Dive Centre

On Thursday we had a visit from Discovery Channel who were working with the Ogden Point Dive Centre (based out of Victoria) to film and document sea lions and seals on the reserve. They asked questions about the sea lions’ migration patterns and the role of Race Rocks as a reserve among others. The footage will be used as part of The Blue Realm series, by Danny Mauro.

 

Stellar and California sea lions

Stellar and California sea lions

The California sea lions moved onto the main Rock last week, and the Stellars have joined in the last few days. Currently, approximately 30 are resting on the rock and in the water. Misery, our largest resident male, left last week and has not returned or been spotted on the other rocks. The female in the last post has also left. However, on Saturday, a different young female was resting on the jetty. Unfortunately, I did not notice she had a tag on her back fin until she was swimming away and it was too late to mark down.

 

Female elephant seal on the jetty

Female elephant seal on the jetty

A lady friend and illegal fishing

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Saturday evening when collecting the water sample, I noticed the familiar glow of Noctiluca scintillans, a type of dinoflagellate that when agitated by movement in the water, lights up; a process known as bioluminescence. A curious mammal approached me on the jetty when I realized it was a female elephant seal, which haven’t frequented the island for a number of weeks now. The female didn’t come onto the main island until the following afternoon, and I suspect she is the same one that came most recently about a month ago in early July. She has returned to her usual hangout spot next to the hose box.

Juvenile female elephant seal

Juvenile female elephant seal

Illegal fishing on the reserve is hard to moderate although remains an important role of the reserve. Today I came across two Glaucous-winged gull chicks picking at what seemed to be a worm, but turned out to be fishing tackle some adult gull had probably returned with from the kelp beds.

Fisherman in a kelp bed near West Race Rocks

Fisher in a kelp bed near West Race Rocks

 

 

These unexpected fisherman, above, claimed ignorance when I approached them about fishing poles in the water.

Sea lions at sunset

Sea lions at sunset

 

 

 

California sea lions have joined the Stellars on the southern rock.

Shit Happens…

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Glaucous-winged-gull

Injured Glaucous-winged-gull near the jetty

Yesterday evening as I went out to collect the water sample I interrupted a couple of harbour seals feeding on a glaucous-winged-gull. Harbour seals feed on fish more commonly although they do sometimes feed on gulls. The seals, upon seeing me, fled leaving the injured gull in the water. It clumsily exited onto shore but was tripping over its dragging wing. I shooed it back to the water in hopes the seals would return. When they did not and I went out a second time to find the gull wandering aimlessly in the rocky intertidal zone. Meanwhile, the seals had returned to the jetty area and were feasting on a fish. In situations like these we have to make a judgement call and the gull seemed to be needlessly suffering. The chance of it being eaten by the seals was very unlikely since they had found other food and an eagle coming to finish the deed was also unlikely because it was late in the evening and their visits are generally midday. It didn’t seem right to let it suffer through the night so I put it out of its misery.

The solar panels within less than 24h of cleaning

The solar panels within less than 24h of cleaning

In other gull news, an ongoing project we’ve been working on is tilting the solar panels. Angling the panels allows more direct sunlight but more substantially, discourages the gulls from using them as resting spots. Gull droppings can have a large effect on energy intake of the solar panels. Sounds unreasonable? Here’s a picture of the panels after just one day since being cleaned.

On another note, more stellar sea lions have accumulated on the southern rocks. The count has reached over 30.

Stellars on south Race Rocks

Stellars on south Race Rocks

Out in the fog…

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We’ve had the most fog of the summer yesterday and this morning, so thick the shoreline isn’t visible from the tower at points. The fog yesterday didn’t clear until late evening.

See Fog as an abiotic factor

The lighthouse tower

The lighthouse tower

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gull chicks are just starting to fly, although there have been some later hatchings this year too. The parent gulls have been very protective and aggressive. When young chicks wander close to another nest, mothers attack the chick or its parent gull. There have been at least four chick casualties this season because of this. These two chicks, pictured below, discovered the protected corner of the boathouse just before I was about to paint the floor. Luckily their squawking parents were close by and I was able to help them on their way.

Glaucous-winged gull chicks in the boathouse

Glaucous-winged gull chicks in the boathouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A group of five stellar sea lions arrived on West Race Rocks and the southern rocks this past weekend. Only one California is here now that has been here for a few weeks now. Chunk, however, left the island last week and has not returned, leaving Misery as our only elephant seal at the moment.

Rear view of Chunk, the day before his departure

Rear view of Chunk, the day before his departure