Author Archives: Joan Rosenberg

Wolf Eel

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Weather: Fog this morning with very limited visibility. Wind about 20 knots at noon and visibility increased. At 1800 hours clear (and the fog horn is off!)

Facility : The fog made window cleaning easier so washed the outside house windows followed by the solar panels. Much easier to clean when they are still damp with fog. Also cleaned the porch of the lighthouse as during the gale it was very slippery. Layers of algae over the bird poop. I continue with sweeping the lighthouse stairs. Greg came out this afternoon and miraculously fixed 2 squeegees and also showed me how to use the power washer. I started cleaning the walkways but it takes too much water for a task that is endless. If it ever rains it would be good to go out and scrub them then.

Even though it was foggy there was still enough sun getting through that I didn’t require the generator today.

Traffic: 4 ecotourism boats in the fog ( Greg on his way to RR did see Orcas!)

Wildlife: At noon I was able to count 58 seals (including pups) on the south island and south seal island. The fog reappeared and so wildlife viewing was limited. I did see the sea otter! It was in the kelp bed east of the island. I took a very poor picture confirming typical sea otter posture (on its back with his head flexed). Walking on the east shore looking at the intertidal at low tide I saw large white anemones open beneath the surface (Metridium sessile) and sea cucumbers (Cucumaria) in the crevices. I found this dried skeleton of a wolf eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus) beautifully hung on the rocks.

 

July 25 Gale

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I wonder, does the fog horn go all night?

Wind  westerly

At sunrise (530 am) between 30 and 35 knots, dropped to 20 knots midday for about an hour and then quickly came back up at 1800 hours between 35 and 40

clear most of the day but fog rolling in now

water whitecaps huge swells

Boats

About 6 whale watching boats, all respectful of speed and distance from marine mammals (sea lions on middle rocks)

Facility

Could not work outside today cleaning windows or solar panels due to wind but did manage to clean camera 5 as requested

Wildlife

.3m tide at 10:38 this morning. Great place to get away from the nesting birds. I wanted to see if there was damage from the very hot weather 3 weeks ago. Marine life on many coastal areas of BC suffered greatly. The California mussels and most barnacles looked healthy. I think the tidepools suffered the most but hard to tell as I have nothing to compare. in many tidepools the Coralina algae had gone white and there were many dead chitons. Below are some invertebrate pictures, gumboot chitons, Katerina chiton, lined chiton, abalone!, nudibranchs…

I had time to practice counting birds from the lighthouse lamp room. The middle island at midtide had about 500 gulls. Below the light on the east side of Race rocks there were about 50 Turnstones and Surfbirds. They are well camouflaged. Cormorants (pelagic?) numbered about 12 on the north west. Pigeon guillemots are numerous and 2 groups perching on the rocks above me while I walked numbered 34. Oyster catchers I did not count. Below is a picture of the nest by the boat ramp.

Many of the gull chicks are practicing flying. Jump jump jumping while spreading their wings. I saw a couple get good lift.

 

 

 

Arrived at Race Rocks

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Eco guardian switchover. Thank you Sierra for welcoming me. As the boat pulled away leaving me alone with hundreds of seagulls and their chicks, oyster catchers and pigeon guillemots I was drawn to the other mammals on the island. Hard to be lonely with this guy around! Watching the sunset from the lighthouse I was entertained by the seal pups still trying to nurse from their moms. A river otter ran along the jetty. Tomorrow morning I will check to see if it discovered the Oyster Catcher eggs surrounded by a circle of broken shells. The wind is howling from the west. Huge whitecaps. I was very glad the stairs down from the lighthouse had a railing!

winter wren in the lantern room

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stormy day –wind 25 to 30 knots from the east

When I entered the  lantern room around 9 a.m. there was a wren. It went through the metal hatch on the floor where there is a hole but soon came back. eventually I opened the door and it flew out.

The winter wren was previously recorded in October 2016 and April 2014.

 

Humpback Whales Breaching!!!

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Wind from the east at 25 to 30 knots

In the light house around 9 a.m. and noticed splashing to the south.

My binoculars caught the flukes of the whales hitting the water.

I watched and counted the flukes smashing the water 10 times.

Then the whales started breaching.

I counted 50 breaches. When I counted in the teens the 2 whales breached in synchrony, for about 3 breaches. Then one whale seemed to take a break and I saw a few breaths but the other kept leaping! After I counted 36 breaches both whales seemed to take a breath ( I saw 2 breaths ) then started up again until I counted 50.

So beautiful!

 

It was a wild, windy day

 

 

 

banded immature eagle

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wind 11 knots north east

sky clear

water calm visibility >15

Started the day watching the sunrise from the light house as I have for the past 7 days. This was the first morning whales were not visible. the water surface was like a mirror. There was no wind. Many groups of birds, between 20 and 50, were headed south. In the course of 30 minutes I saw over 10 groups. They looked like Alcids and I suspect common murre. There is a poor picture below but when I enlarge it I can make out the markings..

 

 

I saw what I believe was a dolphin twice. Just a blow much smaller then the whales and almost no animal visible. I only saw each blow because I was looking through binoculars at the birds, otherwise I would have missed it.

About an hour later I took this picture of an immature eagle eating a gull and when I looked online I could see its’ tag.

The humpback whales were visible again around 10 a.m. and I watched 2 of them for about an hour. There were lots of pectoral fins,dives and mouths breaking the surface followed by bubbles.

 

Maintenance

Greg and Guy came out today and filled the water tank, pressure washed around the generator house. We cleaned up some oil that is leaking in the generator house from the coast guard abandoned machinery. Brought fuel up to the generator. This week I brought almost all the wood from under the porch into the house and today I started moving the pile of driftwood by the jetty up under the porch. Also I am planning to have the lighthouse stairs swept by tomorrow (20 left to go). Electric fence mending continues daily.

 

Whale Watching boats

I have been pleasantly surprised at how respectful the whale watching boats have been. There has not been one incident of the sea lions plunging into the ocean. The boats go slowly and seem to watch the sea lions behaviour and veer away if they notice any activity suggesting anxiety. BUT TODAY after I had watched the humpbacks a boat zoomed over way too close and kept following the whales. they did not drift but actively pursued the whales for over an hour within 10 metres of them or closer. I took lots of photos and will send them to Tyron Pile. it was upsetting to watch. Maybe a new driver?

 

census

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visibility greater then 15 kms.

sky clear

wind 6 knots from the northeast

sea calm

 

Sea Lions 1072 (including the islets)

Gulls 1660

Cormorants 180

Canada Geese 21

Seals 36

Eagles 2

black turnstones difficult to count because they are so camouflaged (see picture below) but more then 50

Many humpback whales

?dolphin

4 distinct groups of whales this morning. Because they were so entertaining I watched them both from the lighthouse and the back porch for several hours. I also saw what I believe was a dolphin, it just broke the surface and it’s spout was much smaller then the whales. It’s spout was straight. I saw it blow several times about 5 minutes apart but I didn’t see it’s body.  it was only about 100 mtres from the lighthouse nowhere near the whales.

harlequin ducks were seen yesterday 2 males and one female

Sandpipers

one group of about 200 sandpipers flying south today

I saw 5 groups on October 25 during gale force winds but none were as large as this group.Those were  between 10 and 100 individuals.

 

 

 

 

 

CAS week

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  • 8 students and Laura, their instructor were here for the week.
  • They carried out several interesting studies, including counting the sea lions 5 times/day, watching animal groupings according to the wind direction and intensity, keeping track of the tagged and branded sea lions to watch their movement.
  • I was grateful for their help when I drove Laas to Pearson College in the whaler. The winch is much easier to use with several hands!

 

sick California sea lion

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Yesterday I spotted this sea lion when I was clearing the jetty

Today he looks worse. He is lethargic and thin. He does not ambulate normally. I did contact the marine mammal vet but I am not hopeful there is anything to be done. I am wondering about the diagnosis. Is there such a thing as a fractured baculum? I noticed online that genital cancer is a diagnosis in marine mammals.

There are over 1000 sea lions here and most look amazingly robust. it is expected that there will be disease and I noticed on this blog that many pictures of ill animals are posted. As this is my first time coming to stay here I was overwhelmed by the many many posts of sick, injured and neck banded sea lions. It is heart breaking but now that I am here and wrestling daily with the feisty beasts I am relieved that the posts, although necessary, certainly do not represent the majority! That is why I have added a sunset picture!