Author Archives: Karen Cram

Animal Census May 22

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Census was done on Friday May 22 because Saturday May 23 is my last day at Race Rocks. It was foggy in the morning and evening which added too the challenge.

 

Mammals:

  • Steller sea lion: 2
  • California sea lion:17
  • Harbor seal: 12
  • Elephant seal: 5

 

Birds:

  • Gulls: 238
  • Cormorants: 14
  • Canada goose: 8
  • Pigeon guillemot: 140
  • Black oyster catcher: 6
  • Harlequin ducks: 10
  • Bald Eagle (Adult): 1

Other animals I’ve been seeing recently but didn’t see on the day of the census : Brown pelican, Barn swallows, Killdeer

Tide Pooling

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Friday, May  2026

 

Ecological Notes

There were some nice low tides this week so I spent some time tide pooling around the island.

An amphipod, looks like an Ischyroceridae, not your normal intertidal amphipod

Algae appreciation

I also found the Brown pelican, which was pretty exciting

Brown pelican

And I’ve only recently been seeing some juvenile gulls, I’ve been wondering if they may be a different species than the others here, so far I’ve only be able to distinguish the Glaucous-winged and the Herring Gulls. Another note on the Gulls, they’ve started building their nests this week.

Juvenile Gull

It looks like we’re back down to 5 elephant seals as of Thursday, not sure where the other one went but nothing seems amiss.

 

Facility Work

  • Cleaning solar panels
  • Cleaning windows
  • Cleaned out the fridge and freezer as well as some additional odd house cleaning jobs
  • Check batteries
  • Check generator fuel
  • Check Goose Nests
  • Check Fence
  • Salinity testing


Weather Events

Wednesday, May 20

Wind (kts): 0-20.8
Mostly sunny
Air temp (°C): min 9.4 , max 14.1
Sea state: calm

Thursday, May 21

Wind (kts): 0-20.3
Mostly sunny
Air temp (°C): min 7.1 , max 17.5
Sea state: Calm

Friday, May 22

Wind (kts): 1.4 – 47.2
Foggy in the morning then cleared up
Air temp (°C): min 9.6, max 10.9
Sea state: calm, building a little in the evening

Vessel Traffic

Pretty steady stream of ecotourist boats coming through now. I have seen groups of whale watching vessels outside of the reserve, but I haven’t spotted any whales myself. Only a few ecotourist boats on Friday, surprisingly, maybe because of the fog in the morning.

Visitors

None

 

*Any close up shots of animals were taken with a telephoto lens

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Tuesday, May 19 2026

Hi Everyone! My name is Karen and I’m excited to be staying at Race Rocks this week as the Ecoguardian. I’m looking forward to getting to observe the wildlife, get to know the area better and familiarizing myself with some of the processes that keep this place running!

Ecological Notes

Another young elephant seal showed up on Sunday, bringing the total up to 6 here now.

I’m thinking this could be a new game, “Molting elephant seal or mossy rock”

Can you see the elephant seals?

Elephant seals or mossy rocks?

Each of the above photos has 2 elephant seals

I found some other birds that I didn’t see when doing my census :

Killdeer

Dunlin

Harlequin ducks

I also saw a Raven, and juvenile Bald Eagle

Facility Work

  • Cleaning solar panels
  • Testing and repairing the fence
  • Cleaning windows
  • Check batteries
  • Check generator fuel


Weather Events

Tuesday, May 19

Wind (kts): 0.1- 22.5
Mix of sun and cloud
Air temp (°C): min 10.3 , max 11.6
Sea state: Calm during the day, building to choppy in the evening.

Monday, May 18

Wind (kts): 1.2- 25.6
Mix of sun and cloud
Air temp (°C): min 9.9 , max 13.2
Sea state: Choppy with some white caps

Sunday, May 17

Wind (kts): 0- 24.1
Mostly sunny
Air temp (°C): min 8.8 , max 13.7
Sea state: Calm during the day, building to choppy in the evening.

Vessel Traffic

Pretty quiet most days as it has been mostly near gale winds. A few ecotourist boats Sunday and Tuesday, and a couple personal vessels on Sunday.

Visitors

Some students from Pearson College came out Tuesday to do their field final exams.

 

*Any close up shots of animals were taken with a telephoto lens