Author Archives: Nick Townley

March 16 – Camera, Crane and Coruscating Sun

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Sunny
Wind: 5-16 knots from the SW and S in the early morning, NE until 17:00, SE for a few hours and calm after 20:00
Air Temperature: Low 6.6°C, High 10.3°C
Ocean Temperature: 8.9°C

The underwater camera is back up and running, after a few weeks offline. The power issue has been solved. Algae on the dome around the camera is partially obstructing the view, but it will be cleaned soon by divers from the college.

This afternoon, there were two low flying aircraft: a floatplane and a Search and Rescue Helicopter.

Three fishing boats passed through the ecological reserve today. One boat spent an hour fishing within the Rockfish Conservation Area, which is prohibited by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). The Rockfish Conservation Area is within the 40m depth contour of Great Race Rocks and Rosedale Reef, marked by the green buoy to the southeast of Great Race Rocks.

The crane needs to be run and serviced once a month. Today, it was used to lift a 12m log from the jetty beach to the boardwalk, where it will be chopped into firewood. In hindsight, it would have made it less challenging to cut the log in half while it was on the beach. Although, 6m sections wouldn’t have been as much fun to manoeuvre with the crane.

During the low tide in the afternoon, there was a large number of harbour seals and sea lions hauled out on the rocks. Two branded steller sea lions were seen on the South Islands. Both sea lions were branded as pups at Rogue Reef, Oregon. 524R was branded in 2007. 365Y was branded in 2013.

March 15 – Raining

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Rain (22.6 mm in total)
Wind: 2-9 knots NE in the morning, 4-29 knots NE to WSW in the afternoon/evening
Air Temperature: Low 6.3°C, High 8.9°C
Ocean Temperature: 9.0°C

The students visiting from Pearson were picked up this morning by Chris in Second Nature. They were a great help around the island for the past week as they helped clean and organize. They also pursued their own projects in diving, photography, identifying the flora and fauna, catching up on their studying and locating the mysterious secret room at Race Rocks.

The day was spent doing lots of odd jobs around the island: securing a large log for firewood, cleaning windows, de-algaefying buildings and computer work.

There were a lot of new puddles formed today in the grass and rocks. 22.6 mm of rain was recorded by the Davis weather station, which is located in the middle of Great Race near the flagpole.

A large river otter was spotted this morning scampering up the jetty beach, then underneath the boardwalk by the tank room.

March 14 – West Wind and Waves

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Overcast and rain in the morning, sunny in afternoon
Wind: 1-11 knots from the W and N in the morning, 22-46 knots from the W from the late morning onwards
Air Temperature: Low 9.3°C, High 11.3°C
Ocean Temperature: 9.2°C

A gale warning in the afternoon, with winds gusts up to 46 knots, remained in effect for the rest of the day. The gulls had a hard time sitting and claiming their nesting sites when the wind gusts reached 46 knots. Due to the winds, the afternoon was filled with indoor tasks like cleaning, organizing the basement and drinking tea. The winds diminished in the evening.

Hanne Christensen, one of the visiting Pearson students, took some photos around the island yesterday and today. They are included in the gallery below.

March 13 – Finding Nests and Making Water

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Cloudy with sunny breaks
Wind: 2-14 knots, NE in morning SE in afternoon
Air temperature: Low 8.7°C, High 11.3°C
Ocean temperature: 9.0°C

A bazaar of 27 pigeon guillemots spent the morning on the wharf, nearby rocks and occasionally gathering in the water to float through Middle Channel. They appeared to be checking out nesting sites on the rocks between the wharf and helicopter pad. They like nesting in the crevices and under the blasted rocks on the northwest side of Great Race.

The visiting students helped unroll the fire hoses to pump salt water into the cistern, which is underground between the lighthouse and the Ecoguardian’s house. The water from the cistern is pumped through the desalinator. This afternoon, the desalinator ran for eight hours, producing about 700 litres of fresh water.

There were three eco tour boats and two recreational boats in the ecological reserve today.

March 12 – Sunny Census Thursday

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Sunny
Wind: 0-13 knots SW in the morning, NE from mid morning to afternoon and SW in the evening
Air Temperature: Low 9.9°C, High 13.2°C
Ocean Temperature: 9.0°C

Three Pearson students came to Race Rocks this morning. Karen, Sunny and Hanne joined Martin, who has been here since Monday.

The students did some work this afternoon: sweeping all 99 steps of the lighthouse and continuing the process of stowing the chopped wood in all the nooks and crannies of the buildings, to be used next winter to heat the main house.

There was DND blasting happening in the morning and early afternoon on Bentinck Island, less than 1km away from the ecological reserve.

Today’s high temperature of 13.2°C, as measured at the ground weather station, was the highest recorded since 2006, when the weather station was installed. A high of 14°C was recorded by the instruments at the top of the lighthouse.

Three eco tour boats visited the reserve. One boat came very close to a group of sea lions swimming and others hauled out on the South Islands.

The low tide of 1.1m at 13:52, exposed lots of species from the low tide zone into the air. The shore and tidal pools were full of life: mussels, barnacles, limpets and lots of other flora and fauna of the sea. The oystercatchers and shore birds were having a feast.

There were no small birds perching birds seen today. There are usually a few fox, sparrows, savannah sparrows and occasionally juncos and robins zipping around the island.

Here are the results from today’s Megafauna Census:
Elephant Seal: 1
Steller Sea Lion: 54
California Sea Lion: 43
Harbour Seal: 52
Bald Eagle: 9
Great Blue Heron: 1
Crow: 1
Oystercatcher: 4
Double Crested Cormorant: 12
Brandt’s Cormorant: 21
Gull: 247
Canada Goose: 14
Pigeon Guillemot: 9
Harlequin Duck: 13
Surfbird: 3
Black Turnstone: 10
Rock Sandpiper: 2

March 11 – Cleaning, Diving and Nearby Blasting

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Overcast with periods of sun and rain
Wind: 1 – 17 knots NE, switching to W in the evening
Air Temperature: Low 9.0°C, High 11.3°C
Ocean Temperature: 9.0°C

In the morning, the visiting students helped with a service project to clean the algae off the exterior walls of the tank room and boat house. Elbow grease, a non toxic de-algae formula, brushes and water were used to tackle the algae. Rain water was pumped from the collection tank at the Ecoguardian’s House, which saves the energy intensive desalinated water for the kitchens and washrooms.

For several hours beginning at 10:30, DND set off explosives on nearby Bentinck Island, which is less than 1km from the ecological reserve. Birds, marine mammals and an Ecoguardian were startled by the blasts.

This afternoon, the four students doing the rescue diving course practiced more scenarios off the jetty with Chris.

Chris brought a volunteer from Pearson to visit for a couple hours. Myriam Guilbert, who is the mother of second year student Chloé, toured around the island snapping photos of the flora, fauna and views. She had heard lots of stories about Race Rocks from her daughter.

There were two eco tour boats, one recreational boat and the Pearson’s Haiku in the reserve today.

March 10 – Juncos and a Robin

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Cloudy, with fog in the morning
Wind: 0 – 16 knots from the W then NE in the morning, switching to SE in the afternoon
Air Temperature: High 10°C, Low 7°C
Ocean Temperature: 8.9°C

This morning, the Pearson students here for Project Week helped stack firewood in the cupboards outside of the Engine Building.

Four oregon juncos and a robin were seen flying around the southern part of Great Race.

This afternoon, four students took part in rescue diving scenarios with Chris. Afterwards a few of them went snorkelling around the jetty to check out the sea stars, a sea slug and other species.

Chunk continues to hang out near the Marine Science Centre.

Three ecotour boats came into the ecological reserve to share the sights, sounds and smells of the marine mammals and birds with their customers.

March 9 – Pearson Project Week Visitors

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Fog overnight, sunny begining at 9:00
Wind: 6 – 27 knots W to SW
Air Temperature: High °C, Low °C
Ocean Temperature: 9°C

Five second year Pearson students came to Race Rocks this morning to spend part or all of Project Week. Yam, Sean, Martin, Neel and Bader will be exploring Race Rocks, helping out with tasks, studying and diving. Chunk came back onto the island just in time to welcome the visitors as they toured around the ecological reserve.

Yam helped shrink the firewood pile by the tank house by stacking it underneath the stairs of the Marine Science Centre. It will dry out over the summer and be ready to heat the Ecoguardian’s house next winter.

One eco tour boat visited the reserve today.

March 8 – Visitors Galore

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Sunny, with patches of fog in the afternoon
Wind: Light northeasterly in the morning and afternoon, calm in evening and switching to 8 knots W at night
Air Temperature: Low 6°C, High 10°C
Ocean Temperature: 8.9°C

There were a lot of visitors today from a leadership program being put on by the Roy Group for twenty-four students visiting from Texas Christian University. The two groups of twelve students made their way around the island to discover the four archetypes of mythical leadership: magician, sovereign, lover and warrior.

Fog in the mid afternoon made it tricky to navigate the boat to and from Pedder Bay in the afternoon. I benefited from the waypoints that Courtney programmed into the plotter on the boat.

Chunk is still camped out on the grass by the helicopter pad.

There was a dive boat with five divers to the west of South Islands this morning.

March 7

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Sunny
Wind: 3 – 9 knots NE, switching to SE in afternoon
Air Temperature: Low 7°C, Hight 11°C
Ocean Temperature: 9°C

The morning was spent preparing the Marine Science Centre, and tidying around the island, to get ready for visiting students that are coming to Race Rocks this week.

Chunk, the large male elephant seal, is still camped out on the grass below the helicopter pad.

I left the reserve in the afternoon to attend One World, the annual show of dance, music and stories put on by Pearson students. I returned to Race Rocks with a visitor. The boat ride was spectacular as the sunset cast a rainbow of colours over the Juan de Fuca Strait.

Two eco tour boats were seen in the ecological reserve today.

Thank you to Travis, today’s Race Rocks visitor, for the photos.