Author Archives: Nick Townley

August 29

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Wind: W 1-26 knots
Sea State: calm in morning, rippled  in afternoon
Visibility: 10-15 NM
Sky: clear
Temperature: 13-16 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 411.60 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Many eco tourism boats passed through the ecological reserve, observing the sea lions and harbour seals.

Here are some sights from around the island today:

August 28

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Wind: W 16-37 knots
Sea State: calm in morning, up to 1m waves in afternoon and evening
Visibility: 0-15 NM
Sky: fog in morning and evening, clear in middle of day
Temperature: 11-16 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 411.60 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

There were two visitors mid afternoon from Pearson College to drop off supplies.

Here are some sights from around the island today:

August 27

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Wind: W 5-25 knots
Sea State: calm in morning, rippled in afternoon
Visibility: 0-15 NM
Sky: fog until evening, then clear
Temperature: 11-15 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 411.99 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

August 26 – Ring-Necked California Sea Lions

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Wind: W 5-28 knots
Sea State: calm in morning, rippled in afternoon
Visibility: 0-10 NM
Sky: clear, fog in morning and evening
Temperature: 10-15 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.47 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Two california sea lions were spotted today with ring-neck wounds. One appears to have fishing line wrapped around and cutting into its skin. The Vancouver Aquarium’s Marine Mammal Rescue Centre has been notified. Rescue Centre staff mentioned they were up in Powell River today successfully disentangling a young steller sea lion.

Here are a few photos from today:

August 25

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Wind: W 2-33 knots
Sea State: calm, up to 0.5m chop in evening
Visibility: 0-15 NM
Sky: clear, fog from 5:20 to 7:00
Temperature: 10-15 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 411.96 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Today was spent tidying around the island, chainsawing logs and chopping firewood. I gave the gulls and sea lions a wide berth as I moved around the paths.

650 L of diesel was delivered this afternoon.

Here are a few photos from today:

August 24 – Weekly Census

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Wind: W 4-19 knots
Sea State: calm in morning, rippled in afternoon
Visibility: 10-15 NM
Sky: overcast, then clear from mid morning onwards
Temperature: 13-15 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.21 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Here are the numbers from today’s census:
30 steller sea lions
121 california sea lions
1 sea otter
167 harbour seals
1 bald eagle
2 pelagic cormorants
742 california gulls
518 glaucous-winged gulls
169 gull chicks
4 black oystercatchers
14 pigeon guillemots
1 black turnstone
2 killdeer

I was excited to see the fluffy head of the sea otter this afternoon. This morning when doing the census count from the top of the tower, I scanned the kelp but couldn’t see the otter.

This afternoon, I gave TLC to the boat house, boat and boat dolly.

There was a steady stream of about two or three eco tour or pleasure boats per hour passing through the ecological reserve.

Here are some sights from around Race Rocks today:

August 23

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Wind: W 2-19 knots
Sea State: calm in morning, rippled in afternoon
Visibility: 15 NM
Sky: clear, partly cloudy in evening
Temperature: 11-16 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.58 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

There were not a lot ecological happenings to note from today. The sea lions are continuing to grow in numbers in the main haul out spots on the southwest side of the main island, southeast side near the lighthouse, jetty area, and Middle Rock. Stay tuned for the weekly census tomorrow to get the official numbers to see how the population has grown since last week.

I have been keeping track of the two steller sea lions seen recently with flashers hooked to their mouths. I only saw one this morning near the jetty. I thought I saw one which was possibly the same one on Middle Rock, although I couldn’t get a good look at it because it was facing away.

I transferred diesel to the furnace tanks in each house, in the ongoing effort to get everything stocked up for the colder months.

There were a lot of eco tourism and pleasure boats in the area, taking advantage of the nice weather.

Here are two photos from today:

August 22 – More Flashers

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Wind: W 9-12 knots
Sea State: calm in morning, rippled in afternoon
Visibility: 10-15 NM
Sky: clear
Temperature: 13-15 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.45 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

It rained heavily overnight, giving the windows and pathways a much needed cleaning of the built up bird poop. I have been able to collect run off water from the downspouts on the main house and energy building, which can be used in the pressure washer to clean paths and exterior walls.

This morning, two steller sea lions were spotted with flashers hooked to the left sides of their mouths. One appears to be the sea lion spotted over the past few days. The other has an identical flasher. The Marine Mammal Rescue Centre has been updated, as this makes three different stellers with flashers hooked to their mouths in a week and a half.

Here are a few photos from today:

August 21

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Wind: every direction throughout the day 0-24 knots
Sea State: calm in morning, rippled in afternoon
Visibility: 0-10 NM
Sky: fog and patches of rain in morning to mid afternoon, partly cloudy in afternoon to evening
Temperature: 12-18 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.15 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The juvenile female elephant seal tagged V173 slid her way up the boat ramp this morning. She is looking healthy and well fed. She has visited several times over the past few weeks, as well as in the spring to moult and briefly in December. She was born last year on Drakes Beach, in Point Reyes National Seashore, in California. Researchers tagged her as a weaned pup on February 28, 2019.

I did some maintenance around the island: changed the oil in the backup generator, tidied paths with the trimmer to make it easier to move fuel and equipment with carts, cleaned the solar panels, washed windows on the main house, and pressure washed the stairs leading up to the door of the lighthouse to get rid of the slippery bird poop. Greg brought 800 litres of fresh water, which we pumped up from the jetty to the fresh water tank.

Here are two photos from today:

August 20 – Two Pods of Transient Orcas!

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Wind: W at the beginning and end of day, NE mid morning to early afternoon, 4-18 knots
Sea State: calm
Visibility: 0-10 NM
Sky: fog in morning, clear in the middle of the day, overcast in afternoon, rain in evening
Temperature: 12-17 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.15 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

There was a lot marine mammal activity today. At 11:00, two pods of Bigg’s transient killer whales were in the ecological reserve. One pod appeared to have about six whales. The other pod appeared to have three. Both pods spent a lot of time around the South Islands. A nearby whale watching boat captain mentioned on the VHF radio that the orcas were two families most likely having some social time. They were probably having a good meal too. I didn’t see any hunting happening on the surface. Transients eat marine mammals like seals. I did see a lot of harbour seals not taking any chances, huddled together on nearby rocks and around the east bay beach, looking towards the areas where the orcas were swimming. The transients stayed around until at least 3:30.

See the photos below for views of the orcas and other sights from today: