Author Archives: Nick Townley

Weekly Census

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Wind: yesterday 2-16 knots from S to W, today 0-36 knots from W to S to W
Sea State: yesterday rippled, today calm until mid afternoon when seas turned rough
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 5-15 NM
Sky: yesterday overcast, today overcast with patches of sun then rain in late afternoon
Temperature: yesterday 7-9 °C, today 6-8 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.47 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The numbers of sea lions continues to be low. For the first time this winter, there were more steller than california sea lions in the ecological reserve.

For the past day, the elephant seals have all been stationary. An elephant seal was seen on Middle Rocks today along with california sea lions. I believe it’s the smaller adult male that was on the main island until recently.

Having heard the killdeer on many evenings this winter, but not seen any, I finally saw one this morning on the lawn. They are named for their shrill repetitive call which sounds like “kill-deer!”

Here are the results from the weekly census observed on Friday, February 28:
7 elephant seals (4 adult males, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
54 steller sea lions
53 california sea lions
86 harbour seals
5 bald eagles (2 adults, 3 juveniles)
26 Canada geese
9 brandt’s cormorants
10 double-crested cormorants
31 pelagic cormorants
72 gulls (mostly thayer’s)
8 black oystercatchers
66 pigeon guillemots
17 harlequin ducks
1 killdeer
15 black turnstones
6 surfbirds
1 fox sparrow

Yesterday, Greg, Alex, Warren and Cole were on the island to do maintenance on the desalinator and batteries. Two tour boats were seen in the ecological reserve each day. This afternoon, the RCM SAR boat from Sooke drove around the main island and the crew took photos.

 

Adventures into the Water

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Wind: yesterday 4-15 knots from E to N, today 0-13 knots from N to SW to W
Sea State: yesterday rippled, today calm
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: yesterday overcast, today clear
Temperature: yesterday 5-7 °C, today 5-10 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.50 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The oldest elephant seal pup and I have something in common. We both had a short trip from the main island for the first time since December. He was born December 29 and hasn’t eaten since his mother stopped nursing him and left on January 21.

Yesterday, the male pup took the plunge and went for a swim in the mid morning. I saw him at the water’s edge on the boat ramp at 8:45, blowing bubbles in the water and wriggling around. He was gone the next time I checked about 15 minutes later. I spotted him again, with wet fir by the boat house door at 11:45. I wonder what he got up to out in water and how far he swam.

My adventure off the island was this afternoon in the Race Rocks boat. I hadn’t left the island since I got here on December 21, as I’m purposely spending 100 days living in the ecological reserve as research for my masters thesis on place-based learning and near-solitude. It was perfect conditions to launch the boat with low winds, clear sky and a turn of the current at 13:16. I motored at a low speed clockwise around the main island, Great Race Rocks, never straying more than a kilometre away from my rocky home of the past two months. Along the way, I took some photos and tested out all the equipment on the boat. The boat ran well. I had never seen any of the other rocks up close or what they looked like from the side I can’t see from the main island. Behind West Rocks, which is west of Great Race Rocks, there was a sea otter floating in the water. I cut the engine and watched it float around for about ten minutes, before it swam away to the northwest. What a treat to see the otter, oystercatchers in flight, harbour seals lounging on the rocks and views of main island from all angles.

After I returned, I did some maintenance to the boat dolly which could only be done with the boat off of it. I greased the very dry wheel bearings and installed a new winch to secure the boat to the dolly.

Yesterday, Greg and Silke came in the early afternoon to pick up Hamish and Hubert, who spent the night. There were two tour boats in the ecological reserve today.

See below for photos from the past two days. Photos have been added to the past three posts now that the photo uploading is working again.

Male Elephant Seal Pup Ventures to the Water’s Edge

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Wind: yesterday 6-50 knots from E to SW to W, today 9-44 knots from W to N
Sea State: yesterday up to 2 m waves, today rippled
Visibility: yesterday 5-10 NM, today 5-15 NM
Sky: yesterday overcast and rain, today partly cloudy with rain and hail in morning
Temperature: yesterday 4-8 °C, today 4-7 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.13 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

A big storm rolled through yesterday, with westerly wind gusts of up to 50 knots. Waves were crashing on the west side and sending spray across the island. There were only a few sea lions on the main island. Others might have been taking shelter in a less exposed place.

The male elephant seal pup was at the water’s edge by the boat ramp. He got his first taste of salt water, as he blew bubbles in the water and splashed around. He might have tumbled down the rocks to get to the water, as he was underneath the wooden walkway several metres above there in the middle of the morning. He eventually made his way up the boat ramp, later being met by the adult alpha male. I thought they were having some father and son bonding time, but it progressed to the adult’s mouth around the pup’s body. They both went their separate ways. The pup didn’t have any bit marks on him, so it doesn’t appear the intention of the adult was to injury the pup.

The lighthouse steps and lantern room got a much needed sweep and mop yesterday, to get rid of the dirt that had accumulated for a while on the 99 steps inside the tower.

The boat from Pearson College came out twice today. In the mid morning, Greg dropped off Hubert and Hamish, who are staying overnight to do some photography. The boat returned in the afternoon with six visitors from Pearson. Heather, Ruth, Sarah, Michelle, Greg and Mark had a quick tour of the island. No other boats were seen in the ecological reserve over the past two days.

UPDATED February 26: photos have been added now that the website is fixed.

 

Varied Thrush and River Otter

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Wind: yesterday 2-27 knots from NE to W, today 2-27 knots from W to E
Sea State: yesterday rippled in am and calm in pm, today rippled then calm in evening
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 5-15 NM
Sky: yesterday clear, today partly cloudy with sunny patches
Temperature: yesterday 4-8 °C, today 6-8 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.36 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

A varied thrush was seen on Race Rocks today. The bird that has similarities in size and colouring to an American Robin, hasn’t been seen this winter and possibly never before on Race Rocks. There is no mention of other sightings on this website. According to the Audubon field guide, varied thrushes like dense forests with lots of water. That’s about as different as you can get from Race Rocks, where there are no trees or fresh water. Perhaps this bird was flying over the Strait and stopped for a rest.

There were 20 pigeon guillemots near the jetty yesterday. They swam around, perched on rocks and the edges of the jetty. None were seen today.

The elusive river otter was seen today. It was sunning itself on a log on the rocks below camera 5. When it saw me taking photos from about 30 m away, it went around the corner and continued to soak up the sun.

Over the past few days, I have been trying to tidy up the human items left on the ground, before the grass and other plants grow up around them. There are many old hoses in various places that were at one time used for gardening and washing buildings. I have collected all the old hoses so they don’t interfere with the animals. Black plastic sheets that were used for landscaping at the base of the tower and around the main residence were becoming exposed. I removed all the pieces of plastic that have worked their way to the surface.

There were seven visitors to the island yesterday from Ocean Networks Canada. They spent several hours calibrating the CODAR equipment that measures near-surface ocean currents for the central portion of the Juan de Fuca Strait.

Yesterday, other than the Pearson College boat, Second Nature, there were two tour boats in the ecological reserve. Today, four tour boats, one sailboat and two pleasure boats were around Race Rocks.

Below are the results of the weekly census observed on Saturday, February 22. The numbers are substantially lower for almost every species regularly seen over the winter. Perhaps the relatively clear and calm conditions of this past week have encouraged the birds and marine mammals to venture further from their winter retreat on Race Rocks.
6 elephant seals (3 adult males, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
8 steller sea lions
60 california sea lions
30 harbour seals
1 river otter
6 bald eagles (3 adults, 3 juveniles)
2 Canada geese
1 raven
20 brandt’s cormorants
10 double-crested cormorants
62 pelagic cormorants
101 gulls (mostly thayer’s gulls)
6 black oystercatchers
10 harlequin ducks
30 surfbirds
10 black turnstones
1 varied thrush
1 snow bunting
1 song sparrow
1 fox sparrow

UPDATED February 26: Photos have been uploaded now that the website is fixed.

Bluebird Days

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Wind: yesterday 8-22 knots from E to N, today 4-17 knots from N in am and E to S in pm
Sea State: yesterday up to 1 m chop, today rippled
Visibility: both days 15 NM
Sky: both days clear
Temperature: yesterday 4-8 °C, today 5-9 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.53 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The past two days have been clear. That’s four bluebird days in a row. The sunrises and sunsets have cast everything in a golden light. The views have been incredible of the snowy mountains in Washington State.

There hasn’t been much new activity with birds or mammals. One of the male elephant seals has joined the sea lion cuddle puddle near the crane.

Yesterday evening, a pod of orcas were swimming a few kilometres to the northeast. They appeared to be heading northeast, in the direction of Victoria. It could be the same pod from the previous evening.

There were nine visitors to the island yesterday. Five Pearson faculty and staff came in the morning to tour the island and discuss learning opportunities for Pearson students on Race Rocks. Alex, Ric and his friend came to do an upgrade to the electrical system controls.

The military’s demolition training on Bentinck Island concluded this morning.

Today, three tour boats were in the ecological reserve. Yesterday, there were two tour boats and two members of the navy in a small rigid hull inflatable.

UPDATED February 26: photos have been added now that the website is fixed.

Exciting Sightings

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Wind: yesterday 0-31 knots from W to E to N, today 10-17 knots from N-NE
Sea State: yesterday rippled, today rippled with chop up to 1 m in morning
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: both days clear
Temperature: yesterday 5-7 °C, today 4-6 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.85 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

There were some exciting sightings over the past two days. Just before sunset this evening, a pod of orcas was swimming in the current to the west of the island. There were at least five or six orcas of various ages.

This morning, between 20 to 30 pigeon guillemots were paddling through the Middle Channel, to the north of the main island. Some still have grey-ish heads of their winter plumage.

Yesterday one tour boat, two sailboats and three pleasure crafts passed through the ecological reserve. Today three tour boats travelled by the islands. No visitors were on the island.

The military was doing demolition training for the past two days on Bentinck Island.

See the photos below for sights from the past two days:

Sunday Census

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Wind: yesterday 3-34 knots from N to W, today 19-33 knots from W
Sea State: yesterday rippled, today chop up to 1 m
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy with rain in evening, today overcast then heavy rain late morning clearing in afternoon
Temperature: yesterday 6-9 °C, today 6-7 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.05 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Census results from Sunday, February 16:
7 elephant seals (4 adult males, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
68 california sea lions
21 steller sea lions
40 harbour seals
9 bald eagles (8 adults, 1 juvenile)
2 Canada geese
19 brandt’s cormorants
16 double-crested cormorants
30 pelagic cormorants
547 gulls (mostly thayer’s gulls)
2 black oystercatchers
8 harlequin ducks
10 black turnstones
1 song sparrow
1 snow bunting

Yesterday, I used the leaf blower in the boat house to clean out the thousands of dead flies left over from last summer. I laid out 76 m (250′) of fire hose to pump water from the jetty to the cistern. The fire pump ran for a couple hours to top up the seawater cistern used for the desalinator.

For the first time this winter, I saw about 20 pigeon guillemots in the water just north of the jetty yesterday morning. I haven’t seen any since.

There were 3 tour boats in the ecological reserve yesterday and no visitors on the island this weekend.

Photos from the past two days:

Full Power Restored

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Wind: yesterday 0-34 knots from N to W, today 18-36 knots from W
Sea State: yesterday calm in morning changing up to 1m chop, today chop up to 1 m
Visibility: yesterday 5-10 NM, today 10-15NM
Sky: yesterday overcast and rain, today clear changing to rain in evening
Temperature: yesterday 5-8 °C, today 6-7 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.81 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

After twenty-five days with backup power, there is now full power on the island. The replacement part for the generator head was installed today. Thanks goes to the team who spent six hours on the island today, hauling the 450 lbs unit from the boat to the generator room, doing the installation and other needed upgrades. It was a busy day here for Greg, Alex, Lawrence, Stephane from Frontier Power, Ric and his apprentice Stephane. Lots of other staff at Pearson College made it possible for this fix and temporary power to be successful.

With full power restored, there is now enough power to more quickly top up the batteries and operate all the equipment on the island without draining the batteries too much. A few important pieces are now running again: the desalinator, Ocean Networks Canada’s CODAR, UVIC’s Davis weather station and both live cameras.

There are still four male elephant seals and three pups on the island. There was some fighting amongst the males last night, evident by the fresh cuts on the backs of three of the males and near the eye of the youngest female pup.

The number of sea lions on the rocks has decreased in the past two days. It could be related to the strong west winds that blow into some of their favourite haul out spots.

There was one tour boat seen in the ecological reserve today.

DND was conducting demolition training on nearby Bentinck Island today.

Sound of Solitude

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Wind: yesterday 3-28 knots from W, today 0-8 knots from W to NE
Sea State: yesterday and today rippled
Visibility: yesterday and today 5-10 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy and rain, today overcast
Temperature: yesterday 6-9 °C, today 6-8 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 415.40 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The past two days were relatively quiet. There were fewer barking sea lions on the rocks, as most floated nearby. A determined beta male elephant seal made several short visits to the island, practicing his bellowing, before being scared away by the alpha male. The pups are still keeping to themselves and not vocalizing as much. Calm days like today make me miss the whistling of the wind and its ability to dissipate the smell of sea lion poop.

I prepared some equipment for upcoming work to be done on the cistern as well as the energy system.

There were four tour boats in the ecological reserve. Greg was the only visitor on the island, when he came by briefly this afternoon to drop off fuel and food.

Three Weaner Elephant Seal Pups

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Wind: yesterday 2-15 knots from E to N, today 3-10 knots from S to N to E
Sea State: yesterday and today rippled
Visibility: yesterday and today 15 NM
Sky: yesterday and today clear
Temperature: yesterday 5-7 °C, today 5-8 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.73 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The past two days have been sunny, which means the animals and scenery are very photogenic.

There was lots of activity with the elephant seal harem today. Overnight, the third mother left the island, after nursing her pup for 24 days. Her pup is now a weaner, no longer getting milk from her mother. The three mothers whose pups survived all stayed for 24 days. The last female, who’s pup died 17 days ago, left late this morning. After the male mated with her, she was either trying to get away from him or was chased down the path and out into the water by the boat ramp. The alpha male left for about an hour, perhaps to get some food. He’s been on the island the longest of any of the elephant seals. He hasn’t eaten or left the island since before the first pup was born on December 29. That’s almost as long as I’ve been here without leaving, except I eat three meals a day. The female elephant seals will most likely return to Race Rocks exactly eleven months after they left, to give birth to another pup. Stay tuned to the Log next December and January for more pupping season drama.

Now that there are no adult female elephant seals left on Race Rocks, the alpha male’s role has changed from mating with the females, to protecting the three pups that remain. The alpha male is most likely father to all of them, as he was the alpha male last year as well.

Three beta male elephant seals are still on the island. One left for about 24 hours and returned this afternoon. When he slid up the ramp onto the island, he appeared to look around to see if any females were around. Then, he headed for the oldest pup and put his mouth around it. He didn’t appear to be trying to hurt it because no blood was drawn. The pup was screaming. The alpha male came over and scared away the beta male. For the afternoon and evening, the three pups were lying in the grass about 10 m away from each other. It will be interesting to see if the pups interact with each other, as they have in previous years.

Some other interesting sights were a sea otter, two black brant geese, and a very bright Venus visible in the western sky for a few hours after sunset for each of the past three nights.

There were no visitors to the island in the past two days. Four pleasure boats and three tour boats were seen in the ecological reserve.

See below for photos from the past two days: