Author Archives: Neha acharya-patel

The Journey of #444X

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Wednesday September 18, 2024

Not a huge day facilities wise. We did our daily repair of the electric fences, and chopped a little more wood.

However, we did receive some cool news from Brian Wright, the NOAA scientist who we reported the branded sea lions to. He told us that number 444X, was first tagged in Astoria all the way back in 2016, and he has not been reported since.

This information is super valuable to scientists and managers because it shows what areas are being used by these animals, the extent of their ranges, and how long they can live. (Which for a California Sea Lion is 15 – 25 years!).

Mark and recapture studies are also very important for estimating functional population size, and this type of study design is used for lots of fundamental ecological work. This infographic from FishBio, nicely explains how a mark-recapture study can work in an open environment! Again, this is a good reminder to report any tagged animals you encounter!

Whale Watching Vessels: 20

Private Vessels: 0

Weather: Mix of Sun and Cloud.  Calm during the day, wind picked up to 12kts W

Tagged Sea Lions

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Scott spent some more time with the chainsaw today. He is putting a huge dent in the pile of logs down by the jetty, and the stacks of firewood in the basement are steadily growing for the winter.

As the numbers of sea lions on the island continues to climb we have been seeing quite a few tagged and branded individuals. These markings are implemented by researchers in Oregon and along the West coast of the US. They give the researchers an idea of animal movement, functional population size, and more. If you ever see a tagged or branded sea lion remember to report it!

Whale Watching Vessels: 18

Private Vessels: 4

Weather: Overcast all day. Winds W 6knts

As buck would have it!

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Today we tackled the pile of logs just waiting to be bucked into some grade A firewood. The rock is equipped with a beauty Husqvarna 450 rancher chainsaw that just purrs…those logs didn’t stand a chance. In the words of Buckin’ Billy Ray, ‘She cuts eh!” I think swinging an axe might have legs as the next fitness trend! We also made some minor improvements to the fence and touched up some of the auxiliary buildings.

We reported yesterday’s entanglement and unfortunately saw another one today.

Whale Watching Vessels: 20

Private Vessels: 6

Weather: Clear and Sunny all day. Winds out the SE then switching to West later in the aft. 6-12kts

The Fence is up!

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There is now a perimeter around all the facilities! Now, Scott and I just need to make sure that they keep standing…

We also did the census this morning at low tide. There has been a dramatic increase in sea lions since last week!

Birds:

  • Gulls: 1454
  • Cormorants: 42
  • Oystercatchers: 3
  • Canada Goose: 15

Mammals:

  • Stellar Sea Lion: 360
  • California Sea Lion: 933
  • Harbour Seal: 127

Animal Tracking and Injuries: Noted one California sea lion with Salmon Flasher. Will report to DFO Tomorrow.

 

Whale Watching Vessels: 15

Private Vessels: 5

Weather: Clear and Sunny all day. Winds W 10knts

Back on Fence Duty

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Saturday, September 14, 2024

We made some improvements to our last stretch and started on a new section that has been totally wrecked by the sealions. We are again converting from the old-style block anchors to metal stanchions that are bolted into the rock. We chose a course that provided good anchor locations and uses the natural geography to work with the sealions preferred nap spots. We also cleaned the windows of the various buildings because with 715 gulls…well you get the idea.

While having our morning coffee we saw our first Orcas. 5-6 with a baby was a treat for sure. Another notable siting was three ocean canoes coming through middle channel around 2pm, pretty rowdy if you ask me.

Whale Watching Vessels: 15

Private Vessels: 5

Weather: Calm and overcast in the morning. Cleared in the afternoon with winds reaching 14-16kts.

Fog Horn not repaired..

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Friday September 13

So… the fog horn went all night… when it was not foggy….

We let Coast Guard know and they told us  how to disable it. So they will be back here in the next couple weeks to try again to get it fixed.

Today, did some organisation/cleaning of the main house.

We also saw the injured sea lion James and Christine noted in August, when we were doing our water sample. He isn’t putting weight on it at all.. but the wound itself looks a little better. Reported to DFO.

  • Ran Generator
  • Ran Desalinator
  • Chopped Wood
  • Water Sample

Whale Watching Vessels: 10

Private Vessels: 2

Weather: Clear Day (Visibility about 12 NM), Winds SW ~5Knts all day, Overcast, Rain in the afternoon

 

 

 

Fog Horn Repair?

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Thursday September 12

Today Coast Guard came back to fix the Fog Horn. It is very loud.

Scott chopped a lot of wood that will be stacked up in the basement for use in the winter. We also received materials from Greg to build the electric fence around the North side of the island. That will be the weekend project.

The sunset today was beautiful, and there were so many humpback whales feeding in the distance!

  • Ran Generator
  • Ran Desalinator
  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Chopped Wood
  • Water Sample

Whale Watching Vessels: 17

Private Vessels: 3

Weather: Foggy Morning, dissipated in the afternoon. Winds W Built to 23 knts, 12 C

Upkeep Day

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Wednesday September 11

Similar day to yesterday! Did some weeding, weed whacking of the student house, made water and ran the generator.

  • Ran Generator
  • Ran Desalinator
  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Patched electric fence

Whale Watching Vessels: 10

Private Vessels: 1

Weather:  Mix of sun/cloud. Wind 8-12kts.

Invasive Plant Removal

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Tues, Sept 10, 2024

Today we removed a lot of the invasive Plumeless thistle in the grassy area at the foot of the lighthouse.

There also is work being done on the student house this week to replace the windows.

  • Ran Generator
  • Ran Desalinator
  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Patched electric fence

Whale Watching Vessels: 10

Private Vessels: 1

Weather:  Mix of sun/cloud. W/SW winds building to 20knts

Foggy in the morning, dissipated throughout the day. Fog Horn Still out.

 

 

Firing up the DeSal

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Mon, Sept 9, 2024

Today we spent some time with Greg going over the finer points of running the desalinator machine. It pulls ocean water from a 10,000L cistern and converts it to fresh water for use on the island. We also patched up some of the weaker points of the electric fence along the SE border. The sealions will be with us in large numbers until the beginning of December and the fence is important to protect the infrastructure and other habitats on the island. The weather has begun to turn as the wind kicked up and the temperature dropped compared to our first few days here.

Unfortunately, we also spotted this guy with an injury on his back. Reported to the DFO Marine Mammals Unit.

  • Ran generator
  • Ran desalinator
  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Patched electric fence
  • Water sample

Whale Watching Vessels: 17

Private Vessels: 3

Weather:  Mix of sun/cloud. Wind 8-12kts