Author Archives: Riley Strother

Winter Wren in the Lantern Room

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0-5 knots N, later NW
  • Sky: clear
  • Water: calm
  • Lovely day!

Ecological

  • Encountered a winter wren in the lantern room of the lighthouse.
  • Opened the outdoor hatch to let it out, but instead it hid inside an air vent.
  • I presume the wren is still inside the room, unless it found a way out.
  • Luckily I had the camera with me.
  • The last time a winter wren was documented at Race Rocks was April 19, 2014.

Maintenance

  • Ran the desalinator during the afternoon.
  • Spray painted an empty diesel barrel.
  • The usual chores.

Boats

  • The Royal Canadian Marine Search & Rescue boat came through the reserve again.
  • Several eco-tours, sailboats, and pleasure craft wandered through today.

Return of the Harbour Seal

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Weather

  • Visibility: 5 miles in the morning, 15 during the day.
  • Wind: 20-25 knots NE, down to 5-10 in the afternoon, then back up to 25.
  • Sky: overcast and rain followed by some sun in the afternoon.
  • Water: 2′ chop

Ecological

  • Saw three branded California sea lions: 7960, 8985, and U503.
  • Yesterday’s Harbour Seal near the jetty returned for another plank.
  • Saw an unidentifiable whale surfacing south of Rosedale Rock.

Maintenance

  • The usual chores
  • Couldn’t fully fix the electric fence near the energy building since the elephant seals who were lying on parts of the fence refused to move.

Boats

  • Saw a Search and Rescue boat along with a few eco-tours.

Fierce Winds

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 35-40 knots SW, later W, and then down to 10-20.
  • Sky: mostly clear with some early evening rain.
  • Water: 3′ chop, calmer in the evening.

Ecological

  • Saw a California Sea Lion branded 8465,
  • Saw a Steller Sea Lion branded 873R.
  • One harbour seal hauled out on a rock near the jetty.
  • I was surprised it wasn’t immediately scared off by the sea lions.

harbour-seal-1-7-10 harbour-seal-2-7-10

Maintenance

  • Had to get the internet and phone back in operation this morning.
  • Electric fence work. The elephant seals are fond of knocking it all down.

Boats

  • Hardly any boats today on account of the weather.

Drizzly Census

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 10-15 knots W, later N
  • Sky: overcast with afternoon drizzles
  • Water: 1′ chop

Ecological

  • Recorded eight different sea lion brands today.
  • Two Steller/Northern sea lions: 14Y and 998R.
  • Six California sea lions: U603, 7618, 8985, U374, 9403, and 8465.
  • I didn’t get good photos of all the brands, but I am certain of the characters.
  • Conducted the weekly census.
  • Didn’t see any Harlequin Ducks or Black Oystercatchers; perhaps the inclement weather kept them out of sight?
  • Big increase in the number of cormorants from last week (20 up to 146).
  1. California Sea Lions: 541
  2. Northern (Steller) Sea Lions: 202 (half of those on Middle Rock)
  3. Harbour Seals: 69
  4. Elephant Seals: 9 (3 on Great Race, 6 on Middle Rock)
  5. Sea gulls: 800
  6. Cormorants: 146
  7. Black Turnstone: 13
  8. Savannah Sparrows: 10
  9. Bald Eagles: 2 adults on West Rock
  10. Canada Geese: 2

Maintenance

  • The usual chores.

Boats

  • Recently some of the larger eco-tour boats appear to be getting too close to the sea lions near the jetty. Below are today’s observations.

Tumour and Beautiful Skies

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 10-15 NE, later West
  • Sky: overcast in the morning, sunny later on
  • Water: 1′ chop
  • Absolutely gorgeous skies all day long!

sunset-2-5-10

Ecological

  • Saw a California sea lion branded U601.
  • Saw a Steller Sea Lion with a tumour on the side of his head.
  • 3 elephant seals came to hang out on the island today.

Maintenance

  • Cleaned the solar panels.
  • Noted the distilled water supply for Kyle.
  • Began scraping the rusty diesel barrels.

Boats

  • Several eco-tours today.
  • One of them appeared to be too close to the sea lions in the jetty area.

Rainbow!

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Weather

  • Visibility: 5 miles in the morning, 15 later on.
  • Wind: 10-15 knots NE
  • Sky: overcast, periods of sun, periods of rain.
  • Water: calm
  • Rainbow in the afternoon!

rainbow-4-10

Ecological

  • Saw several branded sea lions but they have already been reported recently.
  • X611, U400 etc.

Maintenance

  • Usual chores.
  • Ran the desalinator in the evening.

Boats

  • Several eco-tours came by today.
  • Noticed four leaving at once in the afternoon.

4-boats-leaving-reserve-4-10

FOG

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Weather

  • Visibility: At times down to 1/8 of a mile. Average of 5 miles today.
  • Wind: 5-10 knots N
  • Sky: lots of fog
  • Water: calm
  • The fog rolled in and out a few times. Often quite thick.

Ecological

  • One elephant seal was spied slumbering amongst the sea lions.
  • He didn’t seem too impressed by their antics whenever I walked by.

Maintenance

  • Had to reattach the electric fence again.
  • The usual chores.

Boats

  • A few boats about. Nothing major to report.

Other

  • Found some sort of a sign in the rocks by the ramp.

flotsom-3-10

Illegal Fishing

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-15 knots NE
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: calm

nostalgic-sunset-2-10

Ecological

  • Noted two branded California Sea Lions.
  • U503 and U400.
  • Saw many others with brands but unable to view complete brand.

Maintenance

  • Fixed the electric fence near the energy building which had been ripped apart again.
  • Reorganized some diesel barrels.
  • Cleaned the solar panels.
  • The usual chores.

Boats

  • It was neat to watch more than fifteen fishing boats head through Race Passage at 7:15 in the partial darkness of sunrise.
  • Two boats were fishing in the Rockfish Conservation Area, mostly between the Rosedale Rock and the South Islands for several hours today.
  • I identified them as best I could, and reported them to the DFO.
  • At times there were other boats nearby, but they seemed to be making a conscious effort to anchor outside the boundary.
  • The two offending boats made no such effort, drifting about all over the southern part of the reserve.
  • Several ecotours came by today.
  • In the evening one small aluminium boat ripped through the reserve well above the speed limit. Presumably he was late for supper?

Other

  • From about 11:50 until 13:00 I felt a series of unidentifiable booming shakes.
  • I can only assume it was DND blasting, although I saw no smoke, and it was Sunday.
Levitating boat optical illusion.

Levitating boat optical illusion.

Quiet Saturday on the Rock

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-15 knots North
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: calm

Ecological

  • Saw a California Sea Lion branded with 8465.

california-8465-1-10

Maintenance

  • Reset the electric fence.
  • Removed ash from the wood stove for the season’s first light.

first-fire-1-10

Boats

  • Observed one rental boat that appeared to be fishing within the reserve.
  • Contacted Pedder Bay Marina to let them know.

 

Month End Report Day

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 5-15 knots West
  • Sky: clear
  • Water: calm
  • Very nice day out here. Another lovely sunrise!

sunrise-1-30-9 sunrise-2-30-9

Ecological

  • Saw three branded sea lions today.
  • California sea lion U615.
  • California sea lion X656.
  • Steller sea lion 311R.
  • Also saw one California with a peculiar looking wound.

Maintenance

  • Had to reattach the electric fence to the energy building.
  • The sea lions had ripped the wiring apart.
  • Compiled September seawater data and sent it off to Peter Chandler.
  • Cleaned the solar panels.
  • Gathered data for the month end report, compiled it, and sent it off to Kyle.

Boats

  • Surprisingly not as many boats today.
  • It looked as though they were distracted by whales (though I saw none).

fleet-of-watchers-30-9