Category Archives: Admin

Race Rocks (XwaYeN) Proposed Marine Protected Area Ecosystem Overview and Assessment Report

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Correct citation for this publication: Backe, N., S. Davies, K. Conley, G. Kosmider, G. Rasmussen, H. Ibey and K. Ladell.2011. Race rocks (XwaYeN) proposed marine protected area ecosystem overview and assessment report. Can. Manuscr. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2949: ii + 30
Executive Summary
Background
Race Rocks (XwaYeN), located 17 km southwest of Victoria in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, consists of nine islets, including the large main island, Great Race. Named for its strong tidal currents and rocky reefs, the waters surrounding Race Rocks (XwaYeN) are a showcase for Pacific marine life. This marine life is the result of oceanographic conditions supplying the Race Rocks (XwaYeN) area with a generous stream of nutrients and high levels of dissolved oxygen. These factors contribute to the creation of an ecosystem of high biodiversity and biological productivity.In 1980, the province of British Columbia, under the authority of the provincial Ecological Reserves Act , established the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. This provided protection of the terrestrial natural and cultural heritage values (nine islets) and of the ocean seabed (to the 20 fathoms/36.6 meter contour line). Ocean dumping, dredging and the extraction of non-renewable resources are not permitted within the boundaries of the Ecological Reserve. However, the Ecological Reserve cannot provide for the conservation and protection of the water column or for the living resources inhabiting the coastal waters surrounding Race Rocks (Xwa YeN) as these resources are under the jurisdiction of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). The federal government, through the authority of theOceans Act (1997), has established an Oceans Strategy, based on the principles of sustainable development, integrated management and the precautionary approach. Part II of the Oceans Act also provides authority for the development of tools nece ssary to carry out the Oceans Strategy, tools such as the establishment of Marine Protecte d Areas (MPA). This federal authority will complement the previously established protection to the area as an Ecological Reserve, by affording protection and conservation measures to the living marine resources. Under Section 35 of the Oceans Act, the Governor in Council is authorized to designate, by regulation, Marine Protected Areas (MPA) for any of the following reasons:

  • (a) the conservation and protection of commercial and non-commercial fishery resources, including marine mammals and their habitats;
  • (b) the conservation and protection of endangered or threatened species and their habitats;
  • (c) the conservation and protection of unique habitats;
  • (d) the conservation and protection of marine areas of high biodiversity or biological productivity; and
  • (e) the conservation and protection of any other marine resource or habitat as is necessary to fulfill the mandate of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

In 1998, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans announced Race Rocks (XwaYeN) as one of four pilot Marine Protected Area (MPA) initiatives on Canada’s Pacific Coast. Race Rocks (XwaYeN) meets the criteria set out in paragraphs 35(1) (a), (b) and (d) above. Establishing a MPA within the Race Rocks (XwaYeN) area will provide for a more comprehensive level of conservation and protection for the ecosystem than can be achieved by an Ecological Reserve on its own. Designating a MPA within the area encompassing the Ecological Reserve will facilitate the integration of conservation, protection and management initiatives under the respective authorities of the two governments.

physical and biological systems of Race Rocks (XwaYeN) was completed by Wright and Pringle (2001). The 2001 report provides an extensive ecological overview describing the geological, physical oceanographic and biological components of
Race Rocks (XwaYeN) and the surrounding waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca at the time. Natural history observations and some traditional knowledge were also included. The following report is a brief update to summarize new information that has been collected in the Race Rocks (XwaYeN) area since that time and describe any changes
to trends in species distributions and oceanographic conditions. This work is meant to supplement the existing ecological overview (Wright and Pringle 2001).

See the full 32 page PDF  Ecosystem overview2011

DND blasting

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–At 0945hrs PDT a recreational vessel with a man and a woman on board entered from the NE near North Rock at high speed and approached Great Race where they slowed down to transit the Reserve.
–DND has been blasting since 0900hrs this morning.
–A Pearson alumni arrived today to help with some projects over the next few days.

There was 1 visitor to the island today.

orcas behave, people don’t

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Orca: 6 A pod of around 6-8 orcas passed W to E through Rosedale Reef this morning.
California Sea Lion: 1
Orca: 8 At 2025hrs PDT a pod of orcas was spotted heading E to W through Race Passage against the flood current. Seven eco-tour boats were in pursuit.

At 0835hrs PDT a Pat Bay Air floatplane flew over Great Race at less than 1000 ft, entering from a direction WNW and exiting E. The aircraft license number was C-FGLU.

At approximately 1135hrs PDT an OBMG rental boat was found to be intermittently maneuvering unnecessarily in the main channel west of Great Race, and to the SW corner of Great Race. The vessel made a pattern of slowing down, speeding up, slowing down, speeding up. Two persons on board, license number 14K37828.

At 1259hrs PDT a pleasure vessel passed over Rosedale Reef at high speed in a direction W to E. No license number or photos obtained.

At 1845hrs PDT a white fibreglass vessel with three persons (man, woman, child) on board was spotted fishing in the RCA in the vicinity of the tidal turbine. The name was “The Liquidator” and the license #6K155545. The incident was reported to DFO and by 1858hrs PDT the vessel had departed in the direction of Beecher Bay.

dump your kids on the island?

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At around 1200hrs a vessel (license #25K5588) with 7 persons on board entered the Reserve and began to fish on the south side of North Race, within the limits of the RCA. The vessel was reported to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Violation Reporting Hotline. Shortly after, the vessel stopped fishing and motored towards Great Race at high speed. The vessel then slowed and approached the rocks near the sea lion haulout on the NE corner of Great Race. At this point, the Eco-Guardian had left the house and headed down to get a closer look. By the time the Eco-Guardian reached the rocks, the vessel had made contact with the rocks and deposited three young children (6-10 yrs, all female) on the rocks. The boat was floating offshore at approximately 10-15 feet from the rocks, with two adult males and an adult female holding a young child. Asked of their intentions, the folks on board said they were just letting the children play around in the intertidal. The Eco-Guardian then informed them both of the no-fishing rule at Race Rocks and that they weren’t allowed to land their boat on the rocks and walk around. The gentlemen said they were from Alberta and had no idea that these rules were in place and that they would depart immediately. The girls were plucked off the rocks and the boat departed the Reserve.

At around 1330hrs an aluminum runabout (no license number obtained) proceeded at very high speed through the main channel between Great Race and Middle Race in the direction west to east. There were 0 visitors to the island today.

human problems

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The vessel “Chinook Spirit” passed at high speed through the Reserve, maneuvered unnecessarily in the main current channel and blasted its horn while in close proximity to harbour seals.

Three OBMG boats were found to be fishing in the Reserve through the day. Pedder Bay Marina was notified of each incident and sent a staff member to intercept the vessels. 

racerocks.com Partnerships and Supporters 2005-2011

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ARCHIVAL MATERIAL

Lester B. Pearson College– is one of ten United World Colleges located around the world. Two hundred students from over 80 countries study the International Baccalaureate curriculum during their two years at Pearson College. Garry Fletcher, a former faculty member who taught Environmental Systems and Biology at Pearson College, is the educational director of racerocks.com. Garry still works with students and staff to guide the educational content of the site. In addition, Laura Verhegge, also a faculty member teaching Biology and Marine Science provides additional guidance to the program. Pearson College operates the former Race Rocks light station facilities as a education centre under an agreement with BC Parks. Chris Blondeau, the Director of Operations for Pearson College provides the Operational Management of Race Rocks, and Ryan Murphy is employed by Pearson College as the on-site Ecoguardian. Pearson College is the lead proponent and partner directing the racerocks.com project. Apple Computers (Canada)– The Computers we use for the live video webcasts from Race Rocks are all made by APPLE COMPUTERS. In July of 2000, Apple Canada became a partner in the Millennium Partnership program with the donation of a Macintosh PowerBook G3. 500 MHz. It followed up with further support in April of 2001 with the donation of a G4 500 MHz portable computer, and a G4 1GHz computer a year later. These new high speed computers have been essential in broadcasting the manually operated live programs from the islands. They have been a most valuable addition for our live video webcasting programs.Apple Learning Interchange The QuickTime live video streams are being hosted by the Apple Learning interchange (ALI) over the Akamai Internet distribution network. In April of 2001, a set of three airport cards was provided by ALI in order to make all the cameras webcasting wirelessly from the island. In late 2003, Apple has upgraded our equipment at Race Rocks with the contribution of 2 AirPort Extreme base stations and three 1GHz eMac computers for the webcasting cameras at Race Rocks. In addition, they provided funds for the purchase of the new robotic camera 5 for the island. Race Rocks support pages, ideas for educational applications and learning activities are available at: http://newali.apple.com/ali_sites/ali/exhibits/1000007/
TelusTELUS has been a major supporter of the rac erocks.com since its inception. This link provides the history of our long term relationship and dependence on TELUS.Pacific Coast Environmental MetricsIn 2008 ,Pacific

Coast Environmental Metrics assisted by volunteering time to set up a new database to restore and improve the daily log for the racerocks.com website.  PCEM donates the database hosting for the log (http://log.racerocks.ca).
DONORS: This file presents several of our donors to the Race Rocks program.The Hesse Family: Mr. and Mrs. Hesse of Metchosin have been long-term enthusiasts for ornithology. They decided to help us with our Race Rocks Program in 2003 and 2005 with a generous donation to the program. They have both passed away now but have left a generous legacy to the college.

Dr. Anita Brinkmann Voss : has provide long-term scientific support and financial assistance to the racerocks.com program.

 

In the design of the Race Rocks Taxonomy central index file, I have been able to rely on the freely available JavaScript DHTML code supplied by Andy Wooley of Milonic. The availability of such free assistance on the web has been essential to the building of this website .

Graduate Students: We are particularly fortunate to benefit from the services and support of a number of alumni of Lester B. Pearson College who have donated their time or have given direct financial assistance to racerocks.com

Ken Dunham ( PC year 9) has designed and implemented the advanced network at Pearson College, and recently
extended these facilities across the water to Race Rocks.

Giovanni Rosso (PC year 24) has provided the money for a digital camera and a videocamera for underwater work at Race Rocks.

Jochen Kumm (PC year 10) has provided a computer for the Ecological Overview database.

Ryan Murphy (PC year 25) is now employed as the ecoguardian at Race Rocks and has provided images for the racerocks.com website.

 

   A Bold Initiative: racerocks.com utilizes 21st century technology to maximum advantage to create a dynamic educational web experience utilizing the extraordinary marine eco-system at Race Rocks, Canada’s most southerly point on the Pacific Coast.

Real time streaming video webcasts digital images of marine life from above the sea at Race Rocks and below the ocean when divers are on hand to do the live mobile webcasts. In addition, a complete environmental scan will be continually transmitted from the site using an array of data sensors in five ecosystems of the area.

The knowledge of the First Nations is being explored and explained as the Salish people share generations of experience in living in harmony with the abundance that once dominated this region and is now threatened.

Creative educators are developing internet-based curriculum to stimulate students and teachers to engage fully in the racerocks.com educational program. Researchers will share their studies and discoveries as we gain a new and deeper understanding of the ecosystem

The Place

For centuries, deep ocean currents and the great rivers of the Georgia Basin have converged in the Strait of Juan de Fuca between southern Vancouver Island and Washington State. Race Rocks reveals itself as nine rocky outcrops thrust from the ocean floor in the middle of the strait.

For generations the people of the Salish Nation prospered in this region at the entrance to the Salish Sea. The extraordinary richness of this diverse ecosystem represented by Race Rocks is valued today as it was then. Race Rocks has been an ecological reserve since 1980 and is becoming Canada’s first internationally recognized Marine Protected Area under the Ocean’s Act.

The small, rocky outcrops are home to seals, sea lions, elephant seals and birds, as well as the buildings and equipment of the Race Rocks Lighthouse. These outcrops are literally the tip of the ecosystem New leading-edge bathymetry reveals Race Rocks as a giant underwater mountain. The diversity of marine life is breathtaking and still not fully explored. The teachings of Salish elders merge with more recent science to explain the mysteries of nature at Race Rocks.

The Technology
Recent developments have made a complex real time streaming video site possible. Presently three cameras operating wirelessly and digital cameras and an array of data sensors above and below the ocean at Race Rocks collect information. The internet signal is transmitted by broad band radio from the top of the Race Rocks light tower directly to nearby Pearson College. From Pearson College, through high speed fiber links to the racerocks.com server, and also on to the AKAMAI network, the video and data is now available throughout the internet. Two-way interactive capability has been incorporated into the design to allow for specific educational programming.

For further information on sponsorship contact :
Director of External Relations at Lester B. Pearson College.