Category Archives: Vessel Observations

Wildlife Census

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We’ve been hearing Elephant Seal vocalizations at night, but haven’t seen anyone lurking around on the boat ramp. After taking the Race Rocks boat ‘Neighbor’ for a rip we spotted this cutie hiding at the summit of Middle Rock. Courtney used the ‘socketed’ pectoral flipper to differentiate the elephant seal from the surrounding sea lions. After that she started making visits to the boat ramp first thing in the morning. Not pregnant, didn’t give birth, just hanging around.

Female Elephant Seal wallowing at the jetty.

Female Elephant Seal complaining about the noise at Middle Rocks to the NW.

We also got a California Sea Lion hanging out next to the crane with a red flipper tag on his right flipper. We haven’t been able to figure out what this tag identifies yet.

California Sea Lion with a red tag in his ‘flipper-pit’.

 

No number or identification, just a red clip.

 

The coveted ‘end of the jetty’ position is all about leverage, and not letting anyone new join the party.

Mammals:

  • Stellar Sea lions: 126
  • California Sea lion: 153
  • Harbour Seal: 48
  • Northern Elephant Seal: 1

Birds

  • Gulls: 45
  • Cormorants: 38
  • Eagle: 1 Adult, 2 Juvenile
  • Turnstones: 14
  • Canada Geese: 5 – 2 breeding pairs
  • Oystercatcher: 22
  • Pigeon Guillemots: 26

Boats

  • Recreation Salmon Fishing: 18
  • Tourism: 4
  • Sailboats: 4

Weather must be improving as we’re seeing more sailboats cruising around the Juan de Fuca.

The Stellers diminished this week and started using the fringes after the sea lion pileup from last week.

I try to remember to include the Bald Eagles, they’ve been pretty lazy these days.

Kayaking the rapids at Race Rocks looks pretty fun.

A log kept bumping into her butt and making her angry. Hard life of an Elephant Seal.

 

A Wild Gull Chase

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Today (Thursday) is my last full day as a relief Eco-guardian at Race Rocks, so it seemed fitting that there be a few interesting events. The first was waking up to a sky full of wildfire smoke. We’ve been so lucky with the westerly winds that kept all of the smoke away, but with the latest heat wave and drop in wind, it was on us before dawn today.

Smoke on the water

It was also eerily quiet.  The hundreds of California Gulls that have been somewhere around here each morning were missing.  What was present were tankers and bulk carriers. I’m sure they’ve been plying the waters of the shipping channel all week, but today was the first day I noticed them in such numbers.  There were 6 in quick succession in the first hour I was watching.

One of many vessels that passed by Race Rocks today.

It’s amazing how much traffic there is in the Juan de Fuca Strait. It’s possible to watch and get details on the ships in real time here.

I started the day by washing the solar panels–a necessary task given the amount of bird droppings on them.  They’ve been outfitted with bird spikes, but on my last panel today, I found this:

Yes, a gull demonstrating how clever he (or she) is in defeating the mechanisms we put in place to stop them. Just step on the flat side, not the pointy end!

A closer look revealed something else.  This bird is banded!!!  For bird banders, there’s little more exciting than finding out what has happened to birds you banded. That happens when others observe or find the bands, determine the band number, and report that information to reportband.gov  . Of course, I didn’t have my camera with me, and the bird also wasn’t going to stick around. In fact, it flew. The good news is that most of the gulls on the island are at least somewhat predictable as they are on territories right now. I saw him fly around the lighthouse but not come out the other side.  It was possible he was very close by.  When I finished the panel cleaning, I grabbed my camera from the generator room, and went off in search of a gull among 700. It didn’t take me too long to find him, but not in a very convenient spot.

Each bird band has a unique set of nine numbers.  You need them all to positively identify the bird.  This means you have to get a decent photo of all sides of the band, and that can take a bit of patience.  Fortunately, I have that! My presence riled the gulls enough that they were all yelling at me and the banded gull came in to help chase me off. That was good enough to get me a partial set of numbers.  Now I had to get him from the other side. I moved closer to the house and waited. After about 4 times of him coming to the ground and flying off, I finally had all the numbers!

If you ever find or photograph a bird band, you should report it to reportband.gov. There are a series of questions to answer, but in the end, you will learn about the banding of the bird and receive a certificate of appreciation.

Ecological Notes:

Mammals

1 male Elephant Seal – departed today after molt. After he spent the night at the dock last night, I suspected this might happen.  He was in the water most of the day, and when I looked for him around suppertime, he was nowhere to be seen.

Steller’s Sea Lions – Good numbers now on Great Race Island

California Sea Lions – Numbers increasing dramatically on Great Race and surrounding islands

 

Harbour Seals – Many throughout the area

Birds

7 Black Oystercatcher, including young bird near the dock

18 Black Turnstone

5 Least Sandpiper

1 Western Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper in the lead, followed by Least Sandpiper

11 Common Murre

136 Pigeon Guillemot counted by clicker at around 8 am. There could be more, but no fewer.  Many catching gunnels or blennies (see last bird on right).

3 Heermann’s Gull

400 California Gull, mostly feeding on krill today

700 Glaucous-winged Gull, including 1 banded

Tussles like this are going on all the time

6 Pelagic Cormorant

1 Bald Eagle on Turbine Island at dawn

22 Purple Martin – biggest bird surprise of the day! Flock circled the lighthouse at 8:35 pm and continued south. Only flyovers I have seen this week.

1 Song Sparrow, rummaging in the compost

 

Facility Work: Cleaned solar panels. Not one window had gull droppings today, thanks to the calm winds.

Vessel Traffic: Many vessels in the shipping lanes today. Smaller than usual number of eco-tourism vessels, likely due to Biggs Orcas in other areas around the region. Several private fishing vessels came by the dock because of the sea lions.

Infractions: Private vessel coming through the reserve at too high a speed. Warned them to slow down, which they did.

Weather Events:  First day of noticeable smoke from fires on the mainland. Reduced visibility. Low winds from the south and east.

Wildfire smoke was present all day.

 Weather – Current: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

Weather – Past: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Fishing in a Rockfish Conservation Area

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DFO Reference : https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/maps-cartes/rca-acs/rca-acs/south-sud/BentinckRaceRocksChart3461-eng.html

June 6, 2021

Vessel – Abigail fishing in Race Rocks RCA

First observed at location *F with binoculars at 0857, they saw me on the deck and reeled in lines. I returned to deck and took photo 1 as they jetted away. (high speed within the reserve)

They returned to the RCA at 0922, photos 2,3,4 taken for overview of location and ID.

After photo 5 and 6, I attempted to contact them on VHF 16 and 68 (was just going to politely suggest they check the regulations for Rockfish Conservation information). They were even closer to the North Rock by this time.

They looked up, reeled in lines fast, and again jetted off.

Reported to DFO Fisheries Violations Hotline – 1-800-465-4336

Emailed in this report to DFO, as requested during phone conversation

4 Elephant seal pups are swimming daily!

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Elephant Seals:  Now 7 molting female elephant seals that spend their days sun bathing and/or swimming.
Elephant seal pups:4 and they are swimming daily.
Visitors:2
Facility Work: Back stairs started.  Wood and water delivery
Vessel Traffic 3 sport boats
Weather Events: Flat water with sun all day.
Weather– Current: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72
Weather–Past:  http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?id=72
 

Kayaker in trouble

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Rescue day:
Early this morning I was very surprised to find a person yelling at my door for help.  The man was very upset and his broken English difficult to understand, but I eventually figured out that his friend was in trouble.

The pair were fishing in the protected marine reserve when the push peddles on the friends kayak broke. I spotted the kayaker on the south west side of the Main Island, and it was quickly being pushed out on a big ebb tide to the west. The kayaker was trying to paddle against the five knot tide. Witnessing very little progress, I learned the fishermen were not carrying a VHF radio and carried unworkable mobile phones (which often don’t work on the south side without a US plan or roaming).  I immediately took action to launch the Race Rocks boat but the low tide and risky boat ramp conditions would not allow the boat to launch. There was simply not enough water to float the Race Rocks boat to help the kayaker.

Immediately, I contacted the Coast Guard (my cell phone *16) and they tasked out a RIB and lifeboat from Victoria. Myself and the Coast Guard were in constant communication about the troubled kayaker. While in communication, the kayaker managed to find a back eddy and travel to land on the south beach of the Main Island. After a discussion with the kayakers, they decided they were too exhausted from paddling to safely travel back to the mainland, even if they waited for the a slower tide. I confirmed their request with the Coast Guard who continued with the rescue.

One of my responsibilities as eco-guardian is to inform the public about the eco-reserve as a marine protected area. This means there is no fishing, crabbing or prawning permitted. Clearly, the kayaks were both outfitted with all the gear to crab, fish and prawn including a big capture net. I informed the kayakers the Coast Guard may have some questions as to why they were illegally fishing in the protected marine park. To record the incident, I quickly went to the main house to grab my camera.  By the time I returned to the kayakers, the man with the working kayak was paddling frantically back to the mainland shore. Soon he was caught in the ebb tide and heading out to sea. The fear of getting in trouble with the Coast Guard was enough for him to abandon his fishing buddy.

The Coast Guard arrived within 17 minutes from the first call. They picked up the broken kayak and the exhausted kayaker. By now, the second kayaker was on the north west side of the main island in the ebb and quickly heading out to sea. The Coast Guard pulled him and the boat after a 45-minute paddle against the very strong ebb.

As a seasoned marine captain, I have several lessons to share about this incident.  First, don’t head out into the Juan de Fuca straight without being prepared for an emergency. Always carry a VHS radio and/or reliable mobile phone plan.  Second, don’t crab, fish or prawn in a protected marine park. Always check fishing regulations and tide tables. Third, don’t abandon a fishing buddy, no matter the circumstances.  The buddy system saves lives.

Thank you to the Coast Guard for their hard work and commitment.  I am happy to report that both men were returned home safely.

Best wishes,

Captain Rod King

 

 

New Elephant seal

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Ecological Notes:Today, we have a new elephant seal. We now have three female with one new arrival. The new arrival is laying with its back up and chest down hard and it is difficult to identify the sex. Canada geese are nesting and we now have seven nests on the main island. Groups of pacific harbor porpoises were sited off the south side of the island. DND had one blast.

Elephant seal pups:4 swimming at night. Spending lots of time on the boat ramp testing the waters.
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Facility Work: Lots of  indoor repairs and cleaning.
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Vessel Traffic: 1 Eco tour boat.
Weather Events:Grey day and rain.
Weather– Current: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72
Weather–Past:  http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?id=72
 

Black Oystercatcher

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Ecological Notes: Today, a Black Oystercatcher is walking the main island and looking to make a nest. Two breeds of gull on the island including the Glaucous Gull and Western Gull. Pigeon Guillemot are making their nest on the edge of the helicopter pad and north wall below the camera.Spring is here!
Animal Tracking and Injuries: California Sea Lion injured shoulder.
Elephant seal pups: 4
Elephant seal female: 3
Visitors: 1
Facility Work. More cleaning inside and out.
Vessel Traffic:  2 Eco tour boats
 
Weather– Current: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72
Weather–Past:  http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?id=72
 

Grey Whale

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Ecological Notes: Today, a grey whale passed by the South East side of island going west bound.
Animal Tracking and Injuries: California Sea Lion bad bite mark on his shoulder.
Elephant seal pups: 4
Visitors:1
 
Facility Work: The work to clean the buildings continues. I fixed the power washer, life is better now.
Vessel Traffic. Speeding in the reserve.
Current: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72
Weather–Past:  http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?id=72

Orca

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Ecological Notes:. Orca 5 to 7 west bound Race pass.

Visitors: Had my brother for one night stay. Plumber and PC staff member.

Facility Work: Cutting wood today. Water pump replaced in student house.

Vessel Traffic: Eco tour boats 5, three DND ribs and marine mammal observer boat

 

Weather– Current: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

Weather–Past:  http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?id=72