Category Archives: alternate energy

New to the Rock

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Today is my first day as the Ecoguardian at the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. I was dropped off at 8:30 am with my personal gear, bags of groceries and a reminder to monitor the solar panels, batteries and the electric fence – there are more duties and responsibilities but a source of power is one of the essentials.

Power

I unpacked, put groceries away and set off to tackle the my first chore – clean the panels. The solar panels are mounted on the roof and on the side of the Energy Building which houses the diesel generator.  At this time of year, with the long sunny days and daily cleaning, it is possible to power the house systems just on solar power.  Why the daily cleaning? There are hundreds of gulls nesting here and what do we will do at least once a day? Poop!

Panels on the Energy Building roof

After hauling the cleaning supplies up to the roof and turning on the water, I thought a methodical approach would serve me best. I climbed back down and noted my “starting point” of 3.1 kW of energy being produced by the panels.  After cleaning four panels, I climbed down to check the display.  It was up to 3.4 kW.  Cleaning is one of those tasks that provide instant gratification and now, doubly so.  With all the roof panels cleaned they were producing 4.2 kW and with lower side panels it was up to 4.8 kW!  I tell myself “what a worthwhile task and job well done Christine”

Well, later in the day I have some time to sit down and familiarize myself with OPTICSRE, the software package that lets you visualize your energy system production (solar or generator), storage (battery bank) and consumption levels. It turns out that in the long time it took me to figure out the best way to clean the panels and finally get the job done (between 10 am and noon), the sun was moving, as it does everyday, and with the clear skies, was naturally approaching its peak midday production levels (see graph below). Silly me, it wasn’t all my doing!  Shame there is no easy way to determine the added benefits of cleaning the panels.

OPTICSRE graph of energy levels produced by the solar panels (green bar), stored in the batteries (dark blue bar), taken from the battery by the house systems (light blue bar) for each hour on June 11.

The software also displays live time power use. I consult this throughout the day and find it memorizing.  The image below shows the current situation at night as I write this. Very little energy is going from the panels to battery, the batteries are at near full capacity and we are operating in the red, drawing power from the battery bank.  The house (appliances, computer, lights etc) generally draw 1.3 kW of power. If I turn on all the lights in the house and the bathroom fan, it jumps to 1.5 kW. I think if we had such a monitor in our homes, we would be more aware of our consumption and our footprint.

OPTICSRE live display of the energy system

 

Heads to the wind

The another thing I discovered today was all the gulls were facing the same way because of the wind!  We went from light winds at 8:00 am to 41 knots with gust of 46 by early afternoon. Like me, if standing, they took a wider stance, arching and bracing for the gusts. I watched one trying to move travelling side-to-the-wind and being blown off a rock; most scuttle side-ways like crabs.

Bracing and ruffled in a gust of wind

A very interesting first day.

It is a privilege to be here.

 

 

Race Rocks Ecological Reserve #97 Wardens Report December 2023

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Wardens Report by Garry Fletcher.. December 13, 2023

Past Wardens reports may be accessed at https://racerocks.ca/category/er-warden-report/

I got a ride out on the Second Nature vessel of Lester Pearson College. Greg and Cedrick were taking out two technicians to deal with problems with the Solar panels and the diesel engine. 

A herd of California Sea lions who have become accustomed to boats landing at the docks greeted us at the docks.

On the North side of the island there were mainly California sealions. 

The Northern sealions predominated on the south side of the island Their distinctive growl and larger size sets them apart from the California Sea lions 

For the several hours that the technicians were busy in the engine room I could  check out the whole island. Additional solar panels have been added to the array shown in the video below taken from the roof of the energy building/engine room. In the winter the diesel engine has to run for a few hours to help charge the batteries. 

 

From the helicopter pad I observed a very nervous mixed herd of California and Northern sealions that were occupying the area on the West side of the island, preventing me from going in that direction to check out the tidepools. 

Race Rocks must be one of the few outdoor locations in British Columbia where flowers bloom year round because of the surrounding waters never dropping below 8 degrees C which moderates the temperature.

There were many Black turnstones around the island. They are found here year round although they are not known to nest here.

 

 

There has been a high number of gull mortalities this past year. This one is missing the breasts indicating it was a meal for the Bald Eagles. They now patrol the area regularly and this has probably contributed to the low number of overwintering gulls.

The absence in overwintering seagulls at this time of of year  was very obvious. Ined some years they have number in the thousands. The south-west corner which usually is heavily populated only had a dozen of probably brants cormorants, and a small flock of less than 100 gulls was on the north-east corner of the island

While I was there , Greg and Cedrick from Pearson College helped in cleaning gutters, definitely a two-man job for safety reasons, and hauling up some of the logs in the harbour by the slipway for cutting up for firewood. 

SOME WORK YET TO BE DONE: 

Managing a former light station and an Ecological Reserve can be a large job.  Pearson College does an admirable job in fundraising to keep the place going. It is after all the only Ecological Reserve in the province which has human dwellings and a full time Ecoguardian paid for by Pearson College. Since 1997 Pearson College has taken on the role of management of these facilities which require constant upkeep in a very demanding physical and biological environment. I will point out several items below that are needing attention. 

 

This is the last of the old storage tanks used by the coastguard. They await removal. It is just a matter of time until the salty environment encouraging the rust could cause further problems. 

 

Below are some suggestions I would like to make about things that are not urgent but to which attention may be paid in the future. 

The rock wall which was eroded by the hurricane in 2006 Is still in a partly fallen state, contributing to bare soil and erosion.  It wouldn’t take much effort to repair this to improve the stability of the area. ( maybe a student project week item?)

 

At one time the area under these artifacts was covered  with bricks from the original engine room. The bricks are still there but they are now overgrown with grass. Removal of the overburden would improve the appearance of the area. 

 

 

California Sealion

 

 

Wind, Fog, and Eggs!

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Weather: 

  • Visibility varied today. This evening visibility is excellent, 10-13 miles. This afternoon we were surrounded by fog and could not see even nearby north rock (less than 1 mile).
  • Wind this evening is blowing 30-40 knots. This morning was calmer, 12 knots.
  • Sky clear. This was interrupted mid afternoon by thick fog.
  • Water white capping and breaking into spindrift.

Boats/Visitors: 

  • Today was fairly quiet, with only a few whale watching boats in the morning which seemed to mostly keep a good distance. Greg visited this afternoon to deliver water as we are still waiting for the new desalinator. A former student visited as well.
  • The swiftsure international sailing race passed Race Rocks on Saturday, so we have been seeing the boats trickle back towards Victoria over the past couple of days.
  • Yesterday we spotted a rental boat from Pedder Bay Marina attempt to pass through the channel between our main island and the south islands.
  • Lately whale watching boats have been present viewing the elephant seals and sea lions. Many have appeared to be well within the 100m distance from sea lions required by DFO.

Whale watching boat disturbs sea lions on jetty

Whale watching boat approaches sea lions on rocks

Ecological: 

  • Two evenings past we noticed the first seagull eggs of the season. We noticed that one nest was missing its egg the next morning. The seagulls have become quite aggressive towards us but only if we get too close to their nest by accident.
  • There are still four elephant seals on the island, two moulting, the juvenile male from this past spring, and an older female.
  • The sea lions have remained on the SE side of the island, although fewer than what we were seeing before surrounding our jetty. They have been enjoying surfing the waves periodically.
  • Another oyster catcher nest spotted on the SW side.
  • We have been finding dead seagulls presumably killed by the bald eagles that have been hanging around. They especially like to sit on top of camera three.

Seagull guarding its egg and nest.

Other: 

  • Except for in the occasional presence of fog, we have been able to operate the island completely with solar on clear days.
  • We were in need of batteries so missed a few days of salinity/temperature data collection.

ER Wardens Report, Sept.21

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Today, Guy Ouradou from Pearson College drove me out to Race Rocks Ecological reserve with David Obura, Pearson College alumni from Kenya year 10. The main change since I was there last was the predominance of California sea lions over most of the island. Northern sealions occupied a small portion of rock near the docks and the isthmus below the light tower. Each year the college has to put up an electric fence to prevent the sealions from invading the centre of the island which can result in damage to conduits, and facilities.

Laas adjusts the electric fence on the south side of the house.

A new fence system is being installed this year, which has so far proven to be very effective. Another aspect of the sealions being on the centre part of the island is that they have been damaging the structure of the rocks arranged in the areas of the aboriginal burial cairns. The big change in sealion distribution is that previously they have concentrated on West Race Rocks, North Race Rocks and the south Islands off the tower. This year there are none out on those islands  and they are all on the main island.

 

CODAR antenna and sealions

I also was able to observe the equipment installed by Oceans Network Canada for CODAR. Hopefully we can get a connection to the output of the data obtained from this equipment when we neet with Kevin Bartlett from Ocean Networks Canada next week on Sept 28.

Earlier this year, Lester Pearson College upgraded the solar batteries which have served for the past 11 years. New inverters were also installed.

Leaving the island we have to deal with a dock full of sealions which have returned since our arrival.

Visitors and volunteers!

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knts W
  • Sky: Partly cloudy
  • Water: Ripply

Boats/Visitors/Sightings

  • Quite a few ecotour boats today
  • One of the whale watching boats entered the channel on the East side of the main island. I was busy trying to get them to reverse out and couldn’t run to get a picture unfortunately. I’ll be on the lookout for the same boat again.
  • Guy brought several volunteers and visitors to the island today! The volunteers helped Guy place some of the old batteries on the upper shelves of the battery room. Guy was also able to help me with the desalination and power washer issues. We were also able to test the YSI meter to confirm that it is giving inaccurate readings and needs to be fixed.

Marine Mammals

  • There were 3 female and 1 male Elephant Seals on the island today. The second male from yesterday was nowhere in sight.

Efficient solar panels

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Weather

At 5:00 Wind:30 knots West wind;Visibility :5miles;Sky:cloudy;Sea:Wavelets and white caps.At 7:00:30knots, 8:30:34k, 9:30:40.6k,1o:30:30.6 and rain.In the afternoon it became sunny giving a intense blue to the ocean..gorgeous with the white heads everywhere and the currents…The water temperature was 9.8 and the salinity 33.5.

Ecological

The elephants Seal at least 8 of them spent the day sleeping on the grass but the young one were pretty nervous ..May be the wind?

Maintenance

House cleaning

Trimming of the rusty iron bolts where  the old ladder was attached the jetty.

Filling up of the water tank.It’s full. The pump has been running for 11 hours. This needs to be done every 8/9 days. We have been here for a week and we never used the generator even if the pump worked for so long. Thanks to the solar panels. They are working really well but it’s really important to keep them cleaned all the time. It works and it’s free.

Guy finished to empty the house tanks barrels

Solar panels

Boats

No one to 10:30,one big fishing boat heading against the wind,one whale watcher around noon by a 35 knots wind and later another long and fast one by 36 knots wind! A Canadian coast guard boat going towards Sooke very slow in the Sunset.

Other

DND activity: 3 blasts (2 strong ones)

 

Coming back and setting down day

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Weather
Sky: Overcast to rainy;Wind: 10-15 knots West wind;Sea:Calm

Ecological
14 elephant seals and among them 2 big ones :On Great Race my friend Chunk and a new one for me , named Chuckles. The grassy field looks like a schoolyard with the playing young ones.
Surprise to see Gulls already so busy building nest and some on it. Pretty soon we saw our first egg …10 Californian Sea lions on Great Race Rocks
Seawater sampling around noon today: Salinity :32:01 and temperature :10:9 C
Maintenance
Checking around for priorities: A small leak from the gazoil filter needs attention.
Whaler battery put in charge.
Whaler diesel fuel tank filled up.
Different controls done
Boats
One whale watcher boat at 20:30 PM This is unusual ,looks like they were waiting for the lighthouse to light up..it was not for a nice sunset!
Other
We admire the beautiful bricks under the wheels .Thanks to Riley!
Intense activity at the DND: 4 strong blasts between 10:45 and 2:00 PM and a very surprising one at 10:30 PM  This one made the house shake ! WE were  kept in alert before by a flashing blue light ( a DND zodiac protecting the area).
We looked for a sailboat photo required by the boat owner and taken on Race Rocks . We found it and sent it to the college.

It’s good to be on Race Rocks ! Happy Eco – Guardians!

 

Sea Lions Moulting at Race Rocks

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There was very little wind all day and the sun came and went as clouds formed over central Juan de Fuca Strait and environs. The forecast calls for light winds to increase to westerly 15 – 20 knots this evening and then drop to 5- 15 knot easterlies Tuesday morning. The chance of showers has been pushed back to Tuesday afternoon and evening and rain is forecast for the rest of the week. The dropping barometer continued its descent and reached 1005 hPA this evening.

Today, there was only one whale-watching vessel visit, observed in the Ecological Reserve. They went really slowly in the protected area, stayed in the middle of Middle Channel and operated their vessel in a sustainable fashion. Definite candidates for the Kudos award that I give out weekly in the form of a thank-you e-mail to the company that does the best job of operating sustainably in reserve. Best practices align with the agreement made with the industry and the Marine Mammal Regulations. One sports fishing vessel was also noted. They were fishing either right on the boundary or just inside the reserve. As soon as I went out with the camera, they pulled up and left which made me wonder.

The sea lions continue to dominate the scene and the sound here. Their moult is progressing and there was hair everywhere after yesterday’s strong westerly winds. They seem to be spending more time ashore and it appears that there are more animals on Great Race everyday. This may be because less of Middle Rocks is available due to increased swell height and tide level. Photography of tags, brands and wounds continues and the data is being logged for use by NOAA scientists in determining population levels and trends, as well as migration patterns. The Vancouver Aquarium is interested in doing some animal welfare work here later in the season with “necklaced” individuals like the ones shown in yesterday’s blog, with plastic packing straps stuck on their necks and ‘growing’ into the flesh. I also take quite a few photos of sea lions that have nothing wrong with them: they are wrestling, sleeping, swimming and just hanging out. See gallery below.

More on other species tomorrow.

Chores were routine today other than creating a draft hand-out on ecologically sensitive areas for island visitors. Fence mending takes quite a bit of time each day but the sea lions are very smart so it is getting better. There was no gull guano on the solar panels this morning and I thought maybe it would soon be time to move into a every second day routine, for cleaning them. The dust and hair deposited on the solar panels turned the wash water into a deep brown in no time, so the daily wash will continue for now. Solar energy is particularly appreciated right now as I am still recovering from an almost complete loss of fresh water due to a mystery plumbing failure downstream of the Science House shut-off valve. This means running the de-salinator to make fresh water whenever there is sufficient solar power in order to not run down the batteries or use the generator. It is a bit of a juggling act but a small bother in a wonderful place with an incredible window on the world of nature.

 

 

Fresh Flag Flies

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The day started with fog to the south and west and it soon crept onto Race Rocks. Sun quickly prevailed over fog and it was a beautiful day with high overcast forming late in the day. The wind didn’t do much more than 5 – 10 knots from the WSW in the morning and then turned blew gently from the south before dying off altogether mid-afternoon. It rose again from the southwest as I wrote the blog. The barometer remains over 1020 hPA after climbing slowly for a week. The forecast is calling for showers beginning late this evening, but the larger picture is much sunnier after tomorrow and there is a strong wind warning for westerlies which often bring good weather.

It was much quieter here today with only four whale watching tour vessels visiting the reserve while I was here. Five sports fishing boats transited. All stopped to look at the sea lions and no one was observed speeding in the Rockfish Conservation Area today. There were two vessels that appeared to be fishing in reserve and observations, photographs and data were collected for the enforcement team. Race Rocks is closed to fishing and is part of a DFO-enforced Rockfish Conservation Area. The islets and the sea-floor are protected by the province of BC through BC Parks.

The sea lion moult continues to be the big ecological event on shore but the timing of their visit and choice of haul-out location is no coincidence to what is going on at sea. Most of sea lions are also off foraging for part of the day and the Race Rocks haul-out is in a biological hot spot, which becomes a fish funnel for incoming migratory fish at this time of year. All six species of Pacific Salmon pass right by the front door right and there is a plethora of other species to choose from the rest of the year. Race Rocks is not a breeding haul-out nor is it a true winter haul-out as the sea lions start to arrive in earnest in July and stay into winter and early spring. There are actually some animals here all year but late summer and autumn is the busiest leading up to the peak during the chum salmon run at end of October.

GwGu juv FTThere are still some Glaucous-winged Gulls that have not left the roost but most of them are flying now and there are fewer here every day. That is probably a good thing for them as the predator that is picking them off is taking at least one per day. They are out foraging in groups trying to figure out how to feed themselves.

I went ashore for a couple of hours today and was otherwise busy with routine tasks. There are a lot of chores here and one of the challenges of living at Race Rocks is living sustainably and minimizing our ecological footprint. To do that we are very frugal with electricity and water, compost all organics, even using a composting toilet because when you make your own water by desalination it doesn’t make sense to just flush it away. Both have their chores too. Most of the electricity is generated with solar panels, which brings another set of activities to keep things going. We also pack everything out and are slowly removing unsustainable legacy items left by the light keepers over the years. A favorite chore is putting up a fresh new flag and there is one flying today.

Fresh flag today.

Fresh flag today.

Wednesday, June 10

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Wednesday was another westerly day with gentle winds of 10 – 15 in the early morning rising to 25 – 30 knots by evening. Sunshine prevailed, although visibility was reduced by haze to less than 15 nm. The barometer is 1014 and falling and the forecast calls for gale warnings continued with sunny skies and a very low probability of precipitation.

Only one whale watching boat was observed in the Ecological Reserve today and no sports fishing activity was noted.

Ecological happenings continued to develop as they have been over the last few weeks. Nothing of particular note happened today.

In terms of sustainability, the sunshine is really appreciated these days for powering the solar panels and maintaining the battery bank. It also allows the desalination plant to be run off solar power, which in turn reduces the carbon footprint. With the gulls in full attendance, washing the solar panels has moved into the realm of a daily activity from every second day but it is done with a sort of reverence for the power produced. The composting toilets are operating well now that temperatures are higher and they are an important piece of the sustainability picture here, increasing hygiene, reducing fly populations and saving on fresh water use.

I made a trip ashore today and met Peter from DFO. He provided a new temperature/salinity meter and we traded thermometers, replacing a mercury thermometer for a new alcohol thermometer.

There were no visitors and chores were routine.

The web-site has been down so I am late posting this. Thursday’s log will be posted in the morning.