We had some Transient Orca practicing hunting maneuvers around the S side of Race Rocks, a very exciting welcome back to the island! We’re told by the whale folks this was most likely T075b’s practicing working together on ‘pincer’ movements on the sea lions.
Mammals:
Birds
Gorgeous day today!
Since it looks like it’ll be my only sunny day of my trip out here, I spent most of it outside. It was also the perfect day for an animal census.
While out and about today I unfortunately came across two entangled sea lions. Both have been reported to the right groups and I will be monitoring them over the next few days to see if they stick around.
Facility Work:
Vessels:
Dec 30 Census:
Mammals:
Birds:
| Race Rocks ANIMAL CENSUS | ||||
| 2024-11-25 | 2024-12-16* | 2024-12-23* | ||
| Elephant Seal(male) | ||||
| Elephant seal (female) | 1 | |||
| Steller’s Sea Lion | 289 | 310 | 335 | |
| California Sea Lion | 263 | 243 | 180 | |
| Harbour Seal | 23 | 10 | 27 | |
| Sea Otter | ||||
| Orca | 5 (3 days ago) | |||
| Humpback | 3 | 2 | ||
| Gray Whale | ||||
| Species 1 | ||||
| Species 2 | ||||
| Species 3 | ||||
| Canada Geese | 27 | 15 | 15 | |
| Harlequin Duck | 4 | 5 | ||
| Black Oystercatcher | 12 | 18 | 0 | |
| Black Turnstone | 228 | 37 | 12 | |
| Surfbird | 3 | |||
| Whimbrel | ||||
| Killdeer | 3 | 4 | ||
| Dunlin | ||||
| Black-bellied Plover | ||||
| Ruddy Turnstone | ||||
| Species 1 | ||||
| Species 2 | ||||
| Species 3 | ||||
| Species 4 | ||||
| Pigeon Guillemot | ||||
| Common Murre | ||||
| Rhinoceros Auklet | ||||
| Species 1 | ||||
| Species 2 | ||||
| Species 3 | ||||
| Species 4 | ||||
| Glaucous Winged Gull | ||||
| Western Gull | ||||
| Glaucous X Western Gull Hybrid | ||||
| Iceland(Thayer’s) Gull | ||||
| Heerman’s Gull | ||||
| California Gull | ||||
| Short-billed Gull | ||||
| Gull Species unknown | 226 | 89 | 187 | |
| Gull Species 2 | ||||
| Gull Species 3 | ||||
| Cormorant total | 147 | 123 | ||
| Brandt’s Cormorant | ||||
| Double-Crested Cormorant | ||||
| Cormorant species unknown | 228 | |||
| Pelagic Cormorant | ||||
| Pelican | ||||
| Great Blue Heron | ||||
| Bald Eagle Juvenile | 6 | 11 | ||
| Bald Eagle Adult | 6 | 3 | 4 | |
| Peregrine Falcon | ||||
| Raptor Species 1 | ||||
| Raptor Species 2 | ||||
| Raptor Species 3 | ||||
| Western Crow | 3 | |||
| Raven | 2 | |||
| Purple Martin | ||||
| Barn Swallow | ||||
| Pacific Wren | ||||
| Savannah Sparrow | ||||
| Fox Sparrow | ||||
| very fast, unable to get pic, wren size | 4 | |||
| Species 2 | ||||
| Species 3 | ||||
| Species 4 | ||||
| Other Species 1 | ||||
| Other Species 2 | ||||
| Other Species 3
* Numbers reflect taken after a large storm surge, animals and birds dissipated, |
||||
| Race Rocks ANIMAL CENSUS | ||||
| 2024-11-25 | 2024-12-16* | 2024-12-23 | ||
| Elephant Seal(male) | ||||
| Elephant seal (female) | 1 | |||
| Steller’s Sea Lion | 289 | 310 | ||
| California Sea Lion | 263 | 243 | ||
| Harbour Seal | 23 | 10 | ||
| Sea Otter | ||||
| Orca | 5 (3 days ago) | |||
| Humpback | 3 | 2 | ||
| Gray Whale | ||||
| Species 1 | ||||
| Species 2 | ||||
| Species 3 | ||||
| Canada Geese | 27 | 15 | ||
| Harlequin Duck | 4 | |||
| Black Oystercatcher | 12 | 18 | ||
| Black Turnstone | 228 | 37 | ||
| Surfbird | 3 | |||
| Whimbrel | ||||
| Killdeer | 3 | 4 | ||
| Dunlin | ||||
| Black-bellied Plover | ||||
| Ruddy Turnstone | ||||
| Species 1 | ||||
| Species 2 | ||||
| Species 3 | ||||
| Species 4 | ||||
| Pigeon Guillemot | ||||
| Common Murre | ||||
| Rhinoceros Auklet | ||||
| Species 1 | ||||
| Species 2 | ||||
| Species 3 | ||||
| Species 4 | ||||
| Glaucous Winged Gull | ||||
| Western Gull | ||||
| Glaucous X Western Gull Hybrid | ||||
| Iceland(Thayer’s) Gull | ||||
| Heerman’s Gull | ||||
| California Gull | ||||
| Short-billed Gull | ||||
| Gull Species unknown | 226 | 89 | ||
| Gull Species 2 | ||||
| Gull Species 3 | ||||
| Cormorant total | 147 | |||
| Brandt’s Cormorant | ||||
| Double-Crested Cormorant | ||||
| Cormorant species unknown | 228 | |||
| Pelagic Cormorant | ||||
| Pelican | ||||
| Great Blue Heron | ||||
| Bald Eagle Juvenile | 6 | |||
| Bald Eagle Adult | 6 | 3 | ||
| Peregrine Falcon | ||||
| Raptor Species 1 | ||||
| Raptor Species 2 | ||||
| Raptor Species 3 | ||||
| Western Crow | 3 | |||
| Raven | 2 | |||
| Purple Martin | ||||
| Barn Swallow | ||||
| Pacific Wren | ||||
| Savannah Sparrow | ||||
| Fox Sparrow | ||||
| very fast, unable to get pic, wren size | 4 | |||
| Species 2 | ||||
| Species 3 | ||||
| Species 4 | ||||
| Other Species 1 | ||||
| Other Species 2 | ||||
| Other Species 3
* Numbers reflect taken after a large storm surge, animals and birds dissipated, just now returning |
||||
Birds
* in addition to the “Regular” birds i saw large flocks (up to about 70 birds each) of Oyster Catchers ….
Mammals
| RR Ecoreserve ANIMAL CENSUS . recorded by Derek Sterling |
||||
| 2024-11-25 | 2024-12-18 | 2024-12-25 | ||
| Elephant Seal(male) | ||||
| Elephant seal (female) | 1 | |||
| Steller’s Sea Lion | 289 | |||
| California Sea Lion | 263 | |||
| Harbour Seal | 23 | |||
| Sea Otter | ||||
| Orca | ||||
| Humpback | 3 | |||
| Gray Whale | ||||
| Species 1 | ||||
| Species 2 | ||||
| Species 3 | ||||
| Canada Geese | 27 | |||
| Harlequin Duck | 4 | |||
| Black Oystercatcher | 12 | |||
| Black Turnstone | 28 | |||
| Surfbird | ||||
| Whimbrel | ||||
| Killdeer | 3 | |||
| Dunlin | ||||
| Black-bellied Plover | ||||
| Ruddy Turnstone | ||||
| Species 1 | ||||
| Species 2 | ||||
| Species 3 | ||||
| Species 4 | ||||
| Pigeon Guillemot | ||||
| Common Murre | ||||
| Rhinoceros Auklet | ||||
| Species 1 | ||||
| Species 2 | ||||
| Species 3 | ||||
| Species 4 | ||||
| Glaucous Winged Gull | ||||
| Western Gull | ||||
| Glaucous X Western Gull Hybrid | ||||
| Iceland(Thayer’s) Gull | ||||
| Heerman’s Gull | ||||
| California Gull | ||||
| Short-billed Gull | ||||
| Gull Species unknown | 226 | |||
| Gull Species 2 | ||||
| Gull Species 3 | ||||
| Cormorant total | ||||
| Brandt’s Cormorant | ||||
| Double-Crested Cormorant | ||||
| Cormorant species unknown | 283 | |||
| Pelagic Cormorant | ||||
| Pelican | ||||
| Great Blue Heron | ||||
| Bald Eagle Juvenile | 4 | |||
| Bald Eagle Adult | 6 | |||
| Peregrine Falcon | ||||
| Raptor Species 1 | ||||
| Raptor Species 2 | ||||
| Raptor Species 3 | ||||
| Western Crow | ||||
| Raven | ||||
| Purple Martin | ||||
| Barn Swallow | ||||
| Pacific Wren | ||||
| Savannah Sparrow | ||||
| Fox Sparrow | ||||
| Species 1 | ||||
| Species 2 | ||||
| Species 3 | ||||
| Species 4 | ||||
| Other Species 1 | ||||
| Other Species 2 | ||||
| Other Species 3 | ||||
in addition to the “Regular” birds i saw large flocks (up to about 70 birds each) of Black Oyster Catchers and Black turnstones.
(Temporary mobility issues prevented too much movement in the lower inter tidal zones)
Birds
* in addition to the “Regular” birds i saw large flocks (up to about 70 birds each) of both Turnstones and Oyster Catchers …. that I assume were passing through before and after the large storm(?)
Mammals
Its census day! See below for today’s numbers, sea lions are down significantly but the weather hasn’t been great and I do tend to notice that they take off into the water when the rain picks up!
Mammals:
Steller sea lions: 282
California sea lions: 425
Harbour seals: 36
Killer whales: 7
Humpbacks: too many to count/track!
Birds:
Gulls: 312
Cormorants: 874
Canadian geese: 18
Bald eagles: 6
Turnstones: 36
Whimbrel: 1
Harlequin ducks: 5
*WARNING* Today’s blog post contains photos of a severely entangled sea lion with deep wounds.
Well, if my warning wasn’t an indicator – today has not been the most fun day of animal spotting.
I came across a California sea lion this morning with by far the worst entanglement I’ve ever seen. What appears to be monofilament fishing net has wrapped itself so tight that its caused deep wounds on the back of his neck, as well as the rest of the way around. On top of that, the netting is so tightly wrapped around his muzzle that he doesn’t appear to be able to open his mouth.
Given that my full time job is in marine mammal rescue, seeing entangled animals is not new to me, I see them so often that I sometimes feel immune to how awful it is.
Today I am not immune, I am horrified.
All of the right organizations and people have been contacted and I know that every single one of those people will do everything they can to help him. I just hope he stays put until then.
There is a second entangled sea lion here as well, a Steller with a packing strap around its neck which is bad but thankfully not as severe as the Cali.
Moving on to today’s census….with the weather being so bad this weekend, I’m not surprised the numbers are down from last week!
Mammals:
Steller sea lions: 392
California sea lions: 652
Harbour seals: 41
Tons of humpbacks this week and a few transient orca stopped by the jetty yesterday in the midst of the storm!
Birds:
Gulls: 215
Cormorants: 170
Turnstones: 25
Canadian geese: 23
Oyster catchers: 2
Golden-crowned kinglet: 3
If you’ve made it this far, here is a picture of a cute little bird: See the taxonomy page at https://racerocks.ca/regulus-satrapa-golden-crowned-kinglet/
Golden-crowned kinglet. Regulus satrapa
Vessels:
Weather:
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Mammals
Steller sea lions: 312
California sea lions: 1052
Harbour seals:145
Elephant seals: 1
Birds
Bald Eagles: 2
Gulls: 773
Canadian Geese: 18
Turnstones: 10
Whimbrels: 3
Cormorants: 602
Sparrows: 2
Harlequin ducks: 7
Vessels:
Eco: 11
Private: 4
Weather:
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **