Lots of ecotour boats between 12 and 1 pm, and a few private boats as well, making race passage quite crowded
Mammal Notes
Some steller sea lions have arrived on the northwestern rocks! It’s hard to get an accurate count from this distance, but I estimate 12-15 including one really big one (a webcam viewer informed me that the big bull is branded “76Y”). Photographed below.
I got a closer look at the injured californian sea lion that was hanging out near the guest house earlier, and it definitely has an injury on its hind flipper. I saw it try to get into the water yesterday and it was pretty much dragging itself.
The injured female seal has nestled itself by the boat shed. I don’t see any further injuries on it.
Census
Elephant Seals
Male = 4
Female = 1
Sea Lions
California = 2
Steller = 15
Seagulls = 480 adults (a big part of them remain on the smaller rock islands during low tide), ~100 babies (hard to estimate)
Quite a few ecotour boats in the area today, especially in Race Passage
Bird Notes
The first set of seagull chicks are growing fast – one of the first things to develop are long legs. I spotted some of them flapping their wings in imitation of the adults, but they are still a long way from flying.
Mammal Notes
A lone sea lion made it all the way up on the main island until the guest residence! It would get aggressive if I got even slightly close to it. I first thought it might be injured, but I saw no scars or bleeding anywhere.
Census
Elephant Seals
Male = 3
Female = 0
Sea Lions
California = 1
Steller = 0
Seagulls = 350 adults, ~70 babies (hard to estimate)
Pigeon Guillemot = 60
Eagles = 4
Oystercatchers = 8 adults, 4 babies (haven’t spotted any new chicks since last week)
Quite a few ecotour boats in the area today – a lot of them stopped near the northern rocks to watch the bald eagle sitting there
Bird Notes
The seagulls have become extremely aggressive every since their eggs have started to hatch. I’ve been attacked countless times over the last few days just walking on the paths – thankfully I’ve always had my hard hat and thick jacket on so no injuries!
Census
Elephant Seals
Male = 3
Female = 0
Sea Lions
California = 2
Steller = 0
Seagulls = 380 adults, ~50 babies (hard to estimate)
Average amount of ecotour boats around the island today
Another group from the Kule foundation came for a tour of the island.
Marine Mammals
It was an exciting day for Elephant seals as 2 new males showed up, bringing the total count of male Elephant seals to 4. One of the new males stayed in the water on the south side of the island, but the other came on to the shore which led to a fight between the new adult male and the existing adult male. The new adult male was slightly injured near the mouth during the fight. Guy filmed part of the fight, and the video is below.
The sea lions were barely seen today on the shore, I assume because of the rain. This affected the census count.
Guy brought 3 tour groups, only one of which docked. The tides and currents were uncooperative for the other two groups. The group that came ashore spent about 30 mins visiting the student residence and lighthouse.
