Category Archives: Animal census

Census and 3rd New Weaner

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 20-30 knots NE, later 15 W
  • Water: 2′ chop
  • Sky: overcast with showers

Ecological

  • Chunk and Chuckles were both on Great Race today, but I saw no interactions.
  • The mother is gone on Middle Rock, making her pup a weaner.
  • Conducted a census.
  1. California Sea Lions: 75
  2. Northern Sea Lions: 32
  3. Harbour Seals: 6
  4. Elephant Seals: 3
  5. Seagulls: 300
  6. Cormorants: 299 (142 on Great Race, of which 87 were Double Crested, 28 Pelagic, 8 male Brandt’s, and 19 unidentifiable to me. 157 on North Rock, too far away to identify.)
  7. Black Turnstones: 39
  8. Surfbirds: 18
  9. Canada Geese: 18
  10. Black Oystercatchers: 13
  11. Harlequin Ducks: 8 (6 male, 2 female)
  12. Bald Eagles: 3 (2 adults, 1 juvenile)
  13. Crows: 3
  14. Ravens: 2
  15. American Pipit: 1

Maintenance

  • Hauled logs off the ramp.
  • Checked the diesel in the tidy tank.

Boats

  • Didn’t see any boats near the reserve today.

 

Census

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Weather

  • Visibility: 5 miles, later 15
  • Wind: 5-10 knots SE, late afternoon up to 33 knots from the West
  • Water: rippled, later wavy
  • Sky: foggy in the morning, overcast in the afternoon

Ecological

  • Chunk spent the day on Middle Rock with the mum and pup.
  • Lady, Grieving mum, mum and pup, were in the same spots on Great Race.
  • Chuckles arrived on Great Race in the late afternoon.
  • Conducted a census.
  1. California Sea Lions: 87
  2. Northern/Stellar Sea Lions: 50
  3. Harbour Seals: 21
  4. Elephant Seals: 8
  5. Cormorants: 742 (of the 742, I think that at least 10 were Male Brandt’s, 131 Double Crested, and 200 Pelagic; my identification is improving, but many were either too far away, or indistinguishable to me.)
  6. Seagulls: 605 (131 had darker plumage and therefore must be immature gulls?)
  7. Pigeon Guillemots: 50
  8. Bald Eagles: 30 (23 juveniles, 7 adults)
  9. Black Oystercatchers: 13
  10. Canada Geese: 10
  11. Harlequin Ducks: 8 (4 male, 4 female)
  12. Black Turnstones: 6
  13. Surfbird: 3 (unless they were Rock Sandpipers?)
  14. Raven: 2
  15. American Pipit: 2

Maintenance

  • Did some more cleaning in the Student’s House.

Boats

  • In the morning, one fishing boat passed through the reserve. The occupants did not fish in the reserve; they were going slow and appeared to be observing.
  • In the afternoon, one large eco-tour boat came through the reserve.

Marine Mammals Hauled out on Race Rocks Jan 2014-Feb 2016

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This graph represents the 6 marine mammal species which haul out on Great Race Rocks in the Race Rocks Ecological reserve.  providing the population numbers and the time of year  CLICK to enlarge. The data was obtained from the Posts on census done by the Ecoguardians at Race Rocks.mammalcraph

The graph below represents the Elephant seal population at Race Rocks Ecological reserve with data taken from the Ecoguardian logs for January 2014 to January 2016. Click to enlarge.

elephantseal2014-2015

First Official Day On The Job

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After training last weekend, and a general review yesterday, I, Riley Strother, have now taken over as Ecoguardian from Alex Fletcher.

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 15-20 knots NE
  • Water: 1’ chop
  • Sky: overcast

Ecological

  • The first female elephant seal to give birth left the island at 7:30 in the morning and did not return. As such the first pup has now become a weaner.
  • Chunk appeared to mate with the female who lost her pup.
  • The newest pup is quite vocal and seems to be doing well. Chunk and the other female went along the path after mating to inspect the new mother and pup.
  • Alex was able to identify the number on the yellow flipper tag attached to the newest mother: 5928
  • There was quite a disturbance of seagulls and cormorants today when a raven with a small fish in its beak was chased all around the island by two eagles. Eventually the raven managed to land and eat the fish.
  • Conducted a census.
  1. California Sea Lions: 88
  2. Northern/Stellar Sea Lions: 53 (many sea lions were swimming in the waves and thus impossible to count)
  3. Elephant Seals: 8 (Chunk, weaner, grieving mother, new mum and pup, Middle Rock: Chuckles, mum and pup.)
  4. River Otter: 1
  5. Cormorants: 615
  6. Seagulls: 512
  7. Bald Eagles: 9 (7 juvenile, 2 adults)
  8. Raven: 1
  9. Crow: 1
  10. Black Oystercatchers: 6
  11. Harlequin Ducks: 4
  12. Canada Geese: 6
  13. Black Turnstones: 29

Maintenance

  • Cleared logs off the ramp two times.
  • Lowered the boat trailer because the cable coil was quite criss crossed. Managed to recoil the cable in a more orderly fashion.
  • Vacuumed up hundreds of fruit flies in the basement near the composting toilet.

Boats

  • Alex and Virginie left in the morning.
  • Surprised to see no eco-tourism boats about on such a nice Sunday.

census jan 23

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Ecological:

  • Wind 10 knots East becoming 30 knots West in the evening
  • Census:
    Norther sealion-105
    California sealion-146
    Harbour seal-88
    Elephant Seal-3m (incl 1 pup), 3f
    River Otter-1
    Cormorants-540
    Seagulls-185
    Harlequin ducks-5
    Bald Eagles-3
    Dunlin-1
    Black Turnstone-2
    Black Oyster Catcher-4

Vessels: 1 sailboat and 4 ecotour boats in reserve, I went off island in the morning and returned around noon.

Humpback and Orca Sightings from Race Rocks in the Strait of Juan de Fuca

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In preparing for the oral presentation that the Friends of Ecological Reserves  will give on January 28 in Burnaby, as an intervenor for the National Energy board Hearings, I have recently updated or graphs on Humpback and Orca sightings by the Ecoguardians at Race Rocks: The posts done by our Ecoguardians tagged for orcas or  humpback whales assisted in this tabulation.

image003 orcadays

big female e-seal

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Ecological

  • Wind NE 10-15 shifting to East
  • After shutting down generator around 10 pm I noticed a large, likely pregnant, female elephant seal freshly hauled out of the water coming up the path from the boat ramp.  I couldnt make out any clear identification marks, she does not appear to be Bertha.
  • Census:
    • Black Oyster Catchers: 50
    • Harlequins: 11
    • Crows: 2
    • Raven: 1
    • Bald Eagles: 10
    • Cormorants: 453
    • Surf Scoter: 7
    • Gulls: 6
    • Dunlin: 2
    • Surfbird: 8
    • Rock Sandpiper: 1
    • Black Turnstone: 27
    • Sparrow: 1
    • Elephant Seals: 2m 1f
    • Northern sealions: 133
    • California sealions: 97
    • Harbour Seals: 21

Vessels

  • 1 ecotour

Maintenance

  • Cleared ramp
  • Cleaned camera 5 dome
  • Started pressure washing derrick deck and boardwalk
  • Ran desalinator in evening

Census

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Ecological 

  • Wind NE 15-20 increasing to 25 knots, clear sky, temperature low.
  • Census. Numbers are low or zero for some species likely due to persistent cold temperature and wind which causes them to seek more shelter.  Notable there is a relatively high count of Califiornia sealions, most of which were sheltered on the leeward, south side of Great Race:
    • California sealions: 102
    • Northern sealions: 72
    • Elephants seals: 2M 1F
    • Harbour seals: 53
    • Bald Eagles: 2A 1J
    • Cormorants: 27
    • Gulls: 40
    • Harlequin ducks: 4

Vessels

  • 2 ecotour

Maintenance

  • Reboot of overloaded UPS in tower, communications restored.
  • Wood clearing, cutting and chopping
  • checking for potential freeze ups due to cold temperature

Hard Headway

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Brandt's Cormorants making a break for more sheltered area

Brandt’s Cormorants making a break for more sheltered area

Ecological Happenings

  • Gusting gale-force winds from the North East and high seas with 2m swells rolling through.
  • Birds hunkered down on the rocks while the sea lions mainly spent the day in the ocean away from the breakers on the rocks.
  • The male Elephant seals spent the day on the main island with two female seals on Middle rocks.

Marine Vessels

  • None

Maintenance

  • Logs cleared from jetty.
Thayer's gulls sitting it out

Thayer’s gulls sitting it out

 

Census Count

Sea Lion 169
Harbour Seal 18
Elephant Seal 4
Cormorant 187
Gull 323
Oyster Catcher 24
Bald Eagle (Adult/Immature) 1/6
Harlequin Duck 4
Dunlin 8
Bufflehead 1
Black Turnstone 12
Spotted during the week
Humpbacks 3
Orca 6
Marbled Godwit 1
Black Legged Kittiwake 1
Surf Scoter 3
Pidgeon Guillemots 15
Surfbirds 25
Oyster Catcher 63
Bald Eagle (Adult/Immature) 2/8
Harlequin Duck 18
Raven 3
Black Turnstone 48
Brandt's Cormorant trying to make headway in the galefore winds

Brandt’s Cormorant trying to make headway in the gale fore winds

Flocks on the Rocks – Census Day

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Flocks on the rocks

Flocks on the rocks: Thayer’s gulls and some double crested , Brandts and Pelagic Cormorants. Note orientation into the direction of the wind.

Ecological Happenings

  • Storm force winds in the morning with large swell from the North East leading to high seas and larges breakers on the rocks. Periods of (horizontal) rain with winds dropping later in the day.
  • Four elephant seals on the island now. The new arrival is much smaller than the female and thought to be a juvenile/subadult. There also seems to be a bond between the smaller Elephant seal and female. Could this be Squall, born here in 2012? Checks are being made to see if identifying features match.
  • Birds grouped together in flocks on the rocks while most of the sea lions stayed off the land.

Marine Vessels

  • Coastguard helicopter overhead.

Maintenance

  • Electrical outlet in main residence fixed.
  • Battery health test carried out with individual readings taken on each of the 96 cells.
  • Pressure washer pump stripped back down and soaked in cleaner. To be reassembled.

Census Count

Sea Lion 194
Harbour Seal 9
Elephant Seal 4
Cormorant 207
Gull 404
Oyster Catcher 42
Black Turnstone 18
Spotted during the week
Bald Eagle (Adult/Immature) 2/8
Sparrow 4
Dunlin 2
Pigeon Guillemots 8
Raven 4
Harlequin Duck 16
Canadian Geese 18

 

Seawater sample missed due to safety concenrs

Seawater sample missed due to safety concerns.

The latest arrival

The latest arrival.

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Maternal bond? Elephant Seals are not known for this

Maternal bond? Elephant Seals are not known for this.

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Scratching. Not surprising with all those Kelp flies on old wounds

Scratchy. Not surprising with all those Kelp flies on healing wounds.