Category Archives: Animal census

Census Day!

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Sunday September 8th

Today we spent a lot of time on the fence again. We painstakingly went through each section to ensure that charge was being held the whole way through. This was a very tedious process and we still don’t have the voltage up to where we want it to be…. but there have been no pinniped breaches yet, so fingers crossed!

Today, Scott and I climbed the lighthouse tower to complete our first wildlife census. As a marine ecologist, I have a lot of experience counting fish underwater. However, counting over 600 Sea lions that all look like overlapping brown logs or trying to count birds that keep on flying away or are hidden between all the sea lions was way harder. With that said, being a top the tower made everything much easier to see and to conceptualize on a greater scale.

While we were up there we also got to enjoy a couple of humpback whales engaging in tail slapping or “lobtailing” behaviour for well over 30 minutes. It is thought that the sound and force generated by the slaps frighten the bait fish into tighter schools making them easier to hunt. Based off gull activity, there were definitely a lot of bait balls around, so hopefully we will get to see more of this behaviour in the coming days!

  • Water Sample
  • Ran Generator
  • Washed Solar Panels
  • Patched and checked new electric fence
  • Island animal census

Whale Watching Vessels: 25

Private Vessels: 7

Census Results:

Birds:

  • Turnstones: 15
  • Killdeer: 1
  • Gulls: 528
  • Cormorants: 70
  • Oystercatchers: 2
  • Canada Goose: 6

Mammals:

  • Stellar Sea Lions: 115
  • California Sea Lions: 497
  • Sea Lions (Too Far for confident ID): 205
  • Harbour Seals: 63

Weather: Slightly Hazy/Overcast. Wind NW Building all day to ~ 15knts

Aug 14 Census

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Mammals

sea otter: 1
elephant seal: 1 female
harbour seal: 34 (6 South Islands, 1 South Seal Rocks, 19 Middle, 1 Turbine, 7 North Is.)
Stellar sea lion: 185 (48 Great Race Rocks, 136* Middle, 1 Turbine)
California sea lion: 108 (107 Great Race Rocks, 1 Turbine)

Birds

cormorant: 45 (21 South Islands, 24 Great Race Rocks)
gulls**: 761 (33 South Islands, 4Turbine, 7 North, 717 Great Race Rock)
oyster catcher: 20
pigeon guillemot: 123
surfbird: 46
black turnstone: 149
ruddy turnstone: 3
harlequin duck: 1
barn swallow: 1
Canada goose: 7
song bird: 3

*  Note: all sea lions on Middle Rock were counted as Stellar sealions, there may be a couple of California sea lions mixed in.
** Note: Gull counts do not include this season’s chicks

Wildlife notes:

The entangled Stellar sea lion was not spotted today on Great Race Rocks. A Stellar sea lion with a dark coloured stain around its neck (possibly a packing band), reported previously by naturalists on the ecotourism boats, was sighted on Middle Rock during the census.

The Stellar sea lion on Middle Rocks with a possible new entanglement is located in the bottom centre of the photo and has a dark coloured ring around its neck.

I wish I could sleep like a sea lion, on any surface, cold, hard, flat or bumpy and with only a log for a pillow.

Visitors:

Greg and Gabe came out to work on the electric fence

Facility work:

  • Clean solar panels
  • Electric fencing work – Jetty is now 3/4 electrified.

Vessels:

  •  27 Ecotourism

Weather:

Clear skies. Moderate to fresh westerly breeze. Daytime temperatures: low 13, high 15.

August 1 Census

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Census Results:

Mammals:

  • Elephant seal: 2 (female and male)
  • Steller sea lion: 34
  • California sea lion: 11
  • Sea otter: 1
  • Harbour seal: 78

Birds:

  • Bald eagle: 1
  • Canada goose: 3
  • Cormorant: 33
  • Gull: 584
  • Black oystercatcher: 20
  • Pigeon guillemot: 131
  • Whimbrel: 1
  • Surfbird: 28
  • Black turnstone: 137
  • Song sparrow: 2
  • Least sandpiper: 1

Facility work:

  • Reacquaint myself with the standard operating procedures and various systems on the island
  • Check boat electronics, safety equipment, and winch
  • Clean solar panels
  • Sample seawater

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 23
  •  Private: 5

Weather:

  • Sea: Rippled
  • Sky: Clear in morning, then partly cloudy
  • Wind: Variable light winds overnight until sunrise ~06:00, when wind switched to easterlies varying from 3-14 knots throughout the rest of the day
  • Daytime air temperature: low 13 C, high 24 C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.6 C

** All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

July 24 Census

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Mammals

elephant seal: 2 (male and female)
harbour seal: 186 (45 South Islands, 53 South Seal Rocks, 29 Middle, 20 Turbine, 39 North Is., 6 Great Race Rock)
Stellar sea lion: 20
California sea lion: 2

Birds

cormorant: 11
gulls*: 607 (4 South Islands,  603 Great Race Rock)
oyster catcher: 10 adults, 1 chick
pigeon guillemot: 124
surfbird: 36
black turnstone: 123
ruddy turnstone: 6
short billed dowitcher: 2
western sandpiper: 7
least sandpiper: 1
harlequin duck: 2
barn swallow: 1

* Note: Gull counts do not include this season’s chicks

A collection of gulls on the western shore, many of which are California gulls.

Pigeon guillemot

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • cleaned Keeper’s House windows
  • Pumped salt water to cistern

Vessels:

12 ecotourism, 1 private, 1 spill response vessel

Weather:

Partly cloudy. Predominately westerlies, fresh to strong breeze most of the day, gale force for two hours in the early evening, moderating to near gale by late evening. Daytime temperatures: minimum 11, maximum 15 degrees.

July 18 Census

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Mammals

sea otter: 1
elephant seal: 2 (male and female)
harbour seal: 192 (48 South Islands, 54 South Seal Rocks, 36 Middle, 16 Turbine, 33 North Is., 5 Great Race Rock)
sealion: 5 (on West Rock, too far to identify)

Birds

cormorant: 18
gulls: 506 (18 South Islands, 488 Great Race Rock)
oyster catcher: 10 adults, 1 chick
pigeon guillemot: 26
surfbird: 38
black turnstone: 28
ruddy turnstone: 2
western sandpiper: 1
least sandpiper: 1
harlequin duck: 2

Wildlife notes:

The last of the gull chicks are hatching. Only about 5% or less of the gulls are still sitting on eggs. Gulls get a bad rap and called names like shit hawks. It is true there are white streaks and splotches everywhere, but if you watch the nesting gulls, parents and even the larger chicks, they take great care to walk up to 6 feet away from their nesting area to do their business.

Some photos the elephant seals sleeping side by side.

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • thistle removal complete

Vessels:

3 ecotourism, 1 private

Weather:

Cloudy early morning. Fresh westerly breeze in the morning, steady strong breeze the rest of the day. Daytime temperatures: minimum 13, maximum 14 degrees.

July 11 Census

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Mammals

sea otter: 1
elephant seal: 2 (male and female)
harbour seal: 126 (46 South Islands, 6 South Seal Rocks, 18 Middle, 33 Turbine, 21 North Is., 2 Great Race Rock)
humpback whale: 1 (approx. 1 mile to the east)

Birds

cormorant: 28
gulls: 628 ( 34 South Islands, 14 South Seal Rocks, 4 Middle, 1 Turbine, 575 Great Race Rock)
oyster catcher: 10 adults, 3 chicks
pigeon guillemot: 86
surfbird: 27
black turnstone: 16
ruddy turnstone: 1
western sandpiper: 1
least sandpiper: 2
harlequin duck: 1
swallow: 1
purple martin: 1

Western sandpiper

Least sandpiper

Ruddy turnstone

Wildlife notes:

The California sea lion with the wounds on his flipper hasn’t been spotted for a few days.  The new black oyster catcher chick hatched on July 5 in the open on the western shore has been moved up higher on the rocks.  The pigeon guillemots are easy company – neither the gulls or the oyster catchers mind them around.

Another little climber. Hatched July 5.

Black oyster catcher chick eating its lunch.

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • cleaned Keeper’s House windows

Vessels:

21 ecotourism, 1 private, 1 outrigger canoe paddler

Weather:

Sunny breezy day. Westerlies strengthening to near gale by early evening. Most of the day 12 to 14 degrees with a high of 17 at 19:00.

July 5 Census

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Mammals

sea otter: 1
California sea lion: 1 (injured)
elephant seal: 2 (male and female)
harbour seal: 123 (26 South Islands, 64 South Seal rocks, 8 Middle, 16 Turbine, 9 North Island)

Birds

bald eagle: 4
cormorant: 28
gulls: 496
oyster catcher: 11 adults, 3 chicks
pigeon guillemot: 24
great blue heron: 1
surfbird: 5
black turnstone: 1
harlequin duck: 1

Wildlife notes:

To the census I have to add 12 small flashes of white, travelling in a tight group – did some impressive high speed acrobatics on the north shore.  The pigeon guillemots are under represented. They have been travelling in and out all day with few remaining on the island at any one time. Their nesting locations are easier to spot now. The birds land near the nesting area with their prize and stall for a while, seeming to look about cautiously before they approach their nests, but perhaps they are just showing off their catch. The California sealion has a wound (one large and central, one smaller near the tip) on his left flipper and has dipped in and out of water many times today.  The black oyster catcher chicks on the bolder beach near the house, first photographed June 12, are now about half the size of their parents. A new black oyster catcher chick hatched today on the western shore, in the open without any sort of nest. Not many new gull chicks today. The elephant seals continue to tumble and grumble, then separate and ignore each other.

Heading to the nest

Black oyster catcher with the 3+ week old chicks.

Newly hatched black oyster catcher chick.

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • cleaned Keeper’s House windows

Vessels:

14 ecotourism, 5 private, 1 highly skilled outrigger canoe paddler

Weather:

ENE 6 -10 knots most of the day, switching W 15 in the early evening. High of 26 degrees.

Windy Day

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It was a windy day – blew the door off the Derrick Shed and the hair off the elephant seal’s head. The electric fence suffered from the winds over the past few days and needed replacement strands in two sections.

Wildlife notes:

The pigeon guillemots were around in the morning and mostly left again by 7pm. I found what I assume to be a pigeon guillemot nest in the rocks at the west end of the helipad.  Judging by the egg orientation, the little bone and other items which get moved around, it seems to be an active nest. Two least sandpipers were spotted on the northeast shore.

Least sandpiper

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • replaced 2 sections of electric fence
  • thistles – new record, an 11″ root.
  • topped up battery fluid

Vessels:

10 Ecotourism boats, 1 private

Weather:

WNW 13 and clouds in the morning, clearing early afternoon with winds building to WNW 33 by late afternoon.