Category Archives: Island Visitors

Beautiful Summer week-end

Posted on by

Weather

For the whole weekend  Wind: Light west breeze; Visibility: over 15 miles; Sky: light clouds to sunny. Some rain in the evening on Friday (good for a rock cleaning!)

Ecological

The bird on the nest under video is pretty steady on her nest and we are expecting the small ones pretty soon. During the week end we have seen no Sea lions . They all disappeared from the rocks :a pretty silent place now because even 4 of them can be very noisy.We saw the same day 2 groups of 4 orcas on the south side of the island.The moon is getting bigger and the days longer …lovely  and gorgeous time of the year and especially on Race Rocks. We have 6 to 7 elephants seals on main. they are moulting a lot and you can find pieces of skin all around.The gulls now are everywhere ,very organized and some are still mating and preparing new nests . They get in fighting a lot more too. No cormorants but 4 cormorants went above may be they will do a coming back soon.

Boats

With the Weekend and Summer many many whale watching vessels around the rocks Most of the time they can be closed but they are respectful. However I have to say that one time just before sunset 2 of them went full speed between main and Channel Rocks: sad and frustrating.

It’s a busy time for the cruising vessels . Victoria had 5 boats on the same day. they are magnificent when they leave in the sunset . One time one crossed a huge barn full of wood ; 2 important sides of the west coast economy right under my eyes.

Visitors

1 visitor one of our daughter came on Sunday and stay overnight with us.

Maintenance

Closets tidying up inside

Grass cutting (compost side )

Solar panels very dirty those days

 

Other

An Coast guard helicopter did a big circle but not above the reserve. on Saturday a plane did the same and the usual seaplane on Saturday

 

 

Census day

Posted on by

Harbour Seal:104

Californian Sea lions:8

Steeler:1

Elephant Seals :8 on main and 1 on middle

Glaucous winged gulls:667

Oystercatchers:10

Harlequin ducks:1

Pigeons -Guillemots:30

Canadian Geese:2

Eagle:0 but 3 seen around this week

 

Weather

Light Southwest wind,sea :flat;Sky:cloudy;Visibility:+10 miles.

Ecological

More gulls everyday and some are mating so new nests coming.The census from the tower confirmed what we thought.It was interesting to discovered a new Elephant seal on middle rocks :a very long and golden specimen. We never saw her before on main. Those last day we have between 6 and 8 elephants on main at night.About gulls : it hard to believe that those grayish birds with a black beak will become those white and light gray ones with a yellow beak..beautiful and short mutation

Maintenance

The generator has been working for 4 hours (last time :12 days ago) and the desalinisator  for11 hours (last time 8 days ago).

Guy reemplaced the water cistern hatches that were worn out with some good marine plywood ones and put a few coats of paints .The second coat was a bright yellow ! for a few second it was a shock for me ! at the end a discreet gray…ouf!

The grass around the eco guardians house has been cut

Inside work: kitchen cabinets

Boats

No so busy in the strait . For whale watching vessels ,it’s the same traffic every day. A huge cruising boat going to Victoria and a beautiful and big fishing boat going to the West coast in the early morning

Other

One and only one” BOUM”! from DND at 10h30…

Some visitors in the evening : Chris family :6 people

DSC_0292

 

 

 

 

More gulls and eagles around

Posted on by

Weather

Beautiful day with a light west wind ,a calm sea and a very good visibility

Ecological

Before 7:30 AM,2 eagles were already around getting the gull mad.It looks that the colony is really growing these days . Now many one and 2 years birds, are around on the adjacent rocks  and when they feel threaten ,everyone of them ,except the incubating ones,are in the air.They take the solar panels as a launching platform and I never saw them as dirty as Today..We needed two full big buckets of water to get the job done. We discovered a nest and 3 eggs under the solar panel. The cleaning will become complicated  when the chicks are born!

Finally the old /sick Elephant Seal went back to the water after 36 hours on  land . She didn’t stay long but at least.I don’t know if she managed to get some food…her skin looks a little better.

Visitors

7people came with Kyle on second Nature and among them Riley and his parents..They went to visit the lighthouse. The Elephant Seal were reacting a lot to people .

Maintenance

Jetty work:Guy fixed the new ladder; very useful when it’s full of Sea lions and at the high tide. He had to put first anchors in the concrete.We had to clean the end of the jetty . It was so dirty and smelling.Actually an heavy duty cleaning day on the solar panels too.

DSC_0099

 

 

Census day

Posted on by

Weather

g 5:00 17 knots West wind;Visibility:10m;Sky:cloudy,Sea:Wavelets,white caps.In the evening 8:00 PM. A gust of South wind ,very local ,not expected brought an heavy rain that clean our windows and the solar panels!

Boats

Intense traffic the whole day in the strait and around the Rocks …eco-tour boats more than 30 for sure! We got call from Amatuana coming back from its trip . We had a look on it.

Ecological

7 elephants seals back from fishing at 7:00AM.(9 on the main Rock at night) Census done during the whole day. We were lucky to see for a second like in a dream a humpback whale, tail outside the water. The flowers are almost done this year ..so early if we compare with last year…I found a dead gull .

Visitors

Kyle brought some stuff,took back some barrels,went to check the whaler engine with Guy. A tool was needed to do the job so we will go to the college tomorrow.

Maintenance

Guy emptied completely the diesel barrels in the tank of the main house.. He looked at the yellow cistern:old pipes ,hoses and lines need to be removed pretty soon. With Kyle they looked at the best way to put the new ladder on the jetty.We weeps the alley and did the solar panels. Guy modified the outside pipes for the eco-mar toilets :he put an elbow shape pipe to let the air in but not the rain…Eco-mar toilets are working perfectly well.Heavy duty oven cleaning done …

Census 

Harbour seals: 103

Seagulls :around 350

Canada guess:5

Californian lion seals :20

Stellers :0

Black oystercatchers:10 birds and 3 nests found

Elephant seals:9 and none on the other Rocks

Humpback whale : 1 (one today and another one this week at the green boyd) on the south side

Orcas : a few this week

Harlequin ducks: 1

 

Other

What do you think about this I found today (Yogi tea bag): “You are the sky the rest is just the weather”..Made my day!

 

IT Visitors

Posted on by

Weather
Sea:calm
Wind :8 knots
Sky:Cloudy to clear
Later very hot day with a mirror sea

Ecological
Seawater is getting warmer
Long bathing time for the 2 big males and 2  young elephant seals at the jetty.
The tide was very low and I found 2 huge mussels as big as my hand ! Impressed!
One elephant seal never moved for 2 days . She looks old or sick ,maybe both?
Found a gull and a harbour seal dead (not recent).

Maintenance

Max changed the routers in the houses
Max and James installed a camera on a oystercatcher nest with 2 eggs in it. The nest is closest to the boat shed at the top of the rocks, actually just under the camera 5. The new 24/24 camera will be on youtube pretty soon .
Aziz ,a 2nd year student, working at the college this Summer, took pictures and came with me to the top of the lighthouse.
Kyle and Guy pulled the diesel hoses through the island and empty them (around 10 litres) and put them back in their shed
Seawater house: heavy cleaning ,floor and bank inside and outside (old shingles from the roof)
Solar panels and alleys swept.

Vessels

Busy day . More than 30 eco tours vessels and around 4:30 ,8 at the same time …

Other 

Summer is here Quiet and beautiful evening on the rock especially
White everywhere ..More gulls. Can’t wait for the census next week!

 

Spontaneous Whale Watching!

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Mt. Baker visible at times today.
  • Wind: 10-15 knots West
  • Sky: clear and sunny!
  • Water: calm

Ecological

  • We spied three eagles on Turbine Rock this morning.
  • 14 elephant seals on Great Race today, including both Chunk and Chuckles.
  • As Second Nature was departing Race Rocks sometime after 9:00, Kyle spied several whale watching boats following a pod of orcas outside the reserve.
  • I hopped aboard (sans camera) and we went off to join the fleet.
  • Over the next half hour or so, we watched 5 or 6 orcas as they repeatedly surfaced on their southerly course.
  • Christine (Guy’s wife) took several photographs; perhaps she will share them with us soon.
  • Pam Birley discovered a Black Oystercatcher nest today via webcam. That makes 3 known nests.
  • As Pam noted, it is “not a good spot to nest because the Otter likes to sunbathe in that spot on the rocks.”

Maintenance

  • I did some yellow paint touch up on the jetty.
  • Sprayed more algicide on the students’ house.
  • Shut-down the students’ house.

Boats

  • Second Nature arrived around 9:00, and properly departed around 10:00 after our unexpected whale watching trip!
  • Many eco-tours came by today.
  • A few of them appeared to be too close to the sea lions.

Visitors

  • Kyle, Guy, Christine, and their daughter arrived at 9:00.
  • Guy and Christine were dropping off some gear for their upcoming shift.
  • Maya, Tazi, and Ali departed on Second Nature.

Tazi, Maya, Ali

Ali, Maya, Tazi, Mt. Baker

Kayak Symposium Visitors

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 20-25 knots West
  • Sky: clear and sunshine!
  • Water: 1′ chop
  • What a wonderful last full day on the island for the students!

Ecological

  • The elephant seals put on a show for our visitors.

DSC_6467

DSC_6466

Maintenance

  • The four of us ran the derrick to make sure the thing is still operating smoothly.
  • Tazi and Maya cleaned the solar panels.
  • I did some algae removal.

Boats

  • Kyle came out in Second Nature with two groups of kayak people.
  • Several sailboats were still returning past Race Rocks this morning and even into the afternoon.
  • Apparently they were participating in the 73rd annual Swiftsure International Yacht Race. What a wonderful activity!
  • The distance of the race is 159 miles, and as of right now (Sunday evening) there are still a few boats making their way back towards Race Rocks.

Visitors

  • Two groups of folks from the kayak symposium came out to Race Rocks (about 16 in total).
  • Maya played us some guitar from the roof of the desalinator bunker.

Proficient Pearson Painters

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 20-25 knots West
  • Sky: overcast, then sunny, then overcast
  • Water: 2′ chop

Ecological

  • Much frenetic elephant seal activity throughout the island and surrounding waters.
  • The speed with which they go from slow motion sparring to sleeping side by side is adorable.
  • One seal was even snoozing on the ramp with his head under water.
  • Between 11 and 15 elephant seals on Great Race.
  • We discovered several seagull nests with eggs in them. First ones of the year!

Maintenance

  • The four of us engaged in much painting.
  • The boathouse floor was finished, along with the derrick room floor, and the yellow on the jetty.
  • In the afternoon we used the shorefront pressure washer to remove algae from several walls.
  • As is customary out here, we cleaned off the solar panels.

Boats

  • Kyle and Guy brought out the pressure washer and various other items at 8:10.
  • One rental boat was caught fishing illegally within the reserve.
  • I called Pedder Bay Marina to inform them.
  • One coast guard boat passed through the reserve today.
  • Also a few eco-tours.

Visitors

  • Kyle and Guy briefly to drop off items.
  • In the late afternoon, Maya, Tazi, and Ali came over to the eco-guardians house for tea, cookies, and the American version of Rubber Soul.

A Windy Census

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 20-25 knots West in the morning, picking up to 30-35 by noon.
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: 3′ chop

DSC_6368

Ecological

  • I oversaw an enthusiastic day long census with Maya, Tazi, and Ali.
  • Discovered a new Black Oystercatcher nest with 3 eggs!
  • Maya and Tazi discovered a new Canada Goose nest.
  • I begin to suspect that our new elephant seal male is actually Chuckles.
  • If he did nothing but eat for 3 months straight, that would explain his girth.
  • Saw a Steller Sea Lion branded 9628.
  • We found a blood star, and Maya showed us various chitons.
  • Maya and Tazi did a transect.
  1. Harbour Seals: 190
  2. California Sea Lions: 42
  3. Steller/Northern Sea Lions: 39
  4. Elephant Seals: 15 (13 on Great Race, 2 in the Southern waters)
  5. Seagulls: 225 (Glaucous-winged)
  6. Pigeon Guillemots: 82
  7. Canada Geese: 36 (14 on Great Race, 22 flyovers)
  8. Black Oystercatchers: 8 (plus 2 nests with a total 5 eggs)
  9. Harlequin Ducks: 3 (2 male, 1 female)
  10. Cormorants: 3
  11. Barn Swallows: 2

Maintenance

  • We cleaned the solar panels.
  • Finished cleaning the boathouse floor with T.S.P.
  • Repainted some rusty propane tanks.
  • Sanded the westward facing bench by the Students’ house.

Boats

  • Several eco-tours came by in the morning, but as wind picked up they disappeared.

The Return of Chunk!

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 15 knots West most of the day, 30-40 in the evening.
  • Sky: clear
  • Water: 2′ chop

DSC_6343

Ecological

  • This morning there was a new large male elephant seal on Great Race.
  • He is far larger than any of the other ones here.
  • Then in the evening Chunk arrived on the Western part of the island, equalling the new male in size.
  • Chunk was last reported as being on Great Race on March 4th of this year.
  • Chuckles was last sighted on Great Race on February 29th of this year.
  • I don’t think the other one is Chuckles, as I remember Chuckles being smaller.
  • 15 in total on Great Race.
  • Lots of entertaining e-seal sparring and interactions, much to the delight of the students.

Maintenance

  • In the morning, the 4 of us finished uncovering the brick feature under the flywheel.
  • We also cleaned the algae off of the flywheel and cleaned the solar panels.
  • In the afternoon we scraped paint chips off the white railings near the derrick.
  • Did the old water sampling method, as the YSI wasn’t turning on.

Boats

  • Lots of eco-tours today.
  • Most of them appeared to go too close to the sea lions.
  • Several sailboats out on the water; beautiful!

Other

  • Approximately 10 DND blasts today at the more easterly detonation station on Bentinck.
  • This included blasts at 9:30, 9:40, 10:00, 12:48, 12:49, & 12:51.
  • The initial blast scared several sea lions into the water.
  • By my personalized scale, the first five were medium blasts, the final five were huge.
  • For those of you wondering, my scale goes something like this: small, medium, big, huge, massive.

DSC_6329