Category Archives: Island Visitors

Feb 23, marine science class visit

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Sunny, wind East 5 knots.

Courtney brought Laura and 3 marine sciences classes to Race Rocks on Second Nature (3 trips), 36 students in total.  The classes did a lab studying waves, they took measurement and made observations on different sides of the island.

I saw a sea otter again today over by the south islands.  The mother elephant seal continues to stay close to the pup’s body.

DND blasting throughout day.  2 pleasure craft and 1 chartered fishing boat in the reserve. The chartered boat appeared to be getting quite close to harbour seals near North rock.  I called Pedder Bay Marina about one rental boat speeding. I went off island in the afternoon to pick up a guest.

 

Feb 22

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Sunny, 5-10 knot East wind.

2 Personal Watercraft and 2 whale watchers in the reserve.  There were several sports fishing boats around the reserve, counted over 25 in the area.  I called and left a message with one whale watching company regarding one of their boats in the reserve and its proximity to marine mammals

Chris came out in the afternoon with Laura and Simon, Alison and 3 guests.

I worked on a few projects including: pvc cementing vent pipe on guest house toilet, re-caulking chute on the toilet with silicone, changed pre-filters on diesal, replaced a leaky ball valve on diesal, untangled snapped derrick cable, and cut and chopped firewood.

The female elephant seal has stayed by the pup’s body most of the day.

Feb 19-20

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Feb 19: Cloudy, periods of rain, wind West 10-15 knots. Went off island at first light to attend a conference. Came back before dark. Worked on cam 5: extended and sealed conduit pipe to fit new utility box, sealed utility box to pedestal, re-wired and mounted power connection in box.

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Moon, Mars, Venus, Feb 20.

Feb 20: Partly sunny, wind W 10-20 knots.  Went off island in afternoon to pick up and bring back two guests to stay overnight. Brought in recycling and discarded old cam 5 utility box.

After dark I could hear a female elephant seal nearby on great race, I found her she up past the boat house next to, and partly on top of, the goose exclusion inclosure. She was making vocalizations and seemed uncomfortable, moving around quite a bit.  She was very big and round, I wondered if she might be pregnant even though it is later than pups have typically been born here in recent years.  The moon was visible close to Mars and Venus, it was too windy to get a sharp long exposure with the telephoto.

Feb 11-12, derrick and toilet

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Feb 11:  Cloudy, NE 10 knot wind.  In the morning Courtney came out on Second Nature with Tristan (Pearson volunteer) and scaffolding.  We had already put up two sections (5′ tall each) of scaffold with what we have on station so we added two more sections of rented scaffold to build a tower around 22′ tall below the derrick.  We secured all four sides with lines tied to various anchor points on the ground.  Standing on the top of the tower, the top of the derrick was just above my head height.  I greased the pulley and pried the cable out from its lodging on the side of the pulley to get it back in its track. We led the derrick cable down through the centre of the scaffolding and Tristan and Courtney re-attached the weighted hook which keeps tension on the line. We took down the scaffolding and sent the rented parts back to the college.  Derrick is finally back in action after months of being out of service and we now have a better and safer method for fixing and servicing the unit.  Thanks Courtney, Tristan and Chris.

On another topic, my dislike for the new composting toilet is increasing proportionately with the rising smell of stagnant septic in the basement of the assistant house…

Feb 12: Cloudy, wind light, periods of rain. 1 Pedder Bay Marina rental boat in the reserve that left the reserve going over the speed limit. I called the marina and they were to follow up with the operator.speeding feb 12

After venting the guest house basement as much as possible, it still stank in there.  I took apart the vent pipe and re-installed it with a bypass drain for rain water and excess moisture.  The pipe size on the toilet is non conventional (it says its 2″ PVC but of course it is not and it does not union with standard size pipe) so I installed a rubber union with clamps in order to transition to the ABS vent pipe already installed through the roof.  I installed a transparent pipe on the bypass so that it will be visible when there is liquid accumulation.  With the new vent pipe installed I plugged in the toilet to start heating up the septic soup again so that it will hopefully actually evaporate this time.

Feb 1-5

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Feb 1: Cloudy with rain, wind N 10-15 knots.  1 dive boat and 2 kayaks in the reserve. The dive boat was observed with an anchor in use in the reserve which is not allowed except for in emergencies.  Cut and chopped fire wood.

Feb 2: Rain, wind NE 10-15 knots in morning switching to West in afternoon, up to 30 knots.  I went off island in the morning and attended the Pearson College staff meeting. Picked up Virginie at airport and groceries along the way back.  Returned to island late afternoon as wind was starting to pick up.

Feb 3: Wind light, low visibility in the morning. Worked on month end report and DFO seawater data entry.

Feb 4: Cloudy, wind NE 15-20 knots.  A coast guard helicopter landed on the pad before noon to do maintenance on the tower light.  The pilot, Mike, and technician, Derrick, were on their way back from the Carmanah station.  While waiting on the maintenance work I invited the pilot in for tea and heard some stories from his nearly 40 years of service including his experience piloting a helicopter out to the drilling rig the Ocean Ranger the night it sank in 1982 on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. They flew out knowing they didnt have enough fuel to make the return trip and would have to land on another drilling rig, in the storm, in order to re-fuel.  By the time they arrived there were only bodies floating in the sea, all 84 crew members on the rig died.

Feb 5: Rain, wind NE becoming variable, 4 foot swells coming in from the NE in the morning, low visibility. Worked on finishing month end report and preparing guest house for visitors.  At night, on my way to check the generator, I could hear elephant seal pup vocalizations coming from West rock.  I hadn’t seen or heard any sign of the pup for several days, since last reported in the log.

 

 

Jan 27-29

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Jan 27:  NE wind 5-15 knots switching to west in the afternoon, 20 to 30 knots. Courtney brought Max out in the morning to check on connections for camera 5 and the underwater camera.  I went off island in the afternoon to pick up Jeff and bring him out for a visit.

Jan 28: Cloudy in morning, cleared up in the afternoon.  Wind East 10 to 15 knots. Brought Jeff back to college in the morning. On the way we went by West rock to look for the elephant seal pup but couldn’t see or hear it.  Picked up deionized water, a UPS for the underwater camera, laser measurer for measuring crane height.  Cleared a large piece of red cedar out of the jetty bay and roped a long piece of hemlock.  Cut and chopped firewood in the sun.  Latter that afternoon I could hear and see the pup again.

Jan 29: mostly clear sky, wind NE 10 to 15 knots.  Two pleasure craft in reserve.  Worked on guest house toilet renovation: shortening platform, adding insulation, fitting, fastening and sealing poop chute. 

 

Jan 22-26: fog, eagles, orcas

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juvenile bald eagle on the tope of the crane boom

Jan 22: Misty, low visibility. Wind N 10-15 knots. 1 private pleasure craft in the reserve. Cut and chopped firewood.

Jan 23: Rain, wind N 10-15 knots.  1 ecotour vessel in the reserve.  Followed up with eco tour company I spoke to a couple days ago about one of their boats, distance to mammals and avoiding disturbance. Also called a different eco tour charter company, that I hadn’t seen here before, about distance from mammals and speed in the vicinity of the rocks.  Cut and chopped firewood. Could hear elephant seal pup again today.

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juvenile bald eagle on one of the anemometers on top of the tower

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Jan 24:  A blanket of fog rolled in from the North in the morning reducing visibility and triggering fog horn including in the middle of the night. Periods of rain too.  Two ecotour vessels in the reserve. Went off island around noon in the fog, navigated by GPS on boat with cell phone as back up.  Picked up supplies in Colwood including extra chains, files and lube for the station chainsaw.  Brought three guests back out with me in the afternoon to stay overnight.  Sea was very calm on the way over and the fog had lifted enough to see to Port Angeles. The fog came back before dusk but lifted overnight.

Jan 25:  Cloudy, light rain, light wind.  10-15 orcas passed through race passage going with the current, heading SW. I brought guests back to college around noon. On the way over we passed by elephant seal rock and were able to see the pup with its mother.  It was on the West side of the mother, out of sight from the main island or tower cam. Came back out before dark.

Jan 26: Foggy in the morning, fog horn went off during the night. Cloudy throughout day, wind light.  1 ecotour vessel.  Cut and chopped wood. Foggy again in the evening.

Jan 15-19

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Jan 15: cloudy, N wind 10-15. DND blasting on Bentinck Island

Jan 16: wind light, clear sky. DND blasting on Bentinck Island. female elephant seal came into the boat ramp area but didn’t haul out for very long. Did some fire wood cutting. Went off island to pick up guest in the late afternoon.

Jan 17: cloudy with periods of rain, wind North 10-20 knots becoming West overnight. 1 dive boat, 2 eco tour.  Built a firewood cutting jig.

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dive boat getting tossed around in waves, Jan 17

Jan 18: wind 30-40 knots West overnight, gusting over 50 knots. The wind decreased in the afternoon. The younger male elephant seal came onto the main island in the afternoon. I was able to get a closer look at him, he has many small scars and marks on his back likely from Chunk bitting him. Sealion with orange data transmitter on its back off East side of island.

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California sealion with data transmitter with marking “5” visible

Jan 19: Partly clear, some rain.  Wind west, some gusts throughout day, light in the evening.  Went off island in the morning and returned in the afternoon.  Chunk and the younger male were both on the main island when I got back.

Census (Jan 17):

California Sea lions: 10

Northern Sea Lions: 2

Harbour Seals: 28

Elephant Seals: 3

Cormorants: 88

Canada Geese: 25

Gulls: 50

Bald Eagle: 1

Harlequin Ducks: 2

Black Turnstone: 5

Black Oyster Catcher: 32

 

 

dec 25- 29

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A few days to catch up on…

Dec 25th: good weather,  went off island early and got to spend the day with family. On the way back there was a very cooperative juvenile bald eagle on top of the crane and I was able to photograph it from the jetty.  In the vertical photo the eagle’s nictitating membrane is half way across it’s eye.

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I got back to a nice sun set and a very calm sea.

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Dec 26th: NE 10-15 knot wind. 1 sports fishing boat, 1 eco-tour vessel.  Went off island in afternoon to bring guests out for the night.  Had a wet ride and in the evening a lot of driftwood got blown in to the jetty.

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rainbow in the morning, to the East.

Dec 27th: Calm in the morning but picked up to 30-25 knots West around noon.  Rain throughout the day, often sideways. Went off island in the morning to bring back guests, wet ride again.  2 eco tour vessels. Cleaned up boat ramp/jetty and cut wood.

Dec 28th: Wind N 10 knots, partly sunny.  Went off island in the morning to pick up Garry and Val for the annual bird count (see previous post). Notably, Val and Garry discovered a (regionally) rare Boreal Owl during their count.  Earlier in the morning 3 juvenile bald eagles wrestled over a small fish and displayed some impressive acrobatics. In the evening the internet and phone connection went offline.

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Dec 29th: Clear sky, 20 -25 knots N wind in the morning that picked up to 35-40 knots before noon. Strong winds persisted most of the day dropping to around 25 knots in the afternoon. Winds picked up again in the evening gusting to 35 knots.  I went up the tower in the morning to check on the internet/phone disconnection.  Was able to reboot and get it working again.  I had a good view of the elephant seals on the W rock today, there are two males, Chunk and a younger male as well as one fairly large looking female, possibly Bertha.  Temperature is going down, will be keeping an eye on water lines  More driftwood accumulating with the NE wind. Cleared boat ramp and cut fire wood.

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Shift change, census

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Wind NE 15-20 knots becoming N 10-15 knots in the afternoon. Sky cloudy with periods of rain.

Courtney brought me out this morning in Second Nature to start a 3 month winter shift. She brought Nick back after I was able to get a quick update on systems and supplies.

Census:
California Sea lions: 20
Northern Sea Lions: 155
Harbour Seals: 1
Elephant Seals: 7
Cormorants: 70
Canada Geese: 5
Gulls: 252
Bald Eagle: 1
Harlequin Ducks: 2
Black Turnstone: 2
Sparrow: 1

3 Branded northern sealions observed: 870R, 347Y, and 975? (last symbol not visible)

Spent most of the day moving in, unpacking and getting reacquainted. We brought two full propane tanks out in the morning. Running diesel this evening.

The house is clean and things look to be in order here. Thanks to Nick, Ann, Jeff, Julie, and Courtney for their work out here since my last shift.