Category Archives: Island Visitors

dump your kids on the island?

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At around 1200hrs a vessel (license #25K5588) with 7 persons on board entered the Reserve and began to fish on the south side of North Race, within the limits of the RCA. The vessel was reported to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Violation Reporting Hotline. Shortly after, the vessel stopped fishing and motored towards Great Race at high speed. The vessel then slowed and approached the rocks near the sea lion haulout on the NE corner of Great Race. At this point, the Eco-Guardian had left the house and headed down to get a closer look. By the time the Eco-Guardian reached the rocks, the vessel had made contact with the rocks and deposited three young children (6-10 yrs, all female) on the rocks. The boat was floating offshore at approximately 10-15 feet from the rocks, with two adult males and an adult female holding a young child. Asked of their intentions, the folks on board said they were just letting the children play around in the intertidal. The Eco-Guardian then informed them both of the no-fishing rule at Race Rocks and that they weren’t allowed to land their boat on the rocks and walk around. The gentlemen said they were from Alberta and had no idea that these rules were in place and that they would depart immediately. The girls were plucked off the rocks and the boat departed the Reserve.

At around 1330hrs an aluminum runabout (no license number obtained) proceeded at very high speed through the main channel between Great Race and Middle Race in the direction west to east. There were 0 visitors to the island today.

Dead harbour seal

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A dead adult male harbour seal was found washed up today on the rocks beside the derrick. There were no trauma marks from predation or a boat strike and the corpse was still in good condition with no bloating or decomposition. It was removed and taken to Pearson College.

Erik and Al the plumber visited RR today. Ebony departed on the outgoing boat. David H. came later in the afternoon with some guests for a quick tour. There were 5 visitors to the island today. ( Mike Robinson)

Black oystercatcher update

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Human Interaction
A school group with students from Japan and New York came for a tour of the island today.
There were 20 visitors to the island today.
Vessels in reserve:
Eco-Tour: 3
Pleasure: 1
As we officially kick off summer, I thought I’d give a bit of an update on life on the island right now. The black oystercatcher chicks have hatched in the nest up beside the jetty and down off the tank room! While outside doing some cleanup yesterday morning, I spotted at least one chick, and I suspect there may be more, as there were three eggs in total. This hatching brings some relief, as all of us were quite worried about this nest. Mother oystercatcher had not been spending as much time on her nest as she should have, what with the high traffic transiting the area. However, last week I cordoned off the area with large ropes and she settled down a lot, just in time for the hatching. I also set up camera 3 beside the nest; it can be viewed at http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/video3.htm. I apologize in advance for the moisture on the lens; we’ve had some high winds and rain over the last day and it has become a bit dirty. At this point though, I’m a bit apprehensive to get close and clean it, as it’s really only a foot away from the nest. There are at least two other nests on the island with chicks; one in the surge channel facing the southeast, and one in the channel facing the southwest. In other news, Bertha has decided to make a reappearance on the island after a few days off in the water somewhere. She is hauled up in her favourite spot behind the tank room. Her bad eye is looking worse than ever, and is dripping quite a lot of serum. #4252 is up beside the base of the lighthouse, on the side adjacent to the desalinator bunker, and seems to be enjoying the shelter of the long grasses. Misery is up around the science house somewhere. From the house this morning, I also noticed a possibly fourth, middle-aged, female elephant seal making her way up from the boat ramp (it may have been Bertha though, it’s hard to tell).
Yesterday, three harlequin ducks were spotted in the southeast surge channel, sitting contentedly on rocks. There appeared to be two males and one female. I took some pictures yesterday, but am not sure if they turned out because of the distance. Check on my Flickr site later: http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamharding/. Most seagulls have now settled down into their nests, with a few still mating. Nest numbers seem to be down from this time last year. Enjoy the solstice!