Category Archives: Island Visitors

Sean Leroy doing Masters Thesis on MPA Advisory Process

Posted on by
Thursday, June 13, 2002
TEMPERATURE Max 20.8C  Min 11.1C  Reset 19.2C
MARINE LIFE: The harbour seals are becoming very nervous of human presence, several times today they swept into the water at the sight of people on the pathways. The 4 pairs of Oystercatchers all have chicks now, a good sign that perhaps the river Otter has left the island. Two octopus were sighted in the low intertidal over near the surge channel this morning.

Sean Leroy at Race Rocks

HUMAN IMPACT: Five eco-tourism vessels through the reserve and five fishing vessels on the reserve’s perimeter.

Garry and Hyaku docked with two visitors this morning, Sean LeRoy, Graduate Researcher, Georgia Basin Futures Project
Sustainable Development Research Institute, University of British Columbia and Dr.James Tansey also of UBC. They came to participate in the webcast with Garry and Ryan on Marine Protected Areas this morning with Tim Langois, Leigh Marine Laboratory University of Auckland, and Anne Saloman, University of Washington, Zoology Department .

langoisgroupAfter a tour of the Island and a great discussion about MPA’s in Canada and New Zealand they all left in the afternoon.
posted by at 10:49 PM

Good Morning:
WEATHER: Sky Clear  Vis. 8 miles  Wind 0-5 Knots from West  Sea 1-2 Foot Chop
posted by Garry Fletcher at 5:03 AM

Bayside Middle School Visits

Posted on by
Wednesday, June 12, 2002
Good Evening:
TEMPERATURE Max 19.5C  Min 7.8C  Reset 19.5C
MARINE LIFE: Some large sea anemones spotted in the low intertidal today, many covered with shell grit as a protective layer from the heat. One Bald eagle sighting this morning, however none this evening. The Geese and Goslings were drinking from the freshwater pond frequently today, a sign of the hotter weather, however raising concerns about the eventual limits of the water supply.
HUMAN IMPACT: Hyaku docked with Garry and five students and their teacher from Bayside Middle School at low tide today. They participated in our live webcast as we showed them the special features of the island’s ecosystems. We have been particularly careful to provide a low-impact program so that the seabirds and seals are not disturbed. Zodiac left during the late evening. 6 ecotourism and three fishings boats through the reserve today. Michael Kiprop returned to Metchosin today to catch his flight home to Kenya tomorrow. We have appreciated his daily commitment to the technical aspects of our live mobile webcasts.
posted by at 11:20 PM

Westmont School, for the 10:00 AM live webcast

Posted on by

Tuesday, June 11, 2002

Good Evening:
TEMPERATURE Max 15.C  Min 9.2C Reset 9.2C
MARINE LIFE: A fairly quiet day on the island, perhaps due to the heavy fog which came several times. Two Bald Eagle visits this morning, however none this afternoon. A very low tide revealed some sun bleaching on the surf grass in the low intertidal. The Goslings are quite large now, perhaps double their size of last week. It is a shame to note that we saw no Sea lions today, they have not been present since the DND blasting a few days ago.
HUMAN IMPACT: 7-8 ecotourism vessels today, despite the fog. Second Nature emerged from the fog to dock with Garry and another group of 4 school children from Westmont School, again for the 10:00 AM live webcast. Garry noted that he had never seen the fog as heavy as this morning. Within a half hour it lifted. Zodiac was taken out twice in the afternoon. The divers went in around the docks at 18:30.
posted by at 11:17 PM
Good Morning:
WEATHER: Sky Overcast  Vis. 8 miles  Wind 20 – 25 Knots from West  Sea 2-3 Foot Chop
posted by at 4:33 AM

Eagles harassing gulls in early morning

Posted on by
Friday, June 07, 2002
TEMPERATURE: Max. 11.8 C  Min. 7.4 C Reset 9.8
MARINE LIFE: Some interesting bird life today. What we believe was an Arctic Tern hovered for a few minutes over the Gull colony late this afternoon. We also spotted a pair of Cormorants (probably Pelagic) on the cliff behind the heli-pad, perhaps the pair are checking out what used to be a common nesting site. The Gulls were frightened during the four visits by the Bald Eagles today, however some of the nesting pairs with two or more eggs refused to lift off from their nests. Indeed the eagles were quite a harassment early morning, with two landing within the middle of the nesting sites, only 15m from the house. One Sea Lion appeared on the boat ramp this morning, perhaps with some sort of eye problem.
HUMAN IMPACT: Hyaku and Second Nature docked early this morning, spending nearly two hours docked. The divers made some underwater repairs to the conduit, just off the docks. No eco-tourism or other boat activity within the reserve.
posted by at 11:02 PM
WEATHER UPDATE: Large Storm Front Moving North West South of Race Rocks
posted by at 10:11 AM

Pearson College students out to begin work project.

Posted on by
Thursday, May 30, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 13.0 C Min. 8.9 C  Reset 11.9 C Rain 0.2 mm
A very good evening to all of you. It has been a bright day out here at Race Rocks and we are looking forward to great days ahead. Our summer project is scheduled to last for 2 weeks. The students out here are Kiprop from Kenya, Ben from Australia, Ryan from Canada, Hiendrick from Poland and Joe from the U.K. We spend the better part of the day planning on a whole range of activities to carry out in the next two weeks. We are going to be carrying out daily live webcasts from Racerocks starting Tuesday. Our divers will also be in a position to bring you live images of marine life from the Race Rocks underwater.
Have a good evening.
Kiprop.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:20 PM

Northern and Calif Sealions still here.

Posted on by
Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 13.0 C  Min. 9.3 C  Reset 12.0 C Rain .06 mm
MARINE LIFE: 1 juvenile Bald Eagle which again arrived in the afternoon and made several unsuccessful attempts to land on Great Race.There is a group of about 9 Northern Sea Lions spending a lot of time swimming along the north and east shore of Gr. Race could be the same group I saw and heard in the early hours yesterday.Can hear the California Sea Lions barking off and on during the night,they are hauled out on Middle Rock and the sound carries over this way very well with the westerly.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 ecotour boats and 3 pleasure craft. Angus out in Second Nature with group from DFO. Late afternoon Chris out in Second Nature with the students who will be here webcasting etc. A full load with food,supplies and air tanks. Hope the weather gets a little nicer for them.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:59 PM

Good MorningWEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis. 15 Miles Wind West 15 Knots  Sea 1 – 2 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:45 AM

Black Oystercatcher eggs not all hatched

Posted on by
Sunday, May 26, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.9 C  Min. 8.8 C  Reset 12.1 C  Rain 2.0 mm
MARINE LIFE: 1 juvenile and 1 mature bald Eagles. The gulls are still busy nest building, mating and keeping the eagles at bay. Most of the Pigeon Guillemots have paired off, mated and are now among the rocks were they lay their eggs as deep in a rock crevice as they can.The Oyster Catcher chicks are still in the nesting area as of this morning since not all eggs are hatched.Once the last egg is hatched the chicks will all be moved down the shore closer to the food source but above the high tide line.The low tides during the day will afford the chicks a steady diet of limpets, mussels,chitons and the like.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 17 pleasure craft and 14 ecotour boats today. Although the Swiftsure was less than ‘dramatic’ we did enjoy watching a mini race about 17:00 as three returning boats ‘caught’ the brief westerly all be it only 15-17 knts. The one boat that was second of the three ‘stood’ off the shore and had just that extra wind to move ahead. An audience small, granted -just the two of us- but it was exciting none the less. By 18:30 the wind was back down to 5-6 knts and the 25 or so remaining boats took a long time to pass by, a nice show of the colourful spinnakers against the grey-black rolls of fog to the west.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:27 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast �� Vis. 12 Miles �� Light Rain �� Wind West 5 Knots �� Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:47 AM

Swiftsure-a ‘driftsure’ this year!

Posted on by
Saturday, May 25, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 15.2 C  Min. 8.5 C  Reset 11.9 C  Rain 2.2 mm
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature Bald Eagles today. The gulls were very busy this afternoon gathering nesting material,there are always some early nesters then a large group all at once, then there are the stragglers that seem to leave things to the last minute.There are some very fussy nest builders and then others that have nests that are quite sparse and somewhat messy.Last night there were at least 2 elephant seals just off shore snorting and bellowing so loud it woke me up about 2 a.m. expected to see them hauled out on the boat dock in the morning but they were back over by Middle rock floating about, quietly! Angus reported 2 or 3 Orca in Race Passage as he was coming across from the college just after 09:00.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Hyaku in from the College -Angus and group to do the live webcast for the Swiftsure-a ‘driftsure’ this year! A little rain this morning and no wind to speak of, a beautiful day on the water for all but the racers.Hyaku to Victoria and back with mechanic and parts-engine repaired and ‘purring’ nicely again.The Swiftsure boats started coming through the passage quite late but with a lot of spinnakers was a colourful sight.A couple of race boats came through between North Rocks and Gr. Race, one was very close going between West Race and Gr. Race and used great skill and energy to manoeuvre through the reefs and tide.In addition to the sailboats there were 47 Ecotour boats and 26 pleasure craft through the reserve.Took pamphlets out to 2 pleasure craft fishing off the east shore of Gr. Race. 1 Dive boat dove the West Race in the morning then returned for an afternoon dive north shore of Gr. Race.The weather forecast is not too encouraging as far as wind is concerned, light in the a.m. but some hope with possible westerly 10-15 knts. in the afternoon.Should be a colourful spinnaker run to the finish line, that is if there are any boats left in the race! Last I heard over 100 boats had pulled out of the race.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:37 PM

 

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast  Vis 10 Miles Light Rain  Wind West 6 Knots Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:45 AM

International Boundary Survey Measurements.

Posted on by
Saturday, May 18, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 13.3 C Min 7.1 C Reset 11.9 C  Rain 0.4 mm
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature and 3 juvenile Bald Eagles today.The gulls were busy as usual keeping the eagles away from the ‘big’ island. The goslings enjoyed the pond this morning and needed more than a little ‘encouragement’ to move on by the adults! The other pair of geese spend some time with the ‘family’ but no sign of any more goslings.Counted 15 gull nests but so far no eggs.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 1 Dive boat this morning which returned for 2nd dive in the afternoon.There were 5 ecotour boats and 7 pleasure craft through the reserve today.  Station boat to Pedder Bay and back.We had three visitors from Washington State, David,Tim and Mike for the day long task of gathering the annual International Boundary Survey Measurements.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:08 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis 15 Miles Wind South West 7 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:47 AM

Mature Bald Eagles tried many times to land –thwarted at every attempt by the gulls and Oyster Catchers

Posted on by
Friday, May 17, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 13.0 C  Min. 7.3 C  Reset 11.1 C Rain 5.2 mm
MARINE LIFE: 2 Mature Bald Eagles today which tried many times to land on Gr. Race but thwarted at every attempt by the gulls and Oyster Catchers.With the great eyesight they have I’m sure the eagles have seen the 5 little tasty goslings running around. We look for the goslings every morning hoping to count 5! so far so good!
HUMAN INTERACTION: 3 Ecotour boats, 5 pleasure craft in the reserve today. The Second Nature in late afternoon with Laura, Garry and Marcus for a little filming.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:21 PM

 

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy  Vis. 15 Miles  Wind North West 15 Knots Sea 2 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:02 AM