Category Archives: Island Visitors

Enviro. systems field lab.

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Wednesday, May 01, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.3 C  Min 7.7 C  Reset 9.9 C
MARINE LIFE: 1 mature and 1 juvenile bald eagle,still the 3 geese. A few gulls have managed to gather bits of grass to build nests in spite of the wind, the never ending wind!.Will check the usual areas for more Oyster Catcher nests tomorrow if the winds abates somewhat. Don’t want to disturb any egg sitting especially since the temperatures are so unseasonably cold.Usually by the first of May the garden is 1/4 planted with the snow peas,green onions and radishes up.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 Ecotour boats today. 2nd Nature in with Garry, Laura and students for Enviro. systems field lab. The very low tide with the brisk westerly makes landing at the dock tricky to say the least-well done Laura!
posted by Carol or Mike S at 8:05 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy  Vis. 5 Miles – Fog  Wind West 29 Knots  Sea 4 Foot Moderate – Low South West Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:59 AM

2nd Nature was out with Garry and students to do a live web cast with the divers.

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Thursday, April 11, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.9 ºC »» Min. 6.7 ºC »» Reset 9.0 ºC »» Rain 0.4 mm
MARINE LIFE: 5 Bald Eagles – 2 mature. Still 3 pair of geese, a lot of ‘honking’ and a few displays of aggression, mostly neck waving and hissing. Things quieted down as the pairs went off to other areas of Gr. Race.The gulls continue to spend most of the day in and around nesting areas but leave at nightfall, many spending the night on the chopper pad.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 3 Pleasure craft through the MPA. This afternoon 2nd Nature was out with Garry and students to do a live web cast with the divers.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:40 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast »» Vis 15 Miles »» Wind Nort East 11 Know »» Sea Rippled »» Occasional Brake
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:08 AM

Gulls–starting to get territorial and this precipitates many fights

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Tuesday, April 09, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max 10.0 ºC »» Min. 6.1 ºC »» Reset 8.0 ºC »» Rain 3.6 mm
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature Bald Eagles today, the geese are still here, I am begining to wonder if they will nest here, usually by now they have moved inland.We hear the gulls morning,noon and night now.They are starting to get territorial and this precipitates many fights.As two gulls drag each other about the rest of them chime in with a lot of squawking, I can’t decide whether it’s encouragement or condemnation for such rowdy behavior,in any case it looks worse than it is and the results are usually no more than a few lost feathers. The Pigeon Guillemots continue to spent the morning ashore,taking flight en masse at the slightest hint of danger, they are very nervous birds and we take special care not to disturb them.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 6 ecotour boats and 2 pleasure craft through the MPA; 2 College boats with Garry,Chris and students for a dive – unfortunately there was a break in the interview cable so no live video.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:38 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast »» Vis. 12 Miles – Light Rain »» Wind North 7 Knots »» Sea Rippler
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:07 AM

pair of geese continue to roam

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Saturday, April 06, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.1 ºC »» Min. 5.9 ºC »» Reset 7.2 ºC »» Rain 0.5 mm
MARINE LIFE: 2 Bald Eagles, 1 mature. The pair of geese continue to roam the Island, they have a great time in the pond-need some rain soon as they have splashed most of the water out! There are still 10 or so Sealions, 4 large Northern Sealions are hauled out on the south side of the southeast rocks.Without the elephant seals it is very quiet except when the gulls are stirred up by the eagles flying over the island.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 4 pleasure craft through the MPA ( on their way to the halibut grounds -derby this weekend) Station boat to Pedder Bay and back (computer died –to town to get new bits and bytes) 2nd Nature out with guests for a visit.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:22 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy »» Vis. 10 Miles »» Wind West 19 Knots »» Sea 2 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:09 AM

 

elephant seals have both left the boat ramp

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Wednesday, April 03, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 11.9 ºC »» Min. 3.3 ºC »» Reset 9.3 ºC
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature Bald Eagles today, 1 arrived first light, the other after noon. The elephant seals have both left the boat ramp- very good timing as we needed to use the boat today. If today was an example of the weather for the rest of spring the cold and snow of a couple weeks ago was not so bad.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 ecotour boats and 3 pleasure craft. The 2nd Nature was in with 2 loads of fuel this morning; station boat made a return trip to Pedder Bay -mail and supplies- Garry was out this afternoon with some students(college boat)
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:14 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind North East 8 Knots »» Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:19 AM

Blue Heron flew over from Pedder Bay

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Tuesday, April 02, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.1 ºC »» Min. 4.0 ºC »» Reset 7.7 ºC
MARINE LIFE: Not much activity this morning, the north wind was really cold but the afternoon sun was very therapeutic.While I was out picking a few greens the geese waddled over to see what I was up to, they are quite tame and a bit like puppies. As I worked my way along the garden they they kept up about a foot behind me.They enjoyed the carrots I threw on the grass and they spent an hour or so after I went inside, up in the garden scratching about for more. The small pond was popular this afternoon with the gulls and crows. The geese tried to join the gulls in the pond but the gulls squawked and took off , the geese happily shared with the crows and starlings About 14:00 a Blue Heron flew over from Pedder Bay and sat majestically on the east ridge of Gr. Race and is still there as the sun sets.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 Ecotour boats and 2 College boats this afternoon with students for a dive with Chris and filming with Garry.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:14 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind North East 20 Knots »» Sea 3 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:23 AM

Eagle harassment

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Sunday, March 31, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.1 C  Min. 6.5 C Reset 8.5 C
TOTAL PRECIPITATION: Rain 92.5 mm Snow 20.2 cm Total 112.7 mm For the Month.
MARINE LIFE: 1 mature Bald Eagle today, it spent most of the day atop the ridge on the southeast rocks then late in the afternoon, much to the consternation of the gulls and Oyster Catchers, landed on a high point along the east of Gr. Race. There was a lot of noise as the gulls and Oyster Catchers tried to drive the eagle away, at times diving within inches of the eagle’s head.Finally after about 5 minutes the big bird flew off towards Whirl Bay and everything was quiet again.The Juvenile elephant seal has company now, about 17:00 another juvenile elephant seal, just a little larger, hauled out alongside on the ramp.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 Ecotour boats through the M.P.A. The college boat picked up the students about 14:30 to return to campus( hope they did not get too wet in the flying spray from the 30+ knt westerly)
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:03 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy �� Vis. 15 Miles �� Wind West 21 Knots �� Sea 3 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:50 AM

Ecotour boats out

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Saturday, March 02, 2002
Good Evening
WEATHER: Bright and sunny a great day to be on the rock. wind northeast 13 – 21 knots then by noon just a light breeze Sea 2 – 3 foot chop. and like the wind was rippled by noon.
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.2C  Min. 3.0C  Reset 7.5C No Rain
MARINE LIFE: 3 Bald Eagles – 1 mature
HUMAN INTERACTION: 9:10 Juan de Fuca Warrior with divers off West Race. 10:20 2 eco tour boats from Gr. Pacific Adventures. 11:20 2 ecotour boats; 14:00 ecotour boat Discovery Launch through M.P.A.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 10:02 PM

Student group to Race Rocks

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Tuesday, February 26, 2002
Good Afternoon
Weather: Sunny and clear >> >> Vis 17 miles >> >> Wind East 5 Knots >> >> Sea Rippled
MARINELIFE: The good news is the Elephant Seal appears to have freed himself from the grip of the rope we reported yesterday. He has a scar but let’s hope he is OK. Calm winds this morning and lots of Eagle action with 1 immature and 5 mature.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Garry and the racerocks.com activity students ashore to shoot some archive video this afternoon. Pearson divers aboard Second Nature diving off West Rocks in ideal conditions. One eco-tour boat so far today.
Chris Blondeau takes over from me later today. I am sorry to leave!!!
[02/26/2002 2300hrs | Chris Blondeau
Change of watch
Started my tour of duty at 1630hrs
HUMAN INTERACTION: Late afternoon we were visited by one eco-tour boat and two Zodiacs. One from the department of Fisheries and the other belonging to the Victoria Police, both patrolling together.
Great sunset again tonight. “Red skies at night are a sailors delight” Later-on a bright moon came up and created some stunning visuals. The lighthouse was backlit by the moon and casting a long shadow on the ground, while the beacon rotating above sent rays of light all around. If you are a movie buff and are familiar with the CASTLEROCK ENTERTAINMENT logo; you get the picture. Took some video of the scene using both normal and night vision exposure settings. I hope the footage is good enough to be useable.
Everything around was quiet and still. Only the familiar Humm of the generator in the background. A reminder that unlike the other inhabitants of Race Rocks humans are fragile and high maintenance creatures.
More tomorrow
posted by Angus Matthews at 4:16 PM

Good Morning
Weather: Sunny and clear >> >> Vis 17 miles >> >> Wind NNE 2-3 Knots >> >> Sea calm
posted by Angus Matthews at 9:31 AM

Elephant seal tangled

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Monday, February 25, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 4c >> >> Min 2c >> >> Reset 4c >> >> Rain none
MARINELIFE: Lots of Elephant Seal action today with one in the west bay and one on the slipway. Took lots of video. One on Centre Rock is still tangled in line. Two mature and one immature Bald Eagles here in the morning. Still three pairs of geese.
HUMAN INTERACTION: One ecotour boat and a short visit from Second Nature to drop off supplies. An airplane flew over the MPA at a fairly low (500 ft?) altitude and circled the MPA three times.
posted by Angus Matthews at 9:25 PM
Good Morning
Weather: Sunny and clear >> >>Vis 17 Miles >> >> Wind NNE 14 Knots >> >> Sea 2 foot chop
posted by Angus Matthews at 9:18 PM