Category Archives: Island Visitors

Eagle harassment

Posted on by
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

Posted on by
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

Posted on by
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

Posted on by
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

Tangled Elephant seal

Posted on by

Sunday, February 24, 2002

 Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 6.0c >> >> Min. 1.5c >> >> Reset 4.5c >> >> Rain 0.4mm
MARINELIFE: Took some great still photos today of a very cooperative and photogenic Elephant Seal that hauled out on the South West Rocks about noon today. (we will post them soon) Some very sad Elephant Seal news from the Centre Rock however. There was some activity out there yesterday as a large animal hauled out. Today, through the spotting scope it became clear this animal has a rope around his neck just ahead of the flippers. It would appear this is quite serious as the line is very tight. Our total Elephant Seal count is four right now so it looks like this is one of our regulars. Chris Blondeau had a closer look from Second Nature this afternoon so he may have more information. I regret there is nothing we can do despite the fact this is the result of human disregard for the oceans and the critters that call it home. We would never get close enough to administer a sedative or catch the big guy before he took to the water. We will keep a close watch on him and hope he can free himself. Two mature Bald Eagles were around most of the day sometimes on the high rock here on Great Race and often on the East Rock. Our three pairs of Canada Geese are getting along much better today.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Only two ecotour boats in the MPA today. My wife Sandy and our friends Cathy Denny and David Anderson returned to the “mainland” (Vancouver Island) at 15:40 so now I am the sort of lonely eco-guardian. Great sunset and now a near full moon in a clear sky. It’s Race Rocks and there is no place like it!
WORLD EVENTS: Today Canada won Olympic Gold in men’s hockey. We caught it on CBC Radio the old fashioned way and cheered them on from Race Rocks.
posted by Angus Matthews at 7:18 PM
Good Morning
Weather: Cloudy with clearing from the East >> >> Vis 17 Miles >> >> Wind NNE 12 Knots >> >> Sea 1 foot chop.
posted by Angus Matthews at 7:57 AM

Balloon pollution !

Posted on by
Saturday, February 23, 2002
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast –Vis 7 Miles — Moderate Rain — Wind NNE 18 Knots –Sea 1 foot chop.
posted by Angus Matthews at 7:24 AMGood Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 5.0c >Min 4.2c >Reset 4.8c > Rain 6.0
MARINE LIFE: A day of some confusion as a total reorganisation of the Centre Rock occurred when a large male Elephant Seal returned to the rock and everyone had to trade places. Some confusion for the geese as well with the arrival of a third pair starting a turf war. Only 1 mature and 1 immature Bald Eagle seen today about 16:45.
HUMAN INTERACTION: One dive charter boat with 4 divers aboard in the MPA during the morning and 2 eco-tour boats through in the afternoon. One rental boat 14K-37805 with two people aboard set up to fish just west of the engine room but left when hailed and waved off. A TRIDENT submarine was observed steaming (or reacting) west out of the strait for places unknown under the oceans. One other unusual environmental impact today; as a consequence of a political protest at the BC legislature some 12 nautical miles from Race Rocks. Three blue balloons with the Hospital Employee’s Union logo floated through the MPA carried on the ebb tide and a NNE breeze. Unfortunate pollution.
I was joined by my wife Sandy and our friends Cathy Denny and David Anderson who are staying overnight as deputy assistant guest Eco-guardians. This resulted in a great dinner of Red Snapper. (NOT taken from the MPA!)
posted by Angus Matthews at 9:32 PM

Close call–

Posted on by
Friday, February 22, 2002
Good Evening
TEMERATURE: Max. 9.0c >>> Min. 5.2c >>> Reset 5.2c >>> Rain 29.5mm
MARINELIFE: 3 mature and 1 immature Bald Eagles were around a good deal today. Two pairs of Canada Geese enjoyed wading in the large puddles that have formed on Great Race Island as we have experienced 71.7mm of rain in the past 48 hours. An Elephant Seal chose to lounge beside the jetty for part of the morning.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Pearson College divers were out for a drift dive on the ebb tide. A television crew from The New VI joined us as well. Rick Searle, the host of EnviroMental on the New VI, is preparing a segment about Race Rocks for the program. Watch for it coming soon on Channel 12 in Victoria.
One eco-tour boat through the MPA about 13:00.
At 14:20 a rental boat from a local marina tried to run the tide rips in the narrow gap between the South Islets at full speed. I couldn’t believe my eyes as they stopped just short of the reef. Mother Nature has ways of dealing with fools but she let them off easy today!
We had to settle for arranging a stern warning when they returned to the marina.
posted by Angus Matthews at 8:12 PM
Good Morning again. Mike and Carol have gone ashore for a week, a very rare occurance. I will be your guest host and eco-guardian.
posted by Angus Matthews at 10:19 AM

Eagles and geese

Posted on by

 

Monday, February 18, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 7.8C Min. 5.9C Reset 6.5C  Rain 1.0 mm
MARINE LIFE: 16 mature 7 immature Bald Eagles,2 pairs of geese
on the island today.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 nd Nature out with visitors this morning,
and back in the afternoon for a dive off west race.
1 pleasure boat through M.P.A. today
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:33 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast Vis. 15 Miles  Wind West 4 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:14 AM

First of the Integrated Energy Talks

Posted on by
Sunday, February 10, 2002
 Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.0C  Min. 3.0C Reset 5.7C Rain 7.6 mm
MARINE LIFE:The California Sea Lion was still hauled out on the dock but went into the water just before 8:30 a.m. There were 10 mature and 3 immature Bald Eagles in the reserve by 8 a.m. The Bull Northern Elephant Seal is still spending most of the time along the shore of Gr. Race and in the little bay on the east side. Still 6 Geese.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2nd Nature out about 9a.m. with students to manage things while we spent some quality time with family. While we were away there was quite a fierce weather system through the area and it was still blowing 29-32 knts. when we arrived at the dock, a little cold and damp but glad to be back! Chris picked up the students in 2nd Nature just as we were arriving back about 5p.m.
In the morning, Garry came out with Taco Niet and Ged McLean of ISEVIC. (University of Victoria) with 8 of the members of the alternate energy company “Clean Energy” from Vancouver. Taco presented us with his completed copy of his Masters Thesis in Engineering on the Proposed Energy Systems for Race Rocks. An excellent piece of research, parts of which we will be linking soon on our energy pages. An outline of an intriguing proposal for a current energy turbine system on which they are working was brought forward.- More later on the Race Rocks energy page.
–Garry Fletcher
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:07 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy Vis. 15 Miles Wind North East 11 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:13 AM

Moon jellyfish

Posted on by

 

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast  Vis. 15 Miles Light Rain  Wind West 7 Knots  Sea Rippled
MARINE LIFE: The Eagles arrived early a.m. as usual 14 mature and 5 immature but as the weather deteriorated about 11:30 with the front moving in from the west with 30+ knt winds, all but 3 matures left the area. A small group of surfbirds spent most of the afternoon along the shore by the boat dock somewhat protected from the wind. The 3 Canada Geese spent another day grazing in the grass in the northeast quadrant of Gr. Race then as the winds increased tucked in behind the rocks in the east bay area. We counted 7 Moon Jellyfish( Aurelia aurita) floating amid the logs and debris in the tide wash east side of the boat dock.Most of them were 15-16 cm wide. In the sea they looked bluish -white and translucent.Unfortunately they were somewhat battered as they washed towards shore and Garry said that they were on their last legs so to speak.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2nd Nature in just after 9 a.m. with Angus,Garry and Chris for a informational staff meeting. Nice to have a visit especially this time of year even if short.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:29 AM
Tuesday, February 05, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.1C Min. 5.9C  Reset 6.7C  Rain 0.9 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:07 PM