Category Archives: Island Visitors

Student Visit

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Weather: 

  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Sky: overcast
  • Wind: 15-20 kn NW
  • Water: Little choppy under 1 foot

Visitors/Boats: 

  • The past few days we have seen more pleasure crafts than tour boats and these pleasure crafts get way too close and I can never find them on the radio because it is very hard to know which channel they are on
  • A group students stayed Saturday night to film around the island looking at ecological impacts which around here are mostly due to sea lions trampling all the green and turning it into mud

Ecological

  • The little steller is still around, haven’t noticed any new injuries on any of the sea lions
  • the sea lion that was by the jetty before that seemed lethargic and didn’t really respond to people left for 2 maybe 3 days and is now back in the same spot and it is much more energetic and responsive than before
  • the number of sea lions seems to have gone up from the last census by about 100, will post more numbers below
  • I have been consistently seeing about two humpback whales per day

Maintenance

  • The fence now only needs typically one minor repair per day, the sea lions are getting used to staying away from it
  • I still need to stay on top of clearing them away from certain areas, they seem to not crowd the entrance to the generator room anymore or the burial cairns as much, but they have taken a strong liking to the grass around the lighthouse

Census

  • Sea Lions – 600, most of them are californias
  • Harbour Seals – 30
  • Gulls – 40
  • Canada Geese – 24
  • Fox Sparrow – 3
  • Turnstones – 30
  • Cormorants – 50
  • Sea Otter – 1
  • Humpback Whales – about 2 per day

Little Steller

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Weather: 

  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Sky: overcast
  • Wind: 15-20 kn NW
  • Water: Little choppy under 1 foot

Visitors/Boats: 

  • Since I got back on Tuesday there have been approximately 15 boats per day, the number varies a bit each day
  • On tuesday and thursday we had visitors from the eagle wing crew come for a tour on Race Rocks. It was so nice for them to be able to come check out what Race Rocks looks like from the land after seeing it from the water so many times
  • Greg and Guy are coming by today so we can do a more in depth orientation on the projects and maintenance going on around the island

Ecological

  • After my walk around I noticed a couple interesting things, first there was a young steller, not a baby but he was still nursing.
  • Then an elephant seal, which was so nice to see and it had a green tag on it. Unfortunately by the time I got my camera it was already gone.
  • There have also been humpbacks nearby lately, the past two days there have been 4. Yesterday when the eagle wing crew was here was saw a fishing boat getting way to close to the whales, the whales were clearly upset and one jumped right out of the water because of it. Luckily we saw one of the whale watching boats from BC tours and got a hold of them and they let us know they had a word with the fishing boat about keeping its distance from the animals.

Maintenance

  • The fence still needs to be repaired twice a day but the sea lions are starting to stay away from the entrance to the generator room with regular clearing which will also start happening around the burial cairns between the student house and the helicopter pad. The sea lions have started shifting the stones around a lot and we want to preserve this important historic area.

Unsafe Snorkeling, Fall Changes, Census

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Weather: 

  • Visibility 15+ NE
  • Sky overcast, cloudy
  • Wind 15-25 kn N
  • Water moderate waves, white caps.

Visitors/Boats: 

  • Around 15 whale watching boats yesterday
  • Corey, Guy, and a student with their visiting grandparents visited yesterday, and delivered water- the desalinator is on the horizon!
  • We are ending our term on Race Rocks tomorrow, so Greg and Guy will come for a debrief before the next eco-guardian takes over.

Yesterday we saw a pleasure craft enter the reserve and drop snorkelers into the water less than 100 m from our jetty, within 5 m of shore and the hauled out sea lions. The animals were distressed and swam around the snorkelers barking. The current was flooding very quickly (5 knots), which creates dangerous water currents, eddies, and upwellings. We as well as Corey in Second Nature motioned for the boat to move away, but they simply gathered the snorkelers and moved around the corner where they presumably thought we would not see them. An eco-tourism vessel in the reserve also noticed them and contacted us to let us know, out of concern for their safety given the animals present and the currents at the time.

In the past scuba divers and vessels have found themselves capsized or pulled away from their dive site and rescued by helicopter, and in 2015 a diver went missing and was found deceased days after they disappeared by a fisherman after rescue crews were not able to find them. We were especially concerned for this group’s safety due to lack of float marking their position and the frequent boating traffic through the reserve. In the past, seal pups have been decapitated by vessels passing through too quickly and unable to see them. If these snorkelers had been pulled away by the currents, there would have been a high chance of being struck by a vessel unable to see them in the rough water.

Ecological: 

  • The sea lions population continues to grow! We are having to repair the fences sometimes twice per day. It seems like a more powerful electric fence energizer could be a good idea.
  • We spotted a little Greylag goose among the Canadian geese yesterday.
  • The sea lion that we spotted on Sept. 12th with an apparent propeller wound to his head is still here. He stays near the jetty and seems to have some behavioural anomalies, presumably due to the head injury. He is not afraid of us like the others, and does not move away into the water with the others when we clear the jetty. We haven’t had any problems but are weary that his behaviour could be unpredictable. Marty (the vet that came to aid in rescuing the entangled sea lion) mentioned that sometimes when this happens a shard of their skull can splinter and cause a brain infection. We hope this little guy is on the mend.
  • There have been many Canadian Geese passing through this week; A few days ago we counted over 20. The geese are not native to the island, but according to Gary Fletcher they arrived somewhere in the 80’s as the population of geese on Vancouver Island were introduced/grew. Addling the eggs began somewhere in the late 90’s. Unfortunately, this year two nests survived and hatched goslings, meaning that 20 geese left the island after 8 nested here in the spring.

Census: 

  • 500 Sea lions
  • 15 harbour seals
  • <20 seagulls
  • Approx. 20 cormorants
  • 3 short billed dowitchers
  • 1 Greylag goose
  • 1 sanderling
  • 1 Savannah sparrow
  • 20-23 Canada geese

Island Invaders (Invasive Thistle Removal)

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Invasive Species: Canada Thistle Removal 

We removed 6 large garbage bags full of invasive “Canada” thistles over the past few days. Considered a “noxious weed” under the BC Weed control act, these perennial (grow back every year) weeds can reproduce through seed and root regeneration. Thought to have been introduced to North America via contaminated crop seed in the 1700’s, this plant is actually native to southeast Europe and Asia. Presumably they were introduced to Race Rocks by a visitor on clothing or equipment, or perhaps by an animal.

They can be a bit laborious to remove, due to their tap root and ability to regenerate through “cloning” (growing back if you leave the root in the ground). Incredibly, the seeds can remain viable for 3-6 years when buried at typical depth, and some up to 21 years (yikes!). Each plant produces an average of 1500 seeds, but can sometimes exceed 5000.

Because of this, we collected them into garbage bags to remove from the island instead of composting them where they would have the opportunity to reproduce. Unfortunately it appeared that these aggressively persistent weeds were whipper snipped in past seasons, allowing the seeds to disperse and roots to regenerate. Hopefully with some attentiveness, they can be eradicated from Race Rocks in the next few years. More information on other introduced plants available in this post from Garry Fletcher, 2006.

Weather: 

  • Sky partly cloudy, some sunshine
  • Visibility 15+ miles (some fog last night)
  • Wind 20-30 knots W
  • Water choppy, whitecaps

Visitors: 

  • Today Laura (Pearson’s marine science teacher), and her class came for a bit for their first trip to Race Rocks! Two more classes will visit in the next couple of days.
  • Less frequent eco-tourism traffic now that the summer tourism has slowed down. They have been getting quite close to the sea lions though, often causing them to climb over each other to get further away from the vessels. Since it has been overcast, we’ve been seeing the use of flash photography much more, which seems to audibly cause quite a stir.

Ecological: 

  • There have been some birds passing through that we don’t often see: western sandpiper, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, and juvenile sandpiper (or possibly sanderling- we have a hard time with bird ID!) Also, we think we spotted a yellow warbler a while back, but it was too speedy for us to snap a photo.
  • The sea lions have continued to haul out- notably, there are typically over 100 animals on the jetty alone.

Suspicious Seagull Suppers, A Busy Few Days

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Weather: 

  • Sky partially overcast, some light showers throughout the week
  • Visibility 15 miles this morning, consistent throughout the day, some heavy fog a few days ago
  • Wind 10-15 knots W
  • Water ranging from calm to choppy with waves up to 1.5m over the last few days

Boats/Visitors: 

  • There’s been a lot going on over the past few days! Our apologies for the lapse in updates.
  • On Monday, after a few weeks of planning, the Marine Mammal Rescue team from the Vancouver Aquarium came out to RR with support from DFO, to attempt disentanglement of the troubled sea lions we’ve been spotting. Stay tuned for an in-depth post detailing the days events with many photos and videos! 
  • We have been having minor trouble with the water supply/storage for our house here, but with a little investigation and some extra water deliveries it seems to be changing for the better!
  • With water deliveries, there have been a handful of guests, notably including a guest speaker visiting the college to address students. It’s always nice to see some friendly faces!

Ecological: 

  • The sea lions continue to haul out in larger numbers, but it seems to be tapering off. Our electric fence lines are holding better as they learn (through trial and error) not to push through them.
  • Young seagulls are naive to the danger sea lions pose – we have observed juvenile birds being trampled to death by a sea lion simply moving quickly to a different area of the rock. The birds who learn quickly live to fish another day…
  • Over our time on Race Rocks we have been finding plastic/general garbage across the island compressed into a similar size and shape. After observing a seagull regurgitate a condiment packet (ex: rectangular, fast food style ketchup package), we believe this plastic to be consumed by seagulls on land or at sea, and then carried back to Race Rocks when the birds come to feed their young or rest. Regurgitating the foreign waste, perhaps to feed their offspring or out of discomfort, they deposit this human trash here.
  • Here are some picture showing the plastic/garbage described above:
  • On the note of seagull diet, here are some picture of sea life remains found around RR which would seem to be left overs (and examples of what they should be eating) –  talk about sea food from the source!

Hustle and Bustle / Pleasure Craft Violation / Census

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Weather: 

  • Sky overcast, hazy, steady rain this afternoon
  • Visibility 15 miles this morning, < 2 miles this afternoon
  • Wind 0-10 knots NE
  • Water calm

Boats/Visitors: 

    • A whole boat load of visitors this morning! VP of Pearson College Tyrone, Alum in residence Norbert and friends to advise on our solar panel system, a desalinator consultant (in preparation for the new desalinator!), and an insurance appraiser.
    • Fewer whale watching boats this week, but we have been concerned about the frequent use of flash photography and its possible effects on the wildlife.
    • Greg also made another trip to bring us some water this afternoon.
    • Yesterday we watched a pleasure craft approach the sea lions near our jetty and throw some kind of food at them (some of it hit the sea lions). We were able to capture them scaring the animals, who stampeded into the water. They hovered to take photos and unfortunately pose with their open alcohol. Even more unfortunate, the bait that we saw being thrown at the sea lions previously and perhaps this time as well is not suitable for consumption, as many times it has been treated with formaldehyde.

Ecological: 

  • Many sea lions now, and unfortunately a few that are injured. Aside from the two that we have mentioned previously, we have been finding more fishing hooks scattered around and a sea lion appearing to have a nasty wound possibly caused by an embedded fishing hook.
  • This afternoon we also noticed a sea lion with a propeller inflicted gash on his head. He seemed to be dazed or perhaps concussed due to the injury. Normally the sea lions are skittish and make a ruckus if we get too close, but this one didn’t react to our presence and seemed notably lethargic. We were concerned that he might fall victim to the injury, but approximately an hour later he seemed more alert, reacted to our presence, and seemed to be doing okay.
  • We reported the tagged sea lion to the researchers in California and were excited to hear that they have some information about him and his early life. We hope to be able to share more soon! This little guy has already swum almost 1500 km from his birth place, Ana Nuevo CA.
  • Yesterday there was quite a bit of smoke caused by controlled burning taking place on the nearby DND land. They burned 20 hectares of Gary Oak habitat to protect the species (from invading conifers) and and prevent spread of invasive plants.

Census:

  • 350 sea lions
  • 50 harbour seals
  • 1 elephant seal
  • 40 cormorants
  • 60 adult gulls, and some chicks (they are too hard to see from the lighthouse)
  • 4 geese
  • 20 turnstones

 

Coast Guard Visit, The Entangled Sea Lion Is Still Here

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Weather: 

  • Sky partly cloudy, intermittent fog
  • Visibility varying between 0-15 miles
  • Wind 20-30 knots W
  • Water rough, waves to half a metre with some whitecaps

Boats/Visitors: 

  • No visitors today
  • The whale watching boats continue to decrease in volume, this month looks to be a turning point in their season.

Ecological: 

  • We spotted the sea lion with plastic around its neck on the jetty last night, and today it was hauled out onto land between the helicopter pad and the guest house. We contacted DFO, and the entanglement response team will assess if it’s a job that they can do.
  • This afternoon we saw a blue heron, which we haven’t seen before out here.

Maintenance:

  • The Coast Guard visited briefly a few days ago. They stayed on RR for about an hour and did some maintenance on the fog horn system. Two people came on to land, and a third stayed in the Coast Guard zodiac.

The Flag is Back

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Weather: 

  • Sky overcast, some clear patches (not much solar power generated today)
  • Visibility 15+ miles, no fog
  • Wind 10-20 knots W
  • Water calm. Some interesting standing wave patterns lately.

Boats/Visitors: 

  • On Thursday Greg came in the afternoon to top up our water supply. Pearson alum Norbert (currently alum in residence) also came along for the ride to check out our solar panels and provide suggestions for future improvements. Pearson maintenance volunteer Jimmy also stopped in for the night to visit race rocks before he goes home to Mexico. Safe travels!
  • We had many hands on deck, so we were able to successfully repair and raise the flagpole.
  • Yesterday Greg visited with a group of college guests who toured the island.

Ecological: 

  • The sea lions have started to haul out on the N + S/SW sides of Great Race Rock.
  • The oyster catcher chicks have grown to be nearly as big as their parents and are flying all over!
  • The seagull chicks are getting bigger and when rival adults attack they now fight back. On Thursday we spotted a chick with one eye pecked out and were concerned that it would not survive. Fortunately, when we checked later it was doing well.
  • There have been large numbers of black turnstones present this past week, 30+ at once

 

 

 

The Sea Lions Are Coming

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Weather:

  • Sky blue, partly cloudy
  • Visibility 13+ miles
  • Wind 10-20 knots SW
  • Water calm

Visitors/Boats: 

  • Not much boat traffic these past few days. It has been quite foggy and windy (40+ knots of wind)
  • Today Greg is bringing some water for the main tank. He is also bringing a volunteer from the college who will stay overnight.
  • Tomorrow morning we will have a group tour the island

Maintenance:

  • Yesterday Alex Fletcher came to take measurements from the batteries that supply the entire island. We have been having some problems with the technology but the batteries are looking good and healthy.
  • Our Canadian flag is still down, as the flag pole was too heavy for us to lower alone. We will try to enlist the help of Greg and the volunteer today and get things back in order!

Ecological: 

  • The sea lions are starting to haul out onto Great Race Rock more and more. We will need to put up the electric fence soon to prevent them from coming right up to our backdoor as their local population increases. We are waiting for the elephant seals to leave, as the fence would prevent them from moving freely onto the jetty.
  • There are now two younger elephant seals who arrived a couple of days ago. One of them went back to a favourite spot of one of this years spring pups, so we wonder if it is the same one.

Clear Skies and Many Birds

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Weather: 

  • Sky clear and sunny- no fog!
  • Wind: 10-20 knots SW
  • Water: Rippled. Strong currents today (+4.4 knots)
  • Visibility: 10 miles

Visitors/Boats:

  • Greg came by today with some water that we pumped into the main tank. We are told that the new desalinator should be on its way soon, but is going to take a few weeks to ship.
  • A few whale watching boats today (10-15). Many came close (-50m) to the elephant seals in the jetty and the sea lions on middle rock. We often see them within 10m of the sea otter and kelp patch that it calls home.

Maintenance: 

  • A few days ago we replaced the worn Canadian flag on the flagpole. Today we noticed that the entire rope/pulley system had somehow blown loose and fallen to the ground. The pole is to high for us to reach the top with our ladder, so when it is less windy we will have to take the pole down to make repairs (this will be difficult with so many seagulls about).

Ecological: 

  • Many interesting birds in the reserve this week. Today we spotted some western sandpipers, a couple short billed dowitchers, and a ruddy turnstone all from our kitchen window!
  • Every day we see more and more sea lions. Greg said that he even spotted a stellar sea lion on his way today.