Category Archives: Mammal Notes

Otters, Whales, and a Fur Seal…Oh My!

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It’s the last day of 2024 and we are finishing it with a bang!

This morning I spotted an imposter among the sea lions near the jetty…a northern fur seal!

You may be wondering why thats significant, and its because this is the first northern fur seal documented on Race Rocks in 44 years! Northern fur seals are a pelagic species, meaning they live offshore and are not seen near the coast.

Occasionally they have been sighted in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the young or sick ones have stranded along the coast in previous years. However, a healthy adult male hauled out in front of the house here? Very rare! So rare that it hasn’t been seen since 1980 which I still haven’t quite wrapped my head around.

He’s been in and out of the water throughout the day, lots of grooming (they have a fur coat similar to that of a sea otter), and even nipped at a few California sea lions. I’m looking forward to seeing if he sticks around!

Speaking of sea otters, Ollie is also back! After spending the past few months  near William Head, I saw him on the South side of the island early this morning. I’m hoping to see more of him before I leave.

It appears not all of the humpbacks have gotten the memo that they should be somewhere warm, cozy, and tropical by now. I saw about 7 in total today which was a very nice surprise.

As for the rest of the animals around here its been status quo. Still no elephant seals but I’m not giving up hope yet. Doing my best to manifest one (or ten) arriving before I leave.

Happy New Year!!

Clear skies

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Ecological Notes:

  • The Elephant Seals, the expecting female and the young female, left the ramp area and haven’t returned …. hoping they’re just off having a good feed and not looking at another haul out spot.
  • In the past, most of the Steller Sea Lions have moved to the outer rocks, leaving the main rock to the California Sea Lions… but this season there are many more Stellers remaining on the main rock, even some have ventured onto the pier

Visitors:

  • Parcel and supply delivery by the waterfront team

Facility Work:

  • got some of the deck algae sprayed down during the nicer weather…. until the sprayers broke!

  • Finally got some good logs in, shortened at the holding area, and moved up to the bucking area
  • Weekly Battery maintenance
  • Monthly Equalization charge to the Batteries
  • Month end reports and posting
  • The waterfront team brought out, and prepped a new door for the battery room, appears to now also need a new door frame

DND events:

  • regular blasting, a few times a day for the last week, no noted reaction from the wildlife.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • In addition to a few eco-tourism vessels, there have been a few private vessels visiting the reserve, all with good behaviour

 

Weather Events:

The last week has been primarily N NE winds, leading to mostly clear skies and dry weather. Seas have had light chop, slight fog daily on the shoreline away from the reserve.

  • Thursday, December 05:
    • Sky: High overcast, fog on the southern strait
    • Wind: NE winds 10-15 kts
    • Sea:  light chop
    • Temperature Low 4oC, High 8oC

 

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Mixed Weather

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Ecological Notes:

  • Female Elephant Seal has left the ramp area…… back to sea for now it appears.
  • Sunday night high winds brought down the pier fencing, and the Sea lions sure took advantage of that fast!

  • Very young, tagged,  Elephant Seal visited the ramp area briefly. I saw him coming up fast, so I left the area. When I returned a couple hours later, there were sea lions on the ramp and the Elephant Seal was gone. This was at the same  time the adult female left.
  • A known California Sea Lion, that was freed of an entanglement last year is around the north side. Although the wound still looks rough, the last Ecoguardian (Kendra) assured me this is a good improvement.
  • In addition to the expected numbers, there have been a couple very large flocks of both Black Oyster Catchers, and Black Turnstones. Groups were seen briefly, before flying off.
  • Nearly double the normal number of Canada Geese here still. 

  • There are still many Humpback Whales viewable from the park, and Transient Orca have passed by nearly every other day.

Visitors:

  • Work crew still working on the windows on the Student and Science centre, as well as finishing the inside of the last window on the main house.
  • A small group of donors, and a couple college staff visited for a tour of the facility.

Facility Work:

  • Ongoing repairs and upgrades to the electrical fencing. Awaiting new connectors to replace a couple sections and add a new section.
  • Fuel transfers and an extra check on battery electrolyte levels.
  • Although not overly high, wind direction has blown some doors off, including the boat shed …. minor items, but they add up!

  • Taking advantage of the rain periods to clean the sidewalks (mostly goose poop), as well as cleaning the salt off the windows.

  • Cleaned the windows on the tower, inside and out.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Still a few Ecotourism vessels
  • 2 Jet skis have visited the reserve a couple days in a row.

 Noted Infractions:

  • The first time the jet skis were scene, they were doing doughnuts and high speed passes in the main channel, disturbing birds and sea lions. My camera was charging, but i signalled to them with the blowhorn siren and waved them off.

  • The next day, they stayed out of the reserve, playing in one of the standing current waves a little further out. They did a wide sweep around the area on their way back (hopefully realizing they were being watched).

Weather Events:

  • Monday, November 11:
    • Sky: overcast with frequent sunny breaks
    • Wind: Morning Westerly winds to 25kts, veering to west at 5-10 kts in the afternoon
    • Sea: 1 meter swell, calming to slight chop by afternoon
    • Temperature Low 12oC, High 18oC
  • Tuesday, November 12:
    • Sky: Overcast, with sunny breaks
    • Wind: mixed N-NE 5-10 kts
    • Sea:  slight chop, but a swell wrapping around into the pier area by afternoon
    • Temperature Low 10oC, High 112oC
  • Wednesday, November 13:
    • Sky: Overcast with light rain later in the day
    • Wind: Variable direction Northerly winds, 5-10 kts, shifting to WSW later in the afternoon
    • Sea:  light chop, some tidal swell in the reserve
    • Temperature Low 9oC, High 13oC

 

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Last Day!

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I don’t think my time here has ever flown quite this fast! 

Between visitors, rescue work, whales, and beautiful weather, the past month has gone by in the blink of an eye. It has been incredible and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to be able to work out here. 

I know I’ll be back, but until then – here are a few of my favourite moments from October. 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Sea Lion Disentanglement Story

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I said there would be more disentanglement photos and information to come, and today is that day.

The following post contains photos of a severely entangled and wounded sea lion so this is your warning to skip this post if you don’t want to see it…but I hope you stay because it has a happy ending.

On Sunday, Oct 20th I spotted a California sea lion with one of the worst entanglements I’ve ever seen. With tears running down my face as I photographed it, I immediately reported it to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society (VAMMR).

As I’ve mentioned before, sea lion disentanglements are tricky. You need the weather and tide to be calm, you need all teams to be available on the same day, and you need the entangled animal to stay put until that happens. Sometimes it takes weeks or even longer for this to happen.

This particular animal didn’t have weeks to wait. The monofilament gillnet was wound so tightly around his rostrum (muzzle) that he couldn’t eat. It was wrapped inside and around his mouth and embedded deeply in his neck. His poor body condition showed that he had been suffering from this entanglement for quite some time.

Within 48 hours of my initial sighting, a plan was in place. A team from VAMMR came out with two teams from DFO, as well as myself and Greg to help this sea lion. The weather was sunny and the ocean was glassy. Perfect conditions and in record timing. Best of all, our entangled lion was still on his rock.

Disentanglements can often be quick – a snip of a packing strap or fishing line, pull it off, tag it, and off they swim – but not this one. The rescue took 75 minutes from sedation to release. Once he was darted with a sedative he entered the water, requiring the teams to remove the entanglement from the boat – making it even harder. The netting was so tight that typical tools couldn’t be used and surgical scissors were required to cut it off.

I’ve worked in the marine mammal rescue field for over 6 years and this response truly left me at a loss for words. It was devastating, harrowing, and relieving all in one. Watching that sea lion swim off and haul out on a nearby rock was incredible and left everyone involved feeling like they were on cloud nine.

Since rescue, I’ve seen the sea lion almost every day on the south side of the main island and I’ve been able to watch him as he recovers. Each day he has been brighter and moved a little more, and yesterday was the first day in a week that I have not seen him. My hope is that he’s gone off to hunt now that he’s feeling better.

I only have a few days left out here so I am crossing my fingers I get to see him one more time.

I am overjoyed with how this response came together and played out. The collaboration between VAMMR, DFO, Pearson College, and BC parks was unmatched and it was such a massive undertaking for this rescue to happen so quickly and it was truly life saving.

As for today…lots of outside tasks done today (none of which beats a disentanglement so I won’t bore you).

Facility Work:

  • Fence repair
  • Propane transfer/change out
  • Algae removal on student house
  • Washed windows

Weather:

  • Sky: Blue sky and sunny
  • Wind: Low of 1 knot, high of 6 knots
  • Sea: Calm
  • Temperature: Low 7•C, High  11•C

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Entangled Sea Lion and Oct 20 Census

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*WARNING* Today’s blog post contains photos of a severely entangled sea lion with deep wounds.

Well, if my warning wasn’t an indicator – today has not been the most fun day of animal spotting.

I came across a California sea lion this morning with by far the worst entanglement I’ve ever seen. What appears to be monofilament fishing net has wrapped itself so tight that its caused deep wounds on the back of his neck, as well as the rest of the way around. On top of that, the netting is so tightly wrapped around his muzzle that he doesn’t appear to be able to open his mouth.

Given that my full time job is in marine mammal rescue, seeing entangled animals is not new to me, I see them so often that I sometimes feel immune to how awful it is.

Today I am not immune, I am horrified.

All of the right organizations and people have been contacted and I know that every single one of those people will do everything they can to help him. I just hope he stays put until then.

There is a second entangled sea lion here as well, a Steller with a packing strap around its neck which is bad but thankfully not as severe as the Cali.

Moving on to today’s census….with the weather being so bad this weekend, I’m not surprised the numbers are down from last week!

Mammals:

Steller sea lions: 392
California sea lions: 652
Harbour seals: 41

Tons of humpbacks this week and a few transient orca stopped by the jetty yesterday in the midst of the storm!

Birds:

Gulls: 215
Cormorants: 170
Turnstones: 25
Canadian geese: 23
Oyster catchers: 2
Golden-crowned kinglet: 3

If you’ve made it this far, here is a picture of a cute little bird: See the taxonomy page at https://racerocks.ca/regulus-satrapa-golden-crowned-kinglet/

Golden Crowned kinglet

Golden-crowned kinglet. Regulus satrapa

Vessels:

  • Ecotourism: 5

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy and rainy
  • Wind: Low of 3 knots, high of 19 knots, with gusts up to 37 knots
  • Sea: Whitecaps in the afternoon
  • Temperature: Low 9•C, High 14•C

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Whales and Sunshine

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Well, I think the beautiful weather is about to change – with rain warnings all weekend long!!

Today was pretty perfect, nearly no wind and blue, sunny skies. The sea lions didn’t destruct the fence over night (a true miracle) but I’m sure I’ll pay for it tomorrow in the rain.

After getting some work done in the morning I spent the afternoon watching killer whales and humpbacks feeding and bothering each other off the South side of the island!

Pretty perfect day all around.

T.C. Article on Entangled Sealion Release

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The following article from the Victoria Times Colonist with a video of an interview with Dr. Martin Haulena of the Vancouver  Aquarium appeared in the Times Colonist on October 29 2024 concerning the rescue of an entangled sea lion at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve:

https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/gut-wrenching-sea-lion-with-mouth-sealed-by-netting-rescued-at-race-rocks-9727516

1, 2, 3 Baby Stellers!

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When I first saw the Steller pup a couple of days ago I was SO excited. As previously mentioned, Race Rocks is not a rookery so pups are not born here. The nearest rookery would be near Ucluelet and the other well established rookeries are much further north.

I reached out to a few people and I’m told that this pup could have been from the rookery near Ucluelet – which is still very far, or perhaps the mom didn’t give birth at a rookery and rather a different haulout site, which isn’t totally out of the question.

Fast forward to today and I’m photographing the pup when I hear what sounds like a baby goat screaming behind me. I turned around to find yet another Steller pup and its mom! And yes – baby Stellers sound like goats/sheep and often yell out a loud “BAAAAAH”.

Pup 1

Pup 2

I spent about an hour watching these two babies interact with their moms and other sea lions around them, taking so many photos that I’m surprised my camera didn’t catch fire. I finally headed back to the house and stopped dead in my tracks as I noticed a third pup and its mom on the rocks next to the jetty!

Pup 3!!!!

I ran back to the south side of the island to make sure no one took a swim and the other pups were still there. So we now have three whole Steller sea lion pups!

I mentioned in my blog post a couple days ago that we’ve seen nursing moms and pups before but those were much older pups so this is new. These are 2024 pups which means they were born sometime around June-July and are only a few months old!

I can’t wait to watch them over the next 3 weeks and see who else shows up!

I think his mom might be ready to find a babysitter!

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Steller Pup!

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As frustrating as it can be, I think I actually enjoy repairing the fence every morning. It’s become my morning routine – wake up, start a pot of coffee, take a lap outside and repair the damage, return inside to drink the aforementioned coffee.

The sea lions are entertaining. The Calis are alert at first but immediately lie back down even if I’m two feet away from them fixing the fence. However, the much larger Stellers bolt into the water the second they see me even if they are 100m and 300 Calis away from me. You’d think the larger, more intimidating species wouldn’t frighten so easily.

My lazy site supervisor

Speaking of Stellers – I came across a pup and its mom this afternoon next to the jetty. I witnessed nursing mother/pups when I was here in the spring but those pups were much larger. This pup appears to be from this year meaning he would have been born around June/July. Race Rocks is not a rookery so I’m interested to know where he was born! I’ve reached out to some contacts and will report back. Until then…enjoy his cute little face!

Vessels:

  • Ecotourism: 9
  • Private: 3

Weather:

  • Sky: Sun and clouds
  • Wind: None
  • Sea: Calm
  • Temperature: Low 8•C, High 17•C

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail!