Category Archives: Mammal Notes

Sept. 19, 2025 – Animal Census Day

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Luckily for me it was a clear morning for the day of my first animal census. With coffee and binos in hand I headed up to the top of the lighthouse tower and began the count of every seal, sea lion, whale, and bird in sight… needless to say it took me much longer than expected! The sun was quickly heating up the tower and by the time I was finished counting the hundreds of sea lions, beads of sweat were dripping down my brow. Despite the heat, it was plenty worth the effort as I spotted some interesting animals – most notably, a Northern Fur seal! This little fellow was hiding in amongst the Cali’s and Stellers on the East corner of the island, not making many friends as it was crawling overtop the sea lion’s bodies and getting consistently yelled and snapped at.

Animal Census Report:

* Note the animal census was time limited to the morning only. Due to bright sun & shadows, cormorants were not distinguished by species.

Mammals:

  • Steller sea lion: 371
  • California sea lion: 906
  • Harbour seal: 89
  • Northern Fur seal: 1
  • Humpback Whales: 6

Birds:

  • Glaucus-winged Gull: 201
  • California Gull: 1
  • Western Gull: 6
  • Cormorant Spp: 701
  • Black Turnstones: 8
  • Surfbird: 14
  • Savanah’s Sparrow: 1
  • Western Sandpiper: 1

Facility work:

It was a busy day trying to fit in all my tasks on top of the animal census, as I was leaving the island for the weekend. Thankfully Richard was patient with me trying to get packed to go last minute.

  • Electric fence repairs – corner post on jetty snapped and got replaced.
  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Water sampled – just in time!
  • Batteries filled (early as I would be away on Saturday)
  • Animal census
  • Compost and tidying of house

Weather:

  • Sky: Mainly clear and sunny
  • Wind: 5-10kts
  • Sea state: calm
  • Air temp: 23C

I was sad to be leaving for any time at all, given the excitement of the animal census. Thankfully, Bella and the students were incoming to keep an eye on the place in my absence. I’ll be back to it Monday morning!

 

Sept. 18, 2025 – Water refills, Sea lion sillies, and Shorebirds

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A bit of a foggy morning, but nevertheless magical morning on Race Rocks. During my morning perimeter walk I found a few posts of the fence knocked over and the sea lions brazenly taking over the jetty. I need to work on my scare tactics it seems. Greg and Richard arrived again this morning with hopes to fix the water maker. Unfortunately, the desalinator still needs new parts so we pulled out the hoses to fill the storage reservoir from the skiff. The guys went and grabbed another tank full to fill so I’ll have plenty to use while the water maker issues get fixed.

Wildlife Notes

  • 3 actively feeding humpback in Race Passage, sea lions also mobbing around the whales picking up the leftovers
  • Observed the sea lion with flasher in mouth in the same spot again
  • A California sea lion had previous entanglement, with partial rope still embedding in the neck
  • A couple little shorebirds swooped in, and with the help from Merlin I identified them as a Western Sandpiper and a Sanderling

Facility Work

  • Electric fence repairs
  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Took daily water sample
  • Assisted with re-fills of water tank via fire hose with Richard and Greg
  • Swept and mopped basement floor of main house

Weather:

  • Sky: Foggy in the morning, gone around 11am. Sunshine with distant haze from fog to the south and some smoke from prescribed burnings to the NW. Fog came in again heavy and quick at 4:30PM, virtually no visibility until it cleared at 6pm.
  • Wind: W 8-10kts in AM, down to SSW 3-6kts by afternoon
  • Sea state: Calm, small ripples <0.5m swell
  • Air temp: High 12C; Low 10C

Sept. 17, 2025 – Sea lions, Whales, and Vultures- Oh My!

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What a great first day alone at the station in terms of wildlife! Since sunrise there were constant whale blows in all directions, probably half a dozen humpbacks at any given time. Later in the afternoon I was treated to a spectacular show by a young humpback whale who began breaching on the East side of the island and then didn’t stop as it breached its way North for nearly an hour. One of the whale watch guides counted 24 breaches in a row… go little guy go! I found the sea lion with the flasher in its mouth again and decided to make a report to DFO and the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre. Typically they need at least 2 entangled animals with consistant sightings to warrant a rescue attempt, so I’ll be keeping my eye out. I also spotted the Cali with the transmitter tag (likely the one Ian saw previously) along with some branded and flipper tagged sea lions. With all the mammals stealing the light, I nearly forgot about the birds. Interestingly, I encountered a Turkey Vulture scavenging among the sea lions and managed to take its photo in flight (below).

Wildlife Highlights:

  • Humpback whales 6-10; juvenile breaching
  • Turkey vulture
  • Branded and tagged sea lions

Facility work:

  • Minimal fence repairs, just a few lines touching the ground that I tightened up
  • Took my first water sample measurement at peak flood
  • Plans to continue work on the water maker and continue my site briefings were foiled as the wind picked up. Greg & Richard decided to come out tomorrow instead.
  • Took the day to familiarize myself with the SOPs and where things are at the station.

Weather:

  • Sky: Mostly clear skies
  • Wind: W 8-10kts in AM, down to SSW 3-6kts by afternoon
  • Sea state: Calm, small ripples <0.5m swell
  • Air temp: High 12C; Low 10C

Vessels:

Lots of vessel activity in and around Race Rocks. Peak whale watching around 12 and 3pm or so where there were up to 10 vessels nearby.

Summary of Sea lion brands and entanglements and Shift Change

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Reflection: Race Rocks grows on you. It encourages wonder and awe. You are constantly stopping to catch a glimpse of whales, check out a new scent on the wind, a new sound from amongst hundreds or to stand mesmerized by the moment. It is a complex physical operation, keep going by amazingly dedicated staff. It is a living, breathing treasure.

Facility Work: Fence repair as required, cleaning of solar panels, sea and temperature measurements in the morning now. Plans in place to fix desalinator.

Vessels: Pedder Explorer for pickup.

Photos:

Eight branded California sea lions were observed from September 01 to 15, 2025 at Race Rocks.

Three sea lions, one Steller and two California, were noted with current or healed neck injuries.

A bit of rain, a lot of Wind

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Weather: New weather system moved in over night, giving rise, for the first time since arriving two weeks ago to rain. Gale force winds from the west began in the early morning, with gusts over 45 knots. The day cleared and with an ebbing tide whitecaps formed, again for the first time since arriving.

Wildlife: Observed the highest concentration of California and Steller sea lions on the north shore of Great race since arriving.

Facility Work: Fence work, especially on jetty. California sea lions have developed an affinity for the wharf area, and the fence is the worst for wear because of it. Inventory of fuels and water on island.

Vessels: 10 whale watching vessels in the morning. Very few in the afternoon with high winds.

Panorama view from the lighthouse looking east.

 

California sea lion with transmitter/flipper tag

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Wildlife: California sea lion with transmitter and flipper tag at jetty.

Weather: Clear in the morning, fog occasional visitor in the afternoon.

Facility work: Checked various fluid levels, routine maintenance on Honda backup generator, diesel generator topped up, storage batteries topped up with distilled water, fence inspected and repaired, solar panels cleaned, sea temperature and salinity taken.

Visitors: Biology class from LBPC for overnight stay.

Vessels: Nine tour boats noted. Our closest neighbors are the variety of ships that pass to the south on their way to other parts of the world. Some carry thousands of people, others carry cargo that could cause huge change to this fragile ecosystem… life on the edge.

Visit from RCMSAR

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Wildlife: While out on the water on the Pedder Explorer near Rosedale Rock heard a humpback whale tail slap at least 50 times in a row. Use the descriptor ‘heard’ as fog was restricting visibility.

Two branded sea lions at the jetty, 94V and V56.

Facilities: With fog prevalence and residence being used by classes generator is running more, requiring fueling on a more regular basis. Fall is here.

Visitors: Two classes from LBPC, one in the morning and one in the afternoon with Biology teacher Laura V. and assistant Bella M.

Visit from 10 members ( 2 vessels) of the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCMSAR) Station 37 in Sooke. Race Rocks is within their response area. It was their first time visiting Race Rocks. They docked after dark, with a running ebb tide. Very impressive skill set.

 

 

 

Census postponed

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Wildlife : Ready to take first census since arriving but fog had other plans. Could not seen west, middle, turbine or north islets. Postponed until Sunday.

Watched a California seal lion (CSL) walk past the east side of boat house to the east side of the helicopter pad and then pull itself up the wall onto the pad. Impression!

Midday noted a crow being chased by a group of seagulls around the island. Left in short order.

Weather: Heavy fog and overcast all day

Facility work:

  • Fence repair on north and south sides. Encouraged three CSLs back to their side of the fence.
  • Cistern restoration work continuing
  • Cleaned solar panels.
  • Checked battery water levels and topped up as required.
  • Temperature and salinity readings at max tide.

Visitors:

Students from LBPC left at noon. Hope they all will have many more occasions to visit and study on this very special place.

August 23 Weekly Census

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First things first! Time to check out the solar panels, while at the same time, keeping track of what animals and birds are being seen. Census is usually conducted on Friday, but since I didn’t arrive until mid-afternoon, I opted to do it today.

The solar panels were in better shape than I expected given the look of the Science Building windows. I remembered all of the valves that needed to be opened to provide water on the generator building roof, so a single trip up the ladder was all that was needed. Once those were taken care of, it was off to tackle the Science Building. There are some great new tools available for reaching the second story windows, but they are quite unwieldy, especially for someone who is just a little over 5 feet tall! As I feared, the gull artwork was baked on, so although there was improvement, the windows were not fully clean when I was done.

Next, a trip up the tower to count marine mammals and gulls. I found a key outside the door as I entered. The fob looked somewhat familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. I thought one of the guests might have dropped it yesterday, so left it at the bottom of the stairs. A hundred steps up, I remembered why it looked familiar–it was the key to the hatch to the outside of the light. Down 100 steps and back up 100 steps. A double workout for today!

While at the top, I called my friends at Rocky Point Bird Observatory just the other side of Bentinck Island and arranged a neighbourly wave. There is a gap in Bentinck that provides a great view of Race Rocks from the other side.

Census complete, I headed back to ground level. Hmmm..Where are my glasses? You got it–back up at the light! Another trip to the top!  Although I had done a count of gulls from the top, I decided to count the young birds again. They are difficult to see from the light. At ground level, I found about three times as many as I had counted from the birds’ eye view.

The sea lions had dumped most of the posts and their concrete blocks off the jetty again. I managed to get them back up before the tide rolled in and repaired the fence–again. I have to say, I felt that I’d put in a full-day’s labour before noon!

Weekly Census
Observed today because of arrival too late on Friday for a fair census

Mammals:

  • Steller sea lion: 327 (including entangled female detected yesterday)
  • California sea lion: 142
  • Harbour seal: 64

Birds:

  • Canada Goose: 7
  • Black Oystercatcher: 5
  • Pigeon Guillemot: 34
  • Ruddy Turnstone: 1
  • Black Turnstone: 15
  • Brandt’s Cormorant 2
  • Pelagic Cormorant 30
  • Western Gull 2
  • California Gull 270
  • Glaucous-winged Gull 1042 (including about 300 young)
  • Brown Pelican

Facility work:

  • Clean the solar panels
  • Cleaned windows on the north and west side of Science Building
  • Returned posts and concrete blocks to the jetty and repaired the fence
  • Topped up batteries

Weather:

  • Sky: sunny and clear all day
  • Wind: variable 0 – 18 knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 15 °C, high 26 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.6 °C

Photos from today:

Entangled Sea Lion still being seen near the jetty.

Mom and pup Harbour Seal exuding cuteness

Jetty stripped almost clean of all the fencing posts

Young Glaucous-winged Gull in the early morning sunlight

One of several private vessels seen near the rocks today.

Looks familiar!

 

August 22

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One more time!  I’m back on Race Rocks for a short shift of just a few days. The last time I was relief ecoguardian was in 2023, and while much remains the same, there have been some changes, too. Nick left the house in great shape. What a nice welcome back!

I got my first trip on the new Pearson College boat. She’s a beauty! With lots of interior seating, I’m sure the students and visitors will appreciate the comfort of future journeys. We came across with several guests including Alex Fletcher, a former long-term ecoguardian on the Rocks.

After a quick look around, tasks began right away with the scheduled water temperature and salinity tests that are taken from the end of the jetty. No problem with the sea lions today as the boat was tied up and keeping them at bay.

One of the major chores for the ecoguardian is keeping the solar panels and building windows clean. Strong west winds this week resulted in the pelting of the Science Building. I know where I’ll be spending some time tomorrow!

As the Pedder Explorer departed, Greg yelled back to me about an entangled sea lion. A female Steller’s had the tell-tale signs of something wrapped around her neck. A close inspection of the photos showed a packing band which must have been on her for years given how far it has cut into her neck. The incident was reported to DFO. If she stays around, they may make an attempt to rescue her and remove the band.

Facility work:

  • Reset the electric fencing on the jetty. Despite Nick’s efforts, the sea lions had knocked several posts off the jetty.
  • Inspected the fence line around the perimeter. Again, the sea lions are not respecting the barrier.

Weather:

  • Beautiful and clear on arrival at approximately 2 pm.
  • Wind: Variable 2-13 knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 14 °C, high 25 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.7 °C