Category Archives: Mammal Notes

Jan 5-7

Posted on by

Jan 5: Cloudy, rain, 10 knots E.  Had a lot of rain water in a short time, there was a lot of standing water.  Some water leaked under the doors into the engine building, down the roof vent in the battery room and the drain on the roof got plugged up.  I worked on the roof drainage and mopped up in the engine building.  Finalized month end report. Foghorn was going off throughout the night.  One sports fishing/recreation vessel.

Chunk was on the island in the morning but left mid day.

raceJan6

Jan 6, in the centre a ring necked sealion is visible, hauled out on South Islands.

Continue reading →

Jan 2-4

Posted on by

Jan 2: Cloudy, light rain. 1 recreational rental going too fast inside the reserve. I contacted Pedder Bay Marina and they talked to the boat renters.  I went off island in afternoon to get supplies.

Jan 3: Cloudy, light rain, wind 10-15 knots NE. 3 recreational boats, 4 eco tour boats. 1 dive boat that got quite close to sea lions on the rocks.  I spoke with the dive boat operator who was apologetic and understanding.  Chopped wood. Did a calibration check of the “YSI” digital sea temperature and salinity meter as requested by DFO. Sent off Dec seawater data to DFO.

checking calibration of YSI unit against analog hydrometer and thermometer

checking calibration of YSI unit against analog hydrometer and thermometer

Jan 4: Cloudy, rain throughout the day. Wind 10-15 knots NE. Chunk had been back on the main island but departed this morning.  One sports fishing boat.

new year, census

Posted on by

Dec 31: Clear sky, freezing temperature. Wind N 9 knots. 1 recreational and 3 ecotour vessels in the reserve.  Worked on month end report, chopped wood.

Jan 1: Clear sky, 3 ecotour vessels.  Contacted one company about a boat of theirs in the reserve that was traveling too fast and got too close to sea lions.   Worked on writing month end report, cutting fire wood.

Census: Continue reading →

dec 25- 29

Posted on by

A few days to catch up on…

Dec 25th: good weather,  went off island early and got to spend the day with family. On the way back there was a very cooperative juvenile bald eagle on top of the crane and I was able to photograph it from the jetty.  In the vertical photo the eagle’s nictitating membrane is half way across it’s eye.

DSC_8158DSC_8146

I got back to a nice sun set and a very calm sea.

IMG_7804

Dec 26th: NE 10-15 knot wind. 1 sports fishing boat, 1 eco-tour vessel.  Went off island in afternoon to bring guests out for the night.  Had a wet ride and in the evening a lot of driftwood got blown in to the jetty.

DSC_8298

rainbow in the morning, to the East.

Dec 27th: Calm in the morning but picked up to 30-25 knots West around noon.  Rain throughout the day, often sideways. Went off island in the morning to bring back guests, wet ride again.  2 eco tour vessels. Cleaned up boat ramp/jetty and cut wood.

Dec 28th: Wind N 10 knots, partly sunny.  Went off island in the morning to pick up Garry and Val for the annual bird count (see previous post). Notably, Val and Garry discovered a (regionally) rare Boreal Owl during their count.  Earlier in the morning 3 juvenile bald eagles wrestled over a small fish and displayed some impressive acrobatics. In the evening the internet and phone connection went offline.

DSC_8499DSC_8537

Dec 29th: Clear sky, 20 -25 knots N wind in the morning that picked up to 35-40 knots before noon. Strong winds persisted most of the day dropping to around 25 knots in the afternoon. Winds picked up again in the evening gusting to 35 knots.  I went up the tower in the morning to check on the internet/phone disconnection.  Was able to reboot and get it working again.  I had a good view of the elephant seals on the W rock today, there are two males, Chunk and a younger male as well as one fairly large looking female, possibly Bertha.  Temperature is going down, will be keeping an eye on water lines  More driftwood accumulating with the NE wind. Cleared boat ramp and cut fire wood.

DSC_8701DSC_8813

Teals return again

Posted on by

Rain throughout the day, wind 15-20 knots most of the day, started North then shifted to West. West wind picked up in the evening gusting over 35 knots.  Barometer reached a high of over 1025 hPa on Monday and has been falling today towards 1010 hPa.

One eco tour vessel in the reserve

Chunk has been on the main island all day until the evening.  There is a second large male elephant seal on west rock, visible on camera 1, that I haven’t seen on the main island yet.

With the rain came the Green Winged Teals (3) again to the muddy flats on the NE side of the island.

Cleared some logs out of the jetty bay with the pike pole and chopped fire wood.

census

Posted on by
DSC_7738

morning light on the olympic peninsula, Washington.

Wind light in the morning, below 10 knots, but large swells rolling in throughout the day. At Trial and Discovery the wind was clocking at 30 knots SE, gusting over 40, which was creating the waves.  In the evening the wind changed direction and was gusting over 35 knots West.

The high tide combined with NE swell meant the jetty was practically submerged a good part of the day.  Some logs and debris were thrown up and piled at the top of the jetty walkway.  I got the boat ramp cleared but will have wood to deal with tomorrow, the big log is about 26 feet long.

20141220_161216

debris left from the high tide and waves

Sealions were clinging to the small amount of rocks that were left with the tide and swells. Chunk came onto the main island, I couldnt see the other elephant seals anywhere, waves were washing over the West rocks where they had been resting.

DSC_7779

DSC_7838

sealions on the South rocks

 

Census today: There was a higher than usual number of Black Oyster Catchers on the south side of the island.

California Sea lions: 8

Northern Sea Lions: 133

Harbour Seals: 2

Elephant Seals: 1

Cormorants: 79

Canada Geese: 2

Gulls: 300

Bald Eagle: 5

Harlequin Ducks: 4

Black Turnstone: 18

Dunlin: 4

Sparrow: 2

Green Winged Teals: 7

Black Oyster Catchers: 116

Surfbirds: 7

 

Pelican, 50knot gusts

Posted on by

The barometer hit a low of below 985 hPa in the afternoon.  Winds had been 10 to 20 knots N most of the day but picked up in the evening and switched to west late in the night, gusting over 50knots.

I spotted one pelican offshore in the reserve.  Chunk was on the main island overnight but left around noon.

A submarine passed by close to the reserve.

DSC_6783

submarine passing on the East side of the reserve, heading North.

DSC_6763

pelican in the reserve, N of Great Race

A lot of wood debris got washed up on the boat ramp throughout the day and this evening. Collected lots of driftwood for burning.  Working on compost toilet installation.

Kingfisher, teals, surf, chunk

Posted on by

Lots of rain today. The barometer continued to fall this morning reaching a low of 985 hPa this afternoon. It was windy overnight and a west wind picked up this evening briefly gusting over 35 knots.   There have been swells coming in on both the NE and W sides of the island today along with high tides all morning that combined to submerge the jetty with waves and provide good surfing conditions for sea lions.

I spotted a infrequent visitor, a belted kingfisher perched on the crane.  There were also three green winged teals in the mud flats on the NE side of the island, I only ever see them when it rains a lot and there are fresh water puddles.

Sealions had good surfing conditions most of the day.  The images were taken off the south side of the island, reef break.

Before dusk Chunk (Zeke) came up the boat ramp onto the island, the first time he has come on the main island during my shift.  He has grown since last winter and has a stronger vocalization.

Humpback

Posted on by

Barometer continued to drop during the day to below 1005 hPa by nighttime. The wind was10 knots N in the morning and picked up to gusts over 30 knots in the evening.  There have been growing swells coming in from the North East.

Observed two river otters around the boardwalk in the morning and several eagles hunting and feeding in the reserve today.  Before dusk there was a lone humpback whale between West rock and Church rock.  Also around dusk I saw a sea otter off the south end of the island swimming on its back eating something off its chest.

Cleared the boat ramp twice of debris, harvested driftwood, cut and stacked firewood.

Pressure Drop

Posted on by
whale watching boat near sealions on south islands

Whale watching boat, sealions on south islands

Atmospheric pressure rose from around 1004 hPa yesterday to top out around 1020 hPa near Saturday night. Pressure has been falling today; winds up to 45 knots expected Tuesday.

Most of the sealions are out on the south islands now.  There are still a few on the main island, bellow the fog horn and the engine room.

Boats in the reserve: 2 dive boats, 1 whale watching boat, and 1 sailboat under motor.

Moved fire wood, cleared boat ramp and took down more electric fence.