Category Archives: Mammal Notes

Elephant Seal!

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Friday September 20th

Last night while we were fixing the fence on the South Side of the Island that had been knocked over….Again.. we spotted a seal looking a little different than everyone else

Looking a little closer, we realized it was an elephant seal! Looks like a small female, and she is tagged, though we couldn’t get a good photo of it. We reported it to the biologists from California who implement that specific tagging study.

Also saw a couple more branded Sea Lions who we also reported, as well as a dead sea lion we spotted along the south side of the island at low tide.

Scott has worked his way through the pile of wood piled down near the Jetty, so the next Eco-Guardians will def be warm for a while.

Whale Watching Vessels: 10

Private Vessels: 0

Weather: Mix of Sun and Cloud. Pretty Calm day, wind pretty consistent around 5knts W.

And like everyday this month lots of humpbacks feeding all day!

Fog Horn not repaired..

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Friday September 13

So… the fog horn went all night… when it was not foggy….

We let Coast Guard know and they told us  how to disable it. So they will be back here in the next couple weeks to try again to get it fixed.

Today, did some organisation/cleaning of the main house.

We also saw the injured sea lion James and Christine noted in August, when we were doing our water sample. He isn’t putting weight on it at all.. but the wound itself looks a little better. Reported to DFO.

  • Ran Generator
  • Ran Desalinator
  • Chopped Wood
  • Water Sample

Whale Watching Vessels: 10

Private Vessels: 2

Weather: Clear Day (Visibility about 12 NM), Winds SW ~5Knts all day, Overcast, Rain in the afternoon

 

 

 

Whales!

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Wildlife notes:

About six killer whales cruised the eastern shoreline passing through the channel between Great Race and the South Islands. It was first time I had seen the whales so close to shore and was very surprised by the behaviour of the sea lions. They did not make a mad rush to get out of the water. Instead, they dove in, grouped up, and seemed to guard the shore and pursue the whales. They followed them through the channel around the west end of the South Islands and along the southern shores of the South Islands until the whales left the area. The ones left on shore continued to sleep or just casually gazed out. It was incredible and not at all what I expected.  Maybe they are like the gulls, drawn to a spectacle, and were just out there to watch the drama of something being attacked and killed.

Going around the west side of South Islands

In pursuit on the south side of South Islands

Whales leaving the area, heading east.

Facility work:

  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Cleaned windows Keeper’s House and Student House
  • Operation walkway – work in progress

Vessels:

  • 25 Ecotourism, 4 private

Weather:

Fog <1/4 mile visibility in the morning, dissipating by 11:00 then scattered clouds.  Winds variable, light to moderate most of the day.  Fresh NW fresh in the early evening. Daytime temperatures: low 14, high 18.

Sea lions are returning

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Greg and Cedric came to work on the desalinator. They made progress and we are closer to being able to produce fresh water on site again. Work began on filling the cistern with sea water.

Water pump at the end of the jetty. Pumping sea water up to the concrete cistern on west side of the Keeper’s house. The smoke in the background is from the Sooke fire.

Wildlife notes:

The number of Stellar sealions in the area is increasing. About 18 of them hauled out on Middle Rocks this morning. Their roars sound so much more lion like than the yelping of the California sealions. The injured CA sealion was also around today. It is hard to say how much his wound has healed since the photo posted on July 5.

Stellar sea lions on Middle Rock.

Injured California sea lion.

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • cleaning Energy Building roof
  • repairs on the desalinator and filling the cistern

Vessels:

15 ecotourism

Weather:

Sunny day. Moderate to fresh, westerly breeze most of the day, with a strong breeze in the evening. Daytime temperatures: minimum 12, maximum 14 degrees.

Molting female elephant seal

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Wildlife notes:

I felt a bit odd doing it but I photographed the molting elephant seal’s private parts. It is a She, so there may be some variation in the stated molting dates (1, 2) based on sex and maturity, at least at this northern location.

Her bottom end

His bottom end

An opening only he has

A few least sandpipers and a ruddy turnstone were foraging in the vegetation away from the shore. The sandpipers are such small birds. I was surprised to see them darting around in the gale force winds. The high winds didn’t put a damper on the gulls either.  I watched a small seagull chick jump off a rock to escape with its life as a fight ensued above him.

Least sandpiper

Ruddy turnstone

A seagull chick escaping with its life.

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • topped up battery fluids
  • cleaned Keeper’s house windows

Vessels:

2 ecotourism, 1 private

Weather:

Overcast and fog in the morning. Periods of fog throughout the day.  Strong breeze in the morning, gale force in the afternoon, building to 38 knots with gusts of 43 at 19:00. Daytime temperatures: minimum 12, maximum 15 degrees.

Windy Day

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It was a windy day – blew the door off the Derrick Shed and the hair off the elephant seal’s head. The electric fence suffered from the winds over the past few days and needed replacement strands in two sections.

Wildlife notes:

The pigeon guillemots were around in the morning and mostly left again by 7pm. I found what I assume to be a pigeon guillemot nest in the rocks at the west end of the helipad.  Judging by the egg orientation, the little bone and other items which get moved around, it seems to be an active nest. Two least sandpipers were spotted on the northeast shore.

Least sandpiper

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • replaced 2 sections of electric fence
  • thistles – new record, an 11″ root.
  • topped up battery fluid

Vessels:

10 Ecotourism boats, 1 private

Weather:

WNW 13 and clouds in the morning, clearing early afternoon with winds building to WNW 33 by late afternoon.

June 26th Census

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Mammals

sea otter: 1
California sea lion: 4 (2 South Islands, 2 Great Race Rock)
elephant seal: 1 (male)
harbour seal: 139 (60 South Islands, 9 South Seal rocks, 29 Middle,  24 Turbine, 17 North Island)

Birds

bald eagle: 4
cormorant: 14
gulls: 415
oyster catcher: 8 adults, 2 chicks
pigeon guillemot: 5
barn swallow: 4

Wildlife notes:

Only 5 pigeon guillemots remained on the island today. The elephant seal has large areas of dark skin showing and spent his day in the same spot. It was a quiet day.

Facility work:

The overcast conditions necessitated running the generator for 4.5 hours.

  • cleaned solar panels
  • thistles
  • kindling

Vessels:

9 Ecotourism boats, 1 private

Weather:

Windy day. Low cloud, distant fogbank, winds W 29 in the morning with gusts to 36 by mid-morning. Cloudy throughout the day, scattered showers. Winds WNW 19 in the early evening.

DND:

Several blasts today.  No obvious signs of distress.

Digital Dexterity

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An elephant seal moving on land is anything but graceful. Their rear flippers are not useful for locomotion on land. They use their front flippers to propel themselves forward on their bellies. Their forelimbs or front flippers however, are capable of precise, controlled movements, perfect for getting that itchy spot or wiping away the flies.

Wildlife notes:

Single eagles visited today. The gulls would really have an easier time if they just worked together in both scaring off the eagles and dealing with the steamroller elephant seal. While all the gulls are flying about and screaming bloody murder, only one brave gull chased the eagle on two trips around the Great Race and the surrounding islands.  The male elephant seal has lost more hair on his nose, around his eyes and the hair on his body is coming off in patches.

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • thistles

Vessels:

7 Ecotourism boats, 2 private

Weather:

Foggy morning, temperature 10 degrees, winds WSW 10. Daytime high of 12 degrees, winds steady 8-15 knots from WSW or W.

Low tide

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A quiet Sunday morning on land but a raging 6.3 knots of currents in the sea at 8:30 am. After cleaning the solar panels and second breakfast, I took a wander to experience a near zero meter low tide at Race Rocks. There are too many wonders to describe or photograph so I will share only one observation: the number of gooseneck barnacles is astounding!

A surge channel lined with gooseneck barnacles

Wildlife notes: 

The lacerated Stellar sealion from yesterday was not seen today. The male elephant seal is progressing with his molt. The most noticeable differences from yesterday are on his face and flippers. The year old elephant seal paid a visit today and enjoyed a sleep on the boat ramp.

Year old female elephant seal

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • clean windows on both houses
  • thistles

Vessels:

15 Ecotourism boats

Weather:

Partly cloudy, WNW 28 in the morning, W 15 in the early evening.

First day of summer

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It is the first day of summer and I am wearing a toque and have a fire going! I heard the fog horn for the first time today. It isn’t very loud and doesn’t appear to disturb the birds – three long blasts (more like beeps) every minute, sounds like a truck backing up.

Wildlife notes: 

The elephant seal is now molting around his face. It appears he is not just losing his hair and a layer of skin but also some of his front whiskers.  No new wildlife sightings today. The sea lions are still away and the geese have left.

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • topped up battery fluid
  • clean and vacuumed the battery room
  • thistles

Vessels:

14 Ecotourism boats

Weather:

Sunny with 10 knot westerlies in the morning building to over 30 in the early evening. Fog rolled in at 1 pm and dissipated by 7pm.