Category Archives: Mammal Notes

Adventures of an Elephant Seal

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This morning the male elephant seal woke up and decided he would cause chaos. Maybe it’s because he’s lonely now that the females have left, or maybe it’s because he gets a kick out of hearing me yell at him from the window.

He started by galumphing straight over a gull nest then stopping to snooze on top of it, which resulted in 2 very upset gulls.

Unimpressed

He then made his way over to the fresh water shed where he proceeded to break into it by knocking down the sawhorse. If it were any other animal my first instinct would be to run outside and chase him off. Since he is a large male elephant seal…I opted for shouting from the kitchen window which did the trick! I could also tell that he was more interested in the sawhorse than anything else so I wasn’t too concerned about any immediate damage to the water tank. 

From the shed he made his way along the side of the house and started to boop his nose towards the propane tanks. Usually I always leave the elephant seals to do as they please, letting nature be nature, but I swear it’s like this seal wants to take down all of the supplies that keep me alive over here! Thankfully he moved on, but stopped shortly after to chew on a pipe that sticks out of the ground. This time I yelled at him from the balcony, as if I was scolding my dog and it worked surprisingly well. He made his way up to the lighthouse and fell asleep next to the stairs where he has remained for the rest of the day.

I hope tomorrow he behaves himself, or goes into the ocean like a normal seal would. Today I felt as though I was babysitting a toddler on a sugar high.

Trouble with a capital T!!!

Vessels:

  • Ecotourism: 3

Weather:

  • Sky: Sun and clouds
  • Wind: Low of 5 knots, High of 21 knots
  • Sea: Whitecaps
  • Temperature: Low 9•C, High 15•C

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

He’s Back!!

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Today was a very low key day as I have been a bit under the weather the past few days. The weather backed me up on this, pouring rain and wind made for the perfect inside day.  Not too many boats on the water today but still a few ecotourism vessels around. 

Anddddd in true Race Rocks fashion, just as I was about to press “publish” on my boring little post above, I heard an elephant seal commotion outside. This isn’t unusual, the two remaining females here often vocalize but I peeked out the window anyway and I’m glad I did. The male elephant seal who I haven’t seen since March has returned and it was like seeing an old friend! Well for me at least… I don’t think he could care less. After chasing the larger of the two females around the grass for a while he has now settled in the grass and pineapple weed outside my front door, the same spot he would lay in March.

He has gained a fair bit of weight, and he towers over the large female who now looks tiny in comparison. His vocalizations are throaty and a much lower pitch than the females. It’s so cool to have him back, I hope he sticks around!

Vessels:

  • Ecotourism: 8 vessels

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy/Rainy, turned to blue sky in the afternoon
  • Wind: Low of 10 knots, High of 17 knots
  • Sea: Whitecaps
  • Temperature: Low 8•C, High 14•C

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

Sunday Update

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There were about 50 sea lions on the rocks out front when I went to sleep last night, and I think all 50 of them decided to be particularly chatty from 4am onward. Needless to say, today ended up being an early morning start for me be but I’m glad it was! I opened my bedroom curtains to find about 15 brown pelicans resting on the rocks outside my window. I crept outside with my camera being careful not to disturb them and then sat on the back porch in the mist and watched them preen and dry their wings. I think I could stare at pelicans forever, they’re such funny looking creatures.

 

The Swiftsure International Yacht Race continued throughout the day with all boats on their way back to Victoria. Unfortunately the wind was at 0 knots and the ebb was strong so some of them appeared to be going backwards. Slowly I watched boat by boat as they admitted defeat, bringing their sails down and starting their engines. A few persevered but the same boat I saw at 7am was still bobbing outside the reserve at 1pm, trying its best to get past the currents.

Back to the animals —we are down to two elephant seals now, just one big and one small female. The gulls have officially started laying eggs which I know because one was dropped outside my front door this morning. They haven’t shown any aggressive behaviour towards me yet but I imagine I’ll be ducking for cover any day now. Ollie is still doing his best to blend in with the harbour seals, his bed of kelp and seaweed looking especially cozy today.

The weather today stayed windless with dark clouds and on/off rain. Quite a few ecotourism vessels passed by today, this time they did not bring the whales with them. Also noted a couple private vessels and one kayaker, all respecting the rules.

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

Killer Whales Everywhere!

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What a killer day!

I think the rainy days might be my favourite so far. This morning it poured with rain as I drank my coffee, the mist hung low around the reserve and I could see the steamy breath of the sea lions as they yelled and yawned.

The ocean surface was glassy, and Ollie casually floated in the water around South Seal Rocks. Sometimes I think that otter has spent so little time around other otters and so much time around pinnipeds that he thinks he is a seal. The seals are completely unbothered by him, just giving him the occasional side eye.

I completed most of my to do list in the rain, which makes the cleaning tasks far easier. Around noon I headed inside to eat and just as I was about to sit down I noticed a few slow moving ecotourism boats in the distance. I ended up eating my lunch with one hand and holding the binoculars in the other to try and figure out what was coming my way. After a few minutes I saw at least 5-6 transients heading towards me so I ran out with my camera. As per usual they stuck to the outside of the reserve, although this time they passed by slightly closer. No hunting today, they were on the move with an adorable baby in tow. Each time it came up for a breath it basically flung it’s entire body out of the water. As I watched them I looked up and a flock of 19 brown pelicans flew over my head, I think the rainy days might be the best for spotting animals!

After that amazing experience, I went back inside to try and sit down yet again. I had barely taken off my shoes when I saw 2 more boats heading my way from the same direction as the previous ones. I pulled the binoculars back out only to find ANOTHER family of 5-6 transients following the same route as the others. These ones came closer and actually cut into the reserve, but not too close, sticking a couple hundred meters behind the South Islands. This family had an even smaller baby with them which was exciting to see. No hunting for these guys either, another quick pass by but I was grateful that it was the closest I’ve seen yet!

At this point I gave up on taking a break for the day. I continued on with my to do list and just as I went down to the jetty to take the salinity and temperature readings, 2 large killer whales popped up 100m in front of me. Of course I didn’t have my camera with me but I’ve never seen orca so close from land before, it was incredible. By the time I sprinted back inside to get my camera they were almost at the outskirts of the reserve. The current was strong so they came up that one time in front of me and by the time they surfaced again they were already out near Turbine Rock where they took another dive and I wasn’t able to spot them again.

Today was unbelievable, I am truly living the dream out here!

Facility Work:

  • Topped up battery electrolytes
  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Cleaned outside windows of both houses
  • Chopped wood and kindling
  • Scrubbed algae off of outer lighthouse stairs
  • Swept/cleaned deasal bunker floor

Vessels:

  • Ecotourism: 15
  • Private: 1

Weather:

  • Sky: Clouds and rain
  • Wind: Low of 1 knot, High of 7 knots
  • Sea: Flat
  • Temperature: Low 8•C, High 13•C

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

So Many Sea Lions!

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I swear the sea lions have doubled in number since yesterday’s census! Or maybe they just ALL decided to hangout around the jetty today. Between the Stellers and the California’s I counted 40 sea lions out front this afternoon! Okay, so maybe they haven’t quite doubled…but there is about 10 more today and that seems significant.

One of the California sea lions had an orange flipper tag with the numbers 14-1 on it. While the Vancouver  Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society uses these tags, this is not the numbering system they use so I’m still on the hunt to find out where he came from. I’ve reached out to a few of my contacts in Washington and California to see if its an American tag but no luck so far. I’ll be sure to update the blog when I find out!

I also noticed a different California sea lion with a large wounded front flipper. The wound was clean and pink with no noted necrosis or signs of infection and he seemed otherwise fat and healthy. All good signs, especially when there is a wound of that size! Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) keeps track of all incidents, disturbances, deaths, injuries, etc when it comes to marine mammals so although this animal doesn’t require intervention I did report it to them so they can add it to their yearly totals. I hope this guy sticks around over the next few weeks so I can observe his healing progress!

Aside from staring at sea lions, I did do some actual work today. While I love how lush and green the site is right now, the plants have overgrown so much that they’ve made some of the paths nearly non existent. I decided to fix that today with a weed whacker which I had way too much fun with. I got a few done and  I still have a few paths to work through, trying my best to only clear the edges and not take away anything that isn’t necessary. We’ve just had so many guests and students this month that I want to ensure everyone actually has a nice path to walk on!

I also found a few new patches of these pretty pink flowers around the house today. It amazes me how many different flowers and plants grow here and I wonder how they got here. Some of them pop up in the most random places so I wonder if they were intentionally planted at one point and have now spread. I enjoy it either way!

Facility Work:

  • Rolled fire hoses
  • Big clean of main house
  • Weed whacked along the paths
  • Cleared out garbage from student house basement

Visitors:

  • Cedric + 2 contractors

Vessels:

– Ecotourism: 7

Weather:

  • Sky: Blue sky, some clouds
  • Wind: Low of 7 knots, High of 17 knots
  • Sea: Relatively calm
  • Temperature: Low 8•C, High 18•C

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

Happy Friday!

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We have been down to just 3 elephant seals the last few days! The two small females and one larger one are still enjoying the grass, however the largest female has not been around in a few days. The last I saw of her was 2 days ago when she was bobbing around in the water behind the student house, so I wonder if she’s just chosen to haul out on one of the surrounding rocks.

Ollie spent his day in the water near Middle Rocks, just floating and looking extra fluffy.

The Stellers were no where to be found today but the California sea lions have spent the week tucked in to the left of the jetty. They must be smarter than they let on because that area is definitely the most protected from the wind. They still require the occasional reminder to stay off the jetty throughout the day but otherwise behave themselves.

California sea lion proudly displaying his snaggle tooth

Lastly on the mammal side of things, the harbour seal numbers seem to have grown since I was here in March and with pupping season just a few weeks away I hope to see that number grow before I leave in June!

There are tons of pigeon guillemots around lately, I love to watch them on the rocks and I think my favourite thing about them is that their feet perfectly match the inside of their mouth. 

Hopefully this wind dies down in the next few days and I can get back to taking more photos!

Facility work:

  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Topped up battery electrolytes

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy, sun and clouds in afternoon
  • Wind: Low of 14 knots, High of 19 knots, gusts up to 30 knots
  • Sea: Small whitecaps
  • Temperature: Low 7•C, High  15•C

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

Monday Update

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Another day of blue sky and sun but unfortunately another day of wind too! 30 knots today and it looks like it will continue through the rest of the week.

Due to the weather I did not see any boats on the water today aside from cruise ships and freighters on the horizon.

I was able to clean all the house windows on the outside before the wind nearly took the brush out of my hand and I had to move onto indoor cleaning and organizing.

When moving the sea lions from the jetty this morning I did notice that one of the California sea lions has what appears to be an old eye injury. His other eye is normal, his body condition is great, and it is overall not concerning.  Just thought it was worth mentioning because it caught my eye – no pun intended.

Not the most eventful day today, but great nonetheless!

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

Sea Otter Facts and Facility Work

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Today was a cloudy and drizzly day but I managed to get a good chunk of work done, all while hanging out with Ollie the sea otter. I think that’s one of the things that makes this place so special is that you can be scrubbing bird poop off solar panels in the rain and look down and see this fuzzy little otter staring up at you. I’ve spent a lot of time working on and around the ocean and never have I experienced wildlife like this.

Since Ollie has been around so much lately I figured I’d make this post a sea otter specific one (since you might find that more interesting than hearing about the fire hoses I rolled).

Sea otters are a keystone species, meaning that other species within the ecosystem largely depend on them and without sea otters there would be drastic changes to those ecosystems. Sea otters predate on sea urchins who graze one kelp. The sea otter’s urchin heavy diet keeps the kelp forests from being decimated by urchins, and as a result kelp forests flourish in the presence of sea otters.

A new otter (not Ollie) with a large red urchin.

 

Ollie wrapped up in the kelp he helps protect

Urchin’s aren’t the only thing sea otters eat, you’ll also find them munching on clams, crabs, mussels, and other marine invertebrates. Adult sea otters need to eat a quarter of their weight in food a day. To put that into perspective – if you weigh 150 pounds, you’d have to eat almost 40 pounds of food PER DAY!

Picking out his next snack

Sea otters do not have blubber like other marine mammals do, instead they have the densest fur of any mammal, with up to one million hairs per square inch! If they aren’t busy eating, then they are busy grooming. That much fur takes a lot of upkeep and is their only source of insulation. The constant grooming traps air and heat next to the skin, preventing the skin from getting wet and keeping them warm in the process.

Ollie grooming his hind flippers

Ollie, Race Rock’s resident sea otter, is one of few sea otters seen this far south in BC. He is easily recognized by his light blonde head and by the pink scar on his nose. He’s adored by many, and any day I encounter him I consider to be a great day!

Now onto the less adorable items…

Facility Work:

  • Filled cistern, fresh water flushed the pump, rolled and stored fire hoses
  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Cleaned windows of both houses
  • Chopped firewood
  • Ran an equalization charge of the batteries
  • Mopped basement floor

Vessel Traffic:

  • 1 ecotourism vessel
  • 3 private vessels

Infractions:

  • 1 rental boat fishing within the reserve despite multiple communication attempts. Informed the local marina and reported to DFO

Weather:

    • Sky: Overcast, on/off rain
    • Wind: High of 4 knots, Low of 19 knots
    • Sea: Calm
    • Temperature: Low 9, High  11oC

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

Friday Update

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The Steller sea lions have taken over the rocks to the right of the jetty which has resulted in the California sea lions inconveniently taking over the jetty and spilling over into the rocks on the left. Usually a calm and careful walk down the jetty clears them off but by the time I get back to the shed they are already back. Some seem to learn quicker than others or are more fearful of humans so those ones find themselves a new spot right away. However there are always a few stragglers that don’t seem to care in the slightest which results in me taking many trips down to the end of the jetty and back.

When I’m here I try to do everything in my power to not disrupt the animals, however it’s important to keep the jetty clear for when our boat arrives as well as for emergencies. It can also be dangerous at a very low tide if there are sea lions on the jetty and something spooks them. It’s a long drop into very shallow or no water and when something sets them off they seem to react first, think later. So really, a clear jetty is for both human and animal safety. Thankfully there are plenty of other areas for them to snooze and sunbathe and eventually they get tired of seeing me on the jetty and find themselves a safer place to relax.

Ollie spent his day in the kelp beds behind the student house again, grooming and sleeping before moving onto the rocks to settle onto a not so comfy looking bed of mussels.

The same 4 female elephant seals are still here. Elephant seals go through something called a catastrophic moult each year where they shed their fur as well as their top layer of skin. It’s quite common to see these guys looking pretty rough but all 4 of the ones that are currently here appear to be in good condition.

Facility Work:

  • Topped up battery electrolytes
  • Started filling the cistern, it is very low so I plan to run the pump tomorrow too

Vessel Traffic:
– 1 ecotourism vessel
– 2 cruise ships on the horizon and multiple freighters/tankers

Visitors:
– Cedric to help me fill the cistern and with a few other tasks around the site

Weather:
Sky: Sun and clouds
Wind: High of 10 knots, Low of 6 knots
Sea: Calm
Temperature: Low 7, High  13oC

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

Animal census April 14/2024

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SUNDAY 14 April
Internet restored by IT Dan by 1200.
1330 from tower:
Mammals: 51 seals on South Islands; 2 on Middle Rocks + 1 on West Rock. 27 sealions on Race
Rocks; 9 on Middle Rocks; 2 on West Rocks. 
Young Elephant seal observed heading to water; not seen rest of day.

Birds:
22 cormorants

 

Weather: Sunny with lots of solar power generated. Lowered flag. Gale force winds by mid-
afternoon; big blow all night.