Category Archives: Mammal Notes

College Collaboration

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Ecological Notes:

  • 1 Female Elephant Seal
  • 1 Near-Adult Male elephant seal
  • 1 (sex to be determined) tagged Elephant Seal, sized as a near adult Female, or juvenile male

  • Elephant Seal pups: 3, spending most of their time on the boat ramp, with visits to the water
  • 2 Canada Goose nests now have eggs

Visitors:

  • 5 Students, and one of the owners of the WestCoast Adventure College spent 3 days at the Student and Science Centre, doing a Marine Mammals of the Salish Sea Program with the Eco-Guardian, as well as a thorough introduction to the operations of the facility.
  • A Group form the Beecher Bay First Nations visited to see the facility and the Student And Science Centre

Facility Work:

  • As part of the Community Involvement portion of their program the WAC students helped with Facility duties, including the animal census, solar panel cleaning, and helping to move driftwood from the lower area to the bucking area ….. some were particularly interested in learning the day to day tasks of operations. Future Eco-Guardians??

WestCoast Adventure College students with their Marine Mammal Instructor

Conducting the Animal Census for the tower

Bird Poop 101

Ready to buck and split

  • Battery servicing

DND events:

  • Ongoing detonations

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Eco-Tourism Vessels
  • Some private vessels viewing wildlife

** 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?

Vessel Visitors

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Ecological Notes:

  • 3 Elephant Seal pups, camping out at the top end of the pier, with occasional visits to the water

Facility Work/Activity:

  • The sawbuck turns out very nice for bucking logs.

  • Stripping down, pressure washing and cleaning of the Natures Head from the main house, awaiting a new seal for between the halves
  • More nook and cranny clean up

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 2 Ecotourism Vessels
  • 1 Sailboat did a pass on the outside, then back towards Victoria through middle channel (past the pier)

  • A private vessel spent time in middle channel, doing wedding photos with the main island and the lighthouse in the background

 Noted Infractions:

  • 1 vessel from a local boat charter company fishing in the reserve. No response to radio contact. When I contacted the charter company, they were already watching the boat on the RR web cam and trying to contact them….. they left shortly after the phone call.

Weather Events:

  • Saturday, March18:
    • Sky: Clear and Sunny, full visibility
    • Wind: ENE 5 kts, rising to 15 kts mid day, veering to S and dropping back to low late afternoon
    • Sea: rippled
    • Temperature Low 6oC, High 11oC
  • Sunday, March 19:
    • Sky: High overcast, full water level visibility
    • Wind: NE 15 kts,veering to N and dropping to 0 kts by evening
    • Sea:  Flat calm
    • Temperature Low 8oC, High 11oC

 

 

** 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?

Pinniped Notes

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Ecological Notes:

  • All 3 Adult Female Elephant seals have left the island, occasionally showing up late at night, bellowing from the high points of the island for a couple hours, then returning to the ocean. I wonder if they are calling out looking for males?
  • The 3 Elephant Seal pups have formed their own little pack and have been spending time”wrestling” and exploring the small standing fresh water pond. They also have been exploring the mud flats to the north of the house, looking out towards the water. In past years, they have followed adults down to the water via the boat ramp, but haven’t seemed to explore that way yet.

Meeting at the scratching branch

“This is our Ocean!” (not really, it’s just a mud puddle)

“The real ocean is out there….. but how do we get to it?”

  • Big Male Steller Sea Lions have pretty much taken over the prime area of rock by the crane shed. The largest each take their own rock, and are surround by smaller ones that look to me like females. Remembering that in December, I photographed 4 different females nursing young here at Race Rocks.

  • Female Steller nursing a pup!

A couple California Sea Lions in this one, but normally just big males Stellers and smaller Stellers (females?)

  • There are fewer California sea lions around, but there are reports of many hauled out at Trial Island, which has not been seen for many years.

Visitors:

  • Quick visit from Pearson staff with family members
  • Due to weather, just a quick touch and go from the waterfront coordinator for deliveries

Facility Work:

  • Swapped tires and rims off a hand truck to the pressure washer trolley while repairing the ones off the trolley
  • Gradual pressure washing of paths and grime on buildings

DND events:

  • Ongoing Detonations

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Limited Eco-Tourism in some of the weather breaks

 Feature Event:

  •  none

Weather Events:

  • Previous week was a full range of cold wind, light snow, and rain squalls
  • Saturday , February 25:
    • Sky: Overcast with Sunny Breaks
    • Wind: E to NE – 5 – 12 kts
    • Sea: 1 meter waves most of the day
    • Temperature Low -1oC, High 4oC
  • Sunday, February 26:
    • Sky: Full mix of sun, cloud, and overcast as the system moves through rapidly, including mixes of sleet and hail
    • Wind: W 35-40kts, dropping over the day to 1o kts
    • Sea:  1 meter waves in the morning, flattening as the day progressed
    • Temperature Low 1oC, High 6oC

 

 

** 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?

Biggs Orca Visit

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(trouble adding photos, will try to add more later)

Ecological Notes:

  • 1 Female Elephant Seal (mom #3), still nursing her pup
  • 1 Female Elephant Seal (mom #2) visiting nightly, bellowing loudly for a few hours, then normally leaving by morning.
  • 3 Elephant Seal pups, 1 nursing, 2 weened
  • Biggs (Transient) Orca family, T041s visited at twilight on Tuesday, milling for a long time around the Harbour Seal haul out on the south rock. They also circled the main island twice.

T041 and her daughter T041A, 2 others not in this photo as well

 

Facility Work:

  • Weekly battery maintenance
  • Main generator oil and filters changed
  • Pressure washed some slippery walk sections, and some main house windows.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Eco-tourism vessels
  • 1 Eco-tourism vessel visited a few times as a boat based classroom

 

  • Cedric, from the Pearson College waterfront team, visited the reserve with a friend by kayak, but did not come ashore.

 

Weather Events:

  • Monday, February 13:
    • Sky: Overcast with lots of high cloud cover rolling through
    • Wind: WSW 25-30 kts, veering to W35-45 kts later in the afternoon, gusting to 55 kts
    • Sea: 1-2 meter waves with chop on top
    • Temperature Low 5oC, High 9oC
  • Tuesday, February 14:
    • Sky: Mostly overcast, low clouds to the south
    • Wind: 5-10 kts, N veering around to S during the day
    • Sea: 2′ chop
    • Temperature Low 5oC, High 8oC
  • Wednesday, February 15:
    • Sky: Light high overcast, with sunny breaks
    • Wind: S 0-5 kts, backing to E late afternoon
    • Sea:  light chop
    • Temperature Low 5oC, 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

 

Cold and Clear

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Ecological Notes:

 

  • 3 female Elephant Seals (mom #1 returned in the night)
  • 3 Elephant Seal pups. Pup #1, born Dec 26, 2022, is independent, not associating directly with mom #1

  • Relative rare sighting of a Sanderling

Black Oystercatchers feeding

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 3 Eco-Tourism Vessels

Weather Events:

  • Yesterday (Sunday January 29):
    • Sky: Sunny and clear
    • Wind: NNE 15kts shifting to NE later in the day
    • Sea: Rippled, no swell or waves
    • Temperature Low 1oC, High 6oC
  • Today (Monday January 30):
    • Sky: Mostly clear with some clouds, very slight overall haze, full light overcast by afternoon
    • Wind: NNE 10 kts , veering to SSE in the afternoon
    • Sea: Rippled, no swell or waves
    • Temperature Low 0oC, High 3oC – although wind speed is low, there is definitely a wind chill factor
    • Standing “fresh” water pools are all frozen

 

** 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?

Third Elephant Seal Pup

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Ecological Notes:

  • 2 female Elephant Seals (first mom has left the island for now)
  • 3 Elephant Seal pups, 3rd one born just before sunrise on Jan 26th, one month after the first pup was born

Visitors:

  • 36 Pearson College students, (over 6 trips) with their instructor

  • The Marine and Seafront Operations Coordinator transported students, groceries, parcels, and supplies.

Facility Work:

  • Replaced the motherboard on the Desalinator (again) as the last one was defective

Concentrate outflow from the Desalinator

  • After the first run, the main unit was due for an oil change, completed for the  high pressure pump.
  • Pacing myself on bucking, splitting and moving firewood

DND events:

  • Several detonations over a couple days. No disturbance noted.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 4 Eco-Tourism vessels
  • 3  private vessels

 Feature Event:

  •  Checking heater tapes and heaters preparing for possible freezing weather.
  • Stored some extra tap water for dishes and washing, in case the lines freeze again

Not for drinking!

Weather Events:

  • Yesterday (Friday January 27):
    • Sky: Overcast
    • Wind: Variable 5-15 kts
    • Sea: rippled to 1 meter chop
    • Temperature Low 6oC, High 9oC
  • Today (Saturday January 28):
    • Sky: Overcast in the morning, afternoon, clear and sunny to overcast in the evening
    • Wind: E 5 to 15 knots in the morning,increasing to northeast 15 to 25 near noon and to NE 40+ kts in the evening
    • Sea:  1-2 meter waves and chop
    • Temperature Low  5oC, High 8 oC

 

** 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?

Students Visiting the Elephant Seals

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** Server not allowing photo uploads, will try to add later

Ecological Notes:

  • 2 Adult  Female Elephant Seals, 1 expecting, 1 with calf below
  • 1  Elephant Seal Pup, 2 weeks old
  • 1 Juvenile Male Elephant Seal (yearling?). He is determined to be with the others, but they keep chasing him away. He does a big loop around the flagpole mound and returns
  • Still finding gull remains from the Eagle hunts, but have also seen the eagles swoop diving on the Turnstones as well
  • Have seen all 3 types of Cormorants this last week – Pelagic, Double Crested, and Brandt’s 
  • Most gulls present are  Iceland (formerly Thayer’s)
  • Thanks to Ann Nightingale for helping me to learn to ID more birds!

Visitors:

  • Cedric brought 2 groups of 6 students with their Teacher over to see and learn about the Elephant Seals and pup

Weather Events:

  • Primarily N/NE winds for the last week, overcast with lots of snow
  • Tuesday January 10:
    • Sky: Slight haze, light haze, mostly sunny in the morning
    • Wind: N/NE winds 10-15 Kts in the morning
    • Sea: Flat calm
    • Temperature Low 7 oC, High 9 oC
  • Wednesday January 11:
    • Overcast with a mix of sunny periods
    • Wind: N/NE 10-20kts
    • Sea:  1 meter waves
    • Temperature Low 8oC, High  10oC

 

 

 

Weather – Current:

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

 

Weather – Past:

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

Happy Holidays

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Wishing everyone the best of the holiday season, in what ever way is important to you!

For me it means Merry Christmas from Race Rocks.

 

Ecological Notes:

  • A quick visit from a very skittish Yearling Elephant Seal pup, came and departed quite fast.
  • The large Female Elephant Seal was less mobile the last couple days, but still very vocal. It appears as though she is calling out and still looking for others. She spends a lot of time very near the house, and vocalizes a lot as I come as go …. not aggressively though.

Visitors:

  • The Waterfront Coordinator did a touch and go to drop off groceries and parcels.

Facility Work:

  • With the snow gone, able to us the pathways to move fuel and supplies around again, and restock the back up supplies in the proper locations.
  • As the water system was frozen for a few days, all waterlines were checked for damage as they thawed.
  • There is a “weak link” in the toilet unit in the student and science center. When the unit is closed incorrectly, there is a part that breaks (this has happened 3 times). I reverse engineered the part, starting with a sketch and measurements and made a new part using a 3d printer. The challenge is that if it is re-enforced to much, it could cause a different, more difficult part to break ….. but at least the part can be replaced without waiting for a new part to be shipped.

 

Weather Events:

  • Saturday December 24:
    • Sky: Overcast with occasional showers
    • Wind: N/NE winds 20-30 Knt shifting to some S/SE winds
    • Sea: 1 meter swells
    • Temperature Low 4 oC, High 8 oC
  • Sunday December 25:
    • Overcast with occasional showers
    • Wind:N/NE 20-30knts, shifting all the way around to Westerlies
    • Sea:  1 – 2 meter waves
    • Temperature Low  5oC, High  9oC
  • Tower weather electronics are still down, so wind numbers are estimates.

 

 

** 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?

Snow Receding

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Ecological Notes:

  • The California Sea Lions have made themselves at ease in the snow.

  • The large female Elephant Seal was very active and vocal today. She spent much of her time ,moving around the center of the island, from high spot to high spot, lifting high as though she was looking for something, all the while bellowing and “calling”
  • A first for me, while I had the camera out with the long lens, I saw a female Steller Sea Lion nursing  pup! With further scanning with the camera, I found 3 other nursing pairs.

    Female Steller nursing a pup!

  • I have been doing water-based tours of the area for nearly 20 years and  had noticed there were a lot more small sealions than I had ever seen here at Race Rocks. 

Facility Work:

  • Although shoveling the snow was futile, I’ve managed to cut tracks now so that I don’t have to wander too much to get from location to location!
  • With too much snow on the paths from the drifts, resorted to moving fuel old school in fuel cans.

  • Water is still frozen, but checked the heat tapes to make sure they were still working

Weather Events:

  • Thursday December 22:
    • Sky: Overcast with occasional flurries and freezing rain
    • Wind: N/NE winds 20-30 Knt
    • Sea: 1 meter swells
    • Temperature Low -8 oC, High -3 oC
  • Friday December 23:
    • Overcast 
    • Wind: ENE  to N mid-day 30knts, then back to ENE 10-15knots in the evening
    • Sea:  1 – 2 meter waves
    • Temperature Low  -1oC, High  3oC
    • Some snow melting
  • Tower weather electronics are still down, so wind numbers are estimates.

 

 

** 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?