We said good-bye (for now) to Jeremias and Abi on Monday. It was great having them on the island, helping with the chores and sharing their interest in this amazing place. I am here for another couple of weeks or so, and so have undertaken a new project to rejuvenate the large compost bins near the ecoguardian’s residence. The weather has shifted from the calm and beautiful days on the weekend to more typical wind and fog of “Fogust”.
Ecological Notes:
The elephant seals continue, much to the delight of the ecotourism boat operators who always check out the ramp for them.
Steller and California sea lion numbers are still on the rise. I’m looking forward to a good count on this week’s census.
Black Turnstones dominate the east bay, with high numbers still continuing. About 200 are on the island in the late afternoon.
Many of the young Glaucous-winged Gulls are stretching their wings, jumping into the wind in preparation for their first flights.
Harbour porpoises, including one with a youngster, were seen on August 8. No whale sightings in this report, but only one day of visibility was a factor.
Weather:
Yesterday (Monday, Aug 8)
Sky: Clear and sunny all day
Wind: Variable 4 to 29 kts
Sea conditions: rippled to light chop
Temperature: Low 13 oC, High 22 oC
Today (Tuesday, Aug 9)
Sky: Heavy fog in the morning and late afternoon. Partially cloudy for a few hours mid-day.
Wind: W 11 to 26 kts
Sea conditions: unknown to 3′ seas late afternoon
Temperature: Low 12 oC, High 16 oC
Visitors:
Volunteers Abi and Jeremias departed Monday morning.
Facility Work:
Solar panels cleaned; electric fence checked and in good condition. Battery bank checked and topped up with distilled water on Monday. Generator was run during fog on Tuesday morning to top up battery levels. Compost rejuvenation project got underway.
Vessel Traffic:
Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve. More alumni from Pearson College toured the area on Tuesday. Cruise ship traffic is picking up.
Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.
Farewell to Jeremias and Abi. Safe journeys ahead!
Thanks to everyone on the island and the transport team for a wonderful welcome back. It’s been a year, and my brain is spinning with things I think I should remember and new things to learn. I will be posting many bird sightings to the Race Rocks hotspot (Race Rocks, Capital District, BC, CA – eBird Hotspot) on eBird during my stay here. I really like Nick’s succinct summaries and will be following his format for the most part. I will also be updating a personal blog with many more words and photos here: http://nightingaleadventures.blogspot.com/
Ecological Notes:
The large elephant seal remained onshore on Aug 4, but headed to the ramp and nearby waters much to the joy of whale watching boats on Aug 5. There is at least one young elephant seal still in the area as well, and it made its way almost to the lighthouse on Aug 5.
Steller and California sea lion numbers are growing with several groups of Californias now being seen around the island. Next week’s census should be considerably different than last week’s.
Brown Pelicans continue to be seen with a group of 10 heading west in late afternoon Aug 5.
California Gulls are clustering on the south part of the island. I’m expecting these numbers to increase over the next weeks.
Three Heermann’s Gulls were with California Gulls on Aug 4.
A flock of about 15 Barn Swallows headed south over the west side of the island mid-morning on Aug 5.
One humpback whale was seen in the company of whale watching vessels south of the island on the morning of Aug 5.
Weather:
Yesterday (Aug 4)
Sky: Overcast in the morning, clearing in the afternoon
Wind: W 16-25 kts
Temperature: Low 13 oC, High 16 oC
Today (Aug 5)
Sky: Clear, except for fog that rolled in for about two hours in the morning
Wind: Variable from ESE 3 to W 21 kts
Temperature: Low 11 oC, High 20 oC
Visitors:
Volunteers Abi and Jeremias continue. Garry Fletcher arrived with Greg and Ann for the Ecoguardian changeover on Aug 4.
Facility Work:
Solar panels cleaned; electric fence checked and repaired as required.
Vessel Traffic:
Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve.
Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.
Changing of the eco-guard. Nick leaving, Ann arriving.
Glaucous-winged Gulls are ferocious protectors of their young.
California Gulls amassing at the southwest corner of Great Race
Sharing a meal- Glaucous-winged Gulls
During breeding season, the mouth lining and feet of the Pigeon Guillemot become bright red.
Pigeon Guillemots in flight.
Not birds–flies! The quantity of organic matter on the island attracts a lot of them.
Surfbirds
Black Oystercatcher family
One of 15 migrating Barn Swallows over Race Rocks on Aug 5.
Do you really want to fight a sea lion for a meal?
Although they have been courting for a while, starting to see the first of the gulls actually making nests
I thought the Canada Geese were done with nests for the season, but found this hidden nest after moving a propane tank
The Oyster Catchers are starting to protect there chosen nest areas, and are really vocal and aggressive to anything coming near.
A lifetime on the ocean for me, and the first time I saw one of these ….. A Lancet fish. He was looking physically good, but having trouble swimming and kept coming in to the shore … I got in the water and walked him out and did a fisherman’s revive for about 15 minutes, then he finally swam away …. Not sure if he’ll make it, but still worth the effort!
Facility Work:
Attempted to replace the pressure pump for the desalinator, but something is not right and we decided to bring in the pump professional.
DND events:
3 separate days of detonations
Noted Vessel Traffic:
More private, and commercial ecotourism vessels visiting.
Noted Infractions:
One large Ecotourism Vessel entered the reserve a little fast, but this was a vessel that is normally exemplary in their behavior, so probably a temporary oversight. Discussed it informally with a manager from the company.
Weather Events:
Again, quite the mix of spring weather
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
After finishing my term at Race Rocks on April 19, there was an unexpected schedule change and I was asked to return on April 30. It took a little quick re-arranging, but I was able to help out!
Always a relaxing view
Ecological Notes:
5 Elephant Seals on land, 4 in the process of molting.
This year’s only surviving pup is still around with occasional 1 or 2 day ventures out and back
Although the adult Canada Geese are still around, there is only one pair still sitting on a nest. No other chicks around.
There are a few sealions returning to the ramp area, but none are hauling out on the actual rocks they normally do … and they all seem very nervous. Just speculation(!), but they all left the main island rock the day the Orca hunted one just of the island.
Visitors:
One of the previous Ecoguardian’s friend came out for a quick visit when we were doing the exchange.
Facility Work:
More path cleaning, fence repairs and general maintenance.
Noted Vessel Traffic:
Gradual increase in the volume of Eco-Tourism vessels coming to the reserve, depending on wind direction.
A few kayaks and even some sailboats making their way around the island.
Feature Event:
When I was here last time, I designed and prototyped some simple electric fence connectors. The ideas was for something fast and simple to use when the weather was bad, or to quickly secure the fence, followed by the ability to return later and re-enforce it with a wired secure.
The ones installed 3 months ago were all in place, so I have made some more. They are made with plant-based resin, and most likely, they will always be replaced before they fail completely.
Also making some gifts for co-workers, and teaching props while I have a printer here with me.
Weather Events:
The full range of late spring weather and temperatures. Wind days up to 50 knots,a and some shorts and t-shirt days mixed in.
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
The Beachmaster (Bernard) has left the island, most likely for one more big feed before molting
2 Adult females, both starting their molt
2 new (to me) animals here, either very large pups, or small yearlings …. waiting to see if they do a normal molt.
The only remaining pup that was born here has completed it’s first baby fur molt, and has been tentatively exploring the area by the pier, when encouraged by another new pup I don’t recognize
Tentative first tries
Meeting a new buddy
Moved into the water while he had support
3 known Canada geese nests now, one was right by the door to the house. The gulls robbed all the eggs though, so I dismantled that nest so that they would build somewhere else.
Protective, even from a distance
Photo taken later, and cropped
Gulls and Black Oyster Catchers are pretty much all paired up now, although I have not seen any nests yet as it’s still a bit early in the season
Visitors:
4 contractors stayed for 2 days to work on the solar power system
3 guests of the Ecoguardian over 2 different time slots
College instructors and their guests came for a brief visit and overview of the reserve
Facility Work:
Replacement of damaged solar panels
added a new array or 4 panels
redid most of the wiring involved
New mounts and panels
The four added panels
There was an immediate improvement to the system, resulting in a reduction of generator fuel use by about 1/3. This will only improve as the days get longer and brighter.
Visiting guests aided the ecoguardian in some tasks better accomplished by have some else there for safety and/or lifting. (including log and firewood prep and other wastewood and equipment moving and stacking.) they also helped with pressure washing.
Safer to cut down on the rocky shore with someone here with me
Pressure washing the walks and decks
Helping with wood
DND events:
3 or 4 days of the regular blasting, with safety vessels and Marine Mammal Observers present.
Noted Vessel Traffic:
Ecotourism vessels are gearing up for the season and visit on a regular basis, often reporting the location of the sea otter and injured or entangled animals to the ecoguardian.
2 jet skis in today … a little loud running against the current, but they kept proper speeds
Noted Infractions:
Only one private fishing vessel in the reserve noted.
Feature Event:
Spring is in full swing. Flowers are blooming, the pineapple weed is growing and of course the birds are all in courting behavior.
Pineapple Weed
Weather Events:
very typical mix of spring weather …..wind from all directions on any given day, mix of sun, clouds and rain squalls.
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
The Male Beachmaster (Bernard), 2 Adult Females, and 1 weened Male “pup” (very large now!)
Traffic Jam at the ramp …… we’ll all just have a nap!
“I’m cool if you’re cool”
The last pup had grown to almost double the size he was when I got here, and I had hoped to report he was doing well, but unfortunately the nature and the Beachmaster had other plans. The (female)pup passed suddenly about a week ago and was returned to the sea today. Samples were taken for analysis, including hopefully testing for DNA to check paternity.
1 California Sea Lion noted with rope entanglement. He is surprisingly active for the depth of the wound. Reported to the Marine Mammal hotline.
On a more positive note, the Black Oystercatchers are paring off, and some Gulls are wondering around showing off nice clumps of grass they have collected to whoever will notice.
“See my stuff????”
Visitors:
A couple of visits from the shorefront coordinator, delivering groceries, parcels, diesel fuel, and parts for repairs.
Facility Work:
After a couple attempts to repair the existing connections from the outside line to the pump, it was decided to just replace and simplify the pipes ….. to a final success.
Lots of extra pieces and leaks!
Much neater ….. when we change the copper, the pump will be mounted on the tank properly.
Repaired the VHF Antenna on the main house, applied tape to hopefully stop it from vibrating the threads free in the wind.
comes off after repeated exposure to winds
DND events:
On and off all week, except the weekend of course
Noted Vessel Traffic:
Several Ecotourism vessels enjoying the sights and sounds of the reserve.
Responsible viewing and educating
With the nicer weather, several kayaks and outrigger canoes have looped out around the reserve, experienced paddlers who all stayed out of the main channel in the reserve where currents can be strong.
Noted Infractions:
Some private fishing very close to the reserve, but measurements with a laser rangefinder suggest they were just outside the 40M depth contour.
Weather Events:
A mixture of winds, but mostly light days with mostly sun for the last couple days.
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Race Rocks is a wealth of biodiversity, and an amazing place to get to spend any amount of time. Despite the huge amount of wildlife that spend time on Race Rocks over the winter, it can feel a little quiet. Not last week!
We were super lucky getting some of the Pearson College students out despite COVID lockdowns on Campus, this is always one of the highlights of our time at Race Rocks! The kids always have the best questions and remind me why I pursued the life I live now. Any opportunity to share the joy and smells of Race Rocks.
Pearson Students getting Elephant Seal 101. Photo by Laura Verhegge
After the final group of students left, we got a surprise visit from DFO via their helicopter coming by for a socially-distanced visit. We had a helicopter buzzing us throughout the week, and it wasn’t until it landed at the end of the week we realized that was most likely the crew checking out the island, seals, and heli-pad. The elephant seals clearly weren’t fans of the helicopter. Interesting-ly the idling helicopter covers the same sound frequencies the Beachmaster uses to drum his dominance. Our Beachmaster tried drumming at the intruder, but he couldn’t overpower the sound and decided that abandoning his harem and a trip into the ocean was preferable to hanging out with a helicopter.
The next day we woke up to a new female Elephant Seal! We suspect this seal was Tyra from last year, going off her scar patterns and BEAUTIFUL eyes. At this point in the season we have expectations for these seals: they come ashore, hang out for 5 days, give birth, nurse for 21 days, mate and leave. Tyra was a reminder that we don’t really know that much about these mysterious animals. She came ashore, mated, and left. She looked great, very plump. I am really quite surprised. Maybe not all pregnancies come to term, and in that light her behaviour actually makes a lot of sense. She needs to come ashore when a Beachmaster is ready to mate, and if she doesn’t have a pup to birth then there really isn’t a reason to stick around and wait until it’s time to moult.
Tyra returning to Race Rocks to visit the Beachmaster. All hail the Beachmaster!
And we had a new pup born! I told you lots happened. Rhi-Rhi has been ashore since January 25th and slipped out a new pup this morning. The new pup is super chirpy, and very mobile; it had a very ‘rolled up’ vibe directly after being born, with curled fingernails and it’s giant flippers wrapped around itself. We expect her to nurse until the 22nd of February, but clearly I need to stop trying to predict what these animals are going to do.
Rhi-Rhi inspecting her newborn pup.
Facility Work:
Race Rocks has a Boston Whaler from it’s Coast Guard era that can be used in case of an emergency. During a very low tide we figured this was the ideal time to re-spool the twisted up cable used to launch the boat. While it’s easy to think that emergencies never happen, it’s great to know that in that hypothetical situation the boat will be able to be launched on any tide without any problems. Big thanks to the previous Eco-Guardians who did some great boat maintenance!
DND events:
Lots of blasting over the last week, some of the Pearson College students were definitely surprised.
Elephant Seals seem happiest when all smushed up against each other.
Feature Event:
We had someone report a wayward Elephant Seals wandering around Sturdees Beach & the Gorge vale Golf Club. This fits very well with the theme of ‘we don’t really know much about Elephant Seals’ and thought it would be worth mentioning. As the Northern Elephant Seal population continues to recover, hopefully we’ll all get to experience more Elephant Seals in British Colombia, and sometimes that might be a returning pup who hasn’t really figured out the timing of things yet. They’re really remarkable animals, who spend a very small proportion of their time (<10%) above the water Over the last 2 years there have been wayward pups reported crawling around in areas where they were not wanted, these little seals are just looking for some place safe to moult and head back into the ocean. This is one of the parts that makes Race Rocks such an important place for these animals: a place on land where the seals can hang out and sleep without being disturbed: their time on land relies on them fasting for weeks on end losing up to 40% of their body weight during these stints. Every time they get woken up or stressed that is another drain on their limited energy available, leading to the first couple of years where mortality can be up to 75%.
A wayward elephant seal pup at Christie Point, photos by Dorothy Chambers
The silver colouration shows this wayward pup has already moulted, so probably from last years birthing season. While we would expect pups to return to Race Rocks to moult, we don’t really know how they return to the same areas, and they may just try out new areas at different times; or just get lost.
We have a new female Elephant Seal on Race Rocks! While she looks suspiciously like one of the returning mothers, without a tag it is hard to tell. She was thoroughly investigated by our local Beachmaster, and sassed Mikey for getting too close. Mikey seems to have learned his lesson to stay out the Beachmasters way, after a few small bites Mikey is now quite mobile and has learned the paths on the island to avoid further conflict.
Lil Blasty in one of the few moments not blasting squawks.
As for the other Elephant Seal Pup: named Nereo by it’s mothers namesake, but I have been referring to it as ‘Lil Blasty’ due to his extreme volume while ‘chirping’. The current theory is that Elephant Seal moms and pups learn each others vocalizations to identify each other, and regardless of the background noise present, they seem to always vocalize at the same volume.
Jocelyn’s vocalizations come in around 50-70db, where Lil Blasty is clocking in at 100-110db with his vocalizations. For reference: WCB recommends not being exposed to over 85db for prolonged times due to hearing damage. It definitely hurts to be outside when he’s shrieking.
The Beachmaster being grumpy that no one wants to mate with him.
Facility Work:
We bucked up the logs that were snagged over the last week, and got them off the boat/seal ramp. Heavy algae growth over the last 2 weeks so we’re started pressure washing the algae to keep things from getting too slipper.
DND events:
Canada’s Navy has started doing tester laps outside of Esquimalt.
Feature Event:
Mikey has learned to avoid the Beachmaster when he’s on the prowl, and decided to explore off the beaten path to avoid any conflict. We suspected he would fall off the ‘mountain’ climbed today, but displayed some remarkable manoeuvrability for a chubby little seal.
Mikey mountain-climbing.
A hallmark of the maturing pup is the wear-pattern on their chins. The chin is a key instrument for Elephant Seal locomotion: where they re-arrange their belly by lifting it up with their chin. The chin can also work to level the seals bulk up onto rocks, steps, and rough terrain.
Mikey starting to show his all-important chin patch.
Weather Events:
January means the start of some epic sunsets.
The last couple of days the temperature has dropped down to 4°C with light N winds around 10-15knots. This is log weather.
Typically the newborn Elephant Seals don’t move their heads around much after birth, but this new pup seems to have something to prove.
Jocelyn decided to give birth this morning, after spending 5 days sussing out the island. This is the same time spent on land as the other mom this breeding season, and the same timeline this seal had last year. These seals having remarkably consistent timing!
The new pup seems incredibly well developed and mobile, and immediately after getting born started squawk-chirping this our resident wean-ling Mikey. While some Elephant Seal mom’s can be very protective of their young, Jocelyn seems very chill about having another pup hanging out around her.
Our current Elephant Seal family, not shown here the grumpy Beachmaster who only wants to mate. Shows the difference between a newborn pup and a 28 day old weanling.
Mikey is all on his own, exploring the island mouth-first and trying to avoid running into the angry Beachmaster.
Ecological Notes:
Beverly wrapped up her time nursing her pup, mated a couple of times, and headed back to the open ocean to recover her lost weight. She spent 27 days on land, nursing her pup for 21 days, the exact same number of days as last year. She has remarkably consistent timing.
Beverly and Micheal Day 1. Starting around 500kg she’ll end up losing around 200kg throughout nursing.
Beverly and Micheal Day 21. Beverly has lost around 40% of her weight throughout nursing.
The next working we woke up to the bellowing of a new pregnant elephant seal, timing and characteristics point to this seal being Jocelyn (another return from last year), but she is not tagged, so we’re guessing that it’s her by comparing photos of identifying scars. This is a day later than she showed up last year, and we’re excited at the prospect of another elephant seal pup! After 5 pups last year the thought of only having one pup born here was pretty disappointing.
The seal we suspect is Jocelyn, she is soooo big I’m surprised she could make it up the ramp.
For those interested, the Beachmaster mated with Beverly 27 times 4 days (that were noticed/documented). It’s an impressive feat for sure, but seems to depend on the exhaustion that sets in towards the end of nursing. On bigger beaches a Bachmaster can have a harmem of 30-100 females, so only having 1 or 2 females to mate with could be related to our males ‘vigour’.
Elephant Seal mating can be pretty unpleasant to watch sometimes, but it’s clearly a method that works for them or the population wouldn’t have recovered from near-extinction.
Facility Work:
After last weeks 50 knot blasting, we spent this week repairing the electric fence and picking up the pieces that blew off the buildings. We’ve had some massive high tides, as well as some logs piling up on the jetty. I’m still unsure what the actualy conditions are that contribute to the log pileup, but we made sure to snag some good looking firewood logs for next winters Eco-Guardians.
Beverly navigating the log-jam on the boat ramp.
DND events:
2 days with blasting since the last update, but it’s been very quiet. We did see Coast Guard heading offshore during the big blows, practice makes perfect!
Flat calm weather and winds under 3 knots have been delightful the last couple of nights. We’re still trying to figure out how you can get a crystal clear sky, and enough fog to set off the fog horn…
Last weeks wind scouring led to this weeks flat calm, perfect time to pick up the pieces and get ready for whenever the next storm rolls through.
Weaning for Elephant Seals consists of abandoning their pups on the beach. Mikey didn’t enjoy that much, and screamed for the whole first night before accepting his independence.
