Category Archives: Marine Vessels

Flowers, Birds, and Stuff

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 0-5 knots East, later up to 20 from the West.
  • Sky: sunny
  • Water: calm
Blurry like a painting 2

Blurry like a painting!

Ecological

  • I believe there are at minimum 3 elephant seals out on Middle Rock, perhaps 5.
  • The seagulls continue their coupling and courting.

Maintenance

  • Added 36.5 gallons to the tidy tank from the one remaining diesel barrel.
  • It now has just under 82 gallons in it; should be good for a while.
  • Scraped the rust off the empty barrel and spray painted it blue.
  • Cleaned the solar panels.

Boats

  • One mostly empty eco-tour came by in the morning.
  • Lots of small fishing boats around the reserve today.
  • Only one passed through to my knowledge.

Almost empty eco-tour

One50Canada Photo Shoot

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 0-10 knots N
  • Sky: sunny
  • Water: calm

The Sunset

Ecological

  • Seagulls woke me up at 6:00, something that never happened in February.
  • Had an easier time shooing away the Canada Geese today.
  • The river otter was out exploring and rolling around. It delighted the visitors.

A pair of seagulls

Maintenance

  • I helped Chris and Kyle install the new wifi “distributor” at the top of the tower.
  • Later I tidied up the extra cord, searched for outdoor rated Cat5 (unsuccessfully) and measured out the distance required for the future permanent cord. Twenty-five feet if you’re interested!
  • Cleaned the solar panels.

Boats

  • Two eco-tours came by at around 11:00.
  • Second Nature docked on the jetty at 11:00 and departed at 13:00.

Visitors

  • Chris came by in Second Nature with Kyle (a new dock hand) and a group of three from the One50Canada project.
  • Their names are Martin Gregus, Martin Gregus Jr. and Elena Gregusova.
  • The two Martin’s are trying to make the largest documented collection of photos and information about what Canada is like in the years around 2017, her 150th year of independence. The final project will include a massive coffee table book.
  • They were interested in all aspects of the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve.
  • They took photographs of and asked questions about the mammals, birds, lighthouse, other buildings, vintage Coast Guard equipment, First Nations rock formations, etc.
  • If you are interested in learning more about the One50Canada Society, check out their website at: http://www.one50canada.ca/index.html

The One50Canada family

Sunny Day Back on the Rock

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Log Entry by Riley Strother

Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Sky: sunny
  • The mercury hit 11C today (which is over 50F!) so you know it was a warm day.

Ecological

  • Spent 30 minutes in the morning chasing the Canada Geese off the island. I did so by walking around the perimeter of the island, and every time I completed a loop the original pair would have returned, necessitating a further loop to invariably chase away some other returned pair.
  • Eventually I only had to walk about once per hour to scare off any geese that had returned. By the evening there only remained one persistent pair near the Students’ House.
  • As Anne has noted, there are lots of gulls and they take to the sky at the slightest swoop of an eagle.
  • It looked to me as though there were 4 elephant seals hauled out on Middle Rock.
  • Several times today the sea lions seemed agitated by the boats that perhaps got a bit too close. They generally chose to bark rather than stampede though.
  • I saw the river otter in the afternoon, my favourite Race Rocks character. It’s good to be back. Thornton W. Burgess should write a book about him/her.
Agitated Sea Lions

Oft’ agitated Sea Lions

Maintenance

  • Cleaned the solar panels.
  • Settled back in to the house for my short stay.

Boats

  • As befits a beautiful statutory holiday, there were many boats about today.
  • Anne dropped me off in the Whaler in the morning.
  • Five eco-tours came through the reserve to look at the sea lions.
  • The Prince of Whales came by two times. The first time they appeared to be speeding through the SW part of the reserve to join up with the catamaran.
  • The large Eagle Wings catamaran came by twice.
  • An unidentified black eco-tour came by in the late afternoon.
  • One pleasure craft with a family on board passed through the South Channel, which is definitely too close to the sea lions.
  • Two fishing boats came by. The first one seemed too close to the sea lions. The second one appeared to be going too fast.
  • The Pacific Scout pilot vessel passed to the north of the reserve.
  • The Sir Wilfred Laurier patrol vessel passed to the south of the reserve.

Other

  • Got a phone call from a wrong number; someone asking for Mike. That seems rather unusual.

Beulah Rolls Over

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Winds were light and variable today under cloudy skies with occasional showers. Tomorrow has a similar forecast, partly cloudy, 40% chance of showers with the strong west wind warning continued. The barometric pressure reached 1020 hPa in the early hours of the morning and then dropped to 1012 by dusk. The wind materialized with rain after dark, gusting over 30 from the west.

Only two whale-watching vessels were seen today and neither was in the reserve. To the northeast of Victoria, J-pod (Resident Killer Whales), a Minke Whale and Transients (Bigg’s Killer Whales) were a draw for the whale watching fleet.  Two sports fishing vessels cruised through slowly.

Nothing to much report ecologically today other than spring is progressing rapidly. The female Northern Elephant Seal (Beulah) made the huge effort of rolling over today. That was it for activity there. Bald Eagles continue to fish and hunt birds in the reserve. The River Otter showed himself again today, near the derrick and within a meter of a small gaggle of geese. The River Otter was busy rubbing his scent gIands all over the grass there and then went into the sea and swam off in the direction of North Rock. From the scat, it looks like a fish diet, lots of scales and medium sized fish bones. I continue efforts to persuade the geese to nest on Vancouver Island. Seals, sea lions and cormorants rest, roost and dry out on the rocks. Glaucous-winged gulls, Black Oystercatchers and Pigeon Guillemots all make preparations for parenthood.

Pearson College divers, under the supervision of Laura Verhegge, visited this afternoon in Second Nature. They did a dive with three groups of divers, during the flood, in the back eddy by the jetty. Some of the students were ‘over the moon’ about their experience and really enjoyed the colours and rich sea life. They wanted to continue exploring even when it was time to go. Others were in ‘a little over their head’ and glad to be back on board. Great leadership and teamwork brought out the best in everyone. A very small sea lion appeared to enjoy having students to investigate and some of the students noticed.

No photos today, sorry, technical problems with camera.

 

Big Beulah Back

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Today’s winds were light, southwest in the morning and west with showers in the  afternoon. Peak force was during the sombre sunset at 22 knots from the west. The UV index was less than 2.5 even during the greatest period of sunshine mid-day. The barometric pressure rose steadily all day and had levelled off at 1017 hPa as dusk settled down.

Four whale watching vessels were observed operating in the Protected Area today. Three out four travelled slowly and respected the regulations; the fourth sped leaving the Reserve by traversing half of its length at top speed. I am curious if it is the same person every day. It is the same company but they have multiple zodiacs that look the same from a distance. I don’t want to think it is an engrained part of the culture in that company to operate in an irresponsible way. It is certainly not sustainable.

A large, female Northern Elephant Seal came ashore. She was dry at dawn and there was no wet trail on the path leading to her napping spot, so I assumed she came ashore early last night. She is the first back since Chunk, (the pup killer) left a few weeks ago. She seems to be in fine form with no wounds, only old scars. Her girth is magnificent and she has an organically hydrodynamic shape. What an amazing creature of the deep.

The gulls on the island are taking advantage of big boils of forage fish coming up with the turbulent currents. This morning as I was cleaning the solar panels on the energy building roof, most of the  500+ gulls gave the call for food, vacated the island and high-tailed it directly to a mixed species, feeding flock frenzy. This evening, fish bone remains can be seen around the island in fresh bolus balls left by the gulls.

The Bald Eagles continue to fish during the day and make the gulls nervous at dawn and dusk. I wish they had that effect on Canada Geese.

The River Otter showed itself today, waddling up past the derrick and heading in under the old platform which is where I am sure they have a den.

Sunlight levels were higher than they have been for the last few days. Insolation peaked at over 650 W/m2, enough sunshine to run the de-salinator for three hours, using only solar power.

Chores were routine and there were no visitors.

 

 

Spring

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Today was another day with fairly low light levels, leaden skies and light northeast winds. The wind is just switching to northwest as the sun sets with spectacular colour. The barometer went down a little to 1001 hPa and climbed back over 1002 by 19:30. There is nothing too exciting or dramatic to report, which is just fine. The marine forecast still has a strong wind warning in effect and it looks like that might be tomorrow’s westerly coming up in the late morning. The forecasters are expecting a mix of sun and cloud with a 30% chance of showers.

Four whale-watching vessels were observed in the Ecological Reserve today. Only one was documented speeding in the reserve. The reason that the Protected area is a go-slow zone is to protect the high density of charismatic megafauna from ships strikes. Odd that someone who makes their living by taking customers out to see these same birds and mammals isn’t setting high standards for protecting the “goose that lays the golden egg.” Most of the whale watching community that I observe daily, boats respectfully in the Protected Area. The exceptions in the industry may need some nudging by peers and colleagues or maybe an intervention; – )

Spring officially arrived today, however there was no noticeable difference from yesterday other than a longer day. Having light later is such a bonus of spring. As soon as the clouds thin out our solar panels will be generating enough power for most needs. The generator is still required for a few hours each day.

I have a bird identification request to challenge you with today. What is the little bird pictured below having a saltwater bath in the inter-tidal?

 

 

Student Power

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The morning was quiet, overcast and uneventful, weather-wise. Light variable winds continued and the wind did not rise above 15 knots until mid afternoon when the wind became more definitely north by northeast. There is a wind warning in effect calling for south winds of 20 knots near the west entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca tonight. The barometer continued yesterday’s gradual fall and reached ~1003 hPa when this log was posted at 18:00. The forecast is calling for a 60% chance of showers with variable light winds becoming southwest 10 to 20 Monday evening.

Only one whale-watching vessel was observed today. They moved slowly and carefully while watching the sea lions and eagles on South Rock. The sea lions didn’t even look up.

Ecologically there was nothing outstanding to report. Spring steadily approaches and will soon be here. There were a few more shorebirds resting, grooming, bathing, feeding and sleeping on Great Race, before the next part of their journeys. Black Oystercatchers are definitely staking out territories in pairs at all the same places that were used last year and the year before. Eagles continue to be busy on all of the islets but particularly Great Race South and West. The sea lions seem truly exhausted and during the day sleep together in huddles with the two species mixed together. One new brand was noted but light levels were too low to verify the number.

Sunlight levels were surprisingly low today. This is good for a low UV index but is not so great in terms of generating solar power. Students Aziz and Sam helped by cleaning most of the solar panels, which helped us capture more of the available energy. Kyle and Keneshka helped move empty propane tanks and other outgoing gear to the end of the jetty for pick-up. Together the four students made a good team and cleaned up the student house after using it for the weekend. Sam also helped launch and retrieve the whaler in time for a test drive to check a couple of things before Chris arrived in Second Nature. That all went well.

Chris arrived for pick-up, with a guest, a naval doctor who seemed to enjoy visiting Race Rocks. He felt very lucky to have grown up beside the sea in Wales. Race Rocks reminded him of larger, more isolated seabird islands that he had visited in Wales.

Malou, a student from Greenland continued her training on Second Nature today and did very well demonstrating her ability. She made a good landing and managed to launch back out into the stream, away from the concrete jetty with no damage, a feat in itself. My limited experience driving Second Nature was that it was a tricky boat to drive, so kudos to Malou.

More Visitors

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Light northeast winds continued this morning under high cloud. Light winds, combined with an extended high tide and a long period of fairly slack current made for a peaceful morning and calm waters. The wind direction started to shift eastward in the early afternoon and by dark it was coming from the west. The barometer was more or less steady today and the UV index stayed below 2, so weather-wise things were quite benign. Showers are expected for the next few days and winds are forecast to be variable 5 – 15 knots until late Sunday.

Whale watchers were out and about today and five vessels were observed working in the Ecological Reserve. There were quite a few sports fishing vessels as well but most of them stayed outside the Protected Area. One sports fisher ran through between Great Race and South Rock.

The gulls are getting closer to nesting daily. For the first time this season I observed a pair mating. It is quite a balancing act. The seals and sea lions seem to spending the whole day sleeping right now while the eagles are busy fishing and hunting cormorants and gulls.

Chris brought out the rest of the Jeanne Sauvé scholars who have been working at Pearson College for the last few weeks. It was really a treat to meet with them and learn a little about the great things they do to make the world a better place.

They reminded me of a Margaret Meade quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Jeanne Sauvé scholars from around the world working together to solve issues.

Jeanne Sauvé scholars from around the world working together to solve tricky issues.

Visitors

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The northeast wind blew 25 – 30 knots, all day under mostly clear skies. Most of the day, visibility was excellent with Mount Baker visible to the east and Bahokas Peak to the west. Much closer, the snowy peaks and ridges above the Elwha River were also clear and magnificent. High cloud started forming in the afternoon and sun dogs were visible late in the day. The high cloud eventually thickened and lowered and the sunset was devoid of the usual colour. The barometer dropped slowly all day but remained above 1010 hPa at dark. The forecast calls for more cloud, a 30% chance of showers and lighter east winds.

Four whale watching vessels were observed working in the Protected Area today. The first boat through, looked very small as it clawed its way through the standing waves of Race Passage. I don’t know what chance they would have if anything went wrong in that perilous time and place. All the whale watching vessels went around to see the sea lions on South Rock and one vessel took the passage between Great Race and South Rock. It was good to see S.V. Amatuana out in the Strait with wind in her sails. She stayed well away from the rocks.

A few of the breeding pairs of Glaucous-winged Gulls were observed starting nest building behaviour today and there was more pre-breeding behaviour observed. Oystercatchers also seemed to be staking out territories and spending more time in pairs.

Visitors came today, the first group this month. They arrived in Second Nature skippered by Chris Blondeau. Chris always makes landing look much easier than it is. He brought four Pearson College students to spend the weekend at Race Rocks and six of the Jeane Suavé scholars who have been visiting Pearson College. Chris gave the scholars a tour while the four students settled in. A fifth student came along for the ride and returned to the college with Chris and the scholars

.

 

 

 

Green with Shades of Blue

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March 17 was a windy day on Race Rocks. The early morning east northeast wind  kept intensifying and it was blowing 25 – 30 knots northeast by noon. It kept up for the rest of the day. The barometric pressure started to drop from a high of 1026 hPa, in the afternoon. The forecast includes a gale warning, with the easterlies continuing under sunny skies for at least tomorrow.

One whale-watching vessel was observed working in the Protected Area today and several others were seen transiting the area. Sports-fishing boats were all outside the reserve.

The Nanoose Yarder, a tug, headed west through Race Passage with the fishing vessel, Arctic Fox II in tow. The Arctic Fox II was damaged by fire in Cowichan Bay last winter and looks like she will need some serious TLC before heading out again to troll for tuna, offshore. DND blasting continued.

The impression that the gull population was rising daily, returning en masse was not wrong. Nest site locations from last year are almost fully occupied. Pairs are standing close, pulling vegetation and starting to jockey for position with neighbours. No actual nest building has been observed yet. Canada Geese have been discouraged.

The idea that more California Sea Lions were showing up was backed up by more brands observed today and of course by the counts themselves.  Today was animal census day and results are posted below.

2016 17-Mar
River Otter 0
Northern Elephant Seal 0
Harbour Seal 131
Northern Sea Lion (Steller’s) 41
California Sea Lion 123
Canada Goose 0
Harlequin Duck 15
Surf Scoter 0
Common Merganser 0
Brandt’s Cormorant 40
Double-crested Cormorant ~100
Pelagic Cormorant 28
Cormorant ~50
Bald Eagle (juvenile) 9
Bald Eagle (adult) 3
Killdeer 2
Black Oystercatcher 26
Black Turnstone 42
Surfbird 2
Rock Sandpiper 0
Dunlin 0
Mew Gull 0
Glaucous-winged Gull (+ Xs in nesting area) 486
Glaucous-winged Gull (+ Xs outside of nesting area) 229
Thayers Gulls 10
Calfiornia Gulls 6
Western Gull 1
Common Murres 1
Pigeon Guillemot 76
Northwestern Crow 2
Fox Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 0

 

Today was a catch-up day inside and chores were routine.

Arctic Fox Nanoose Yarder 2