Category Archives: Marine Vessels

Shift Change Delayed by Gale

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 20-40 knots E, later S, W, and N.
  • Water: 3′ chop
  • Sky: overcast and rain

Ecological

  • Chuckles was gone all day.
  • Chunk was hanging out under the water beside the jetty at 18:00.
The only sign of Chuckles

The only sign of Chuckles.

Maintenance

  • Cleared logs off the ramp.
  • Final bit of tidying and packing in the main house.
  • Typed out and sent off sea water data report for February.

Boats

  • Conditions were unsuitable for a shift change today, as no boats were able to traverse between Race Rocks and the college.
  • The HMCS Ottawa was out near Esquimalt today.
  • Watched the Coho chug across the straight headed for Port Angeles in the afternoon.
The Coho Ferry

The Coho Ferry

Boat Mania

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles (except foggy towards Victoria in the A.M.)
  • Wind: 0-10 knots South
  • Water: rippled
  • Sky: sunny

Golden Sunset

Ecological

Cormorants and Sea Lions

Maintenance

  • Cleaned the solar panels.
  • Provided two canoeists with duct tape to help repair their broken paddle.

Boats

  • As befits a very lovely Saturday, there were numerous boats in or near the reserve all day.
  • A diving boat was out at Middle Rock and it seemed as though they sent down some divers.
  • Two sailboats passed through the SW corner of the reserve.
  • One fishing boat passed through Middle Channel.
  • The very large catamaran eco-tour was back.
  • A couple of young lads in a canoe came up the ramp. I sent them on their way, but not before a rest and some help with their broken paddle.

Visitors

  • The aforementioned canoeists were on shore near the ramp for a little while as they rested and fixed their paddle.

Canoeists

Very Large Eco-Tour Catamaran

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knots NE
  • Water: rippled
  • Sky: overcast

Ecological

  • Chunk and Chuckles are still on Great Race. I’m not even sure they are going off island at night these days.
  • There was a lone harbour seal hauled out on a rock near the derrick most of the day.
  • Saw some bald eagles gnawing away at the dead elephant seal pup.

Maintenance

  • Cleared logs off of the ramp.
  • Began making a list of things to do by the end of the month.

Boats

  • The Sir Wilfred Laurier patrol vessel was out in the straight this morning. Quite a fine looking ship!
  • One pleasure craft with a family on board stopped by to view the sea lions. They seemed to be too close.
  • Two eco-tours came by this afternoon. The first one was the largest boat that I have ever seen in the reserve. The second one appeared to be too close to the sea lions, and a few of them made haste for the water.

Fire Extinguisher Return

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knots NE
  • Water: rippled
  • Sky: clear

Ecological

  • Chunk and Chuckles still on Great Race.
  • Chuckles had some fresh wounds on his back that were weeping fluids.
  • Saw a California sea lion branded with 8240.
  • Saw a Sea Slater (Ligia Pallasii) crawling in the muck near the jetty today.

Maintenance

  • Found all the “loaner” fire extinguishers and collected them up.
  • Loaded said fire extinguishers and a box of recycling into the maintenance boat when Jeff and his assistant came by.
  • Checked the water level in the cistern; things are good.

Boats

  • Jeff came by to pick up some items. He did not disembark.

Other

  • Heard six DND blasts today. They came in pairs, each pair progressively bigger, from loud, to house shaking. 10:03, 10:05, 10:55, 10:57, 11:41, and 11:43.

Birds and Boats

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knots NE
  • Water: rippled
  • Sky: clear
Sunset

Sunset

Ecological

  • Chunk and Chuckles still on Great Race.
  • Saw a northern sea lion branded with 354Y.
  • Saw a northern sea lion with a cooker cutter shark scar.
  • Noticed at least 50 harbour seals out on the south islands today.
  • Saw a common merganser wash itself on a rock close to shore. Apparently it is quite uncommon to see them at Race Rocks. Later some harlequin ducks swam nearby.
  • Saw a jellyfish floating around near the jetty. Not sure what variety it was.
  • Noticed some grape hyacinth for the first time today. By my estimate there are least 6 different species of flowers now in bloom out here.

Bald Eagles and Snowy Mountains

Maintenance

  • Stacked firewood until there was no remaining space. Will have to restart stacking once some of the stores have been burnt up to create space.

Boats

  • Jeff and his two Belgian volunteers came by with food supplies this morning. Eggs, milk, and bread. Surprised the Belgians didn’t bring me any Jupiler.
  • Quite a bit of traffic today out in the straight. Documented the more interesting looking ones with photographs.
  • One fishing boat went through the middle channel of the reserve.

Other

  • Heard 5 DND blasts today from Bentinck Island. A small one at 12:47, and then 4 medium blasts at 12:50, 12:55, 15:04, and 15:06. The animals didn’t make too much of a fuss.

One of today's DND blasts

Scratches on Chuckles

Posted on by

Weather

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

Sunset in the West

Ecological

  • Chunk and Chuckles were both on Great Race today.
  • Chuckles had several fresh cuts and scrapes on his back. My guess is he has been fighting with Chunk at night, although all the females are gone now, so mating seems to be irrelevant to the fighting?
  • As far as I can tell, the weaner is still on Middle Rock. If the males leave it alone that will raise the odds of survival.

Maintenance

  • Hauled some massive logs off the ramp.
  • Removed half the old firewood in the west shed on the Energy Building and re-stacked closer to the main house. Replaced with newer firewood for curing.

Boats

  • One fishing boat floated out by the jetty for a good while as the occupants admired the lighthouse tower. They left at a good slow speed.

New Weaner Deceased

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0-10 knots North
  • Water: 1′ chop
  • Sky: sunny
  • A fresh fall of snow was visible on the Olympics.

Ecological

  • The first thing I saw this morning was a bald eagle landing over by the Energy Building, right where the elephant seals had been last night, and a place where they normally don’t land.
  • I headed over there and my suspicions were affirmed; the newest weaner had been killed in the night and many birds were feasting on his corpse.
  • Unlike the previous weaner who had simply had his skull crushed by teeth, this one had been virtually torn to shreds, making it much easier for the birds to begin feasting.
  • Chunk was lying nearby, but this time I cannot be sure that he was the culprit, as he didn’t seem to have any blood on him, and Chuckles had been with the weaner last night.
  • The old river otter returned today. It must be blind or in some way sensory impaired, as it is easily approached without seeming to notice ones presence. I say this because I encountered it quite closely by accident, and yet it didn’t seem to take much notice of me until I was only a few feet away.
  • Encountered quite a few surfbirds on the beach.

Maintenance

  • Stacked more firewood.
  • Cleared logs off the ramp.

Boats

  • Two eco-tours came by this afternoon.
  • One fishing boat passed through the reserve.
  • One unidentified boat spent some time floating on the edge of the reserve, but I saw no indication of fishing.

Weaner’s Derrick Ride

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0-10 knots North
  • Water: rippled
  • Sky: mix of sun and cloud

Ecological

  • After analysing the elephant seal pup on Great Race, I am fairly certain that it is a male pup.
  • Mum and pups on Great Race and Middle Rock were alone most of the day.
  • For the first time, I saw a bald eagle eating from the dead elephant seal pup out on the rocks.

Maintenance

  • Stacked firewood.
  • Cleared the ramp three times.
  • Started replacing dead light bulbs in the Student’s House.
  • Moved the weaner’s body away from the main house with ropes and the derrick, helped by Chris, Jeff, and 3 volunteers from the college.

Boats

  • Second Nature came by for a couple of hours in the afternoon, crewed by Chris, Jeff, the IT guy, and 3 volunteers. They helped move the weaner and checked up on various electronic systems.
  • One eco-tour came by in the late afternoon.

Other

  • There were 6 more DND blasts today.
  • Two massive blasts that shook the house at 10:15 and 10:17. Birds and mammals quite disturbed, but they settled back down.
  • Two small blasts at 11:31 and 11:34.
  • Two medium blasts at 14:40 and 14:45.
Massive DND blast.

Massive DND blast.

Branded Sea Lion 443Y

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knots W
  • Water: 1′ chop
  • Sky: mostly clear

Ecological

  • Spotted 9 immature bald eagles on South Island with one mature eagle a bit farther away.
  • Status quo with the elephant seals, although I have my suspicions that the female whom Chuckles tried to mate with yesterday is not the grieving mother, but a different one arrived the night before, and the grieving mother departed.
  • The pup out on Middle Rock seems to be getting quite large. Perhaps he’ll become a weaner soon?
  • There were over 50 harbour seals in the reserve today.
  • Saw a northern sea lion branded with 443Y.

Maintenance

  • More cleaning in the Student’s House.
  • Stacked firewood in the water shed.

Boats

  • No eco-tours today.
  • One fishing boat passed nearby.
  • A large container ship seems to be anchored out in the strait towards Victoria.

Rain and Foghorn

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 1 mile
  • Wind: 5-10 knots NE
  • Water: 1′ chop
  • Sky: fog, rain most of the day

Ecological

  • Chuckles attempted to mate with the grieving mother on Great Race.
  • Chunk appeared to be mating with the mother on Middle Rock.
  • Lady, mum and pup still on Great Race.

Maintenance

  • Continued cleaning in the Student’s House.
  • Discovered a leak in the main house; positioned a bucket to catch the water.
  • Did the old method of water sampling along with the regular one.

Boats

  • One fishing boat passed through the reserve today. It appeared to be going too fast, but conditions were worsening rapidly, so it appeared they were just trying to get into harbour.
Fishing boat speeding?

Going too fast?

Other

  • The foghorn went off today from 12:37 until about 13:00.
  • Discovered quite a bit of water on the floor in the entrance ways to the Energy Building. I checked for leaks in the ceiling but found none; I presume the water seeped in under the door. With near constant rain all day, the entire island is turning into one big puddle.

Some of the water in the energy building