Category Archives: Marine Vessels

bald eagles

Posted on by

Ecological

  • N 10-15 N becoming E 25, partly clear sky
  • Pigeon Guillemots made a return to the waters around the island, this is the first time i have seen/heard them since starting my shift
  • 21 bald eagles counted in the reserve.  the broke-beak eagle was perched on a solar panel on the engine building in the morning.
  • Second large female e-seal was by boat house throughout day.  Chuckles down by compost bin.  Mother and pup doing fine.  Chunk has been going off island at night and returning in the morning, staying close to females and keeping Chuckles away.
  • One neck-ringed California sealion seen on west side of main island

Vessels

  • 1 ecotour

Maintenance

  • Contacted tidy tanks re dip chart
  • Contacted re wood stove parts delivery
  • Cut and chopped fire wood
  • Cleared ramp

Second large female e-seal

Posted on by

Ecological:

  • Wind SE 25-30 knots becoming light in the evening.
  • 16 Green Winged Teals were in the mud flats NE of main house.
  • An unusual bald eagle with a damaged beak was on and around the island throughout the day, quite close to the main house at first.
  • Before dusk a second large, pregnant looking female elephant seal was near the jetty and had hauled out up beside boat house just after dark.

Vessels

  • 3 ecotour

Maintenance

  • Cleared ramp
  • Sharpened chainsaw, cut and chopped firewood.

Nursing successfully

Posted on by

Ecological 

  • Wind 15 knots NE increasing to over 30 knots overnight
  • Just before noon, within 24hrs after birth, I saw the pup take what I believe was its first taste of milk.   There seems to be three key ingredients to successful nursing: motivation, location and suction.  All three have to combine for success, there was a lot of trial and error, and what seems to be frustration, on the way.  Once the pup latched on to the right spot the suction and slurping sounds were clearly audible.  Since nursing has begun, both mother and pup seem less agitated, the pup is taking longer sleeps and the mother is getting more rest.

View from kitchen window with elephant seal family in foreground. In the background a US aircraft carrier identified as a “Unspecified US Govt Vessel” travels at a remarkable 24.5 knots according to the Marine Traffic website.

Vessels

  • 1 ecotour

Maintenance

  • Ran the derrick and lifted out 2 logs.  With engine warm, I drained the engine oil out of the derrick’s old Lister engine and changed the oil filter.
  • Cleared debris from ramp.

Chunk and female e-seal interact

Posted on by

Ecological

  • Wind NE 15-20 knots, sky mostly clear.
  • The large female elephant seal was at the centre of the Great Race in the morning, sleeping quite soundly. Chunk hauled out mid morning and made his way towards her.   The interaction seemed normal for pre-birth as compared with previous years: he was agressive but restrained, not really bitting her, no intercourse observed.  He got on top of her so that her mobility was limited, she wriggled and vocalized.  Eventually she got free of him and moved about 20 ft and he followed repeating their interactions but less vigorously and eventually both tending towards sleeping.  (photos to come)

Vessels

  • 2 pleasure-craft. One was speeding in the Reserve and passed too close to harbour seals on West Rock.

Maintenance

  • Cleared ramp
  • Collected and cut driftwood for firewood

big female e-seal

Posted on by

Ecological

  • Wind NE 10-15 shifting to East
  • After shutting down generator around 10 pm I noticed a large, likely pregnant, female elephant seal freshly hauled out of the water coming up the path from the boat ramp.  I couldnt make out any clear identification marks, she does not appear to be Bertha.
  • Census:
    • Black Oyster Catchers: 50
    • Harlequins: 11
    • Crows: 2
    • Raven: 1
    • Bald Eagles: 10
    • Cormorants: 453
    • Surf Scoter: 7
    • Gulls: 6
    • Dunlin: 2
    • Surfbird: 8
    • Rock Sandpiper: 1
    • Black Turnstone: 27
    • Sparrow: 1
    • Elephant Seals: 2m 1f
    • Northern sealions: 133
    • California sealions: 97
    • Harbour Seals: 21

Vessels

  • 1 ecotour

Maintenance

  • Cleared ramp
  • Cleaned camera 5 dome
  • Started pressure washing derrick deck and boardwalk
  • Ran desalinator in evening

fire extinguishers

Posted on by

Ecological

  • Wind NE 20-35, overcast, light drizzle in the morning

Vessels

  • 1 ecotour

Maintenance

  • consolidated station fire extinguishers to ready for transport to college for annual servicing
  • cleared ramp of debris, more garbage than usual: a bucket, part of a vacuum, various plastic lids, plastic cigarette tips, plastic shotgun wadding (many), condom, medical bracelet from University of Washington Medical Centre in Seattle, lighter, , plastic straws, large sheet of 4 ft by 10 ft black plastic and the usual mix of bits of plastic and foam.

Kildeer

Posted on by

Ecological

  • wind NE 15-20 knots
  • saw a Kildeer during the day, usually only see and hear them at night.
  • Both male elephant seals had been off great race over night, Chuckles was back on great race with some fresh wounds on his back this morning, I think he had been on Middle rock when Chunk got him. Chuckles spent Monday night near bedroom window vocalizing unreservedly.

Vessels

  • 1 eco tour

Maintenance

  • worked on month end report
  • pressure washed North side of main residence
  • stocked up on firewood in main house
  • ran desalinator 6 hrs.

 

Canada Geese

Posted on by

Ecological

  • Wind 15-20 knots NE increasing to 25-30 overnight. Sky partly clear.
  • First flock of Canada Geese on the island since I arrived, they didnt stay very long.

Vessels

  • pleasure craft-31 pleasure craft, appearing to travel over speed limit in reserve
  • On Dec 30 an incident was recorded involving an eco tour vessel passing through the narrow channel between south islands and great race. We received an email from the captain Dec 31.  I replied to his email Jan 2.

Maintenance

  • cleared boat ramp
  • cleaned battery terminals and contacts on derrick engine
  • cut and chopped firewood

New Year

Posted on by

Ecological

  • Wind NE 20-25 knots diminishing to 15-20, sky mostly clear. Sea water temperature 8.3 C and continuing to decline.

Vessels

  • 3 eco tour vessels.  One of them appeared to be getting much closer than the 100 meter setback requirement for viewing marine mammals.
  • 1 pleasure craft. On approach from Victoria, the vessel appeared to be traveling well above the 7 knot speed limit inside of the reserve.

Maintenance

  • Transfered 1 barrel of diesel to tidy tank
  • Cleared ramp, chopped firewood
  • Took inventory of diesel, propane, gasoline, and fresh water on island for month end report
  • Phone and internet went offline in the evening, UPS overload again, rebooted and we are back online.

Never Ending North East

Posted on by

Ecological

  • Wind NE 10-20 knots all day and all night and forecast to continue…barometer is trending upwards.  Clear sky most of the day. Temperature has been getting down to zero at night and sea water temp is at its lowest as of recently, 8.5 C.

Vessels

  • 3 eco tour boats in the reserve.  One of them passed through the channel between the inner South Island and Great Race while sealions were on the south island and southern shore of Great Race. The passage itself is less than 100 meters wide so it is impossible to go through there while sealions present without being less than 100 meters from them.  Additionally there was a second tour boat from the same company on the other side of the South island so the sealions were surrounded, this can increase likelihood of a disturbance.  A few sealions did exit into the water as the boats passed by.  UPDATE Jan 2: We received an email on Dec 31 from the captain of the boat involved in this incident.  He apologized for his mistake going through this passage and creating a sealion disturbance.  The other tour operator radioed him to tell him that passage in this channel is not allowed.   He had not been aware of it.  He said he would not do it again and would help spread the word.  We appreciate him getting in touch with us and are thankful for his accountability and commitment to preventing this kind of incident from occurring again.   

Maintenance

  • Tracked cable from offline charge controller to identify which row of panels it is connected to, second row from South side of roof.
  • fixed saw horses which were wobbly
  • scrapped and touch-up-painted diesel barrel with anti-rust paint
  • Cleared wood from ramp, ran derrick to haul in 2 decent logs.
  • Microwave connection went offline in the evening (internet and phone), will deal with it in the morning.