We began the day with 32 knots and the wind never stopped rising to 40.7 knots around 8:00PM. What a pretty windy month!
All the birds were in the sheltered side away from the wind so it was easy to spot them. Before dusk we saw 10 Turnstones, 2 Western Sandpipers and 3or 4 Dunlins. They were not around a few days before. Exciting!
I even found a ladybug, a small one in the house. Another new species on this small rock
No whale watchers today …Thanks to the wind.
It has been 10 days without leaving this nice place so it was good to have a little break even if coming back delighted us…
No wind, no current, flat sea.
The South, South West wind brought a very iodineic smell above the usual strong smell of the island at this time of the year!
We have noticed very high tides those days and especially on that day( full high tide in the night around 11PM).
When we came back around 6PM a pleasure boat was anchored just on the other side of the jetty. I will say 30 meters. They seemed not understand why they were not allowed to do so! And soon they got some problems ( had to dive ) because their anchor got stuck in the kelp or rocks! At least that we didn’t have to explain! for the rest they were gone …before we got the camera .
Around 9PM with the coming darkness and a lovely pearl colored sky, we had (first time that happened at that time of the day) the last watching boat of the day.
Storm conditions late in the evening
Here is the evolution of the wind coming from West through out the day
5:20 AM: 30 knots
6:05 AM: 32 knots
7:22 PM: 36 knots
8:07PM: 39.1knots
9:38PM: 45.8 knots
9:50PM: 44 knots
22:10: 43.3knots
22:30: 47.7knots
22:47: 50.6Knots
Reminder
6 force= 22-27 knots =39-49 kms/h = Strong breeze
7 force =28-33 knots=50-61 kms/h= Near gale
8 force=34-40 knots=62-74 km/h=Gale
9 force=41-47 knots=75-88 km/h=Strong gale
10 force=48-55 knots=89-102 km/h=Storm
It has been something to see the wind raising but as soon as it has been dark we couldn’t appreciate how big was the sea around the rocks …so we went to sleep.
During that day around 12 whale watchers came and we observed that the smallest gosling in the family of 5 was not swimming with the rest of the family but was wandering on the island limping a little bit (left leg)…later he manage to get accepted by the parents but stayed always behind the group of siblings (4). It is very difficult to spot those little oystercatchers … so I was pleased.
Chores done as usual
July 9th Thursday: Animal census
The fog was still there pretty thick but around 11:30 it cleared up and we could go up the tower to do the census. We had a west wind and the forecast was a gale warning for the end of the afternoon.The wind at noon was from West at 24 knots and could go to 35 in the late afternoon. We saw a few Whale watchers boats around noon and we had no visitors. Water is getting colder under 12 degrees Celsius. Guy put a new VHF on the whaler.
The estimation of the population is:
Elephant seals: 3
Sea Lions: 180
Pigeon–guillemots: 80
Gulls: 450 (yesterday we could see a group of gulls with black winged maybe some west gulls)
Pelagic cormorants: 3
Geese: 11 (Today the smallest one of the family of 5 was not in the water swimming but looked lost alone in the island hanging around). They spend more and more time in the water.
Black oystercatchers :0
Bald eagle: 1 (they attack the colony almost every day once in the morning)
July 7th Tuesday: Chicks everywhere
No more rescue boats around anymore but a tourist plane flew by the island once.
Moderate West wind was between 14 knots to a maximum of 20 knots. No fog and still a little bit of a yellow haze in the sky.
We saw Floyd and Chunk swimming closed to the South islands
From the front window of the main house we could count around 20 chicks mainly under the parent’s wings but they grow pretty fast. The adults behavior is changing they become very active doing their job, protecting each other and the chicks feeding the young ones and going fishing. They are getting aggressive. We have to wear a helmet all the time but they know us and now they just make us know that they are ready to attack. There are still a few eggs not yet hatched but not so many.
The day has been pretty warm, heavy with no wind at all and a little bit later it changed, coming from South.
Even if we are washing the solar panels everyday it became worse with sea gull droppings and now we need at least 2 full buckets of fresh water.
Around 9:30 I would say, we saw, as did everybody in Southern B.C., that eerie sky but I can tell you that it was like a Hitchcock movie here with the shouting birds all around.
Pretty sad day and what was to come was even sadder. We first saw a boat with divers close to Turbine and West rocks, followed by a Coast Guard zodiac and later a helicopter from Rescue Canada…So a serious matter was unfolding. A diver had not returned after his dive…Late into the night they continued searching. The helicopter flew by the island many times and birds were getting crazy. We even saw a Canadian Frigate, a Canadair plane and another plane too.
In the middle of all this traffic at one point we spotted 2 orcas on the way. It was the only comforting sight of the day.
In total all kinds of boats have been around today: 3 kayaks, 3 or 4 whale watchers, 1 sailboat and 1 small fishing boat in the middle of the passage playing in the current, 1 submarine, 1 diving boat,1 rescue boat,1 navy boat and above a helicopter and 2 planes . What a busy day.
See Times Colonist Article: Searchers hunt for missing diver near Race Rocks
Update: July 9-The search is still going on for the missing diver.
July 1ST to 3rd: Summer time is here
If on the last day of June the wind was blowing up to 38.9 around 7:00 the 1st of July and the following days we had some light westerly wind increasing to 25 knots at the most in late afternoon. Water temperature has been steady above 12 Celsius and in Race Rocks no heavy hot days just the best …a light breeze above the houses.
The first of the month (Our Canada flag prouder than ever) has been a very busy day around Race Rocks. Fishing boats and whales watchers were attracted by a pod of orcas heading from ocean to Victoria and we could see them a mere half mile away from the rock on the South West side. All the boats were around and quickly disappeared following the whales.
At 5h00 in the morning, one after the other Floyd and Chunk, the 2 belching and dripping water Elephants Seals, came back from sea ready for a long sleepy day…but we were surprised, in the middle afternoon they gave us a real show. The 3 of them spent more than an hour playing like crazy in the shallow waters by the the jetty for the pleasure of a big whale watchers boat a little too close …but it was such a nice show! Some friends of us at the camera took pictures of the whole thing!
Divers came too and this time very closed to the shore maybe 15 meters! Some were snorkeling and 2 had bottles. They stayed not for long I would say 30mn.
Chicks are now everywhere to be seen…and the island get very noisy .
It ‘s just amazing to see how well protected those new ones are by the whole community. Even the eagles fly away.
Today for the first time in a week the generator has been on for a few hours
Guy had to look at the quantity of oil on the island, that is to say in the 2 houses (175 and 154 liters) the 3 drums (208 liters each), the 2 tanks –the big one (1120 liters) and the new smaller one (200 liters).
Yesterday, July 3rd. It was time for some groceries to buy. We have been surprised to see how hot it was in town and even at the college only a few miles away…We were really happy to come back a few hours later. We had a calm weather condition for the whole day, west winds from 0.11 knots to 23 knots in the end afternoon, very good visibility 10 miles at least.
Formal procedure when you want to enter the water by a hot day: Guy observed
Chunk going in the water in the middle of the afternoon. In the same way as people when the water is cold and, he took his time and delicately with his ‘ left arm and hand ‘ he sprayed water on himself and only after that did he go in.
It has been a calm and hot day: no visitors no whale watchers. The day was busy with the animal census. Maybe because of the wind coming, the island was not so crowded :one couple of oystercatchers could not be found neither the small baby I saw when first coming back. Just a few pelagic cormorants and no harbor seals closed…
Slowly the wind raised and at 6h00 it was 30 knots: gale warning was in effect.
Westerly breezes of 15 to 20 knots kept the island comfortably cool today as the sun shone steadily. The overall tendency of the barometer, was to slowly fall today ending up at 1012 hPA., as the sun set. The forecast is for continued strong westerlies and clear skies.
Twenty-one visits to Ecological Reserve by whale watching boats were observed today and there were probably more that I missed while doing other chores. Again most of the operators were great but there are a few who speed and a few who go too close. Several sport fishing boats and one rental were also seen transiting the Reserve.
The large Humpback whale affectionately known as Big Momma by the whale watchers did a complete circuit of Race Rocks today without actually entering the Reserve itself. While travelling through Race Passage she was accompanied by five to ten whale watching boats and was never alone.
Vessels in Race Passage can be seen in the distance with Humpback Whale “big Momma”
Chunk and Floyd, the two large male Northern Elephant Seals spent a lot of time “fighting’ in the water today and that was also draw for the whale watching boats. Chunk definitely has the advantage over Floyd both in terms of size and personality. Floyd had quite a few fresh bleeding scars this evening and Chunk was doing quite a bit of perhaps, triumphant bellowing.
The lone male, sea otter that hangs out in the Middle Channel kelp bed directly opposite the eco-guardians’ house was also a draw today. The sea otter was viewed close up, by just about every vessel and he seemed completely unfazed by all the attention. Whale watching vessel congestion in the Ecological Reserve continues to be potentially problematic. Also dangerous for the little rental boats that like to follow close behind some of the bigger whale watching boats.
Whale watching vessel operators are good at avoiding each other in narrow channels.
Gull incubation is happening right now and one of the interesting behaviours observed is thermoregulation by panting. Today there panting gulls everywhere.
Gulls can keep their eggs at just the right temperature by evaporative cooling through panting.
Of note, the majority of the Canada Geese have left the island after a rash of Bald Eagle attacks. They were observed practicing the swim across to Middle Island with the goslings and were gone by June 10th, leaving three pairs of adults and their 10 collective goslings.
There were no visitors today and chores were routine.
It was a limpid June day with very little wind and a sultry, summer feel. The solar radiation highpoint of the day was over 1000 Watts per meter2 and this is higher than it has been all week. Around noon the wind changed direction moving about 180o from what it has been for months. It didn’t really do much other than change direction, which was in itself rather remarkable due to the longevity of the westerlies. Maybe now that the interior is heating up so much that it actually catching on fire, it is time for the outflow winds. By late after noon the wind was backing towards south. A cloud formed and dissipated, although bigger cloud formations are building along the Olympic and Cascade Mountains. Although the barometer has been dropping for > 24 hours, it is still high, at 1016 hPA. and the forecast is for clear skies, sunshine and strong westerly winds. By the time the sun set, the wind had returned to westerly 10 to 15 knots.
It was busy on the water here; with 25 whale-watching boat visits, observed within the Ecological Reserve. Some vessels made multiple trips back to Victoria and out again, the last one leaving Race Rocks at 21:20. At times during the day, there were 5 to 10 vessels in reserve at the same time.
Most of the operators were awesome (as usual) but a few were obviously not aware of the Pacific Whale Watching Association’ Race Rocks Special Operating Area Guidelines and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Marine Mammal Regulations. The latter can carry a powerful punch. Speed is an issue, so is distance and route is another. At one point today I was concerned about the risk of collision and passenger safety but they are all used to dancing around each other and my worries may have been unwarranted. It would certainly have been difficult for any marine mammal in the water with all of those vessels plus the current to contend with.
The PWWA guidelines say that while vessels are in the Race Rocks go-slow zone, they will transit the area with the current and will remain as close to mid-channel as is possible between major rock outcroppings known as Great Race (with the lighthouse), North Race Rock, West Race Rocks and Helicopter Rock. Some operators think it okay to squeeze in between Great Race and South Islands and there is just not enough room in there even for the smaller zodiacs, especially if they are scaring animals into the water at the same time. This is a professional development opportunity for the industry. I fyou are an owner or manager, please set clear operation standards for the Race Rocks Special Operating Area. Rise above the low bar of guidelines and regulations. Educate the public by doing the right thing and demonstrate support your operators to get on side, for the business of summer is about to descend upon us.
A coast guard rigid hull inflatable hailed me when I was out on the jetty today. They were on patrol from the CCGS M. Charles M.B., which was anchored nearby. They offered support on the enforcement side for the Race Rocks Rockfish Conservation Area and said that part of why they were here was to deter marine mammal harassment. The vessel is named after a famous life-saving, west coast chief, the late Martin Charles Hereditary Chief of the Dididaht and long-time Bamfield Coast Guard hero. He was a great man and it is very good to see a Coast Guard vessel named after him.
There were only four Northern Elephant Seals on Great Race today and Middle Rock only had two. On Great Race it was Floyd, Chunk, an untagged female nicknamed Grace and the tagged female 5866. Chunk threw his weight around during the Floyd and Chunk show today and after a big, half body neck press by Chunk, Floyd fled, his usual fate. Later Floyd did the same thing to Grace, only he had her by the neck with his teeth and she is only a fraction his size. She managed to wriggle away in the water.
There was serious whale action in the area but not right in the Ecological Reserve today.
I ran the fire pump today and pumped seawater into the cistern. The transformation of saltwater into freshwater by desalination, running off solar power, is really sweet. It makes me very aware of and thankful for fresh water consumption.
Most chores were routine and there were no visitors today.