Category Archives: Marine Vessels

Wacky Warm Weather

Posted on by

Weather: 

  • Sky blue with some clouds. Thick fog early this morning.
  • Visibility 15+ miles
  • Wind 20-30 knots W
  • Over the past two days we had wind blowing less than 5 knots NE, which meant very warm, still conditions.

Boats/Visitors: 

  • On the 27th Guy and Corey delivered more water
  • Not too many eco-tourism boats despite the beautiful weather
  • One of our friends is visiting for a few days. Great to see a new face out here!

Maintenance: 

  • Corey and Guy also helped haul away an entire boat full of trash/recycling/unneeded items that we had gathered for removal earlier in the season.
  • We spent a handful of hours over the past few days collecting approx. 50 lbs of smaller bits of shingles and tar paper from the roofing project as well as other trash that has been exposed now that the tall grass is dry and pressed down from the animals.
  • Yesterday we washed the windows with a big brush and squeegee to get rid of all of the seagull poop that had blown onto them- much better!
  • We noticed some bricks protecting a cable by the crane shed were missing, but upon further investigation it turned out that they were simply knocked out of place and buried in the tall grass. We were able to unearth them and get everything back in place.

Continued Documentation of Vessel Activity

Posted on by

Over the past few days we have been keeping an eye on eco-tourism vessels, and have been documenting their presence and their proximity to wildlife. The somewhat isolated nature of Race Rocks, minimal to no presence of regulating authority, and many other factors lead to a high risk of animals and the delicate marine environment being disturbed and potentially exploited.

While the distance of a vessel from wildlife is important, another considerable disturbance may be vibration and noise. Eco-tourism vessels fighting against the current to get the best viewing angle of resting animals easily vibrates a glass of water in our concrete foundation dwelling, over 100m from the waters edge. Another factor to consider is the volume of traffic. Items shaking in our home is normal, and we often hear boats coming before we see them. Perhaps a handful of boats conducting themselves responsibly would not be a problem, but on some days we see approximately 35+ eco-tourism boats alone. This does not include private vessels.

The below video is from July 31st, 2019 at 1413hr. It shows two zodiacs coming close to a pod of orcas within the reserve. The orcas were visible for over 15 minutes before this video was taken, and conversation on VHF channel 68 and 79 indicated that all boats in the area knew of their presence. Based on what we observed, it seemed as though the boats did not accidentally drift into place. Visible in the background is North Rock, video taken from the jetty.

We were unable to previously post it due to its size, but discovered uploading to YouTube and embedding to be a great solution.

As mentioned in the last blog post, the hauled out sea lions continue to provide an opportunity to observe how closely boats approach the wildlife. Here are three more videos of boats approaching the resting sea lions, all filmed within the last few days:

Additionally, here are some photos of miscellaneous vessels taken within the last 5 days or so:

This boat is interesting, it comes through often (see matching hull numbers) with different passengers but the same operator.

Another interesting boat coming in close for a look:

 

Weather: 

  • Sky clear
  • Visibility 15+ miles
  • Wind 10 knots W
  • Water flat to rippled

Boats/Visitors: 

  • No visitors over the last few days.

Ecological: 

On the day the roofers were here a pod of orcas came through the reserve and I misplaced this photo, here it is now.

  • Census as follows:
  • 250 sea lions
  • 200-300 seagulls
  • 6 Canadian geese
  • Ruddy Turnstones and migrating birds come and go frequently

A Busy Day On The Water

Posted on by

Weather: 

  • Blue skies, some clouds
  • Visibility 20+ miles
  • Wind 5-10 knots W
  • Water rippled

Boats/Visitors: 

  • Many whale watching vessels today. With the increasing number of sea lions hauling out on great race rock, these eco tourism boats contrast sharply (in relatively close quarters) against the wildlife looking to rest on the rocks.
  • The high traffic in conjunction with the sea lions provides a great opportunity to display the proximity of these vessels from the wildlife. See the videos and photos below:

 

Ecological: 

  • An increasing number of sea lions hauling out on all rocks.
  • Young seagulls can be seen strengthening their wings, flapping and hopping 3 feet in the air. They play games with sticks and other debris, aggressively keeping the objects from their siblings looks to be practice for protecting precious food in the future.
  • Mentioned in a previous post, I was able to get a picture of the sea lion with the identifying gash in its side.

Sea lion with a cut (centre of photo)

Census:

  • 350 – 400 seagulls
  • 24 harbour seals
  • 68 sea lions
  • A handful of oystercatchers and cormorants (roughly 5-10 of each)

Getting Your Feet Wet

Posted on by

Weather: 

  • Sky partially overcast
  • Visibility 15+ miles in the afternoon, heavy fog in the morning
  • Wind 15 knots W
  • Calm water

Boats/Visitors: 

  • This afternoon I (Kai) dropped Mara off on land, she will be away for a few days – I have the rock to myself!
  • Pearson vessel Second Nature has been doing water tours around Race Rocks

Ecological: 

  • The sea lions double in number every day, and you smell them before you see them… Many can be seen with open wounds, 3-6″ long bloody cuts in their sides and back.
  • Beside the jetty, I spotted a young seagull getting its feet wet in the protected waters. This is the first time we’ve seen them enter the sea.

Clear Skies and Many Birds

Posted on by

Weather: 

  • Sky clear and sunny- no fog!
  • Wind: 10-20 knots SW
  • Water: Rippled. Strong currents today (+4.4 knots)
  • Visibility: 10 miles

Visitors/Boats:

  • Greg came by today with some water that we pumped into the main tank. We are told that the new desalinator should be on its way soon, but is going to take a few weeks to ship.
  • A few whale watching boats today (10-15). Many came close (-50m) to the elephant seals in the jetty and the sea lions on middle rock. We often see them within 10m of the sea otter and kelp patch that it calls home.

Maintenance: 

  • A few days ago we replaced the worn Canadian flag on the flagpole. Today we noticed that the entire rope/pulley system had somehow blown loose and fallen to the ground. The pole is to high for us to reach the top with our ladder, so when it is less windy we will have to take the pole down to make repairs (this will be difficult with so many seagulls about).

Ecological: 

  • Many interesting birds in the reserve this week. Today we spotted some western sandpipers, a couple short billed dowitchers, and a ruddy turnstone all from our kitchen window!
  • Every day we see more and more sea lions. Greg said that he even spotted a stellar sea lion on his way today.

Another Sticky Situation

Posted on by

Weather: 

  • Sky: partially overcast
  • Wind: 10-20 knots
  • Water: lightly rippled
  • Visibility: 15+ miles

Boats/Visitors:

  • Yesterday a small boat came through the reserve and had mechanical problems. Its engine would not start, and it drifted onto the rocks a few times. We were able to throw them a rope and secure them at the jetty where they were able to restart their motor. They decided to immediately depart, and once they got into the current their motor died again. After being pushed back into the rocks, a passing fishing boat was able to tow them back to Pedder Bay.
  • We have been seeing the the usual volume of eco-tourism boats, 20-25 per day. They consistently come within 100m of marine mammals.

Ecological:

  • We noticed one seagull attacking another’s chick today, as well as another deceased chick nearby.

Census:

  • 10 sea lions
  • 5 elephant seals
  • 52 harbour seals
  • 300 seagulls, many seagull chicks
  • 8 oyster catchers
  • 2 families of geese, another adult pair

Visitors of All Kinds

Posted on by

Weather: 

  • Wind 5-15 knots SW
  • Sky: Mostly grey, cloudy. Some rain and fog. Periods of partial clearing.
  • Water: Rippled, fairly calm.
  • Visibility: 10-13 miles

Boats/Visitors: 

  • Guy came to pick up our weekend visitors who headed home this afternoon. It was nice to have some company out here on the rock!
  • There were only a handful of whale watching boats in the reserve today since it was quite cloudy and rainy. We were surprised to discover a vessel hovering within 50 meters of a whale within the reserve this evening.

Ecological: 

  • While taking a water temperature reading we accidentally spotted a humpback whale hovering in the main channel! It stayed for about 30 minutes, surfacing approximately every 5 minutes in the same spot, facing towards the current.
  • The seagull chicks have continued to hatch and there are too many to count. They blend in with the yellowing grasses extremely well and have grown to be twice their original size in only a week. We noticed that one chick near the fuel shed hatched but did not survive, while its two nest mates appear to be healthy.
  • There has been one male stellar sea lion on middle rock for the past few days, and appears to not be moving much at all.
  • The goslings are nearly full grown now, and have been swimming

Census

  • 230 Harbour seals
  • 350 adult seagulls and many, many chicks
  • 4 moulting male elephant seals
  • 1 male stellar sea lion
  • A handful of pigeon guillemots
  • 8 adult oyster catchers, at least 7 chicks spotted
  • 1 humpback whale
  • 2 families of geese, and one additional adult pair
  • 1 nest of barn swallows

They Grow Up So Fast!

Posted on by

Weather: 

  • Wind: 20-25 knots westerly
  • Sky: Some early morning fog, partially cloudy
  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Water: Rippled

Boats/Visitors: 

We haven’t had any visitors to the island over the past few days, but the whale watching traffic continues to be steady throughout the day. The concentration of traffic typically lies between 12pm and 8pm.

Ecological: 

  • The seagull eggs are hatching at full force! There are now too  many chicks to keep track. They like to nestle in the taller grasses or nearby rocks to keep out of the wind.
  • The large elephant seals are still moulting, and continue to scoot between the centre of the island and the jetty to cool off and relieve their cracking skin.
  • The oyster catcher chicks are doing well but they are much more elusive than the other birds.

 

First Hatching Eggs!

Posted on by

Weather:

  • Wind: 10 – 20 knots
  • Sky: Overcast, short showers
  • Visibility: 10 miles
  • Water: Rippled

Boats/Visitors:

The winds have calmed down over the past couple of days, so we have been seeing more whale watching boats, about 10-15 per day.

Today Greg came with a college vessel with two tanks of water and one yesterday.

Ecological:

The oyster catcher eggs have hatched! Today we spotted two chicks with the two parents on the rocks in front of the crane nearby the jetty. The adults were picking food from the waters edge and carrying it to feed the chicks. We spotted one more pair with one chick on the other side of the jetty. It seems that only one of their two eggs hatched.

We are expecting the seagull eggs to hatch soon as well, as we found a deceased chick on our pathway yesterday that was nearly fully developed. The nearby shell appeared to have been pecked as well as the chick itself. There are eagle feathers scattered around the island from the eagles that have been swooping through the flocks of seagulls, but we are inclined to suspect that another seagull broke this egg due to the apparent pecking.

There are four large male elephant seals here moulting, and while they are fairly docile they have a hard time hearing us coming, and can be aggressive if they are taken by surprise.

Maintenance: 

We are still waiting on the new desalinator, but now have a sufficient fresh water supply thanks to Greg! He also brought us a new foot for the water pump which we installed. We continue to collect shingles as they blow off of the roofs awaiting repair. Kai is excited about his new project: repairing a ceased water pump.

A Nice Sunset

Posted on by

Weather:

  • 10mi visibility
  • 25kn wind
  • partially overcast sky
  • lightly rippled water

Visitors/Boats:

We have not had any visitors or boats at the rock. The college vessels are still in for service, and should be up and running mid-week. Things have been pretty quiet out here, except the whale watching boats, which were frequent today.

Ecological:

The four large elephant seals are progressing in their moult. The seagulls continue to escalate their aggression.

We had a beautiful sunset tonight!

Sunset towards middle rock from the jetty

Sunset on the main house and lighthouse