Plenty of ecotours, whalewatchers around today, by the way they were circling the kelp patch I assume the otter was there
Island maintenance
had to run the generator for a few hours today because there was not a lot of sunlight
also cleaned off the camera by the helicopter pad, received a message saying the cameras were getting difficult to see through
Bird notes
Nice to see a few younger seagulls around, they were already a decent size and lost their baby feathers by the time I got here last september
Marine mammals
Plenty of sea lions already on the main island, will need to put up a fence soon to keep them away from important areas, such as the generator room, don’t want to run into them if I need to get to the generator
Kyle visited the island today and brought Nick along, who is a former Ecoguardian and currently works as a facilitator for Pearson’s PSYL program. They brought my my food supplies and Kyle gave Nick a tour on some of the newer systems here.
Lots of whale watching boats in the area today
Saw a bunch of canoes paddle past the island, headed south. I believe they originated from Beecher Bay. Photograph below.
Marine mammals
Noticing a slow rise in the steller sea lion population on the northern rocks. There’s at least one really massive sea lion. I’ll get an accurate count later this weekend.
The injured seal that showed up a few days ago with predator marks and molting fur, returned to the island today and seemed to be more injured. I think it is a female. I’ll keep an eye on it.
Possible humpbacks far south of the island – too far to see the whales, but there was a gathering of whale watching boats in the spot where the humpbacks like to hang out.
Wind: 15-20 SE in the morning, 5-10 N in the evening (quite unusual)
Sky: partly cloudy
Water: Ripply
Boats/Visitors/Sightings
Kyle again brought several technicians from PTTP to do further work on the energy systems. They were able to connect the system to the internet which now allows them to remotely monitor solar input and usage. I also helped them lift the new batteries off the floor and place them on to an insulated rack.
Noticed an ecotour boat from the United States going around the reserve, and I’ve never seen this boat before. Maybe it was a 4th of July special?
Birds
Most seagull eggs have hatched, but some still remain whole. The seagulls are extremely aggressive now, and hard hats are a must for any visitors at this point.
A couple of juvenile bald eagles are making the rounds on the island – I initially mistook them for golden eagles, but Kyle explained they were simply juveniles.
Marine mammals
Kyle and I went to grab some photos of Ollie the sea otter that lives in a kelp patch near turbine rock.
We also spotted a humpack’s blow but by the time we got close it was gone.
Kyle came by to drop off some food supplies for me, but because of the dropping tide he wasn’t able to stay long enough to come ashore.
Birds
The seagull eggs have started to hatch! I estimate about 20 babies as of this morning. It’s hard to get a count of them as the seagulls are now at their most aggressive – I got hit on the head a few times, but thankfully I had my hard hat on.
Spotted some more oystercatcher chicks, but again they were gone by the time I got close. They are REALLY hard to photograph.
Marine mammals
Yet another day of no sea lions
Elephant seal count remains the same – one of the adult males got all the way up to the base of the lighthouse today!
Heavy fog crept in and out through the day, fog horn went off a couple of times
Boats/Visitors/Sightings
Search and Rescue Operation currently underway for 58 year old asian male kayaker who hasn’t been seen since yesterday.
I received the information this morning from Pearson College about an active search and rescue for a kayaker who left from Beecher Bay on Monday afternoon. I immediately did a sweep of the Race Rocks perimeter and a scan of the area from the top of the lighthouse. There was a rescue helicopter and several marine vessels around the area throughout the day. As of 2200 hrs on Tuesday he hasn’t been seen.
A small pleasure craft with 3 occupants was fishing in the north end of the reserve. After several attempts to radio them and using the air horn to get their attention, they remained for 20 mins or so. They left after catching a couple of large fish. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to catch the vessel’s number. Photographed below.
A Pedder Bay Marina boat with 4 occupants was fishing in the east end of the reserve. I called the marina immediately but they couldn’t get in touch with the people in the vessel. They left the reserve area when the tide pushed them east about 10 mins later, but they still remained on the boundaries of the reserve. Photographed below.
Marine Mammals
The Sea Lions seem to have disappeared today – no sign of them anywhere on the main lighthouse island.
Saw some orcas about 2 km south – surprisingly they stayed there for over 2 hours! The orcas out-waited several whale watching boats.
There was a man who arrived close to the reserve in a row boat. Upon talking to him I learned that he rowed here all the way from Port Angeles and was headed to Victoria, but the tide pushed him to Race Rocks instead. After rowing around the reserve for a few minutes, he headed on to Victoria.
Bird Notes
Noticed a sudden rise in number of immature gulls. Photographs below.
Marine Mammals
The latest elephant seal count is at 5 males and 1 female.
There are two California Sea Lion young ones around the jetty, with an adult (presumably the mother).
Spotted the HMCS Calgary leaving Pedder Bay and heading out towards the open ocean
Technical
Yesterday Kyle and Guy visited the island to go over all the energy and support systems. They identified some issues with the desalination pump, and the solar panel grid. There will be a technician coming soon to fix those.
Bird Notes
I saw a whole flock of Pelicans fly over the island – about 15-20 in number.
Garry Fletcher (ER Warden) and the IT team from Pearson College came ashore this morning. The IT team worked on replacing some of the wiring at the top of the lighthouse while I gave Garry a brief rundown of the happenings on the island.
A group of 9 visitors from the Kule Foundation came for a tour later in the afternoon. They spent close to an hour exploring every part of the island, including the top of the lighthouse, as Guy and I provided information, facts and stories.
After a Seaking Adventures boat violated the rules of the reserve day before yesterday and went into the eastern channel, I called the company this evening to give a warning. They explained that they have a new driver who is new to the area, but assured me that there would be no more boating violations on their part.
HMCS Edmonton was headed towards Pedder Bay this evening, along with a tail of two hard-hulled inflatables.
Bird Notes
A Pelican spent a good part of the afternoon on the island, just north of the student house. I haven’t seen this Pelican here before in the last 10 days that I have been at Race Rocks.
More seagull eggs. None hatched yet. Seagulls are relatively less aggressive than usual for this time of the year.
Marine Mammals
Garry spotted a new male Elephant Seal on the island today. It’s a fairly young one with remarkably unmarked/scarred skin. We believe that’s because it may have recently finished molting.
One of the whale watching boats entered the channel on the East side of the main island. I was busy trying to get them to reverse out and couldn’t run to get a picture unfortunately. I’ll be on the lookout for the same boat again.
Guy brought several volunteers and visitors to the island today! The volunteers helped Guy place some of the old batteries on the upper shelves of the battery room. Guy was also able to help me with the desalination and power washer issues. We were also able to test the YSI meter to confirm that it is giving inaccurate readings and needs to be fixed.
Marine Mammals
There were 3 female and 1 male Elephant Seals on the island today. The second male from yesterday was nowhere in sight.
