Ecological Happenings
Marine Vessels
Maintenance
Early fog crept over from the American side, obliterating visibility for a few hours this morning but then it was cleared by west winds of 10 – 20 knots. The wind was constant, as was the sunshine for the rest of the day. The barometer started rising last night and peaked at 1014 hPa before starting to drop again this afternoon. Tomorrow’s forecast includes strong wind warnings for afternoon westerlies of 15 – 25 knots, it is supposed to be mainly sunny while Friday has a 60% chance of showers.
There was a near-miss boating incident this morning just after the fog cleared. During the full ebb current, of close to six knots, a small rough looking commercial fishing vessel with lots of bumpers out and a ‘scotchman’ astern went flying through Middle Channel. Just as it arrived at the roughest section where the standing waves were standing high, it turned abruptly at right angles to the current. It rolled and seemed to take a long time to right itself. Then as I watched from the roof of the energy building, it lurched around, finally straightening out like a drunken sailor making its way westward. Six whale watching vessels were noted, working in the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve today, all very professional, heeding sustainability methods and best practices except for one orange zodiac that was in a hurry to leave when the Navy arrived on scene just west of the reserve.
A Humpback Whale was feeding just to the west of the reserve all afternoon and the students were able to observe it through the spotting scope and time the dives. Some of them managed to sketch the blow shape in their field journals and a few even caught glimpses of the flukes. They also had a chance to observe the sea otter and that was a highlight amidst the roar and din of the ubiquitous sea lions and their stinky ways. Two young male Northern Elephant Seals took advantage of the chaos when the students were coming ashore to sneak up the ramp and they put on a good demonstration of elephant seal wrestling and jousting in between their sudden naps.
The field trip was the third marine science class to visit in a week and it was really a treat to work with such wonderful young people from all over the world.
Chores were routine in addition to end of the month routines.
It was a clear day from glorious sunrise to subdued sunset. The wind was 5 to 15 knots in the west – southwest quadrant and solar radiation was high, though not quite as high as yesterday; 400 Langleys today and just over that on Monday. As I write the Log blog, clouds are creeping in and blanketing the mountains on the American side and the barometer is falling again. Forecasts call for a switch to southeast winds, which usually brings wet weather. Wednesday is supposed to be increasingly cloudy and rain is supposed to follow.
Only eight commercial whale watching vessels were noted in the Ecological Reserve boundaries today and five of those were in the afternoon associated with Biggs (Transient) Killer Whales on the other side of Race Passage. The Killer Whales were on the Vancouver Island side of the passage and spent several hours in and around Bentick Island and Emdyck Passage and William Head. Several pleasure craft passed through the reserve today, all without speeding or fishing in reserve. There was one overflight during the first class field trip: a small fixed-wing aircraft that passed over west to east and then returned passing over a second time. Although one red flag was up all day at the military site there were no obvious explosions.
Pearson College students spent part of the day here today. Two of Laura Vehegge’s classes of marine science students came for their first field trip of the year to Great Race Island. I was hoping they would have a chance to see the Sea Otter, at least one pod of Killer Whales and maybe a couple of Humpback Whales, but no. After all they have just started a species list that they will be adding to for the next two years, so they will have other opportunities.
Today the students were also working on journal entries about their marine animal observations. They were lucky enough to see California and Stellers Sea Lions, Northern Elephant and Harbour Seals and lots of Glaucous-winged Gulls. There were also Mew Gulls, California Gulls and if they were sharp-eyed, Heerman’s Gulls. Those were the ubiquitous species, but for me, the more interesting and unusual species were two new, avian visitors that showed up today; a male and female Horned Lark. I send a shout out to Victoria Natural History Society on Twitter for helping with the identification. A flock of 24 Canada Geese landed and were on the island for a very short visit.
Laura’s classes witnessed the down-side of plastic in the ocean today. Is there an up-side? They had the ‘opportunity’ to observe three neck-laced sea lions. Those two California Sea Lions and one Steller Sea Lion with plastic straps around their necks will likely not survive long unless they get the specialized attention of Vancouver Aquarium veterinarian, Dr. Martin Haulena. Dr. Haulena has worked extensively with sea lions and is one of the few people able to do this sort of animal welfare work. This is another good reminder for all of us to avoid plastic if possible, recycle it and just in case it “gets away” cut all possible entanglers before disposing of it. There are a lot of really good efforts towards reducing plastic in our seas and there is a real need.
The Killer Whales mentioned above showed up late in the afternoon and missed both classes.
It was good to see Courtney with Year 20 volunteer Jasper, as a deck-hand on Second Nature. He had quickly graduated to skipper in training by the third run to Race Rocks.
Is something happening on the rock? Nothing. It ‘s what you could think from the tower top or from the seaplane that flies over almost everyday but at sea level it’s another story. Actually there is so much life by night and by day. Especially the nights are animated: We found 2 more dead chicken bodies, always at the same spot under the diesel tank, always killed the same way and left with all the guts fresh and bloody! Pretty disgusting! The Animal world is rough. We spotted some very violent attacks from adults gulls against chickens. The problem is when chicks run into a neighboring territory they get attacked and can be killed and now that they are trying to fly, they can’t control exactly where they land. When it’ s windy you can observe those flying practice everywhere. The wind helps them and some now manage to get 3 meters high in the air. 3 chicks spend all their day swimming in some shallow water, one parent checking from the rocks and there are there everyday but those are the only ones. Why not the others? Just a few Californian sea lions have landed on the main rock for now. The fence is ready anyway. We have been stock on Race rocks for a few days because of the wind but we kept busy and not bored. At 7:00PM we had 40knots but it slowed down at 26 knots at 8:00. Calm evening
Forecast of gale warning going to 35 knots late in the afternoon. Choppy sea. Very foggy to 9:30AM.I think that we never had so much traffic around as today: More than 30 whale watching boats, 2 diving boats with 6 divers each time, 2 kayaks and a plane over and you could see a big number of fishing boats especially around Sooke .Guy changed the winch handle of the boat trailer and he went on filling up the seawater cistern for 5 hours.We were almost cold! Hard to believe that it was so warm off island when we went a day ago.The last elephant seal is still here sleeping or swimming around.
It has been a lovely day with westerly wind rising from 2knots to 22knots in the evening. The desalinator has been working those last 2days but thanks to the solar panels no need of generator for 10 days. We have some issues with the desalinator in the sense that we have to wait 25 to 45 minutes before reaching the good level of salinity. It looks like we will have to change the big filter pretty soon (once a year). Guy changed the connector of the seawater pump that was broken.
An eagle this morning tried to fly by the island but no way the seagull army was ready. At date we found 3 eggs never hatched and 5 chicks bodies (one was floating in a kelp bed in the water). The bird I identified as a solitary sandpiper was in fact a whimbrel. (No doubt after checking the photograph I took). A seaplane flew over, not directly across the main rocks but over the South rocks. The island those last days and nights became a very noisy place maybe because of the full moon. We can’t tell which are the noisier ,gulls or sea lions? I tell you it’s a pretty amazing concert!
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.
Feb 1: Cloudy with rain, wind N 10-15 knots. 1 dive boat and 2 kayaks in the reserve. The dive boat was observed with an anchor in use in the reserve which is not allowed except for in emergencies. Cut and chopped fire wood.
Feb 2: Rain, wind NE 10-15 knots in morning switching to West in afternoon, up to 30 knots. I went off island in the morning and attended the Pearson College staff meeting. Picked up Virginie at airport and groceries along the way back. Returned to island late afternoon as wind was starting to pick up.
Feb 3: Wind light, low visibility in the morning. Worked on month end report and DFO seawater data entry.
Feb 4: Cloudy, wind NE 15-20 knots. A coast guard helicopter landed on the pad before noon to do maintenance on the tower light. The pilot, Mike, and technician, Derrick, were on their way back from the Carmanah station. While waiting on the maintenance work I invited the pilot in for tea and heard some stories from his nearly 40 years of service including his experience piloting a helicopter out to the drilling rig the Ocean Ranger the night it sank in 1982 on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. They flew out knowing they didnt have enough fuel to make the return trip and would have to land on another drilling rig, in the storm, in order to re-fuel. By the time they arrived there were only bodies floating in the sea, all 84 crew members on the rig died.
Feb 5: Rain, wind NE becoming variable, 4 foot swells coming in from the NE in the morning, low visibility. Worked on finishing month end report and preparing guest house for visitors. At night, on my way to check the generator, I could hear elephant seal pup vocalizations coming from West rock. I hadn’t seen or heard any sign of the pup for several days, since last reported in the log.
Winds between 5-15 knots for most of the day. Barometric pressure peaking midday. A few showers forecasted for tomorrow and risk of thunderstorms tonight.
18 whale watching boats
3 recreational fishing boats
A float plane did laps around the island this morning around 0900h taking counts on some marine mammals. Another one passed through the reserve this afternoon.
More than two hundred sea lions on the main island now and more on Middle Rock. I noticed today that although the population on the main island is mixed Stellar and California, there is a higher density of Californias on the main island and a higher density of Stellars on Middle Rock. A tagged elephant seal arrived today but I could not get close enough to its tags without frightening it.
The PSYL coordinators arrived around 1900h this evening and will be here two nights.