| Day | Time | Temp. ºC | Salinity ppt |
| 1 | 8:24 | 7.7 | 31.7 |
| 2 | 8:55 | 7.8 | 31.6 |
| 3 | 7:14 | 7.8 | 31.4 |
| 4 | 6:53 | 7.7 | 31.6 |
| 5 | 7:59 | 7.8 | 31.4 |
| 6 | 9:15 | 7.8 | 31.5 |
| 7 | 10:32 | 7.9 | 31.5 |
| 8 | 11:12 | 7.9 | 31.7 |
| 9 | 14:00 | 7.8 | 32.4 |
| 10 | 15:47 | 7.9 | 32.0 |
| 11 | 16:53 | 7.9 | 32.8 |
| 12 | 17:06 | 7.9 | 32.6 |
| 13 | 19:33 | 7.7 | 32.2 |
| 14 | |||
| 15 | |||
| 16 | 7:18 | 7.3 | 31.6 |
| 17 | 8:14 | 7.4 | 31.5 |
| 18 | 7:55 | 7.5 | 31.5 |
| 19 | 9:10 | 7.7 | 31.4 |
| 20 | 10:49 | 7.8 | 31.6 |
| 21 | 13:02 | 8.0 | 31.7 |
| 22 | 16:19 | 8.1 | 31.6 |
| 23 | 14:56 | 7.9 | 31.9 |
| 24 | 15:44 | 7.9 | 31.9 |
| 25 | 16:31 | 8.0 | 31.8 |
| 26 | 17:23 | 7.9 | 31.8 |
| 27 | 18:25 | 8.0 | 31.8 |
| 28 | 8:16 | 7.9 | 31.7 |
| 29 | 8:10 | 7.9 | 31.5 |
| 30 | 6:35 | 7.8 | 31.8 |
| 31 | 6:44 | 7.7 | 31.7 |
Category Archives: Ecoguardians Log
March 28 and 29 – Spring Cleaning
Wind: yesterday variable 1-19 knots, today W 5-25 knots
Sea State: yesterday calm, today up to 1 m chop
Visibility: yesterday 10 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy, today clear
Temperature: yesterday 8-10 °C, today 7-9 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 415.68 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
Today marks a big milestone for me, spending 100 days at Race Rocks. I’ve enjoyed witnessing the entire winter and transition into spring from this incredible ecological reserve on the edge, where the land meets the sea meets the sky.
Lots of chores were done around the island this weekend: cleaning windows, chopping wood rounds with the axe, vacuuming and mopping.
Two pleasure boats were in the ecological reserve today. A lone occupant of on of those boats was fishing near North Rocks.
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- These daffodils are blooming, as most of the other daffodils on the island are dying back
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- An intertidal nap for a tired elephant seal pup who was practicing swimming through the night
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- Rush hour on the boat/seal ramp
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- The moulting is progressing quickly for one of the female adult elephant seals.
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- Washing screens to install on the windows as fly season returns
Census Friday
Wind: yesterday mostly from W 4-22 knots, today N-NE 2-9 knots
Sea State: yesterday calm in morning 0.5m chop in afternoon, today calm
Visibility: both days 5-15 NM
Sky: yesterday overcast with patches of rain and sun, today partly cloudy
Temperature: both days 6-8 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 415.43 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
Census results from today:
6 elephant seals (2 female pups, 1 female juvenile, 3 female adults)
21 steller sea lions
62 california sea lions
1 sea otter
91 harbour seals
3 bald eagles (1 juvenile, 2 adults)
12 Canada geese
6 brandt’s cormorants
4 double-crested cormorants
10 pelagic cormorants
59 thayer’s gulls
12 black oystercatchers
14 harlequin ducks
108 pigeon guillemots
56 surfbirds
26 black turnstones
1 killdeer
1 song sparrow
There were no boats in the ecological reserve over the past two days.
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- The youngest elephant seal pup practicing her water skills in the shallow water by the boat ramp and jetty.
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- Recently, the harbour seals have been hauling out around the shoreline of main island and nearby shoals. In the winter, they only hauled out on the outer islands away from the boisterous sea lions.
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- More harbour seals
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- A Canada goose sitting on a nest made of grass and feathers. She lay seven eggs about the size of tennis balls.
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- The older of the two female pups likes daffodils.
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- The adult female elephant seals are showing more signs of moulting. This one on the left has shed some of her whiskers as well as fur around her eyes, nose and mouth. The white stuff is snot.
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- A view from the tower of a sea otter grooming itself on the intertidal rock near three harbour seals.
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- A sea otter napping in the water. Can you see the camouflaged harbour seal on the left?
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- Another view from ground level of the sea otter grooming itself on a rock with a harbour seal looking on.
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- A song sparrow perched on a rock ledge on the south side of the house. The succulent plant growing around the rocks is called sedum anglicum or English stonecrop, an introduced species from a lightkeeper in the 1980’s.
March 24 and 25
Wind: yesterday variable 1-11 knots, today mostly W 2-17 knots
Sea State: both days calm
Visibility: yesterday 5-15 NM, today 10-15 NM
Sky: yesterday overcast, rain then clearing in early afternoon, today partly cloudy then clear from mid morning onwards
Temperature: yesterday 5-6 °C, today 5-10 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.34 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
I heard back about more information on the recently arrived female juvenile elephant seal pup, with green tags E103 and E135. Dr Patrick Robinson, the Director of the Año Nuevo Reserve and Lecturer at University of California Santa Cruz, sent a report of the history of the seal’s sightings and said, “It’s always great to get these updates… we greatly appreciate it!” The seal was born in the 2018 winter season, which makes her just over two years old. She was seen a lot during the winter and spring of 2018 at Año Nuevo Reserve. Researchers took two blubber samples to study bioaccumulation. The seal wasn’t seen again until the fall of 2019, when she spent a month at Race Rocks between September 7 and October 11. Fast forward a few months, the seal came back to Race Rocks two days ago, on March 23. She appears to be in the early stages of her catastrophic moult of her fur and skin, judging by the patches on her sides.
The youngest elephant seal pup returned yesterday morning from her one day adventure in the sea. She spent the whole day sleeping by the wood pile. The oldest pup has been gone for the past two days. A new adult female elephant seal arrived yesterday. She is most likely one of the four mothers that was here in January and February. So far the three have come back a month and a half after they each weaned their pups, which happened on January 21, February 4 and February 9.
At today’s 16:31 high tide, after recording the salinity and temperature of the water, I hooked up the hoses and pump to top up the seawater in the cistern. The gas powered water pump sucks water through a hose with a strainer dropped off the end of the jetty. The water is pumped through 76 m (250′) of fire hose up to the cistern. Over a couple hours, tens of thousands of litres of water were pumped into the underground cistern, which should feed the desalinator for the next month and a bit.
Yesterday, there was one pleasure boat that zoomed through Middle Channel and stopped by the rocks to take photos of sea lions. This afternoon, the Canadian Coast Guard lifeboat Cape Calvert, appeared to be out for a cruise around Race Rocks from the base in Victoria. They came in for a closer look and a couple of the crew appeared to be snapping photos of Race Rocks with their phones. This is a very photogenic place. This afternoon, Guy, Corey and Christine from Pearson College delivered a new fridge and took away the old one that recently stopped working. They also brought some fresh food from the Pearson kitchen, which is closing down for a while.
Here are a few photos from the past two days:
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- A third adult female elephant seal, on the right, came ashore yesterday to join the moulting party.
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- A sunny south view looking towards the big cumulus clouds over Port Angeles. There are eight harbour seals on the intertidal rock in the middle of the photo.
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- I have been looking around for tulips lately, as I had seen some here in a previous spring. I found one tulip near some grape hyacinth in the old rock garden south of the house. The bud looks like it will open any day.
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- The Canadian Coast Guard boat Cape Calvert, from Victoria, travelled around the island this afternoon and came in for a closer look off the south east side. Two thayer’s gulls are out of focus in the foreground.
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- This evening as the stars were becoming visible, I was carrying equipment to put away in the boat house. I had a realization I get numerous times a day of how grateful I am to be in this amazing place. There is no other place I would rather be right now.
Newly Arrived Elephant Seals
Wind: yesterday W 7-31 knots, today W 6-26 knots
Sea State: both days calm in morning, 1′ chop in afternoon
Visibility: both days 8-15 NM
Sky: yesterday clear, today rain overnight then partly cloudy with rain in evening
Temperature: yesterday 6-8 °C, today 6-7 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.34 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
The population of elephant seals is increasing on Race Rocks. The boat ramp, their preferred haul out spot, is getting a lot of traffic. Yesterday morning, an adult female arrived and quickly made her way up to the centre of the island. She could be one of the females who left in January or February, based on her size and scars on her back from mating.
I realized this morning the adult female elephant seal I have been seeing on and off for the past three weeks was in fact the first mother of this winter. In the month the seal and I were both here on this island from December 21 to January 21, I never realized she had two flipper tags. I only ever saw the ones marked T562 on both sides of one of her flippers. This morning I saw two sets of different tags, one on each flipper. Perhaps the mud and snow of the early winter concealed the tags. I also did not have as many opportunities to read the tags when the mother was spending most of here time either nursing her pup or mating with the alpha male.
Now that I know she’s the mother of the male pup, it could explains why that pup came towards her when she first arrived on March 3. The other pups moved away from her. Although, I haven’t seen the male pup interact closely or vocalize with its mother.
A juvenile elephant seal arrived this morning with two green tags, E103 and E135. There is something about today that made all the tags very visible. The seal looks to be very well fed for the upcoming moulting. This seal was here in the fall. She was born and tagged in Ano Nuevo, on the coast of California between San Francisco and Santa Cruz. I haven’t been able to figure when she was born. See the log post from September 30, 2019 for ecoguardian Mara and Kai’s details of the seal they called Eric. A few weeks later, Ecoguardian Laas revealed this seal was a female and named her Erica in the log post from October 11, 2019. Naming the seals can get confusing.
While not all elephant seals are tagged, some are studied for all kinds of factors from movements to genetics to bioaccumulation and generally understanding more about this fascinating species. I am realizing as the seals move around Race Rocks, how difficult it is to tell them apart. The pups are starting to look more alike as they lose the last of their pup fur. It’s a fun game as I try to track their movements as best I can, while I move around the island doing my daily routine.
With the arrivals of seals, there was also a departure today. The youngest seal pup was outside the house last night when I went to turn off the generator and desalinator, but nowhere to be seen this morning. Perhaps she ventured out a little to far from the shallow end of the jetty bay where she has been practicing her swimming. I am curious if she will return, as two months old is a bit young to leave for good. The other two pups are still here.
There were no boats seen in the ecological reserve over the past two days. I heard a solo kayaker by the name of Travis paddled around the islands yesterday.
Here are some photos from the past two days:
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- Mystery solved! T562 and T563 are the same seal.
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- The oldest pup looking at his mother, or possibly me who is walking behind his mother. He seems to like that spot under the tallest plant on the island, possibly because he was born there.
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- Welcome back! The seal tagged E103/E135 next to the the older of the two female pups.
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- This morning through the spotting scope in the lantern room of the tower, I spied a sea otter on Middle Rocks. I’ve heard it’s rare to see them out of the water. Once the kelp grows up, otters use it as an anchor. I took this photo with my iPhone. I like the effect created around the scope, as you can see some of the island structures like the Science House and the railing of the lantern room.
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- “Reunited and It Feels So Good” The two adult females cosy up in the centre of the island. The bald spots on the back of the one on the right are where she has begun to moult.
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- The log cutting jig loaded and ready for the chainsaw. This log, cut in half before I took this photo, was the prized log I fished out of the water in the winter. The chainsaw cut through it like butter.
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- The wood pile keeps growing!
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- I changed the water filter in the residence. The water now tastes even more delicious.
Spring Census and Swimming Seal Pups
Wind: yesterday W 0-30 knots, today mostly W, SE in early afternoon 1-28 knots
Sea State: both days calm in morning, rippled in afternoon
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: both days clear
Temperature: yesterday 6-8 °C, today 6-11 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.34 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
All three elephant seal pups were swimming near the boat ramp both yesterday and this morning. The middle aged pup has taken to a napping spot on the concrete between the boat ramp and the rocks.
When I did the census observations today, I was surprised there were only 84 pigeon guillemots. I counted twice to make sure. The little black and white birds with bright red feet appear to be everywhere around the shoreline and in the water around the main island. They are constantly moving about and making their high-pitched whistling call.
I had a great view of a sea otter this afternoon. While out in the boat taking a photo of the main island, I heard what sounded like a slapping sound on the water. I turned around to see the sea otter about 20 m from the boat crack open clamshells on its chest. The otter had a few clams lined up. I turned off the engine and watched the otter quickly eat a few clams, then repeatedly dive down and eat more.
Today, there were nine pleasure crafts, one sailboat and the Race Rocks station boat in the ecological reserve, the most boats of any day this year. A pleasure boat with five people stopped at the jetty this evening. Three people walked along the jetty to get a closer look at the elephant seal pup napping beside the boat ramp. I approached and drew their attention to the large sign that explains the purpose of the ecological reserve and that permission is needed to come ashore. They were very nice and asked a few questions about the marine mammals before they left. No boats were in the ecological reserve yesterday.
Census results from today:
4 elephant seals (1 adult female, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
10 steller sea lions
82 california sea lions
1 sea otter
50 harbour seals
8 bald eagles (3 adults, 5 juveniles)
11 brandt’s cormorants
6 double-crested cormorants
19 pelagic cormorants
9 Canada geese
251 gulls (mostly thayer’s gulls)
8 black oystercatchers
1 whimbrel
26 harlequin ducks
84 pigeon guillemots
4 surfbirds
12 black turnstones
Here are some photos from the past two days:
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- The three elephant seal pups practicing their swimming skills near the boat ramp and jetty yesterday morning.
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- Harlequin ducks taking a break on the rocks in the east bay
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- Harlequin duck, oystercatcher and whimbrel on the east side
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- Brandt’s, double-crested and pelagic cormorants on the southwest side of the main island
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- Sea otter
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- Sea otter breaking open a clamshell
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- Sea otter eating a clam
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- Looking back towards Great Race Rocks from the west side of the ecological reserve, with a view of california sea lions on the West Islands.
Two short videos of the youngest elephant seal pup learning to swim in the shallow water. In the first clip, she appears to be playing with a little bull kelp. In the second clip, she is blowing bubbles. The sounds of many species can be heard: california sea lions, thayer’s gulls, black turnstones and pigeon guillemots.
Vernal Equinox
Wind: yesterday W 0-25 knots, today mostly W 1-22 knots
Sea State: both days calm
Visibility: yesterday 15 NM, today 10-15 NM
Sky: both days clear
Temperature: yesterday 5-8 °C, today 6-10 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.58 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
Today marks the official start of spring at Race Rocks and the rest of the northern hemisphere. The days will keep getting longer until summer solstice, on June 20.
Two of the elephant seal pups marked the occasion by going for a swim this morning. When the sun rose, they were all on the boardwalk near the crane. When I went out to check the salinity and temperature of the water at the 9:09 high tide, the oldest and youngest pups were at the edge of the water on the boat ramp. The other pup was still up on the boardwalk. The youngest pup stayed at the water’s edge for about two hours. The all spent the rest of the day on the grass, basking in the sun.
Yesterday, the boats in the ecological reserve were three pleasure crafts, two tour boats and the Pearson College boat Second Nature to drop off food. Today, four pleasure crafts were in the area. Greg and Lawrence from Pearson came in Second Nature to drop off new solar panels to be added to the array. They also helped clean out the gutters on the Science House.
Here are photos of some views from the past two days:
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- The three elephant seal pups lined up from oldest to youngest, top to bottom.
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- The older of the two female elephant seal pups napped with her head in the daffodils for most of the yesterday.
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- A bald eagle in the intertidal zone
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- Two elephant seal pups in the shallow end on the boat ramp
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- Two elephant seal pups on the boat ramp
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- The youngest elephant seal pup stuck around and blew bubbles in the shallow water.
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- The adult female elephant seal, tagged T563, returned this morning after being away for a few days. She quickly went back to her favourite place with the comfiest shrub pillows. *UPDATED March 23: I was able to take a closer look at the tag today and noticed this elephant seal is tagged T562 and T563, one on each tail flipper. This means she’s the seal that was here from mid December until January 21. She gave birth to the first pup of the season on December 29. She was seen again at Race Rocks on March 3 and has come and gone a few times since.
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- A sea otter floating off the south islands today, seen through the spotting scope in the lantern room of the lighthouse.
March 16 and 17
Wind: yesterday variable 3-13 knots, today mostly E 0-13 knots
Sea State: both days calm
Visibility: both days 15 NM
Sky: both days clear
Temperature: yesterday 3-11 °C, today 4-9 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.35 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
It’s still officially winter, although it’s looking a lot more springlike. The ground is drying out, after lots of sun and little moisture lately. The elephant seal pups are now fending for themselves, as there are no signs of adults around. The female, tagged T563, hasn’t been seen for three days.
Today marked the first day this winter with more than 12 hours of daylight. The sunrise was at 7:21. The sunset was at 19:23. Each day adds three and a half minutes of light.
The pressure washing continues, in an effort to clean algae off the exterior walls of the buildings. Other maintenance tasks are happening like cleaning the solar panels, chopping wood, keeping the paths clear and running the desalinator. There is still lots of time leftover for watching the seal pups, eagles, pigeon guillemots and learning about this amazing place.
Yesterday, there were two tour boats in the ecological reserve. Today, Pearson College’s boat Second Nature and captain Greg came to deliver fuel for the generator. This afternoon, there was a pleasure craft touring, quite quickly at times, around the islands. With lots of marine mammals in the water and along the shore, it’s important for people to drive at a slow speed in the ecological reserve.
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- For the first time all winter there have been no adult elephant seals on the island. Here are the three pups lounging in the centre of the island.
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- The gulls are slowly spreading out around the island. Gone are the winter days when they gathered in large flocks near the shoreline. The spring will bring mating and nesting for the gulls.
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- Most mornings and evenings lately have shown colourful displays on the horizon. Here are the three elephant seal pups yesterday, as the sun is about to rise behind them.
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- A bald eagle perching on top of the camera housing on the high rock.
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- Pigeon guillemots with their big red feet
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- Pigeon guillemots line up along the jetty
Shoreline Debris
Wind: yesterday N-NE 25-53 knots, today NE-S 9-45 knots
Sea State: both days rough with waves up to 2 m
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: both days clear
Temperature: yesterday 0-3 °C, today 1-6 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.33 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
The wind was strong all day yesterday until mid afternoon today, when it began to die down. The cool temperatures and winds blasted some of the plants that were exposed on the north side. The high pressure and clear skies were great for the solar power. For the first time this winter, the batteries recharged themselves today, reaching full charge just after 4:00 this afternoon. Normally, I top the batteries up with the generator for a few hours each evening. Hopefully the voltage of the batteries will remain at a good level until the sun rises at 7:24 and begins to feed the solar panels soon after.
For the past two and a half months, I have been combing the shoreline, picking up all the trash that washes ashore. I picked up a lot of pieces of plastic, rope, foam, fishing gear, buckets and other things that floated their way here. There are only three small beaches on the island that collect garbage: the boat ramp, east bay and the tombolo, which at low tide connects the south side of the island with the south seal rocks. There must be a massive amount of trash that floats by Race Rocks and doesn’t get captured by the shoreline. On the south side of the island, I found a lot of metal and pieces of ceramic that were mostly from the days when the old things and buildings on the island were disposed of by pushing them into the water. A few of the items I found are going to be reused: dog toys, floats and rope. The rest will be either recycled or sent to the landfill.
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- Shoreline debris: rope, plastic bottles, foam, buckets, dog toys, straps, beach toy, packaging, fishing bait containers. Near the top centre, a 2 L ice cream container has many pieces of small plastics that are shown in another photo. Not pictured are several floats that were already sent back to shore to be reused. The various pieces of metal and ceramic in the top right might have been disposed of years ago on Race Rocks, as opposed to being washed up. Some of the glass might have washed ashore.
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- Three washed up large plastic flasher lures
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- All the little pieces of found plastic that I stored in the 2 L container: styrofoam, shotgun shells/wads, straws, pen parts, pieces of toys, plastic cutlery, bags, cable ties, tampon applicator, ribbon, single serve butter package and many other unidentifiable pieces.
There were two tour boats in the ecological reserve this weekend, both today.
Other photos from around the island over the past two days:
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- A california sea lion napping on the end of the jetty with nearby rough seas.
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- The youngest elephant seal pup appears to take shelter from the strong northeast wind.
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- Red sky at night, sailors delight
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- Visible stars on a very clear night yesterday, before the moonrise
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- Grape hyacinth wilted from the weekend’s cold wind
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- Daffodils wilted from the weekend’s cold wind
Weekly Census
Wind: yesterday variable 4-22 knots, today NE-N 1-36 knots
Sea State: yesterday rippled, today chop up to 1 m
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: both days partly cloudy
Temperature: yesterday 5-7 °C, today 4-5 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.11 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
Here are the weekly census results observed today:
4 elephant seals (1 female adult, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
24 steller sea lions
33 california sea lions
58 harbour seals
7 bald eagles (2 adults, 5 juveniles)
13 Canada geese
7 brandt’s cormorants
4 double-crested cormorants
29 pelagic cormorants
48 gulls (mostly thayer’s)
24 black oystercatchers
29 harlequin ducks
3 surfbirds
12 black turnstones
1 snow bunting
1 song sparrow
1 fox sparrow
Yesterday, there was one tour boat, one pleasure craft and the Pearson College boat Second Nature in the ecological reserve. Greg and Silke, dropped off some supplies from Pearson College. No boats were around today.
The elephant seal pups lounging on the boardwalk by the jetty. They all still have patches of their pup fur. The two month old female pup is on the left. The two and a half month old male pup is in the middle. The youngest female pup, almost two months old, is on the right.