WEDNESDAY 17 April CENSUS DAY
Calm & sunny. Wind N6/18 gusts mid-morning.
Began count on tower at 6.30 to count especially gulls while still mostly at rest.
Vessel Traffic: At any time, 5-8 freighters including what looks to be super tankers. CA naval
patrol vessel. 8-10 fishers out at all time of day. May be after prawns as some floats visible. Not
a single tour vessel!
DND detonated explosives 4 times; one blast shook windows.
Facility Work: Cleaned solar panels; attached hose from student bldg.
Began sawing/splitting wood but again interrupted by E seals near by.
Cleaned/rearranged kitchen drawers; cleaned top of fridge
Cleaned out freezer
Census Count
Mammals: Sealion 43
Steller 12
California 31
Seal 77
Elephant seal 5
Birds: Gull 1531
Guillemot 150
Oystercatcher 8 (4 pair)
Bald eagle 2 (1 adult; 1 immature; 7 immature on 18 th )
Harlequin 27
Cormorant 100
Scoter white wing 7
Dunlin 4
Turnstone 6
Surfbird 5 (10 seen on 15 th )
Savanah sparrow 1
Golden-crowed kinglet 1 (seen 13-14th)
Junco 1 (seen on 15th)
Crow 1
Canada goose 8 (4 pair: drilled 3 eggs)
Category Archives: Ecoguardians Log
Moulting Elephant seals
Eco-guardians Allen and ilka Olsen
TUESDAY 16 April
Winds have lessened but still brisk and; cool out—West 14/gust 24—mid-afternoon.
Continue to go up tower to prepare for census day tomorrow. I’ll dispense with today’s count
as nothing extraordinary spotted except 4 dunlin and possibly 6 Cassin auklets (too swift for pic).
Birds are definitely pairing and prepping for nesting. Found a dead sealion on east shore well
along in decay.
Two additional moulting E seals came ashore; total now 5. Some vocalize frequently.
Of interest was the vessel traffic: HMCS frigate towed along south shore of Bentick to
Quarantine Cove. One likes to think that the two towing tugs have a lower carbon footprint
than the engine on frigate. Four detonations from DND. Spill Response vessel cruised by. Five-
7 freighters transversing at any time; several cruise ships. Number of wildlife tour boats
definitely correlate to number cruise ships in harbour.
Facility Work: Gathered, split and stacked wood, Washed windows.
Animal Census April14
by Eco-guardians Allen ilka Olsen MONDAY 15 April
Still windy. What a difference a day makes! At 7.15 only a single sealion on jetty (mature male
Cal); only 11 sealions on rocks near jetty/nine relocated to Middle Rocks. The ‘Two Sisters’
moulting Elephant seals separate but reunited and tucked into vegetation for wind protection.
Single moulting Elephant seal inactive most of day. The seal reported by Joan last week to Van
Aquarium not seen again.
Lots of freighter traffic—7 at once. Now watching for HMCS Max Bernays, new arctic patrol
vessel, to arrive at Esquimalt @1030. Failed to see its arrival, however a navy frigate was
observed. As well, US Coast Guard. Only one private vessel came in the turbulent seas.
Maximum flood today extremely dramatic with standing waves.
Cormorants and guillemots feeding in north water. Immature eagle on rocks next to jetty
keeping 50 guillemots from favourite, sunny east-facing perch. 20 Oystercatcher on seal rock
this morning; 10 surfbird; 6 Harlequin
Spent windy day (41 W/62 gusts) observing animal behaviour (and later in week):
1. Sealion— 18 mostly Cals have remained on rocks near jetty. 25 mostly Stellers have
relocated to Middle Rocks. On Saturday observed 18-20 sealions in water west & near
South Islands all day simply floating; occasionally one would swim staying nearby. They
remained there until dark but were gone Sunday morning. Observed this behaviour with
8 on Wed; group would occasionally go into herding mode.
2. Elephant seal—Moulting large females (?) very attached to each other; one observed
grooming/rubbing itself on the one less advanced in its moult. One quite vocal when
separated from the other. Youngster stays completely away from The Sisters (so
named by Joan).
3. Stellers roar; Cals bark; E seals honk/snore/growl/trumpet (played poorly).
4. Oystercatcher—single bathing in inter-tidal pool.
5. Surfbird—10 bathing in inter-tidal pool.
6. Eagles—three immature perched shoulder to shoulder on Turbine Rock; three more
immatures shoulder to shoulder on West Rock. Odd behaviour. A single elsewhere.
7. Cormorants leave the Rock each evening to roost (on DND land?) and return in droves in
early morning.
Animal census April 14/2024
SUNDAY 14 April
Internet restored by IT Dan by 1200.
1330 from tower:
Mammals: 51 seals on South Islands; 2 on Middle Rocks + 1 on West Rock. 27 sealions on Race
Rocks; 9 on Middle Rocks; 2 on West Rocks. 22 cormorants
Young Elephant seal observed heading to water; not seen rest of day.
Weather: Sunny with lots of solar power generated. Lowered flag. Gale force winds by mid-
afternoon; big blow all night.
Census April 13/2024
Eco-guardians Allen & ilka Olsen
SATURDAY 13 April
Weather: Warm; sunny; slight breeze
Birds: 100 guillemot, 52 cormorant (1 injured,) 4 harlequin, 4 oystercatcher, 6 Canada goose, 6
turnstone, 6 surfbird, 1 Golden-crown kinglet
Mammals: 4 Elephant seal, 17 sealion
Maintenance: Internet down from 30 pm until noon Sunday; many trips to gen
building/eventually told to wait for IT help on Sunday morning.
Cleaned hand railing & molding in stairwell/some cabinet doors
Arrival of Ecoguardians at Race Rocks
Eco-guardians Allen& ilka Olsen
FRIDAY 12 April
Arrived at approx. 5pm due to low tide restrictions on jetty most of day.
Spelled off Joan Rosenberg
Branded sealion, desalinating water with sunshine, Good bye Race Rocks
They all came to wave goodbye
Eco-guardian cross over day. I arrived here barely over a bout of sciatica. I wasn’t sure if I should cancel my week but thought I could do all the absolutely necessary tasks, even if I had to crawl to take the water samples! As it turned out I was able to clean the solar panels, top up the batteries, collect enough wood to keep the house warm, clean the house, start a thorough cleaning of the fuel shed, scrub the walkways in the rain and do the necessary tasks. It was difficult though not to carry out the tasks I enjoy, like carrying a bucket of water to clean the lamp room or splitting wood.
I love the challenge at Race Rocks of living with a small environmental foot print. The abundant life here, that I deeply care about, inspires me to decrease my fuel consumption. This visit I did not need to use the house furnace and heated my hot water on the woodstove. I even used this method of heating water for “Thai” showers. Cleaning the solar panels when they have dew on them and the walkways in the rain helps too. If I didn’t love my coffee first thing in the morning I could probably cook on the woodstove too. Maybe next time!
heating water
Observations
The 2 moulting elephant seals are still by the jetty. One is looking very good, all open sores are healed over. The other one is still panting away and shivering. I sent a video and have heard back from Candice at marine mammal rescue at the Vancouver Aquarium and she would like to be kept informed if his status changes (rescue@vanaqua.org). Still no luck getting his tag #. I should note that I have not seen any infant seals this visit. I have scanned the rocks. My usual visit is in late April and there are often nursing pups.
The branded sealion 1191 below has been reported and we await back information.
Finally the two immature bald eagles are on the island at the same time and I believe they are the same age, less than a year. Do you agree?
Visitors
Greg is bringing out several classes for low tonight today
Vessels
Several tour boats have gone by already today (13:00 hours)
Facility work
Cleaned the solar panels
cleaned the house so it is ready for Ilka and Alan Olsen the next eco-guardians
wood to house
I am currently running the desalinator on sunshine! Amazing.
This is the screen we live by on Race Rocks. It tells how how much energy we are using and how much we are producing. Right now the sun is producing 4.88 kw and we are consuming 3.8 kilowatts while running the desalinator.
Weather
The day started out with thick cloud cover. The sun broke through around 1400 hrs. The wind is currently 13 knot SE. Scattered clouds.
The two immature Bald eagles
Catastrophic moult
OBSERVATIONS
This is my last full day here. The week has gone fast and slow. Time is different here. I spend countless hours watching the birds, mammals and the ocean. The intertidal is phenomenal. There is always “news”, elephant seals arriving, eagles catching prey, new birds momentarily setting down, sun rises, sunsets… this type of news is easy to get absorbed in.
This morning, once again, a gull had a goose egg at our back door. At this time there are no known eggs in any nests. When I first arrived the nest by the generator building had 2 eggs but they are gone. I watched the goose pull out its chest feathers to conceal the eggs when she left the nest. They were so well insulated and hidden. Below is the picture of the empty nest once the gulls had taken the eggs.
One of the elephant seals that I first saw yesterday morning is going through a “catastrophic moult”. Open sores on it’s back and abdomen. I also noticed it has laboured breathing and is shivering. I called Marine Mammal Rescue and sent them a video at rescue@vavqua.org. I know that the appearance of elephant seals can be upsetting when they are moulting but I was not aware that they get systemic symptoms. Also it is TAGGED with a green tag on it hind flippers. I have a picture but the numbers are not visible. I am continuing to see an opportunity to get the number.
I also saw a branded Stellar sealion, a small female? #895. If I don’t get a picture by the time I leave I will report it but I would prefer to report it with a picture.
Weather
calm wind variable all day, cloudy with periods of drizzle
Facility wok
ran the desalinator today when the generator was running
Vessel traffic
4 ecotourism boats
The Stellar sea lions are much quicker to vacate the rocks than the California sea lions when the tour boats come by. The tour boats do back off when the Stellar sea lions leave but they are still getting on and off a few times/day particularly the smaller ones, females and younger males.
Catastrophic moult
Bright blue gular on Brandt’s cormorant
two large female elephant seals
abandoned nest
Sunset reverence?
Wednesday Census
I am writing this on Thursday although the census was done yesterday.
I was happy to welcome 3 new elephant seals to the island. Yesterday the count was at 5 and from what I can discern there are 2 large female, one subadult female, 1 small female and 1 small male. The small male is tagged. Update next post when I can get the number on its green tag.
Census
A sunny day in the intertidal
Mammals
Elephant seals 5
4 confirmed female and perhaps 1 male
Stellar sea lions 19
California Sea lions 33
Harbour seals 57 (mostly on surrounding rocks at low tide)
Sea otters 3 (seen off Turbine rocks 2 days ago)
Birds
Gulls 292 mostly glaucous wing and western and hybrids (please see the amazing survey done last week by RPBO for species breakdown)
Bald Eagles 1 mature 2 immature about 1/2 and 1 year old
Turnstones 10
Cormorants 112 (roosting in the evening) the recent survey suggested the majority are Brandts, about 15% Pelagic and some Double Crested)
Dunlins 7
Surfbirds 56 (see photos below)
Rock Sandpiper? there may be some mixed in with the surfbirds see photo below
Fox sparrow 1
North western crow 1
Weather:
Clear and warm with mild variable winds mostly from the west
Visitors
Greg brought 3 boat loads of Pearson College biology students out with LAura to explore the low tides
Facility Work
Cleaned solar panels in the morning
wood to house
began cleaning fuel shed
Vessel traffic
A very noticeable change in the last several years in the marked increase in shipping traffic. I understand what a shipping lane is now. There is a CONSTANT stream of large container ships travelling by. There are about 6 on the horizon whenever I look out.
Constant shipping traffic
2? year old Bald Eagle
3 elephant seals , the 2 moulting are new
Surf Birds and others camouflaged
Gulls are entertaining
OBSERVATIONS
A gull on our back porch regurgitated this pellet. The gulls have crops and gizzards allowing them to eat whole animals, crabs, chitons, sea urchins and starfish.
Here’s a gull from today (I looked but did not see any starfish in the intertidal but there must be some).
Low tide on a sunny day. Lots of new seaweed growing on the rocks. Sculpins in the tide pools, there are two.
Two more pictures with hidden subjects. Looking closely there are about 16 surfbirds camouflaged in the rocks.
Visitors
Today there is a strong westerly blowing around 20 knots all day. No fishing or tour boats seen.
Maintenance
Yesterday while it was raining I scrubbed the cement walkways. This saves water and energy by avoiding the power washer.
Collected kindling and brought wood rounds to the house.
