There is a noisome odor at the outer reaches of the island, on the rocky shores, where the density of gulls have encrusted the rocks in guano. The molting elephant seal is no different – its shed skin and hair remains malodorous for years. But in the fall, the sea lions dog piled outside the electric fence outstink them all.

Painted rocks on the western shore.

Noisome is Merriam-Websters word of the day and I threw in a couple more from
“10 Obscure Words for Bad Odors” – Merriam-Webster (read full version)

• Noisome – very unpleasant or disgusting
• Malodorous – having a bad odor
• Outstink –  smell worse than
• Nidor – smell of cooking or burning meat or fat
• Mephitic – offensive to the sense of smell
• Stinkaroo – stinker
• Hircine – resembling a goat in smell
• Alliaceous – smell or taste of garlic or onion
• Kakidrosis – secretion of sweat of a disagreeable odor
• Reekingly – with a reek

This very clever display was created by an Ecoguardian years ago. They are two very large pieces of elephant seal hair and skin stitched to a window screen.  It would be great to have it in the house but it still stinks, so it hangs in the Tank Shed.

Facility work

• cleaned the solar panels
• I am almost done cleaning and organizing the Tank Shed – just the back of door and one more wall to wipe. Another immensely satisfying job which took many days to complete.

The Tank Shed houses the large diesel Tidy Tank and fuel drums (for the generator and furnaces), the portable water pump which gets rolled to the Jetty to pump up fresh or salt water, electric fence supplies, the unit for measuring seawater temperature and salinity, the computer for the Davis weather station, and tools, paint, grease etc. 

Map with location of the buildings on Great Race Rock. The Tank Shed is beside the top of the boat ramp.

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 5
• Private: 1

Weather

Fog in the morning, clearing by noon and cloudy in the afternoon. Winds moderate to fresh westerlies increasing to near gale force by late afternoon. Daytime temperatures: low 9, high 11.

Wildlife notes:

I haven’t seen any gull chicks hatching yet but the gulls continue to build up and pad their nests. The elephant seals usually lay partially in the water on the boat ramp or float around the Jetty blowing bubbles. The female was in the water for a long time today and actually went for a swim. I saw her on her return trip at East Beach. The East Beach oystercatcher chicks are doing well, growing quickly and darting about. I figure they are around two weeks old. The Keeper’s House and Energy Building oystercatcher pairs are still incubating their eggs.

It tried to stuff more in there but it kept falling away.

East Beach oystercatcher parent with one of the two chicks.

A “raft” of cormorants – some of over 40 birds in a long line on the water last evening. Other collective nouns: colony, flight, gulp, sunning.

Facility work

• cleaned the solar panels
• topped up battery fluid levels
• continued cleaning/organizing the Tank Shed

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 7
• Private: 2

Weather

Light to gentle southwest breeze becoming westerly in the early evening. Skies overcast in the morning, clear by late afternoon. Daytime temperatures: low 11 , high 13.

Wildlife notes:

The female elephant is free and clear of her old self. Today is day 19 of her molt. The last little bit that stuck to her back since day 14 of her molt (photo) took 5 days to shake.

This female arrived here on May 18th (photo), started her molt on June 4th (photo) and may stay for another 2 or 3 weeks before she heads back to the sea. The elephant seals usually take the same route to the boat ramp for their daily soak(s) and have their favourite spots in the grass to sleep. They are heavy and spend so much time in the grass that they have created pathways and depressions lined with their shed hair and skin.

Elephant seal annoyed by the gull swooping and screeching at it.

Facility Work

I spend a few hours in the Tank Shed today. It is getting cleaned up, easier to find things, with more counter space and now, room to walk around in there. I cleaned one of the two windows today.  It took a while as the channels were filled with gunk and I had to dig out a razor blade to scrape the glass. So much brighter in there and very satisfying to look out a clean window.

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 9
• Private: 2

Weather

Moderate south west winds most of the day, switching to fresh westerlies in the early evening (they called for winds up to 30 knots so I lowered the flag this evening but they didn’t materialize). Overcast. Daytime temperatures: low 11, high 15.

Wildlife notes

We received a measurable amount of rain last night. It cleaned the windows, the solar panels, and soaked the birds. I expected the air to smell fresh after the cleansing as it normally would, but the smell of the gull poo was somehow more aromatic. Other than the absence of the sea lions and the typical dozen or so eagle fly overs there is nothing of note to report on.

The gulls spend a lot of time preening and are usually very white and clean looking. They also have good hygiene around their nests and move about 4 to 5 feet away to relieve themselves. I had a laugh when I saw the gull who built a nest two feet from the basement door – a inconvenient spot for me and annoying to the gull who is disturbed often. The gull was a dirty mess after the rain turned the soil there into mud.

A gull cleaning its feathers

An unusual sight. The wet and dirty front door gull.

Facility work

I had a sleepless night and felt off today so I did not accomplish much other than a bit of tidying and organizing in the pantry looking at expiry dates.

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 5
• Private: 4

Weather

Fog in the morning, cloudy skies remainder of the day. Rain ending by 11am. Winds light to gentle, direction variable. Seas calm. Daytime temperature: low 10, high 13.

View out the kitchen window this morning.

Of the three collective nouns for guillemots, I like the word bazaar the best but in the present context here and based on the behaviours I mostly get to see up close, colony would apply best when observed on land. The weekly census numbers for the guillemots range greatly. I am certain they are under represented in my census counts (blue values below) so today I decided to focus on counting these birds. They are notoriously difficult to survey, coming and going depending on time of day and the tide.

Today I counted 193 and two hours later most of them had vanished. What I counted does not include the birds incubating their eggs in burrows. There are a lot more burrows than I had previously thought and they are not just in the obvious places like the large areas with rocks and boulders where they congregate (whether natural beaches or rock piles created from blasting or construction, like around the helipad). There are nests outside of these areas all over the island in small scattered rock piles or human made structures like walls. Below are some photos of unexpected nesting locations. If I were to hazard a wild guess, I think there could be 40 nests.

A pigeon guillemot nest in the rock wall opposite the compost bins.

A pigeon guillemot nest behind the rock at the edge of the ramp leading to the Boat Shed. The parent is sitting on one egg. Note sure how the spoon got there.

A pigeon guillemot nest under a rock behind the Energy Building. It is right beside a gulls nest. I wonder if the gulls will grant access after their chicks hatch?

The pigeon guillemots form loyal pairs and both parents incubate the eggs. They are very social and vocal birds (listen to their calls) with incredible red feet and mouths. They aren’t the best flyers but are incredible swimmers (video of a swimming guillemot). The incubation period is 26 to 32 days so some may hatch while I am here.

This photo is from July 2024. I am hoping that when the pigeon guillemot eggs hatch and the parents return to the nests with their colourful catches, more burrows will be revealed in scattered places around the island.

Gulls also have a variety of collective nouns (colony, flock, screech, congregation…) depending on what they are doing. Here during nesting season my name for them is a “spectacle” of gulls. For oystercatchers, I found reference to a parcel or colony of oystercatchers. And for eagles, a congress, convocation, soar, hunt, watch, or shrewdness of eagles.

Today I found a gull nest with blue eggs right beside the CODAR installation. The incubating parent looked like a regular glaucous winged gull.

A gull nest with plain blue eggs.

Facility work

• cleaned the panels
• cleaned parts of the house

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 18
• Private: 1

Weather

Skies overcast to partly cloudy. Strong westerly breeze most of the day, near gale force by evening. Daytime temperatures: low 10, high 13.

We were struggling in May and early June, not being able to produce enough solar power to meet our needs. The months were sunny enough on many days yet we were operating with a deficit, pulling more out of the battery over a 24 hour period than was put in during daylight hours from the solar panels. The maximum we were able to produce from the solar panels in any hour was 3.4 kW, about 40% less power than was produced in 2024 at a similar time of year (same daylength and sun angle).

The solar array on the roof of the energy building and how the solar panels look in the mornings before they are cleaned. There is also a second, ground-mounted array behind the building facing the sea.

A bundle of new connectors on the solar panel wires.

On June 11th a technician from Viridian came to inspect our solar system and I wanted to report on what a difference it has made.  He found two dead panels which were not side by side. Since the panels are connected in pairs, the dead panels rendered their partners also ineffective so in essence we had four dead panels.  He rearranged two panels and took the dead ones off the roof.  He also replaced all of the connectors as many were failing/corroded. They had been replaced about 5 years ago but the conditions are extreme on the roof being so close to the sea. The panels are reaching the end of their life span and will need replacing in the near future but with the improvements made we are now producing only 20% less power than was produced in 2024 at this time.  It has made a big difference and on sunny days were are now able to operate without a deficit and have the batteries reach 100% more often. It is great to have one less thing to stress over.

Below is a graph from the OpticsRE software package for June 16 2025, the last day it was consistently sunny. The good things to point out are:

• coloured circles on the upper right – more was put into the battery than taken out
• 14:00 hrs – 5.7 kWh were achieved (green bar – solar production, light blue – energy taken from the battery, dark blue – energy put into the battery)
• 16:00 hrs – the batteries reached 100% charge! (the top line is % SOC – stage of charge, the bottom line is battery volts)

Wildlife notes

Nothing unusual occurred today. Tomorrow I plan to write about the pigeon guillemots.

Facility notes

I spent some time cleaning and organizing the Tank Shed. Finding a bag labelled assorted cotter pins, I decided to free up more counter space by mounting the pair of new tires for the cart. It was straight forward but having not done it before it was satisfying and for once, something took less time than expected.

• cleaned solar panels
• replaced tires on the cart
• continued cleaning the Tank Shed

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 2
• Private: 0

DND

Lots of warships on the water today, even a submarine, all part of TRIDENT FURY, an international maritime training exercise. Good thing I didn’t count ships sailing by today.

Weather

Rain ending in the morning. Skies overcast, clearing by mid-day. Winds veering to WNW and strengthening to gale force in the afternoon, subsiding to fresh breeze by evening. Daytime temperatures: low 12, high 14.

Wildlife notes

Eagle eyes doesn’t refer to me – I miss much of what is happening here. But the eagle is known to see the smallest detail and could hardly miss three sea gull nests around it within a 6 foot radius, all filled with eggs. For ten minutes an eagle stood on the ground with several options of food around it and chose none. The sea gulls and the oystercatchers took turns diving at the eagle. The oystercatchers got involved because ten feet away was the West Jetty oystercatchers nest.

Bald eagle with gulls and oystercatchers swooping at it. Concerned gulls and oystercatchers spectating.

After the eagle left I went over to inspect the gull nests expecting a disaster but two nests had three eggs each, one had two eggs and not a broken shell to be found. I went to where I last saw the West Jetty pair’s nest expecting to find the chicks torn apart.  Two very well camouflaged oystercatcher chicks were motionless, wedged in beside a rock. Gull chicks are equally obedient and freeze when they receive the call from their parents. They are also equally well camouflaged for their nesting environment.  Below is a photo I took last year in June of a newly hatched gull chick to compare with the colouring of the new oystercatcher chicks… marvels of nature!

Having verified that the West Jetty chicks hatched and have survived, I updated the oystercatcher nesting map. Two nests still have unhatched eggs. I also learned why the oystercatchers were hounding the eagle with the blue fish on the southwest beach yesterday. They were the Coast Guard oystercatchers that had moved their chicks off the high rocks by the fog horn down to the beach – a long walk for a little chick. Their well hidden chicks were just meters away from the eagle. They were moved to the beach between June 13th and June 16th.

One item of note is the lack of sea lions today.  The female elephant seal is on day 14 of her molt. The last bits seem hard to shake and from a distance she looks like she is sporting dread locks.

Half and Half after soaking on her side at the end of the boat ramp.

The last bits curling off.

Facility work

• cleaned the solar panels
• topped up battery fluid levels
• continued with organizing and cleaning the Tank Shed

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 11
• Private: 1

Weather

Winds light and variable in the morning, moderate westerly breeze in the afternoon. Skies cloudy. Daytime temperatures: low 11, high 16.

Wildlife notes

An eagle found a blue fleshed fish in the rocky beach on the southwest shore.  I wonder if it is cabezon or a blue lingcod? When the eagle pulled it out of the rocks it was already eviscerated.  The black osytercatchers were relentless in their harassment. Eventually the eagle, with some effort, took the fish to Seal Rocks. Eagles flyby often and they seem to leave empty footed every time, at least when I am watching, so this was a rare treat to watch one tear away at and maneuver a large carcass.

Bald eagle tearing at its eviscerated fish.

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Bald eagle bothered by black oystercatchers swooping at it.

Bald eagle taking its fish to Seal Rocks to eat in peace.

The female elephant seal is on Day 13 of her molt. If she weren’t in the lee of the rocky hill by the flag pole, I think today’s winds would have blown the last remaining bits off her back.

Female elephant seal on Day 13 of her molt.

The egg collection in the killing fields, and strewn about here and there, continues to grow. I am always surprised to walk by nests and see fewer eggs than on the last pass. They so rarely leave their nests, I wonder when they get taken.

Growing collection of gull shells in the killing fields by the Keeper’s House.

Facility Work

• cleaned solar panels
• put away fire hoses
• scrubbed the north porch

Vessels

• Ecotourism:  12
• Private: 2

Weather

Strong westerly breeze until early afternoon, building to near gale in the afternoon (first time in a while that winds were higher than forecasted). Mostly clear skies with short periods of high clouds. Daytime temperatures: low 10, high 15.

I recently discovered the Marine Traffic website marinetraffic.com, where you can track ALL kinds of marine traffic ALL around the world. It is fascinating and utterly consuming – the sheer volume of the traffic, the various activities, the routes and the coloured veins around the globe.

Today I decided to monitor all the large vessels that passed by between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m (ships are travelling day and night, 24/7). Eleven ships larger than 100 m in length passed by Race Rocks in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The smallest at 104m was the Coho Ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, the largest at 347m was the Quantum of the Sea, a cruise ship travelling from Juneau, Alaska to Victoria, BC. Their cargo — humans. I became curious about the other nine large ships that passed. What was their cargo? Where did they come from? Where were they going? How long had they been at sea?

On the Marine Traffic website, all vessel types are colour coded. Ships transporting goods are indicated by either a green (cargo, bulk carrier, container ships) or a red (oil, chemical or liquid gas tanker) arrow showing direction of travel. If you click on an arrow, a pop-up window provides information on type of ship, size, port of departure, destination, duration of trip, speed and what flag they are sailing under. Most of my questions answered except what was exactly in those holds!

In those nine hours there were nine ships moving goods from Vancouver to places as close as Seattle, down to El Salvador, down and over to Brazil or across the Pacific to Japan and Korea. Goods were being brought to Vancouver from California, Mexico, China and Korea. Interesting that of these 9 ships, 3 were flying under the flag of Marshall Islands, 2 Panama, and 1 Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong or Liberia — none of these were coming or going to ports in the countries with the same flag under which these ships sailed!

Here are three screen shots from Marine Traffic this evening that can be expanded by clicking on them (Colour coding: Green – cargo, Red – tanker, Orange – fishing, Dark blue – passenger, Pink – pleasure craft, Light blue – tugs and special craft).

Here are some of ships that passed between 8am and 5pm today.

INBOUND

Quantum of the Sea, 347m long, Passenger ship, Alaska to Victoria.

SM Mumbai, 260m long, Container Ship, Korea to Vancouver

OUTBOUND

Common Atlas, 199m long, Bulk Cargo, Vancouver to El Salvador.

AD Astra, 228m long, Bulk Cargo, Vancouver to Brazil.

Wildlife notes

Not too much to report. Some gull nests lost eggs (carnage continues), others gained eggs (egg laying continues).

Facility Work

• cleaned solar panels
• cleaned the Jetty remote camera
• mounted the purple martin bird houses

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 9
• Private: 1

Weather

Fresh westerly breeze until early afternoon, increasing to 25. Clear skies. Daytime temperatures: low 10, high 12.