Category Archives: Ecoguardians Log

Race Rocks is a sanctuary

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I arrived on Tuesday April 19. I had the good fortune to arrive with Garry Fletcher and get a quick tour of the island. We found the Romanzoffia (Mist Maiden) in bloom. Derek had done a great job getting the house ready for transfer.

My first full day here the winds were E/NE up to 40 knots. Therefore it was quiet in terms of ecotourism. I wandered around familiarizing myself with the (currently) 7 elephant seals, the Canada geese nests and the sea lions all sharing the island with me.

Today (April 21) the weather has changed. Wind currently west. Sea calm.

Visitors: The Pearson College second year marine biology class are celebrating their last class today and visited the island for 2 hours. Greg was kind enough to trouble shoot a few things with me and we also had time (and bravery) to addle 3 eggs in a goose nest next to the gasoline shed. I made a map of nests so we can keep track of which eggs we have disturbed.

Four ecotourism boats have moved through the reserve today. It is such a wonderful thing to observe how respectful they are.  The presence of guardians seems to have made a big difference.

Observations

Yesterday during the storm there were 2 Dunlins (I believe). I will include a very poor picture. I saw them several times close to and moving with the turnstones on the grass.

Today was a fantastic low tide. Last year I was here after the “heat dome” and the intertidal was burnt. Today it was so lush. Beautiful abundant seaweed, I will try and edit this post with the new names, Hedophyllum, Alaria, Costaria, Iridea ,Halosaccion beautifully shiny and underneath pink coralline algae, bright orange Cucumaria, tunicates and sea anemones. Abundant goose neck barnacles.  Even a gumboot chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri).  Oyster Catchers, Turnstones, Harlequin ducks all making their presence known as I entered their dining room. 3 eagles busy eating the remains of a dead sea lion.

The elephant seals continue their moulting. Coming and going down the jetty. The pup seems to be alone and away from the others.

The gulls are working very hard impressing each other with their nest building skills, head bobbing, vocalizations and also copulating. They are much friendlier than when they have nests.

mist maiden

Mist Maiden

Work

The electric fence came down in the wind. A few sealions breached the jetty! Once chased off the fence is working again.

I have been splitting wood and managed to bring 2 wheel barrows to the house. Old hemlock is not easy to split!

 

 

 

very poor picture of a Dunlin. Can you see it?

Gumboot Chiton

 

 

 

Very busy times

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Ecological Notes:

  • 8 Elephant Seals in various stages of molt
  • 1 of the above is the surviving male pup from this season
  • 5 Canada Goose nests now
  • Gulls are still pairing up and courting, but no nests yet
  • Seals and sealions use the sensitive whiskers, and hair above their eyes to detect vibrations from fish when in the dark depths  of the ocean.

Visitors:

  • 2 separate sets of students from Westcoast Adventure College, each group with chaperone for a total of 9 students and 2 chaperones
  • Each group stayed for 3 days and 3 nights, for 2 days of classes, and 1 day of learning about and helping  with the procedures of the Ecoguardian
  • Class was An Introduction to Marine Mammals of the Salish Sea …… A program the Ecoguardian has been teaching for 17 years to the students of WAC, and this was the first time it could be taught amongst actual marine mammals here at the reserve!

Facility Work:

  • All sidewalks and the generator building have been pressure washed.
  • Even more waste building materials have been gathered and stacked ready for pick up
  • Many logs were salvaged from the rocky shoreline while there were extra people here.
  • An extra thorough cleaning of the Student house.
  • New electric fencing was set up to protect the lower solar panels from the sealions, as they had managed to get under the panels and damaged the wiring in the past.
  • As normal, lots of fence repairs during the windy times. Although there is not much sealion traffic right now, it is much easier to keep it all up than redo it all later.
  • Still working with the old tank on the fuel delivery vessel, so lots of fuel transfers from boat tank, to barrels, to portable tidytank, to generator tank.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Daily visits from Ecotourism Vessels, and some private vessels paused to look at the sealions.
  • In addition to kayakers, a pair of paddlers ventured out and around the reserve in a canoe
  • As the current Ecoguardian is an experienced kayak and canoe guide, all were observed closely to ensure they were equipped properly and had the skill sets to be out here in the currents. Happy to report, all was good!
  • 2 sailboats passed through the main channel east to west before looping around past the southern side of the main island. 1 had a little trouble in the currents on the west side and stalled out, but they recovered before they were any actual danger …. but they looked quite tense through the binoculars!

 

 Feature Event:

  •  The updated Solar power system has continued to function at the high level it was hoped it would provide. With only average sunlight, the system still uses much less generator time, and we have only been running the generator 2 out of 3 days.

Weather Events:

  • Many high wind days, giving way to medium winds and clear skies. Rinse and repeat.

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Improved Solar Power

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Ecological Notes:

  • 5  Elephant Seals
    • The Beachmaster (Bernard) has left the island, most likely for one more big feed before molting
    • 2 Adult females, both starting their molt

    • 2 new (to me) animals here, either very large pups, or small yearlings …. waiting to see if they do a normal molt.
    • The only remaining pup that was born here has completed it’s first baby fur molt, and has been tentatively exploring the area by the pier, when encouraged by another new pup I don’t recognize

Tentative first tries

Meeting a new buddy

Moved into the water while he had support

 

  • 3 known Canada geese nests now, one was right by the door to the house. The gulls robbed all the eggs though, so I dismantled that nest so that they would build somewhere else.
  • Gulls and Black Oyster Catchers are pretty much all paired up now, although I have not seen any nests yet as it’s still a bit early in the season

Visitors:

  • 4 contractors stayed for 2 days to work on the solar power system
  • 3 guests of the Ecoguardian  over 2 different time slots
  • College instructors and their guests came for a brief visit and overview of the reserve

Facility Work:

  • Replacement of damaged solar panels
    • added a new array or 4 panels
    • redid most of the wiring involved

There was an immediate improvement  to the system, resulting in a reduction of generator fuel use by about 1/3. This will only improve as the days get longer and brighter.

  • Visiting guests aided the ecoguardian in some tasks better accomplished by have some else there for safety and/or lifting. (including log and firewood prep and other  wastewood and equipment moving and stacking.) they also helped with pressure washing.

Safer to cut down on the rocky shore with someone here with me

DND events:

  • 3 or 4 days of the regular blasting, with safety vessels and Marine Mammal Observers present.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Ecotourism vessels are gearing up for the season and visit on a regular basis, often reporting the location of the sea otter and injured or entangled animals to the ecoguardian.
  • 2 jet skis in today … a little loud running against the current, but they kept proper speeds

 Noted Infractions:

  • Only one private fishing vessel in the reserve noted.

 Feature Event:

  • Spring is in full swing. Flowers are blooming, the pineapple weed is growing and of course the birds are all in courting behavior.

Weather Events:

  • very typical mix of spring weather …..wind from all directions on any given day, mix of sun, clouds and rain squalls.

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Census

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march 21/2022

Mammals

  • Steller sea lion                         19
  • Harbour seal                            48
  • California sea lion                   38
  • Northern Elephant Seal            6
    • 1 Large male
    • 2 non-nursing female
    • 1 weened pup
    • 2 new have arrived that I don”t recognized … 1 very large pup, 1 small yearling (unsure,, may be able to confirm if it does a full molt)
  • Sea Otter                                 1

 

Birds

  • Bald eagle adult                        4
  • Bald eagle juvenile                      8
  • Turnstones                                  30
  • Gulls, Glaucous and Western     78
  • Cormorants                                 37
  • Canadian goose                           14
    • (4 nests with eggs)
  • Harlequin Ducks                          8
  • Oyster catcher                             10
  • Pigeon Guillemots                        24

Census

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March 15, 2022

Mammals

  • Steller sea lion                         14
  • Harbour seal                             38
  • California sea lion                   33
  • Northern Elephant Seal            4

    • 1 Large male
    • 2 Adult female
    • 1 weened Pup male
  • Sea Otter                                 1

 

Birds

  • Bald eagle adult                           4
  • Bald eagle juvenile                      8
  • Turnstones                                  18
  • Gulls, Glaucous and Western    72
  • Cormorants                                 41
  • Canadian goose                          14
  • Harlequin Ducks                         4
  • Oyster catcher                             10
  • Pigeon Guillimots                       8

Spring is in the air

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Ecological Notes:

  • 4 Elephant Seal on the main island
  • The Male Beachmaster (Bernard), 2 Adult Females, and 1 weened Male “pup” (very large now!)
  • The last pup had grown to almost double the size he was when I got here, and  I had hoped to report he was doing well, but unfortunately the nature and the Beachmaster had other plans. The (female)pup passed suddenly about a week ago and was returned to the sea today. Samples were taken for analysis, including hopefully testing for DNA to check paternity.
  • 1 California Sea Lion noted with rope entanglement. He is surprisingly active for the depth of the wound. Reported to the Marine Mammal hotline.
  • On a more positive note, the Black Oystercatchers are paring off, and some Gulls are wondering around showing off nice clumps of grass they have collected to whoever will notice.

“See my stuff????”

Visitors:

  • A couple of visits from the shorefront coordinator, delivering groceries, parcels, diesel fuel, and parts for repairs.

Facility Work:

  • After a couple attempts to repair the existing connections from the outside line to the pump, it was decided to just replace and simplify the pipes ….. to a final success.
  • Repaired the VHF Antenna on the main house, applied tape to hopefully stop it from vibrating the threads free in the wind.

DND events:

  • On and off all week, except the weekend of course

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Several Ecotourism vessels enjoying the sights and sounds of the reserve.

Responsible viewing and educating

  • With the nicer weather, several kayaks and outrigger canoes have looped out around the reserve, experienced paddlers who all stayed out of the main channel in the reserve where currents can be strong.

 Noted Infractions:

  • Some private fishing very close to the reserve, but measurements with a laser rangefinder suggest they were just outside the 40M depth contour.

Weather Events:

  • A mixture of winds, but mostly light days with mostly sun for the last couple days.

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Census

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February 28/2022

Mammals

  • Steller sea lion                         28
  • Harbour seal                            73
  • California sea lion                   43
  • Northern Elephant Seal            3
    • 1 Large male
    • 1 non-nursing female
    • 1 weened pup
  • Sea Otter                                 1

 

Birds

  • Bald eagle adult                          9
  • Bald eagle juvenile                      15
  • Turnstones                                  28
  • Gulls, Glaucous and Western     47
  • Cormorants                                 52
  • Canadian goose                           14
  • Harlequin Ducks                          6
  • Oyster catcher                             7
  • Pigeon Guillimots                        32

Back at the Reserve

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Great to be back at the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve after a couple months away with family! Thanks to the previous Eco-Guardians who left things in such great shape, in spite of a particularly hard winter weather-wise.

Ecological Notes:

  • The beachmaster Male Elephant Seal is still here, keeping everyone in check.

Spring is in the air

  • 1 Nursing Female/pup set
  • 1 very large male pup here, appears  to be recovering well from injuries received before I arrived.
  • Another Adult Female Elephant Seal has returned.

Facility Work:

  • Tidied up some of the fencing
  • Battery level servicing
  • Equalization Charging of the Battery System
  • Trouble shooting of water pump system in the main house. One-way valve to be serviced once it is confirmed parts are available.
  • Various diesel fuel transfers
  • Ongoing firewood stocking

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 4 Ecotourism vessels and 5 private vessels sightseeing in the reserve.

Weather Events:

  • Primarily westerly winds of 20-30 knots, shifting to cold and clear northeasterly winds on Sunday.

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Census

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February 21/2022

Mammals

  • Steller sea lion                         45
  • Harbour seal                             65
  • California sea lion                     62
  • Northern Elephant Seal            5
    • 1 Large male
    • 1 nursing female
    • 1 non-nursing female
    • 1 nursing pup
    • 1 weened pup
  • Sea Otter                                 1

 

Birds

  • Bald eagle adult                          4
  • Bald eagle juvenile                      9
  • Turnstones                                  22
  • Gulls, Glaucous and Western     38
  • Cormorants                                 87
  • Canadian goose                           8
  • Harlequin Ducks                          9
  • Oyster catcher                           10

Census

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Birds

  • Bald eagle adult                           6
  • Bald eagle juvenile                      14
  • Turnstones                                  11
  • Gulls, Glaucous and Western     68
  • Cormorants                                 96
  • Canadian goose                           0
  • Harlequin Ducks                           2

Mammals

  • Steller sea lion                          129
  • Harbour seal                               9
  • California sea lion                      46
  • Northern Elephant Seal              6