Category Archives: Population

Elephant Seal Pup Growth – Day by day

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The first Elephant Seal pup of the 2021 birthing season came on December 22 2020, and began it’s 23 days of nursing the day after (it took him awhile to figure out how to nurse). Elephant seal pups only have a couple of weeks to get big enough and healthy enough to survive alone after their moms wean them and abandon them on Race Rocks; which means their life is essentially just to feed, nap, and snuggle with their moms. It’s hard to show how impressive it is to see how fast they put on weight, with the pup doubling in size over the first few days. Here’s a video of the growth of ‘Cheermeister’ over his first 12 days of life.

https://youtu.be/ltMsnNRYTmU
   
Also see other posts on elephant seal pups born at Race Rocks, the most northerly pupping colony for e-seals on the Pacific coast:  https://www.racerocks.ca/tag/pup/

December 23 Wildlife Census with a new baby Elephant Seal

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Weather: A bit of light sleet/snow, light winds ~15knots.

Visitors/Traffic: 2 Whale watching boats, and a supply run by Gregg.

Ecological Notes: Baby Elephant Seal born last night! Around 22:00 at night our resident female (pink tag #2, also referred to as ‘Beverly’). The Beachmaster was present for the birth, and initially I thought he might be looking to kill the pup to force the female into estrus. Nope, just an observer, sniffing and mouthing the newborn pup, but no damage caused.

Newborn Elephant Seal Pup, which we’ve taken to calling ‘Cheermeister’.

Lots of eagles present in today’s Census,  which may be related to the reduced number of birds counted.

Census:

Gulls: 164

Cormorants (mostly Brant’s): 430

Eagles: 13

Elephant Seals: 5

Steller Sea Lions: 329

California Sea Lions: 464

Turnstones: 22

Green Wing Teal: 4

Long Tailed Duck: 5

Canada Geese: 2

Steller Sea Lion haulout to the SE of the lighthouse.

It’s a Cormorant party.

Eagles on the island mean that a lot of the birds are choosing to be elsewhere.

Any space without Sea Lions and eagles mean the birds can really stretch their wings.

Elephant Seals pick the weirdest spots to sleep. Sometimes it’s inconvenient for maintenance, and sometimes it just looks gross. Soaking your wounded nose in a poopy puddle? Gross.

 

Unsafe Snorkeling, Fall Changes, Census

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Weather: 

  • Visibility 15+ NE
  • Sky overcast, cloudy
  • Wind 15-25 kn N
  • Water moderate waves, white caps.

Visitors/Boats: 

  • Around 15 whale watching boats yesterday
  • Corey, Guy, and a student with their visiting grandparents visited yesterday, and delivered water- the desalinator is on the horizon!
  • We are ending our term on Race Rocks tomorrow, so Greg and Guy will come for a debrief before the next eco-guardian takes over.

Yesterday we saw a pleasure craft enter the reserve and drop snorkelers into the water less than 100 m from our jetty, within 5 m of shore and the hauled out sea lions. The animals were distressed and swam around the snorkelers barking. The current was flooding very quickly (5 knots), which creates dangerous water currents, eddies, and upwellings. We as well as Corey in Second Nature motioned for the boat to move away, but they simply gathered the snorkelers and moved around the corner where they presumably thought we would not see them. An eco-tourism vessel in the reserve also noticed them and contacted us to let us know, out of concern for their safety given the animals present and the currents at the time.

In the past scuba divers and vessels have found themselves capsized or pulled away from their dive site and rescued by helicopter, and in 2015 a diver went missing and was found deceased days after they disappeared by a fisherman after rescue crews were not able to find them. We were especially concerned for this group’s safety due to lack of float marking their position and the frequent boating traffic through the reserve. In the past, seal pups have been decapitated by vessels passing through too quickly and unable to see them. If these snorkelers had been pulled away by the currents, there would have been a high chance of being struck by a vessel unable to see them in the rough water.

Ecological: 

  • The sea lions population continues to grow! We are having to repair the fences sometimes twice per day. It seems like a more powerful electric fence energizer could be a good idea.
  • We spotted a little Greylag goose among the Canadian geese yesterday.
  • The sea lion that we spotted on Sept. 12th with an apparent propeller wound to his head is still here. He stays near the jetty and seems to have some behavioural anomalies, presumably due to the head injury. He is not afraid of us like the others, and does not move away into the water with the others when we clear the jetty. We haven’t had any problems but are weary that his behaviour could be unpredictable. Marty (the vet that came to aid in rescuing the entangled sea lion) mentioned that sometimes when this happens a shard of their skull can splinter and cause a brain infection. We hope this little guy is on the mend.
  • There have been many Canadian Geese passing through this week; A few days ago we counted over 20. The geese are not native to the island, but according to Gary Fletcher they arrived somewhere in the 80’s as the population of geese on Vancouver Island were introduced/grew. Addling the eggs began somewhere in the late 90’s. Unfortunately, this year two nests survived and hatched goslings, meaning that 20 geese left the island after 8 nested here in the spring.

Census: 

  • 500 Sea lions
  • 15 harbour seals
  • <20 seagulls
  • Approx. 20 cormorants
  • 3 short billed dowitchers
  • 1 Greylag goose
  • 1 sanderling
  • 1 Savannah sparrow
  • 20-23 Canada geese

Whales! (and census)

Gallery

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This gallery contains 4 photos.

Weather:  Visibility: Very clear, 15 miles Wind: 15-25 knots Sky: Mostly clear, some clouds Water: Choppy, white caps Boats/Visitors:  Today a contractor visited to fix our internet/ phone cable in the main residence. At the same time Corey, two BC … Continue reading →

Seagulls lay eggs

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 15-20 NW
  • Sky: Partly cloudy
  • Water: Ripply/Calm

Boats/Visitors

  • Few ecotour boats scattered through the day

Ecological

  • Spotted a young elephant seal (about 3-4 ft in length) near the jetty.
  • Seagulls have laid their eggs! I estimate about 30-40 eggs on the island so far, definitely growing in number. Some seagulls are still building their nest/adding more straw
  • Spotted a tagged elephant seal near the jetty. Tag number was B198. Photo below

 

Photos of the tagged Elephant seal:

Christmas Bird Count at Race Rocks- Dec 28, 2017

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This year is our 20th year in assisting the local birders with the Rocky Point Bird Observatory in doing a count at Race Rocks. Given the time of year this has to occur, it is often thwarted by bad weather, but in the past counts, some very interesting species and population numbers have shown up.  See this index of past years Bird Counts. https://www.racerocks.ca/race-rocks-animals-plants/bird-observations-at-race-rocks-3/christmas-bird-counts-starting-in-1997/

Kim Beardmore same along to record the birds for the 2017 Christmas bird count. Here Kim on the left and the Ecoguardian Mikey Muscat check on one of the 5 male elephant seals.

Although we went to count birds, I found that the most impressive thing was that there were 5 large male elephant seals on the island and two juvenile females. When compared with other years this was quite unusual, and it could be interesting when the females come back in January to have pups. I predict there will be a lot of male aggression going on in mid-January.

These four species other than several gull species and bald eagles were part of the count  which we will add below .

Other observations around the island:

Romanzoffia tracyi

I took advantage of the few hours there to check on other aspects of the island from the ecological reserve warden point of view.  Especially noticeable this year were the massive fields of mud over most parts of the island where the california sea lions hauled out over the past few months. I was concerned about the erosion and rock disturbance that this has caused.   Most of the plants in many parts of the island have been obliterated. I did however find this one healthy patch of Romanzoffia tracyi behind the boathouse. Protected because of its location among  the rocks. I checked some of the other known locations of this rare plant but didn’t see any.

Black oystercatcher midden

 

One feature that was very evident with the lack of vegetation was the extensive beds of chiton shells which are evidence of black oystercatcher middens from last season.

 

 

 

Two immature or juvenile female elephant seals were on the island, one tagged ..green C887

The five males:

I have been watching the vegetation cover made up of the introduced species of Sedum or stonecrop which was on the top of the reservoir.. In my September photo the bed was quite dried and cracked. Now it  has partially recovered.. This is one place the sealions seem to avoid.

 

Because Pearson College could not provide boat transportation this year, and because I was determined to continue the 20 year tradition of this valuable baseline collection of bird population data, we rented a boat from Pedder Bay marina for the trip to Race Rocks.  A list of the birds observed by Kim Beardmore is  attached here.

 

Race Rocks,
Dec 28, 2017 9:05 AM – 11:37 AM
Protocol: Traveling
7.5 kilometer(s)
Comments:     CBC, Race Rocks
16 species (+1 other taxa)Harlequin Duck  10  (North and west Race Rocks)
Surf Scoter  55  (outer pedder bay)
Red-breasted Merganser  18 (mostly outer Pedder bay)
Common Loon  2
Horned Grebe  1
Brandt’s Cormorant  14
Pelagic Cormorant  18
Double-crested Cormorant  10
Bald Eagle  4
Black Oystercatcher  42
Black Turnstone  59
Common Murre  1  ( in outer Pedder bay)
Pigeon Guillemot  10
Mew Gull  14
Iceland Gull (Thayer’s)  8
Glaucous-winged Gull  69
Western x Glaucous-winged Gull (hybrid)  2

Marine Mammals Hauled out on Race Rocks Jan 2014-Feb 2016

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This graph represents the 6 marine mammal species which haul out on Great Race Rocks in the Race Rocks Ecological reserve.  providing the population numbers and the time of year  CLICK to enlarge. The data was obtained from the Posts on census done by the Ecoguardians at Race Rocks.mammalcraph

The graph below represents the Elephant seal population at Race Rocks Ecological reserve with data taken from the Ecoguardian logs for January 2014 to January 2016. Click to enlarge.

elephantseal2014-2015

ANIMAL CENSUS

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July 9th Thursday: Animal census

The fog was still there pretty thick but around 11:30 it cleared up and we could go up the tower to do the census. We had a west wind and the forecast was a gale warning for the end of the afternoon.The wind at noon was from West at 24 knots and could go to 35 in the late afternoon. We saw a few Whale watchers boats around noon and we had no visitors. Water is getting colder under 12 degrees Celsius. Guy put a new VHF on the whaler.

The estimation of the population is:
Elephant seals: 3
Sea Lions: 180
Pigeon–guillemots: 80
Gulls: 450 (yesterday we could see a group of gulls with black winged maybe some west gulls)
Pelagic cormorants: 3
Geese: 11 (Today the smallest one of the family of 5 was not in the water swimming but looked lost alone in the island hanging around). They spend more and more time in the water.
Black oystercatchers :0

Bald eagle: 1 (they attack the colony almost every day once in the morning)

 

Population Growth of Elephant Seals (Mirounga angustirostris) at Race Rocks, 1990-2014

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The following is a draft copy of a graph I am working on to illustrate the growth of the elephant seal population at Race Rocks over the past few years. The information has been retrieved from logs of current and past Ecoguardians and photos and notes taken over the years.

To be continued:  G. Fletcher

Elephant Seal census

Phalacrocorax pelagicus: Review of Research on Nesting and Populations

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rmpelagic1We have seen a marked decline in nesting of one of the four species of seabirds which has nested traditionally at Race Rocks, Pelagic Cormorants (Phalacrocorax pelagicus). By 2007, the nesting population had been reduced to one or two nests, and from 2008 to the last season (2009 ) there were no nests at all. This population crash has been common across the Gulf Islands., and the lower end of Vancouver Island and Strait of Juan de Fuca. According to the Canadian Wildlife Service, the population of this species is estimated to be at 9000 individuals, and the pelagicus subspecies is red-listed by BC – other subspecies are stable.

In this file, I have summarized the results of several papers on research on Cormorant populations in the southern Gulf Islands and Georgia Strait. Vermeer and Rankin, 1984, did their research when the populations were on the incline, however since the 1900s, this trend has not persisted as has been reflected in the paper by Chatwin et al. The summary of their paper and the possible reasons for decline are listed near the end of this review.

The British Columbia Coastal Waterbird Survey by Badzinski et al, 2005 indicated a possible upturn in the population trend in BC.

See images of Pelagic Cormorants on Ryan Murphy’s Flickr site

The Christmas bird count records from Race Rocks reflect some of the low population numbers at that time of year, but do show an increase in the last two years, so we hope this may signify a turn in the welfare of this species. It will be interesting to track whether or not this species returns to nesting.

Population Trends in Nesting Double-Crested and Pelagic Cormorants in Canada

  • Author(s): Kees Vermeer and Leo Rankin Source: The Murrelet, Vol. 65, No. 1 (Spring, 1984), pp. 1-9 Published by: Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3534203 (partial listing only)
  • ABSTRACT- Breeding populations of Double-crested (Phalacrocorax auritus) and Pelagic Cormorants (P. pelagicus) were surveyed in the Strait of Georgia, British Colum-bia, in 1983. Double-crested Cormorant numbers have increased 2.4-fold and Pelagic Cormorant numbers 1.1-fold since 1975. Double-crested Cormorant populations are presently not only increasing in British Columbia but all across Canada and in the northeastern United States. These increases are thought to be the result of decreased disturbance and persecution by man.
  • The following table is presented in partial form only:
Double-crested and Pelagic Cormorant Inventory in the Strait of Georgia in 2000

  • http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wildlife/wsi/reports/4382_WSI_4382_RPT.PDF (see complete report)
    Authors:    Trudy A. Chatwin, Monica H. Mather, Tanya Giesbrecht May 2001
    Abstract Since the early 1990’s Double-crested and Pelagic Cormorant have shown alarming declines in nesting populations in the Strait of Georgia. This study was initiated in 2000 to provide a complete count of nesting colonies in the Strait and compare population estimate from counts completed in various years since the mid 1950’s. A complete survey of all colonies was done in 1987. Before that, counts were done in many colonies, though not annually. We surveyed 34 Pelagic Cormorant and 17 Double-crested Cormorant historic and current colonies during the 2000 breeding season. Where possible we examined nest population trends at colonies with multiple years of data. Our analyses showed that overall counts of Pelagic Cormorants were down by half and Double-crested Cormorants had declined by two-thirds since 1987. Pelagic Cormorants showed a significant decline in total nests between 1959 and 2000; although during that period, an increase in the population at Mitlenatch Island was noted. At Double-crested Cormorant colonies, two significant increasing trends were noted. Since 1983 the population at Shoal Islands has slowly increased from zero to 104 nests in 2000. Likewise the population at Mitlenatch has also increased from zero to 70 nests. However these increases do not offset the very dramatic declines in overall population size. The most profound decreases were seen at Mandarte and Great Chain Islands where most of the Double-crested Cormorants were nesting in the late 1980’s. At Mandarte Island, 1100 nests were observed in 1983, while only to 215 were counted in 2000. We suggest that the causes of declines are possibly related to a combination of Bald Eagle disturbance, change in prey availability and human disturbance. Recommendations for management and conservation are discussed.
  • The following table is presented in partial form only:
The authors express their concern for the decline in recent years with the following summation:

  • “Based on nest counts, the nesting populations of Pelagic and Double-crested Cormorants in the Strait of Georgia have shown alarming declines in the last few years. Concern is especially warranted when one compares the complete counts that were made in 1987 and 2000. The number of nests observed has decreased by 54% for Pelagic and 70% for Double-crested Cormorants. “
The reasons for the decline were summarized in the paper as follows:

  • “The populations of both cormorant species have fluctuated considerably over the 40 years of surveys. This could be due to changes in prey availability in the Strait. Cormorants feed on Pacific Herring, Gunnells, Shiner Perch and Salmon. It has been suggested that herring schools have moved north in the Strait of Georgia (Jane Watson, Pers. Comm.), which could account for the increase in both species of cormorants at Mitlenatch. However, this does not account for the loss of the Hornby Island Colony as there is a major herring spawn in that area. As well, it is difficult to explain the increase in the Shoal Islands Double-crested Cormorant colony, by shifts in herring populations.
    Other concerns for nesting cormorants are predation by Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and disturbance from boat traffic. Eagle populations have increased on the east side of Vancouver Island (Karen Morrison, Pers. Comm.). Giesbrecht (2001) showed that Eagles were the main source of disturbance to nesting Double-crested Cormorant ’s in the Strait. She observed eagles flushing birds from their nests as well as direct predation on adults/juveniles. Recreational boating and kayaking have also increased in the Strait of Georgia. Although Giesbrecht (2001) did not observe flushing by boaters in her study, anecdotal information (Moul 2001) indicates that human disturbance either by landing at a colony or flushing birds by approaching too closely exposes chicks and eggs to predation by Northwestern Crows (Corvus caurinus), Glaucous-winged Gulls (Larus glaucescens) and Bald Eagles. “
British Columbia Coastal Waterbird Survey An Evaluation of Survey Power and Species Trends after Five Years of Monitoring March 2005http://www.bsc-eoc.org/download/BCCWS%205-YR%20Report.pdf

Authors: Shannon S. Badzinski 1, Richard J. Cannings 2, Tasha Smith 2, & Jason Komaromi 3

  • Data for two of three species of cormorants show increasing trends (Double-crested
    Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant). Both these species have shown significant declines in numbers
    at breeding colonies on the British Columbia coast between 1980 and 2000, so the results from
    this survey may indicate a stabilizing trend but further monitoring is clearly needed. Brandt’s
    Cormorants, which occur primarily as a non breeding species, show no clear population trend
    over the past 5 years.
Also from the website of the Canadain WildlifeService, Information is presented on the decline of seabirds along the Pacific Coast of Canada. So we will continue to update our population observations of this species .Garry Fletcher, February, 2010