Category Archives: Facility work

A New Moon

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Last night’s full moon and near-complete eclipse was certainly a sight to see! Alas it was a tricky business getting a clear photo in the wind.

It’s my last night on the ecological reserve. Before leaving to come here, a friend asked how I could bear to live alone for such a long time. I jokingly replied, “I won’t be alone, I’ll have more than a thousand neighbours out there!”

And truly, this has been one of the liveliest neighbourhoods I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of. Whether watching the chicks grow from wobble-kneed balls of down to crazy crash pilots, seeing a sea lion stuck so long in a painful bind finally be freed, or learning to notice and know the whales that pass by- every day has been filled with hard work and wonder. Over the past month I’ve learned so much, from fixing facilities while dodging the liquid assaults of protective gull parents, to wildlife photography and the daily curiosities of marine mammals.

Without taking up too much space on the log, I’d like to express my gratitude to everyone at Pearson College, the ecoguardians, researchers, sponsors, supporters and all those who lend their time, talent and treasure to make this space possible, and the peoples of the Salish coast, long stewards of this land.

 

Wildlife Notes

Discarded down from the fledgelings has settled all over the island. Not even the strong winds have been enough to sweep them all away yet! Their white summer snow is dotted here and there with stray tufts of fur from the molting sea lions.

On a slightly less fun note, I noticed this sea gull chick didn’t seem too wary of my presence when I stepped back to take a photo of the new jetty fence configuration. It was definitely alive, but not running away even though I was only a few feet away at the time. When I came back around after a few minutes, it had died. I don’t believe that any of the adults nearby came to attack, and I wonder what may have caused its death- I’ve heard mention of widespread die-offs previously when the gulls were unable to find enough fish and were feeding their chicks with contaminated garbage. I hope this is not a repeating trend.

 

Facility Notes

  • Cleaned panels
  • Refueled Generator / oil check
  • Final deep clean of main house
  • Reconfigured jetty electric fence

 

Weather

Cloudy, with periods of clear skies. Winds mostly West by Northwesterly, from 15 to 26 knots. Temperatures from 13 to 17 degrees.

 

Vessels Observed

Ecotourism: 16

Private: 2

Cloudy day on the rocks

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Another whale sighting this morning! There’s been so much activity in the area lately. It was hard to tell from the distance, but I’m pretty sure it was the humpbacks again.

Facility Notes

  • Cleaned panels
  • Repaired fence
  • Tidied up main house
  • Pantry inventory

Last night’s winds did a number on the perimeter fence- I was using the old materials and patching them with wire for most of the repairs to conserve the new strands for the September reconfigurations. One or two less carefully secured patches gave out, and there were some sections that just needed replacing altogether. Time to retire some of the older wire and put in new strands for the season.

 Weather

Intermittent clouds, West-by-Southwesterly winds between 11 and 21 knots. Temperature from 13 to 16 degrees.

Vessels Observed

Ecotourism: 21

Private: 2

Small projects

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Wildlife

Nothing out of the ordinary, today was filled with the usual shenanigans of newly fledged gulls crashing about and quickly taking off from surrounding nesting sites and sea lions wrestling around the outer edges of the rocks. The gulls that have found themselves suddenly sharing their space with much larger, equally vocal neighbours seem to be tolerating the change of scene as best they can. Every once in awhile, I’ll catch sight of a disgruntled exchange between a sea lion and the gull that has been forced to land on its back for lack of any bare rock around.

 

Facility notes

  • Washed panels
  • Greg and Richard came by to refuel tank in shed, install a buffer at the end of the jetty to prevent lines getting chewed by the concrete when tied up. My first time drilling into concrete- what a fun learning experience!
  • Weeded walkways and removed small driftwood debris from jetty entrance

Weather

Sunny, hazy skies. Shifting winds from WSW to NNE, from 9 to 25 knots. Temperatures from 13 to 16 degrees.

Ramping up

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Wildlife
There’s a seagull chick I’ve named “Phelps” due to its tendency to escape into the water next to the jetty every time someone approaches from the path- I have watched this little one sprint to the water and hop right in at least once a day. It’s down has slowly given way to progressively more feathers, and Phelps is noticeably bigger since my arrival, but still far from big enough to take on a whole lineup of California Sea Lions!
This is becoming an issue. Now my path down to the end of the jetty involves a sort of sideways sneak-around, to avoid scaring Phelps off the side of the jetty into the busy waters below. This is complicated by the crowd gathered on either side of the raised concrete pathway, which set the nesting parents and chick itself much more on edge than before. I hope this little one survives the increasing popularity of its shoreline nesting site.

Facility notes
– Cleaned panels
– Cleaned main+ student house windows
– Finished student house kitchen inventory/ food storage
– Topped up batteries

Visitors
Greg and Richard came by to troubleshoot and fix up the jetty fence; we’re operating at pretty much full power now. A friend from the College came with, taking the opportunity to spend an hour or so away from the hustle and bustle of the UWC reunions and pre-term prep. Little did she know just how much hustle and bustle there is here with all the seagull chicks!

Weather
Sunny, dry, clouds. Strong Westerlies from 19 to 29 knots. Daytime temperatures from 12 to 18 degrees.

Vessels
Ecotourism: 12
Private: 1

Whale, Whale, Whale

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Wildlife
This morning’s climb to the panels was punctuated by the joy of catching a humpback’s tail flip out of the corner of my eye. Later in the afternoon, a pod of 40 or so resident orcas passed by the west side of the rocks!
A flock of whale watching and eco-tourism vessels came to share in the wonder. It’s tricky to balance my feelings about this industry; knowing on one hand that the tangible experience of the coast’s wild beauty is becoming accessible to greater numbers, while acknowledging the risks to its inhabitants posed by the constant traffic like collisions and harmful noise levels.

Our California sea lion is still hanging out. Spotted the banded gull who typically hangs out by the energy building, closely supervising the cleaning of the panels.

Facility notes
– Cleaned panels
– Cleaned windows
– Lifted up section of electric fence across walkway

Weather
Sunny, but hazy. A massive bank of wildfire smoke rolled in later in the evening, giving the sunset an otherworldly tint.
Winds mostly westerly, from 11 to 33 knots. Temperature from 10 to 12.5 degrees.

Vessels
Ecotourism: 21
Private: 6
Visitors: Grocery delivery! No one disembarked, but there was a small group of UWC Pearson alumni from about a decade ago aboard.

Month End, and Bye for now!

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Thanks for another fun term out here at Race rocks, Will be back in the fall!

Ecological Notes:

  • 2 adult female Elephant Seals
  • The Female that had the pup here this season is particularly vocal and bossy!

(video coming)

  • 2 Elephant Seal pups, 1 might be a small yearling
  • With the warmer weather, all the Elephant Seals enjoy their daily dip in the water.

(video coming)

  • As usual, the Geese are very protective of their nests

  • But the “baby” Elephant seal seems to take great pleasure in harassing the gees at their nests

  • Orca only observed passing the reserve once in the last week (but from other reports, they may have passed by unnoticed or early in the morning)

Visitors:

  • 1 volunteer came out to help Richard with projects

  • 2 sets of students came out for orientation and tasks assignments, they also enjoyed some mini presentations from the Eco-Guardian
  • Richard  came to work on his projects when the students were here

Facility Work:

  • Battery electrolyte levels
  • Fuel Transfers
  • Full general house clean
  • Tidy student house after visitors
  • Ongoing solar panel cleaning, and battery electrolyte top ups

  • Valve replacement and servicing on the salt water pump to fill the cistern
  • Filling the cistern, and then flushing the pump with fresh water
  • Some desalinator runs, successful running on just solar as well 
  • All month end reports and filing

DND events:

  • Some blasts on Friday, no noted disturbance

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • As most Whale sightings were east of Victoria, only a occasional Eco-Tourism vessel visits
  • Some Private boats

 Noted Infractions:

  • none

Weather Events:

  • Sunday, April 26:
    • Sky: Mostly clear overhead, with a few clouds rolling through in the afternoon …. north and south of the reserve had more clouds, and low lying mist/fog to the west and south
    • Wind: W 5-10kts until noon, then rising to 30kts by midnight
    • Sea: rippled most of the day
    • Temperature Low 8.2oC, High 13.3oC
  • Monday, April 27:
    • Sky: Foggy until mid-afternoon, clear and sunny to overcast
    • Wind: W/WSW 16-37 kts
    • Sea:  light chop turning to high waves by evening
    • Temperature Low 12oC, High 20oC
  • Tuesday, April 28:
    • Sky: Foggy until mid-afternoon, clear and sunny to overcast
    • Wind: W/WSW 16-37 kts
    • Sea:  light chop turning to high waves by evening
    • Temperature Low 12oC, High 20oC
  • Wednesday, April 29:
    • Sky: Mostly clear overhead, with a few clouds rolling through in the afternoon 
    • Wind: W variable to 8kts, shifting to S mid day, then rising to W 18kts late afternoon
    • Sea: rippled 
    • Temperature Low 8.3oC, High 14.2oC
  • Thursday, April 30:
    • Sky: Mostly clear overhead, with a few clouds rolling through in the afternoon 
    • Wind: Rising through the day to 25kts, variable directions all day
    • Sea: rippled most of the day
    • Temperature Low 8.6oC, High 15.6oC
  • Friday, May 1:
    • Sky: Foggy until late-afternoon, mixed sun and clouds afterwards
    • Wind: W 15-25 kts, rising slightly in the evening
    • Sea:  light chop turning to 2 ft chop and whitecaps late in the day 
    • Temperature Low 8.6oC, High 15.6oC, cool windchill though (while cleaning solar panels on the roof!)

 

 

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

 

Weather – Current:

https://tempestwx.com/station/190757/

 

Weather – Past:

https://tempestwx.com/history/190757

More Elephant Seals!

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Ecological Notes:

  • 2  Adult female Elephant Seals
  • 2 young ones…. 1 is this years pup born here… the other is a bit bigger,  it seems pretty big to be a new pup, but a bit small to be a yearling….. we will see when the moult starts

The 2 newest ones

  • Gulls and Oyster Catchers still paired off, no noted nest building yet
  • Orca and a Humpback passed the reserve, without entering
  • Although most have given up, found a new Canadian Goose nest…. easy to miss them when they use an old site, and cover it well when they’re not there!

Visitors:

  • Greg And Richard for fuel and grocery delivery
  • Guests of Pearson College came to the Rock to stay in the Student Building
  • Greg also brought the future Eco-Guardians for a quick overview of the site.

Facility Work:

  • Richard sealed a crack on the desalinator bunker roof

  • Solar Panel cleaning
  • Fuel transfers

DND events:

  • Several Blasts on Wednesday and Thursday

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Starting to see more Eco-Tourism vessel
  • Weekends also included more private vessels coming through to observe the wildlife

  • RCMSAR  vessel did a bit of a tour through the reserve

 

 Noted Infractions:

  • none

Weather Events:

  • Wednesday, April 22:
    • Sky: haze overhead, clouds in all directions on the horizon
    • Wind: WSW 10-22kts, variable throughout the day
    • Sea: rippled to 2′ chop
    • Temperature Low 9.3oC, High 12.4oC
  • Thursday, April 23:
    • Sky: High overcast with haze on all horizons…. giving way to mostly clear late afternoon overhead
    • Wind: W/WSW 16-37 kts
    • Sea:  light chop turning to flat by afternoon
    • Temperature Low 9.0oC, High 11.8oC
  • Friday, April 24:
    • Sky: Sunny and bright, some haze on the horizon lines though
    • Wind: Variable wind, mostly NE to SE, 5-15kts
    • Sea:  light chop turning to high waves by evening
    • Temperature Low 7.6oC, High 15.9oC
  • Saturday, April 25:
    • Sky: Sunny and bright, some haze on the horizon lines 
    • Wind: Variable S SE winds 0-10 kts
    • Sea: very little chop, some slight current lines
    • Temperature Low 7.3oC, High 16.6oC
  • Great Solar generation today so far! (the “from battery” number includes everything drawn during the night too)

 

 

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

 

Weather – Current:

https://tempestwx.com/station/190757/

 

Weather – Past:

https://tempestwx.com/history/190757

Christmas at the rock

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Merry Christmas

 

Ecological Notes:

  • Although there are still no Elephant Seals hauled out here, a picture of one temporarily hauled out at Trial Island looks like one of the females normally here
  • The Snow Goose is again hanging out with the Canada Geese…… they often chase it a bit, so perhaps when I though it had left, it was just away from them hiding
  • I always feel bad when I’m moving Sea Lions down the ramp and notice an injured one ….. when I am aware of one, I try to move them more slowly

Visitors:

  • A quick touch and go run by Greg for a quick grocery top up before the holidays…. He also delivered bottled water for drinking, and some for the battery top ups

Facility Work:

  • Bucked and split another load of firewood, stocking up for the cold months of January and February
  • Lots of daily fixes on the fences in the heavy winds
  • Twice a week top ups to the battery fluids
  • Transferring fuel to the generator building as often as possible
  • Topped up the cistern and put away the hoses
  • Sometime the calendar blurs a bit out here, other than set weekly chores….. but every now and then you get a reminder of the passage of time…. Printed out the tide and current tables for 2026

  • Cleaned the outside of the main  house windows ….. even with all the rain, there is salt and other debris sticking
  • Cleaned the solar panels a couple times for the same reason
  • Don’t know how the wind managed to break this with the door latched closed, but it had a previous repair, so maybe it was extra weak

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Occasional Eco-Tourism vessels
  • A couple private vessels transiting and observing in the reserve 
  • All behaved appropriately 

Weather Events:

Typical December weather, many variable wind directions and strengths. On and off rain nearly every day.

  • Wednesday, December 24:
    • Sky: Overcast, rain most of the day
    • Wind: Mostly N, 10-15kts in the morning, dropping briefly to 0 mid afternoon, then rising again
    • Sea: 2 ft waves most of the day
    • Temperature Low 5.5oC, High 8oC
  • Thursday, December 25:
    • Sky: high and low overcast, rain squalls
    • Wind: ENE shifting to NNE mid day, 10 – 15 kts
    • Sea:  medium cop all day
    • Temperature Low 5oC, High 6.5oC
  • Friday, December 26:
    • Sky: full mix of high and low overcast, rain squalls and sunny breaks
    • Wind: W rising early morning to a mid morning high of 38kts
    • Sea:  lots of chop, very messy around the reserve, but overall not to bad in the strait as wind is currently running with tide
    • Temperature Low 5oC, High 8oC  (much cooler “feels like” temperatures though)

10 minutes after a big rain squall

 

 

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

 

Weather – Current:

https://tempestwx.com/station/190757/

 

Weather – Past:

https://tempestwx.com/history/190757

Getting ready for the cold

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Ecological Notes:

  • Still no Elephant Seals
  • Snow Goose is still here

  • Daily visits from Eagles hunting Gulls
  • Smaller sea otter reported to me by an Eco-Tourism vessel

Visitors:

  • Greg and Richard from shorefront team
  • Service Tech
  • Students from Pearson College each weekend

Facility Work:

  • Another clean up of dead birds…… mostly Eagle predation, but a couple of “healthy looking” birds as well
  • Service Tech came out again for the hot water system in the main house
  • Some weeding accomplished in the hollow in front of the water tank
  • Ongoing fence repairs
  • Battery fluids maintained
  • Delsalinator run when ever the generator was running during the day
  • Students from Pearson College helped with the animal census and laying out the hose to fill the cistern with salt water

  • more firewood split to stock it up for the colder weather coming! Thank you Richard for the platform for the wood splitter, up off the floor and now able to keep face away from the mechanism while using

  • Set up, flushed, and then ran the water pump to start filling the cistern, will need more as the tide ran low

DND events:

  • a few blasts earlier in the week, disturbing the Sea Lions and birds

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Some Eco-Tourism and educational vessels
  • Some private vessels, including Kayakers, and a small dinghy

  • 1 Spill Response Vessel transiting 

  • All behaved responsibly 

Weather Events:

  • Thursday, November 27:
    • Sky: Overcast, with very brief sunny periods
    • Wind: NNE 25-30kts
    • Sea: 3-5 waves, hitting the pier heavily 
    • Temperature Low 8.1oC, High 9.6oC
  • Friday, November 28:
    • Sky: Clear in the morning,gradually becoming high overcast as the day progressed, tempest system report slight rain during the night
    • Wind: NE winds, 5kts in the morning, rising to 18kts by mid afternoon 
    • Sea:  remained light chop as when the wind rose, it was tide with wind
    • Temperature Low 8.1oC, High 10.4oC
  • Saturday, November 29:
    • Sky: High overcast
    • Wind: NE 10-15 kts
    • Sea:  light chop 
    • Temperature Low 6oC, High 8.2oC
  • Sunday, November 30:
    • Sky: Clear all day
    • Wind: ENE 15kts, dropping to 5kts mid afternoon
    • Sea:  light chop 
    • Temperature Low 6oC, High 8oC

 

 

** Any 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?