Musical Rocks at the Race

It was another north-easterly day, with an ocean swell running up and down the islets of the Race. Although it was mostly overcast in the morning, periods of sunshine dominated and it was a pleasant, autumn day. The barometer continued to climb until about noon and then slipped back down, but not as far as yesterday’s low. The marine forecast is for variable winds in the morning and west Wednesday evening with periods of rain during the day.

In the pinniped world of Race Rocks, haul-outs are shifting around like musical chairs. Steller Sea lions are now abundant on North Rock, which in September was the exclusive domain of Harbour Seals. There is a small Harbour Seal hauling out in the jetty bay now and most of the California Sea Lions have moved to the south and west side of Great Race. Middle Rock, which had ten Elephant Seals, a few weeks ago, now has over one hundred Steller Sea Lions and five of the Elephant Seals have moved back onto Great Race. They arrived all wet and big-eyed this morning and moved in for all day slumbering. All of these pinnipeds make interesting sounds, music to their ears, I am sure, and they all distinctly different. More on that another day.

It is quite delightful what you can see out your kitchen window here. I looked out while doing dishes this evening and saw two large Humpback Whales to the south, just outside the Ecological Reserve near Rosedale Reef. There were no boats around, just the two of them blowing and diving, circling around in the same area, taking fairly short dives and showing their big flukes in a beautiful display of might and grace. The dishes were quickly superseded with the spotting scope and binoculars. A sport fishing boat approached, slowed and stopped a respectful distance away and just sat there taking it all in, for a long time. When they left the scene, they did so slowly, giving the whales a wide berth. I believe that this sort of respect insures a better viewing experience as well as protecting the whales. Earlier in the day, I stopped for tea and was just heading for my book when I looked out the kitchen window and saw this plain, medium-sized shorebird foraging with the Canada Geese. It was a Dunlin in winter plumage.

Dunlin?Dunlin?3

Routine maintenance was augmented with getting the Underwater Video Camera (Camera #2 on this web-site) hooked up to the Internet and starting winter preparations such as getting the furnace running. I had hoped to join the marine science class by boat for their kelp forest adventure but the swell and wind waves were a bit too large to launch and retrieve the boat.

Battery Power

The fog came and went again today but overall there was enough sunshine to keep the solar panels producing power. There was very little wind, always less than ten knots and often less than five. The direction was quite variable: in the morning it came from the north, then switched around to south and was blowing westerly at sunset. Now in the late evening it has turned back to a three-knot north wind. The barometer rose gradually most of the day so we are back up where we were a couple of days ago. The forecast is for increasing clouds with some sunshine tomorrow.

Today, I was not able to monitor vessel traffic in the Ecological Reserve as well as I usually do, nevertheless, 23 whale watching boats were observed in the Reserve, several visiting multiple times.

I did a large animal census, today and will report on it tomorrow as it is late now.

The middle of the day was taken up with battery room maintenance. Courtney showed me how to do it by doing 24 batteries and then I did the rest while the electrician and his apprentice were there. They checked on me to make sure that I was okay, working in that dangerous environment. All 96 batteries were checked and topped up with distilled water. Other chores included the usual daily tasks, seawater sampling, generation of electricity with the Lister and launching the boat. Once the electricians were finished, I gave them a ride into Pedder Bay. In spite of fog, there was a bit of a sunset. Here’s the shot.

As the tide ebbs, the sun sets through the fog reflected in the boils and rips.

As the tide ebbs, the sun sets through the fog reflected in the boils and rips.

Sediment Filters Installed

What a beautiful, warm, summer day. The early fog to the south and west disappeared and it stayed calm and got warm. The smoke and particulates made for another spectacular sunset, this time without a cloud. The barometer has been slowly rising since last night with a bit of a leveling this afternoon and evening. It looks like they are forecasting outflow winds for tomorrow and that might keep the fog at bay.

There were 17 tour boats today and most of them were very respectful of the seals and sea lions that they were watching in the reserve. The recreational fishing fleet seemed to be off to the west towards Beechy Head and the Bait Shack. Although a few boats passed through slowly, no one was jigging in the reserve today.  Second Nature and Hyaku made several trips out and around the reserve with groups of students rotating through their orientation activities.

There were military explosions during the late morning and early afternoon.

There were only 99 adults Glaucous-winged gulls at sunset and I could only spot three young ones, (still actively begging). The rest have moved on. There is still one demented gull that is trying to nest, bringing bunches of grass and acting agitated. I wonder what happened to its internal clock? I also spotted both Heermann’s Gulls and California Gulls today. The number of cormorants, both Double Crested and Pelagics continue to rise. Every night a mystery bird arrives after dark and calls a bit. I would love to figure out what it is. It almost sounds like a Greater Yellowlegs but it is the wrong kind of habitat. I wonder if it flies out here because it is a safe(ish) place to sleep?

A lot of maintenance work was accomplished today. I started by washing the basement floor where plumber was going to be working. Courtney brought the plumber out in Second Nature in the morning and while he plumbed Courtney and I dealt with propane tanks and electric fences. It was good to be able to chat with this veteran eco-guardian who now works on the waterfront at Pearson College. I learned a lot. Now both houses have big cartridge filters in-line in and it looks like really professional.

 

Animal Census

Low winds today picking up in the afternoon/evening. Clear skies for most of the day. Forecasted winds of 15 knots for tomorrow morning rising to 30 in the afternoon.

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Animal Census (by Anne):

Steller Sea Lions 229
California Sea Lions 388
Harbour Seals 81
Glaucous-winged Gulls 301 (including 29 chicks)
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Pelagic Cormorant 1
Canada Goose 11
Black Oyster Catcher 11
Black Turnstone 1
Greater Yellow legs 1
Very large mixed species feeding groups to the west southwest of reserve including 100s of Rhinoceros auklets, Common Murres, Heerman’s Gulls and California Gulls.

37 whale watching boats

5 recreational boats

3-4 trips from Second Nature

Baleen whale this morning spotted feeding in the same place as yesterday evening, to the SW end of the reserve.

Anne continued with training today. James from Hybrid Plumbing came out to fix the water heater this morning. Changed cartridge filters on desalinator. Prepared for shift change.

 

 

Business as usual

Overcast. Winds 5-10 knots most of the day. Barometric pressure rising until this evening. Winds forecasted to be 15-25 knots tomorrow.

16 whale watching boats

3 recreational boats

1 commercial fishing boat passed through

Many sea lions on the main island now. There is lots of interaction between the Californias and Stellers. In the evening, the Californias take over the northeast lawn and the Stellers tend to stay on the outer edge of the rock though many do squish their way into the lawn resting area. There are three juvenile elephant seals that have been spend their days on the ramp. They make their way into the waters in the evening.

Finished cleaning out the tank room. Backflushed the desalinator although it is having issues with the high pressure pump. Been working on cameras 1 and 5 which are down.

Photos

Newly hatched oystercatchers on the south side of the main island last

Newly hatched oystercatchers on the south side of the main island last

Rain gutters pre-cleaning

Rain gutters pre-cleaning

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whale watchers near Middle Rock

Whale watchers near Middle Rock

Branded sea lion #8595

Branded California sealion #B101

 

 

 

 

 

Cleaning the cable for underwater camera 2

Cleaning the cable for underwater camera 2

Young male elephant seal with bloody mouth

Young male elephant seal with bloody mouth

Orca dorsal fin and onlookers

Orca dorsal fin and onlookers

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Branded California sea lion #8595

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dead gulls. Seems to be a high number this year.

Dead gulls. Seems to be a high number this year.

Black Oystercatcher near the jetty

Black Oystercatcher near the jetty

Juvenile Black Oystercatcher on the north side of the main island

Juvenile Black Oystercatcher on the north side of the main island

 

Lots of fog

Lots of rain this morning and heavy fog all day. Winds dropping from 15+ knots in the morning to zero this afternoon. Winds tomorrow forecasted to be 10-15 knots with fog in the morning.

17 whale watching boats

2 recreational boats

Two electricians came to the island from today to tilt another row of solar panels. We loaded Second Nature with a load of trash/junk from the tank shed for its return trip. Continued on tidying the tank shed.

Esquimalt First Nation Traditional land (and water) use areas.

In August, 2014, the Trans Mountain Pipeline consultant Tera submitted a “Supplemental Traditional Marine Resource Transportation Technical Report. 

In it, a chart is presented with areas of traditional use by the Esquimalt First Nations is presented. This is the first time this kind of map has appeared, and it is rather interesting since the Esquimalt FN remained uninvolved throughout the Race Rocks MPA Advisory Board meetings .

 

“EXECUTIVE SUMMARY An Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment was completed by TERA, a CH2M HILL Company,and was submitted as part of the Application to the National Energy Board (NEB) in December 2013 for the proposed Trans Mountain Expansion Project (referred to as TMEP or the Project). The NEB will conduct a detailed review and hold a Public Hearing to determine if it is in the public interest to recommend a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for construction and operation of the Project. Pending regulatory approval, Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC (Trans Mountain) plans to begin construction in 2016 and go into service in 2017.Trans Mountain will continue to engage Aboriginal communities through all phases of the Project. Traditional Marine Resource Use (TMRU) information received from participating communities will be reviewed in order to confirm literature results and mitigation measures. Additional issues of concern, TMRU sites or features identified through ongoing engagement with Aboriginal communities will be considered for incorporation into Project planning under the guidance of existing marine transport regulations and mitigation recommendations. The results of these ongoing engagement efforts will be provided to the NEBin future supplemental filings. Further information is provided in Technical Report (TR) 8B-5 in Volume 8B,  Traditional Marine Resource Use Technical Report of the Application. ”

This report contained a map of the traditional use areas of Esquimalt First Nations which shows use of the  Race Rocks Area as well as the adjacent coastline. It is shown in this link:

esquimalttraditionallanduse area

Click for large version

Juvenile Bald Eagle visit

Northwest winds dipping to 10 knots around midday. Barometric pressure decreasing since mid-morning. Intermittent fog until noon. Forecast calls for fog until noon tomorrow and gale wind warning in effect.

6 whale watching boats

7 recreational fishing boats passed through

Business as usual on the reserve today. A juvenile eagle visited the island this afternoon. Yesterday I was off the island from 0900h to 1700h to pick up two visitors and get groceries in town and the crew was out again to finish with replacing windows. Cleaned off the cable that we pulled out from the water that goes to video cam 2.

July 5

Northwest winds peaked at 15 knots around noon. Overcast skies with some rain near noon.

There were a dozen recreational fishing boats on the east edge of the reserve this morning but a total of five actually passed through today. 6 whale watching boats were in the reserve.

The two male elephant seals have barely moved at all today. While taking the seawater sample this evening, a young harbour seal pup was murmuring lightly while finding its way through the kelp bed off the end of the jetty. The oystercatcher eggs near the jetty have yet to hatch.

A group of 4 kayakers from Port Angeles stopped at the island today for a quick rest before continuing on their way to Victoria.

Installed the VHF antenna today in the guest residence.

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