Category Archives: Facility work

e-seals, blasting

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Sky cleared up yesterday, mostly cloudy today. NE wind less than 15 NMPH becoming W this afternoon.

Counted 16 bald eagles in reserve today, they have started feeding on the deceased sea lion.

Chunk has started spending more time off the main island, he was away all day today and back this evening.  I was able to get a better view of Middle Rock yesterday. In the picture below you can see Chunk on the left and a good sized female on the right with a young male behind her.

middle rock 2 male-7306

Middle rock: Chunk, younger male and female ( i think the one that had a pup out there earlier this month)

The number of moulting female elephant seals on the main island has increased to a total of 4: 3 in south bay (including one with green tag) and 1 in South East beach (pink tag). They all look pretty rough, as usual.

3 moulting females in South bay

3 moulting females in South bay

DND blasting: 1 blast yesterday, 3 blasts today. Looked like some small military vessels doing exercises near the reserve midday today and yesterday.

1 eco tour vessel, 1 charter rental from Pedder Bay (I called the marina as they were in the reserve and it was chartered by Shaw to get footage of race rocks).

-following up on wood stove
-cut, chopped, stacked wood
-topped up fresh water
-did some training/refreshing with relief guardian
-checked on battery water levels

kayak disturbance, tagged e-seals, pup, etc

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Wind has varied between W and NE less than 20 NMPH over the past few days.  We have had some patches of fog during the week and partly clear skies today and yesterday.

On the 15th a group of 20 kayakers passed through the reserve on the East side heading West.  They passed on both sides of East rock and caused one of the largest sea lion disturbances I have seen here, several hundred sealions scrambled into the water.  I was able to talk to one of the kayakers as they passed by the south side and told him that they are not allowed to cause this kind of disturbance to marine mammals at race rocks. Though I love kayaking and prefer kayaks to motorized vessels, kayakers need to realize that because they are so nice and silent they can also easily surprise wildlife.  Once startled sealions stampede and can easily trample younger sealions or injure themselves rushing over the jagged rocks.

1 dive boat in the reserve today, 1 eco tour in the afternoon, 1 sports fishing boat in the morning which traveled too close to sealions on the East rocks. I called Pedder Bay Marina and gave them the ID number and a description and asked them to talk to the operator about regulations at Race Rocks (thanks Pedder Bay Marina!).

The elephant seal pup seems to be in good shape and is drinking milk regularly. Chunk seems fairly well behaved, a few times a day he we will arise from his slumber and chase after Bertha. Sometimes it seems he is trying to separate her from the pup and restrain her. I have seen him with his mouth around the pup’s head as well as with the pup partly underneath him though on all occasions I have observed he has clearly not harmed the pup when he easily could have. Chunk went off the island last night, I assume to middle rock and was back in the morning. There are two elephant seals on middle rock, both fairly large, one possibly a young male. I have been hearing what sounds like a male’s call coming from middle rock today. There were also two smaller scruffy, moulting female elephant seals in the shoreline of the main island today one tagged green 7502 the other tagged pink N93_ the last number is not visible. That brings the current e-seal population to 7.

Past week maintenance:
-cleaned solar panels daily
-flushed media filter on desal
-changed pre-filters on desal
-troubleshooting cam 5 with help from Jonathan, replaced POE unit. took measurements to replace leaky cable housing at base of cam stand
-ran desal x2
-ran fire pump
-replaced leaky hydraulic line on crane, pressure tested line
-cut, chopped, stacked fire wood
-replaced fire extinguishers which had been sent in for annual servicing
-brought temporary fire extinguishers off island for servicing
-troubleshooting of failed internet system with help from Jonathan
-swapped out 1 propane tank on main house

Visitors this week:
-on the 15th Erik came with a guest to drop off supplies
-on the 16th Erik brought Jonathan out to replace switch in the tower as well as the Marine sciences class for a field trip (12 students and Ann)

Westerly

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Over the past 5 days we have had strong westerly winds reaching over 40 NMPH most days (in the evening) and over 50
NMPH on Saturday evening. There have been heavy swells as a result. Because of bad weather/low light I am having to run the generator longer most days, around 3 hours to charge batteries, than usual.

Chunk has mostly remained on main island with Bertha who continues to resist his advances. We are approaching the date when she gave birth two years ago. I have not been able to see the pup on middle rock for several days. The weather has made it harder to get a view over there.

On Thursday the 9th, 12 bald eagles were observed in the reserve. Still havent been able to get banding info on black oyster catchers.

Wednesday, Jan 8th: 1 charter fishing boat toured through reserve, 1 CG helicopter flew over.
Monday, Jan 13th: 1 CG helicopter flew over.

-securing things from wind
-following up on woodstove
-following up on furnace servicing
-cleaning solar panels
-fire wood cutting when weather permits

Sealion death

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Clear sky, wind 15 NMPH NE, signs of frost overnight.

This morning the sealion that has been in poor health and isolation during the past weeks was deceased on the rocks in the east bay of the island.


Bertha still near centre of island.

One ecotour vessel was in the reserve today.

-replaced corroded electrical plug on flush pump in diesel building
-cleaned panels
-cut, chopped, wood
-cleared a new storage space in the water tank shed for more fire wood storage

Chris Blondeau, Director of Operations for Race Rocks to 2017

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In 2017, after serving for 20 years at Lester Pearson College, Chris Blondeau has left the staff at the College. The program at Race Rocks was strongly supported by Chris throughout the time he was here, and we will miss him greatly.  He started his service at the college as a PADI diving instructor . In that capacity, hundreds of students in the Diving Service benefited from his skilled teaching, leadership and friendship. He also worked closely with Faculty in the Biology, Environmental Systems and Marine Science Subject areas. His expertise in vessel handling was passed on to many students during his time in the Diving Service.

Chris soon became the Director of operations for Pearson College and Race Rocks. In 2005-2006 he took on a major responsibility in coordinating the installation of the Tidal Current Generator at RaceRocks

Chris has overseen the development of many projects of the Race Rocks program over the years.

See also videos with Chris Blondeau in the Archived Video Diver Section

Jan 4

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clear sky, wind varying between N and E throughout the day, 10-15 NMPH.

I went off island in the morning to run errands, came back mid afternoon. I noticed that the barometer reading from the davis instruments (racerocks.ca) is different from tower reading, will try to correct it.

Bertha hasnt moved much from her spot near centre of island.

There was 1 eco-tour vessel in the reserve while I was on site.

-picked up 40L gas at Pedder Bay Marina
-cleaned panels

Bertha returns

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Wind was gusting up to 45 NMPH W overnight, blowing 30 NMPH in the morning and diminished to calm by afternoon. The sky cleared up during the day.

Bertha arrived back on Great Race today, she looks good and pretty big. In 2011 she gave birth to a pup (Squall)  here on January 14. The other elephant seals are on Middle rock, it looks like 4 females and Chunk out there. There seemed to be another large female next to Chunk.

See the Elephant seal Index for other Elephant seal births at Race Rocks

A coast guard helicopter flew over in the morning, one ecotour vessel entered the reserve in the afternoon.

-cleaned panels
-replaced flag
-finished month end report
-did animal census
-cleaned cam 5 dome
-gathered drift wood from East shore
-cut, chopped wood

Rain and wind

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It started raining in the evening and continued throughout the day.  This was the first significant rain here in a few weeks.  The wind picked up late in the day and was gusting over 45 NMPH West in the evening.

1 ecotour and 1 recreational vessel were in the reserve.  A coast guard helicopter flew over coming from the West.

There were 3 small ducks in the NE puddle, I believe they were Green Winged Teals.  I counted 15 canada geese on the island today, the most I have seen lately.

-worked on month end report
-entered salinity data into spreadsheet and submitted to DFO
-checked on drainage from roofs and downspouts around basements
-collected drift wood
-contacted wood stove contractor

Dec 31, visitors, octopus

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overcast, wind light.

Chris came out in the morning with a group of 8 visitors.

Several octopus encounters today: there was an octopus near jetty as the guests were leaving, I heard a fisherman on the radio talking about having caught an octopus, and in the evening I came a across a small octopus in a tide pool at a very low (0.1 meter) tide.

1 ecotour and 1 recreation boat in the reserve today

-tidy engine room and house for visitors
-did a maintenance tour with Chris
-cut, chopped, stacked wood
-checked battery water level
-fuel inventory for month end report
-started preparing month end report

Dec 29

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Wind light, overcast.

2 ecotour vessels in the reserve today

There is a sea lion on the East bay of the island that has some kind of neck injury. It is usually higher up in the rocks and isolated from other sea lions. It’s neck is swollen on one side and fur is moist/matted, some blood is visible. It has been there for several days now. Though it does go into the water occasionally it is mainly stationary.

-cleaned solar panels
-replaced burnt out florescent tube lights in boat house, work room, engine room
-measured and photographed fuel lines on generator for replacement
-cut, chopped, stacked fire wood
-sharpened tools
-ran chain saw