Calm and sunny.
As of 1130, sighted from the tower, there are:
233 Stellar sea lions
269 California sea lions
100 Harbour seals
11 Elephant seals
The white fronted goose is still around.
Saw whale spouts and tail flukes to the West. Likely Gray whales.
-Washed desalinator bunker and water tank shed
-Pressure washed West wall of student house
A single, juvenile Greater White Fronted goose (Anser albifrons) arrived a few days ago and has been rustling around the middle of Greater Race Rock. This species was also documented at Race Rocks on May 2012, May 2007 and September 2007. Thanks Ann for verifying the species.
At the end of September a juvenile elephant seal was on the jetty for roughly a week. It had the classic signs of a scabby molt. Scabby molt is a skin disease that attacks elephant seals between the ages of eight months and two years old. Two-year-old elephant seals often suffer from a skin disease known as the northern elephant seal skin disease or NESSD for short. This form of dermatitis is also often referred to as scabby molt. This ulcerative skin disease can either infect a small portion of the fur and underlying skin or spread to cover up to 60% or more of this outer protective layer. Although, in most cases, the elephant seals heal up without any further problems, sometimes, secondary bacterial infections and/or sepsis can lead to death.
Check out this link to a paper by Beckamn et al, 1997 that describes this disease.
-Ran desalinator
-Washed solar panels
-Washed exterior windows on Student house
-Tidied Student house basement and bathroom
-Hung pictures in student house
-Fixed underwater camera issue with help from Jonathan
Beautiful, calm, sunny day.
Maciek was here to help.
Off station from 1600 to 1800 to pick up Jamieson.
Tour boats: 15
-Assembled bunk beds in Student house
-Trimmed and swept pathways
-Ran desalinator
25-30 kt West wind since 1400 hrs
-6 elephant seals came ashore and napped behind the boat shed
-9 pelicans flew over, north to south. It seems like they pause over the islands and rest in the updrafts before crossing towards Port Angeles
-The sealions have occupied the whole area between the jetty and boat shed, the derrick shed, and the North-East flats
Off island from 1300 to 1500 hrs
New voltmeter courtesy of Erik
-ran desalinator
-washed solar panels
-found a couple small hose leaks
3 tour boats
22 peilcans flew over aroun 1600, but were gone before I could get a photo
Sealions have decided to move up closer to the house
3 elephant seals spent the afternoon on the boat ramp
-Erik came and helped with battery maintenance
-An electrician came out and fixed some light fixtures
-A couple people came and cleaned the house up a bit
Erik relieved at 1100hrs
vessel traffic:
dive boats: 2
eco-tours boats: 22
Recreational boats: 3
used new fire pump to fill seawater cistern; ran pump 7 hours
the new digital thermometer and salinity meter is making data collection much faster and simpler.
Morning Wx: wind – N 7kts, sky – Ovrcst
Elephant seal snoozing, #6375 in the background
Another female elephant seal, significantly larger than the tagged #6375, has visited twice this week. It is not tagged. The tagged female has also stayed around. Yesterday, she was resting in the shallow water and blocking the boat ramp as I was returning from the mainland in the Whaler. I left the boat tied up so not to disturb the seal and returned in an hour. The seal had moved to a very crowded area that many of the sea lions use as their water entrance/exit and was snapping and chasing the sea lions. I assume this was playful behaviour although the elephant seal was quite aggressive.
This first image shows the seal waiting at the surface.
Then the seal approaches the sea lions on its back, provoking them.
And with a splash, the chase ensues!
A new project on-the-go is a daily count of the number of fishing boats. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans are wanting to monitor the impact of sport fishing in the area. We survey an area from Beechey Head to Albert Head. On some days, there more than 100 sport fishermen in the area.
Ken Dunham, a graduate of Pearson College UWC, now enrolled in a Law program at the University of Ottawa has submitted the following as a class assignment in Natural Resources Law, CML 1105H for Professor Stewart Elgie.
See the complete paper in this PDF: Race Rocks Legal Analysis-1
Introduction
Canada is a country of incredible natural beauty and ecological diversity, a significant portion of which has been protected under a system of national and provincial parks and other reserves. One might think that it would be a straightforward matter to similarly protect another unique ecological zone. Especially if it was small, located in a relatively remote location, and there was no suggestion that it should be used for anything else.
This paper explores why this is not so simple in the context of inshore marine areas. Canada’s constitutional / legal framework creates several gaps and overlaps with respect to the environment. The broader issue is not with any particular piece of legislation, but rather the sometimes-narrow context in which each was devised. This is further complicated by how the various statutory pieces fit together (or not) under the division of powers outlined in Canada’s constitution.
These issues can frustrate even the most straightforward project that attempts to carve out a little bit of nature for the benefit of future generations, as exemplified by Race Rocks.
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Conclusion
From a legal and constitutional perspective, the most comprehensive protection for Race Rocks would involve the Province of British Columbia transferring the islets and neighboring seabed to the federal government, followed by designation of Race Rocks as a Marine Conservation area under the CNMCAA.93 This would place stewardship of Race Rocks under one government and one minister.
The alternate approaches all involve significant legislative, constitutional, and ministerial gaps that leave major eco-systems at Race Rocks without complete protection.
An outright fishing ban within the boundaries of the Race Rocks reserve would greatly simplify enforcement and prosecution.
Regardless of the approach taken, continued involvement of the local First Nations is essential, given their Douglas Treaty fishing rights and various Aboriginal claims currently being negotiated. The First Nations perspective is that they should be one of three governments sharing decision-making authority as equals, and not merely labelled as just another stakeholder to be “consulted” (i.e. possibly ignored).
See the complete paper in this PDF: Race Rocks Legal Analysis-1
morning weather: wind W 15kts sea 1ft Chop Sky clear
Out of curiosity I have been looking at the solar panels output throughout the day. With a clear sky at 1340hrs we were producing 2410 Watts and adding charge to the batteries after accounting for the island load.
1440hrs Float plane low overflight. Likely Fisheries observers; I thought I recognized the plane from past years.
Started work on cleaning and lubrication of the boat cradle wheels.
winds up in the evening to 40kts