Newly hatched oystercatchers on the south side of the main island last
Rain gutters pre-cleaning
Whale watchers near Middle Rock
Branded California sealion #B101
Cleaning the cable for underwater camera 2
Young male elephant seal with bloody mouth
Orca dorsal fin and onlookers
Branded California sea lion #8595
Dead gulls. Seems to be a high number this year.
Black Oystercatcher near the jetty
Juvenile Black Oystercatcher on the north side of the main island
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.
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:
Click for large version
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.
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.
Rare summertime north-easterlies today, increasing from 0-35 knots throughout the day. Barometric pressure dipped to a weekly low this morning but is on the rise now. There has been some rain and the sky has been mostly cloudy. Showers are forecasted for tomorrow.
tour boats: 2
Several times a day a bald eagle or juvenile will come and cause a raucous for all the gulls who all lift into the air and chase the predator from their nests. For the past few days, the oystercatchers have been doing their part and one or two will chase the eagle out of their territory. (The oystercatcher eggs near the jetty have yet to hatch.) More often than not, the eagle leaves empty handed but occasionally it will grab a gull or a chic.
There was a female elephant seal on the jetty this morning but this evening only the two larger males remain on the island.
The sea lion is still in the same spot on the south islands, although he has moved into the water at least twice since yesterday.
Went off the island today (from 1130h-1600h) to collect a ladder from Wayne and do errands.
Did the monthly check on the derrick today.
North westerlies 20-25 knots most of the morning. After noon the winds picked up considerably. Sky has been changing all day. Sun and clouds. Heavy fog in the morning. Light winds forecasted for tomorrow morning with 15-25 knots later in the day. 1 whale watching boat. 1 illegal fishing boat (recreational) A northern rough-winged swallow was spotted on the reserve today. Today a rental boat from Pedder Bay Marina entered the reserve around 1500h. The driver was moving the boat into kelp beds, where it would temporarily anchor in the seaweed. The men would fish until the boat was pushed out by the current and then would move to another kelp. I called PBM and they sent a boat to come inform them of the eco-reserve boundaries, and the Rockfish Conservation Area, and reported the incident to DFO. The boat left around 1600h. They caught two fish and released one.
West winds around 10 knots for most of the day. Fog this morning and this evening. Barometric pressure has steadily decreased all day. Strong wind warning in effect for tonight and fog is forecasted to persist until late tomorrow morning.
No whale watching boats today. 2 recreational halibut fishing boats along the SE and SW borders of the reserve.
Animal Census
Elephant Seal: 3
Harbour Seal: 191
Bald Eagle: 1
Gull: 323
Pigeon Guillemot: 83
Black Oystercatcher: 10
Double-crested cormorant: 4
Stellar sea lion: 5
Harlequin duck: 4
Two of the large elephant seals were sparring in the shallow water by the jetty this morning around 1100h. I noticed a younger pup that has been here for the past week has small, fresh wounds on its backside that I think are from two days ago when I saw the second largest male attack the pup near the launch pad. Also, a lone stellar sea lion has been resting on the a small rock off the south islands for two days now. He has flesh wounds but they do not look recent as far as I can tell.
-Secured deck boards on winch loading pad. -Chopped fire wood.
Six visitors from the college came today from 1200h-1500h.
Light wind and clear skies for most of the day. Picked up to strong North-East/ East winds with rain this evening. This wind direction makes the South-East door whistle like crazy. The water is a total mess right now.
5 tour boats
DND blasting: several small blasts in the morning. 3 loud ones in the afternoon.
Erik brought Ric the electrician out with the new voltage regulator this morning. It took some fiddling, but the generator is back in working order. I ran it today for a few hours, along with the desalinator. Happy to be able to do some laundry.
The Elephant seals put on a good show for Ric. There are 8 seals lounging next to the pathways between the boat shed and energy building. They are the strangest creatures to live with. There is one juvenile that is getting bolder with each day, slowly making it further up the path towards where all the other seals are piled up next to the hose box. There is one with scabby-molt that always stays apart from the group and avoids any seals that come to visit. There is one large adult seal that seems to be blind in one eye; it’s left eye has a hollow, white look to it. One seal has a flipper tag, but I couldn’t get a photo of it. Will try again tomorrow.
Summer shift change has been organized. Julie Bowser will be returning for her third shift starting mid-June and ending in late August.
Overcast/Cloudy. Moderate West wind all day.
Erik brought out two techs from Environment Canada to service the weather station at the top of the tower. They realized a wiring error in their system after we had one of the main inverters burnout several weeks ago. They also fixed the old-school barograph I’ve had sitting broken in the kitchen since I found it in a closet on my last shift. This model of barograph (literally a barometer with a drum+graph used to track the tendency of atmospheric pressure) was standard issue for weather stations from Environment Canada for many years. The unit out here is from 1961, with an upgraded clock from 1977. I recently found a spare clock and drum for it, now the only things missing are graph paper for the drum and a new ink tip.
Ric the electrician also came out to start troubleshooting the generator issue. After some scrounging I found several manuals for components of the energy system. So far he has found a broken voltage controller that might be the culprit. We are now waiting on the part to see if this is the only problem.
A group of Pearson College visitors (Dave Skilling + 3) also came out for a brief tour and visit of the Reserve.
6 super loud blasts through out the day from DND that left the techs a little startled since the buildings shake when a big one goes off.