overcast, misty, light wind. Temperature is up a bit from previous days.
Erik brought chimney sweepers out after noon to clean the chimneys in both houses.
-chimney sweeper suggested we get assist house furnace serviced as it is creating more soot than it should.
Clear skies. Moderate NE winds. 2+ ft chop
Today was the first real test of getting the Boston Whaler back on the new boat cradle with Easterly wind and waves. The trailer lowers down into the water great because we added big cement paving stones for weight and ballast. It also means that the boat doesn’t pull it up off the track when a wave rolls in. The boat stays pretty straight on the trailer, even with waves, because of the new stern posts. Although, it helps to run the stern line to a cleat on the jetty and then forward to be able to pull the stern in next to the jetty when you need to. The new ratchet winch (used to pull the boat up on the trailer) is safe for the fingers, easy to use, and has great torque. And despite filling my boots with water, the new setup works great.
Off station from 1400 to 1530
Jamieson and Jer are no longer on site
-Worked on SOPs
Strong W, SW, and S winds this morning. Strong W for the rest of the day. Rain.
Mike Cullen + apprentice came out to do maintenance on the desalinator.
The day started with moderate NE, and dropped to light variable SE. Low E swell in the am. Glassed off this evening. Scattered showers.
Erik dropped the new boat dolly/cradle off this afternoon. With some slight modifications, it came up the track just fine. Tomorrow we’ll see how the boat sits on it (fingers crossed).
[Daily Marine Conservation Link]
The area around Race Rocks is a Rockfish Conservation Area, which means that any type of fishing that could impact rockfish is prohibited. Established by DFO, there are over 100 sites on the BC coast. It is a complicated issue that involves many stakeholders and even more species. The debate is a heated one (as are all fisheries debates in this province) and, despite some level of protection, there is still concern regarding the risk to these long-lived and sensitive fish, as well as the habitat in which they live. Today’s link is an editorial about some of the conservation progress that has been made because the fisherman are concerned about the sustainability of the resource, and their livelihoods, to a point that they are voluntarily working with NGOs and the government.
Cloudy, but still no rain. Light NE winds most of the day. No fog.
First day it actually felt like Fall. It didn’t get above 10C today.
Water temp 9.8C. Visibility is still pretty good, but nothing like it was last week.
Tour boats: 14
Dive boat: 1
Fly over by an air plane midday. NE to SW. Low.
The Elephant seals are still camped out on the boat ramp. The small females are always next to the juvenile male. But the larger females are less interested in him. Still no sign of Misery.
The seagull with the broken wing has taken to following me around the island.
The outer rocks/islands have almost no sea lions on them. They have all moved to the North-East flats next to the Keeper’s house and on the South side of the student house.
-Ran desalinator
-Pressure washed South side and reachable West side of keepers house
Overcast with intermittent showers. Calm seas with a low westerly swell building in the evening.
tour boats: 5
Elephant seal 6360 has returned after being gone for a couple weeks.
#6360
#6360
-Installed shut off from student house to solar panels
-Fixed leak in hose valve at SW corner of energy building
-Fixed leaky hose nozzle and valve on solar panel roof
-Fixed and reaplced all broken and missing hose attachments that could be found
-Worked on the RR operating manual
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)Â 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