The elephant seal was pretty vocal last night but there was no sign or sound of him today. Yesterday at sunset I think I saw the horned owl on top of the flag pole. This morning several Bald Eagles were rounding up the gulls on great race. Before noon a vessel from Pinnacle Divers came into the reserve. They did a dive near the jetty and a second one off of the E rocks. While unloading divers near the jetty the boat accidentally contacted the kelp bed off the NW side of the jetty. I contacted the company by phone and left a message. Around 14:00 hrs a Prince of Whales vessel entered the reserve. There were around 30 Northern Sealions hauled out on N Rock. On the vessels approach to N Rock some sealions exited into the water. I contacted the company by phone and spoke with a staff member. Around 14:30 hrs 3 or more Orcas approached the reserve from the SW passing W of the reserve heading N. Have been gathering scrap wood, propane tanks, garbage etc. today for offloading tomorrow with a boat trip from the college planned for the morning.
Category Archives: Facility work
boat repair
Erik came out around noon to help with motor boat start up. I came back out around sunset with 2 guests.
maintenance
Erik came out to unload septic around 14:00
Sea lion juvenile
As Ecological Reserve Warden, I was concerned with the report of continued blasting by the DND given the recent noting of a nursing northern sea lion at Race Rocks. The following is an account of the concern, starting with an e-mail and pictures from the Ecoguardian, Ryan Murphy
Subject “New Development”
Sept 27,2011
“I’m not sure if the LGL guys noticed this or not… but we have a nursing Steller sea lion pup on Great Race. You’ll see in the photos that the mother is definitely lactating and the pup is nursing on the rock above the jetty (West side). Since Eumetopias jubatus is listed under SARA as Special Concern, I believe this is very significant. DND’s activity at Bentinck Island has not included intervals between blasts to reduce sea lion stampedes, and this pup is definitely at risk of trampling if DND continues their activities as they have for the past 2 days.-
Subject: continued blasting
Date: September 28, 2011 8:30:18 AM PDT
“No need to worry about DND blasting, the landing of LGL personnel and subsequent standing around at the jetty caused a mass stampede with about 50 animals taking to the water including the pup.”
Subject Update
Date: September 28, 2011 9:26:18 AM PDT
“Just so you know, the larger blasts are still coming back to back. I don’t know if LGL communicated the need for increased intervals, but regardless there is no change. The sea lions continued to be disturbed and take to the water with the rapid succession blasts.”
Subject: update
Date: September 28, 2011 4:57:03 PM PDT
“The pup has been back since at least 14:30. I have not seen its mother and it is sporting a fresh 2″ cut on its shoulder. Otherwise looks to be ok, it has been sitting upright trying to stay awake and nodding off as babies will.”
Subject: Re: New development
Date: September 29, 2011 7:04:02 AM PDT
“The pup is still here this morning, the mother is not with it.”
Subject: DND report
Date: September 29, 2011 9:21:24 AM PDT
“As per the log at 9:21 this morning:
Two absolutely massive explosions that shook the house occurred only 10 seconds apart. The glass panes in the windows rattled against their metallic frames. At least 70 sea lions stampeded into the water, completely clearing out entire haul out areas. About 20 sea lions stampeded through the area where the Steller pup was resting.”
As a result of this account of events, I sent an e-mail to BC Parks and DND administration stating the following:
From: Garry Fletcher
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 10:20 AM
Subject: Fwd: New development
I was very concerned to receive the following reports and images from Ryan Murphy our Guardian at Race Rocks. I think it warrants a followup considering the concerns we have for marine mammals being disturbed by human activities, especially those which are SARA listed.
Surely they have enough data by now to show that the window for doing this blasting program might perhaps be reconsidered. We would appreciate hearing of any followup .
FOLLOWUP: So far ( November, 2011) there has been none. The juvenile and mother were not seen again, research by LGL (LGL who are referred to are the DND contracted research group who is at the island again this year to make observations on the effects of detonations at Bentinck Island.) The disturbance to animals by DND blasting continued unabated over the next few days. Their previous reports up to 2010 are included here. The report for this year will be added here when it is available.
Tidal Current Energy Experiment Comes to an End.
September 17, 2011: Clean Current Staff and diving contractors return to Race Rocks to remove the generator for the last time. The generator returns to Vancouver for a final analysis of structural details after exposure in the ocean over the last three years . After cleaning, it is to be sent to the Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa, since it was the first ocean tidal generator to be built and deployed in Canada.
“In conclusion: The Tidal Current Generator operation over the past six years has been an interesting experiment and a good demonstration of the potential power from tidal energy. The added value to the availability of energy for Race Rocks was however very disappointing.
The main value to the Race Rocks program has been in the infrastructure that has been developed and installed and the potential for further research. The provision now of most of the energy needs by solar power was only made possible by the large bank of storage batteries provided by the project, the island energy building electrical infrastructure and the partnership with the BC Ministry of Mines and energy which were instrumental in providing the initial solar panels. Installation of further solar panels and upgrades by Lester Pearson College UWC has helped to ensure energy sustainability for Race Rocks.
–Garry Fletcher
Divers prepare for turbine removal
Divers attached buoys to the 4 anchor blocks this morning as the tidal turbine removal gears up. There were 8 visitors to the island today.
Sea lion census
Every day an hour before high tide we have to take seawater samples for a long term database for DFO on Salinity and Temperature. It is unfortunate they have to be disturbed, but since they return directly afterward, the impact is minimal. The California sea lions stick to the docks as long as possible and reluctantly leave eventually . After the bucket has been filled, it is returned to the tank room for the analysis.
California Sea Lion: 172
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DFO and BC Parks visitors
Human Interaction
DFO Fisheries Officer Cam Blacklock and BC Parks Ranger Jenn Plotnikoff visited the island today.
There were 2 visitors to the island today.
Heavy traffic in the reserve
California Sea Lion: 14
Human Interaction
At ~1935hrs PDT a vessel was spotted fishing within the limits of the RCA in close proximity to the E. side of Rosedale Reef. The vessel eventually made its way out.
At 1245hrs PDT a vessel was spotted speeding into the Reserve from the E side. The station vessel was already on the water and advised the mariners to slow down.
At least 4 OBMG vessels were spotted this afternoon approaching close to mammals on Middle Rock and on Great Race and proceeding at a speed in excess of 7 knots.
Ocean Magic II produced a very large wake this afternoon while transiting the Middle-North Race channel against the current. This is the largest eco-tour vessel seen so far within the reserve
At 1945hrs PDT a CCG or CCGA rescue RHIB transited the South Passage E to W, then the main passage W to E. Once near the jetty end of the passage, the vessel throttled up and proceeded to power through the Middle-North Race Passage at high speed before exiting into Race Passage heading westbound.
At 2010hrs PDT a floatplane flew exceptionally low over the N side of the Reserve, E to W. No license/company name obtained.
Overall, yesterday and today were very traffic-heavy days due to whales in the area. At times 8 or more boats were in the Reserve at any single time.
Two techs arrived from Environment Canada to finish servicing the EC weather equipment at the top of the tower.
There were 2 visitors to the island today.
Vessels:
| Pleasure: 7 | Eco-Tour: 30 | Total: 37 |
maintenance work
At 1111hrs PDT a Prince of Whales vessel was spotted entering the Reserve at high speed in close proximity to West Race.
A CCG helicopter did a reconnaissance flight around the tower this morning.
Erik and Evgeny arrived to install the cable for the new underwater camera. Two techs from Environment Canada arrived to work on their weather equipment.
There were 4 visitors to the island today
California Sea Lion: 8