Category Archives: Facility work

Nature Continues On

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Ecological Notes:

  • 1 Male Elephant Seal, and 1 young Female elephant Seal on the island.
  • When they meet on the boat ramp, one of two things normally happen. If the female is above, she holds her ground and makes the male go around. But if the male comes from above, the female will rush down to the water to get out of the way. She barely goes above the 2 lowest buildings (the tank room and the boathouse), even though she was more comfortable up in the grass area when she was here before.

Picture angle is deceiving, the female is much smaller than the male. I would guess 350 Kilos compared to maybe 1600 kilos.

  • After the heatwave that did unfortunately cost some chicks lives, it’s nice to be reminded that life goes on. Fresh eggs hatching, and “families” out going about their business.

Newly hatching

Family stretching their legs

 

Visitors:

  • Waterfront Coordinator delivered groceries, fresh water for the tank, and a new fire pump yesterday.

Facility Work:

  • Fire pump allowed filling the salt water cistern so we could start up the desalinator. It appear to run well and produce nice clean water, but one of the gauges was running very high. We decided to wait and have it checked by the contractor Monday, as we couldn’t solve it over the phone.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Eco Tourism boats and private boat touring the reserve. No fishing in the reserve like was prevalent last weekend.

Weather Events:

  • Fog off and on most of the day, leaving light haze in the evening. Westerly winds all day near to 15 knots, calm seas.

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Sunny Days

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Ecological Notes:

  • 1 Male Elephant Seal, spent most of this hot sunny day in the water around the boat ramp. I conferred with the Waterfront Coordinator, and this is not one of the two males who was here this winter, but has been out here before.

Taking it cool

Visitors:

  • The Waterfront Coordinator came out today, to deliver 2 loads of fresh water, and helped work on the water system.

Facility Work:

  • Drained, cleaned and rinsed the freshwater tank. then refilled with fresh water brought over by boat.
  • Cleaning and prepping the wooden stairs at the student house for new preservative.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Several commercial and private vessels in the reserve today, sightseeing, and diving.

 Noted Infractions:

  • 2 private vessels went through the main channel at high speed.

Weather Events:

  • Westerly winds overnight shifted to primarily southerly winds at about 10 knots for the day. Calm seas and warm sunny skies.Winds returned to westerly in the evening.

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Elephant Seal

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Ecological Notes:

  • A large Male Elephant Seal came to the Island today, laid by the path in the sun for a while, and then went and settled in in the shade of the student house. I gave him plenty of room!

Soaking up some sun

 

Visitors:

  • Yesterday. the Waterfront Coordinator delivered diesel fuel and repair parts.

Facility Work:

  • In preparation for the servicing of the desalinator , the large saltwater cistern was drained. As there has never been any chemicals or grey water added to the cistern, it was drained back to the ocean. Long firehose material was used to ensure no bird nests would be affected.

DND events:

  • Many inshore detonations over the last few days.

Weather Events:

  • Sunny with a few cloudy spots throughout the day, giving way to heavy fog in the evening. Westerly winds 20 – 30 knots. Slight chop all day.

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Nice View

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The Elwa Valley, from Race Rocks

Ecological Notes:

  • 2 Elephant Seals still on the island
  • Every time I think there can’t be more Gull nests, there is!

They’re everywhere!

Visitors:

  • Yesterday the Waterfront Coordinator delivered some fresh groceries, parts, and tools I had ordered.

Facility Work:

  • 2 of the things my father taught me – “If something in a system has failed, you’d better check the rest” and “Do you want it done now?, or do you want it done right?” ….. what looked like a couple leaks, turned into a full strip down!
  • Completed the install and venting of the NaturesHead Composting Toilet. Although temporary, it might as well work properly.
  • Interesting note: when worked and turned properly, there is no smell! The vent and fan is just to increase airflow for the compost to work better.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Several EcoTourism boats visited the reserve today, all showing proper viewing and speed protocols.

Weather Events:

  • Daily winds of 5 -13 knots ran the full circle of the compass today, but the weather stayed stable with high overcast. Very light rain briefly late in the evening. Calm seas throughout.

** All nature photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Gulls not deterred

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Ecological Notes:

  • 2 Elephant Seals, 1 Female, 1 Juvenile Male
  • No Oyster Catcher or Gull hatchlings noted yet
  • Heard lots of extended ruckus over by the helipad last night, found the feathery remains of a gull there this morning.

Facility Work:

  • Firewood cutting
  • Redid mount for Camera 5, cleaned and fixed mount, new screws
  • Repairs to the gas powered pressure washer

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 1 EcoTourism vessel
  • 1 coastguard type Zodiac, appeared to be sightseeing
  • Both followed proper viewing procedures and speeds
  • 1 private vessel did not

 Noted Infractions:

  • Small private vessel(set up for fishing), raced through the main passage, close to the pier

 Feature Event:

  •  A couple of days ago, I scrubbed and cleaned the east deck on the house. It’s normally out of the wind, and a nice place to sit for sunrises as well. I mounted a couple plastic Owls there, hoping to discourage the gulls.

  • Interestingly, 3 or 4 Eagles flew by quite close to check the “owls” out.
  • ………….Today, when I went to the deck, there were 2 Gulls, sitting between the owls.

Weather Events:

  • Westerly winds, 5 – 10 knots all day. Calm seas with good visibility, some haze across the strait towards Port Angeles  Sunny skies in the morning, giving way to overcast and clouds late afternoon. Then back to mostly clear skies in the evening.

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

New and Old

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Ecological Notes:

  • 1 Juvenile Male and 1 female Elephant Seal still on the island
  • Fewer Sealions over the last couple stormy days

Visitors:

  • Yesterday, the waterfront coordinator brought over some packages, drinking water, and a tank of water for the large tank. Hopefully this will be the last large tank, as we’re finishing the maintenance on the desalinator and cistern this month!

Facility Work:

  • Learned how to sharpen and service the chainsaw blade properly today (thank you YouTube). Probably not perfect, but it cuts way better now.

New files really helped

  • Although done on a regular basis it was a nice day to clean the solar panels, albeit windy. This picture shows a nice juxtaposition of the new and the old, realizing that the builders of the lighthouse never envisioned what the future would hold …… yet the installation of the panels wouldn’t be needed in the absence of the lighthouse and facilities.

Daylight, converted to power, for the Night Light

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 4 Private vessels

Weather Events:

  • Last night’s wind and rain storm, with gusts up to 45 knots gave way to more westerly winds, rising from 15 knots in the morning to 35 knots by late afternoon. Wind with tide most of the day led to 2 meter swells. Cloudy with sunny patches throughout the day.

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Gull Activity

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Ecological Notes:

  • Only 2 Elephant Seals left. The largest of the Females, and the Juvenile Male, who is slightly large than the female. Glad(?) to see the last male pup move to the ocean, as he was getting very thin, and looked to be loosing energy. Hopefully He’s off to regain weight and start growing again!

Not too hungry yet, we like it here!

  • The Gulls have nests everywhere, and for the most part are pretty mellow, until an eagle or tern flies over. Every now and then they fly up behind me, but drop quietly if I turn and face them.

Gull Display

Visitors:

  • Shorefront coordinator delivered groceries and supplies yesterday.

Facility Work:

  • Oil and filter changes on the Generator. Service of batteries.

Generator, used only for short periods when there hasn’t been enough Solar power to keep the batteries up.

 

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 3 private vessels, short sightseeing visits.

Weather Events:

  • Westerly winds all day, 20 – 30 knots, rising to 35 – 30 knots late afternoon. Light fog in the morning, sunny and clear all day. Heavy haze in the evening, not quite dense enough to be called fog. Swells up to 2 meters, with 1 meter chop on top of that.

 

** All photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Enjoying the sun

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Ecological Notes:

  • 4 Elephant Seals still in the grassy area
  • I’ve been watching an interesting behavior of one of the female Elephant Seals but can only speculate on the reason…. She has spent 3 days in the very thick Pineapple Weed. This plant produces as very sweet smell when crushed. Every time she wakes up, she moves forward, then thrashes about and slams her head into the fresh patch. She breaths deeply for a while, and falls back asleep!

Crushed trails

nestled in for a sleep

Facility Work:

  • After confirming the need last week, and insuring the system was working properly, it was time to do some minor repairs and modifications to the pier electric fence. Sunlight, salt water, waves and animals can be hard on electricals!

Weather Events:

  • Westerly winds of 20-30 knots all day. Large swell and chop until midday when the tide turned to a flood, which smoothed thing out a lot. Sunny with  light haze at water level, but still pretty good visibility.

 

** All photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Gull Nests

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Ecological Notes:

  • 6 Elephant Seals in the main grass area and boat ramp, including a juvenile male (slightly larger than the largest female), and 1 male “pup” from this season. The tagged female”pup” that was in the east bay yesterday, appears to have left the island.
  • The Juvenile male was rather feisty today and bluff charged, even from quite a distance.
  • Glaucous Wing Gull nests are popping up all over! All but 1 that I observed had 1 egg in them, suggesting they were all laid today. Considering there are about 180 Gulls on the island, mostly in clear pairs, there should be a lot of nests soon!
  • This nest is right outside my door, and the birds barely pay attention as I walk by.

Facility Work:

  • “Out with the new, in with the old” …… Wait …….. what?
  • For various reasons, the existing composting toilet system was not performing as expected for the main house. It needed to be removed, and plans are in the works for a new system. In the mean time, a previous Natures Head compact composting toilet has been re-installed in the main house.
  • One advantage of being out here by yourself is that skipping a shower gives you water to clean your favorite viewing windows while you wait for more rain!

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 2 private vessels, viewing wildlife

 Noted Infractions:

  • none

Weather Events:

  • Westerly 5 – 10 knot morning winds, shifting to Southerly 5 knot winds mid day. Continued to shift to Northeasterly winds at 5 – 10 knots in the afternoon. Calm seas, sunny with cloudy periods all day, overcast in the evening, hinting at possible showers.

 

** All photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Oyster Catcher Nest Sites

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Ecological Notes:

  • 7 Elephant seals between the grass and the boat ramp. It appears another female may have left the reserve. Still 2 “pups” here. (included in the 7 total)
  • The pups are definitely using up their baby fat, and showing lots of wrinkles. The male is still molting though.

    When he finishes molting, he can head off to feed.

  • Have now verified 4 Black Oyster Catcher nests (able to view the nest from good vantage points in the distance). Quite confident in at least 2 more from the bird behavior, but no good distant vantage point to confirm, and don’t want to disturb the birds.

Visitors:

  • EagleWing Tours provided  Pearson College Students with 1 hour tour of the reserve and surrounding area (water based only). Total of 34 Students.
  • Between student tours, 2 employees of EagleWing Tours were brought to the main island by the waterfront coordinator for a visit.
  • The Waterfront Coordinator also delivered groceries, drinking water and electric fence supplies

 Facility Work:

  • Repairs and alterations to the electric fence on the main pier. This is important not only for the safety of the facility and the heritage sites, but also for the safety of the Sealions themselves. If they come up the top of the pier and are startled from their sleep (by land, or boats in the water), they run the risk of jumping over the side from a high height, into shallow water. Generally, on a natural rock face, steeper slopes continue into deeper water.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  •  2 Ecotourism vessels, 1 commercial Dive Tour operator. All with proper viewing and usage procedures.

Good behavior in the reserve! (some compression from the distance and my lens, NOT as close to the rock as it may appear!

  • 3 Private vessels, all with good approach and viewing.

 Noted Infractions:

  • The most common error, generally speaking, is that private vessels tend to power up too early on departure from the reserve.

Again, some compression effect from my lens, but this private boat had come up to speed even earlier than this, well within the reserve.

Weather Events:

  • Mostly clear with westerly winds at 15 knots most of the day. Westerly winds increased to 25 – 30 knots in the evening, bringing in some haze and clouds.

 

** All photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?