Category Archives: Fishing

Kayaker in trouble

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Rescue day:
Early this morning I was very surprised to find a person yelling at my door for help.  The man was very upset and his broken English difficult to understand, but I eventually figured out that his friend was in trouble.

The pair were fishing in the protected marine reserve when the push peddles on the friends kayak broke. I spotted the kayaker on the south west side of the Main Island, and it was quickly being pushed out on a big ebb tide to the west. The kayaker was trying to paddle against the five knot tide. Witnessing very little progress, I learned the fishermen were not carrying a VHF radio and carried unworkable mobile phones (which often don’t work on the south side without a US plan or roaming).  I immediately took action to launch the Race Rocks boat but the low tide and risky boat ramp conditions would not allow the boat to launch. There was simply not enough water to float the Race Rocks boat to help the kayaker.

Immediately, I contacted the Coast Guard (my cell phone *16) and they tasked out a RIB and lifeboat from Victoria. Myself and the Coast Guard were in constant communication about the troubled kayaker. While in communication, the kayaker managed to find a back eddy and travel to land on the south beach of the Main Island. After a discussion with the kayakers, they decided they were too exhausted from paddling to safely travel back to the mainland, even if they waited for the a slower tide. I confirmed their request with the Coast Guard who continued with the rescue.

One of my responsibilities as eco-guardian is to inform the public about the eco-reserve as a marine protected area. This means there is no fishing, crabbing or prawning permitted. Clearly, the kayaks were both outfitted with all the gear to crab, fish and prawn including a big capture net. I informed the kayakers the Coast Guard may have some questions as to why they were illegally fishing in the protected marine park. To record the incident, I quickly went to the main house to grab my camera.  By the time I returned to the kayakers, the man with the working kayak was paddling frantically back to the mainland shore. Soon he was caught in the ebb tide and heading out to sea. The fear of getting in trouble with the Coast Guard was enough for him to abandon his fishing buddy.

The Coast Guard arrived within 17 minutes from the first call. They picked up the broken kayak and the exhausted kayaker. By now, the second kayaker was on the north west side of the main island in the ebb and quickly heading out to sea. The Coast Guard pulled him and the boat after a 45-minute paddle against the very strong ebb.

As a seasoned marine captain, I have several lessons to share about this incident.  First, don’t head out into the Juan de Fuca straight without being prepared for an emergency. Always carry a VHS radio and/or reliable mobile phone plan.  Second, don’t crab, fish or prawn in a protected marine park. Always check fishing regulations and tide tables. Third, don’t abandon a fishing buddy, no matter the circumstances.  The buddy system saves lives.

Thank you to the Coast Guard for their hard work and commitment.  I am happy to report that both men were returned home safely.

Best wishes,

Captain Rod King

 

 

Halibut fishing on again

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The wind has stopped for a day.Wind NE .50 calm seas ski clear visibility 15nm

small boats fishing Pedder bay Beachy Head and halibut spots.

The island is full of life today. Elephant seals have been busy moving all over the island. Birds are very active today. Gaggles of Canadian geese are arriving to the island. Pigeon Guillemots are looking to nest , lots of eagles today. Spring is in the air at Race Rocks.

Sunny Monday, Census

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Today’s Weather Conditions:

  • Sky clear
  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Wind 20-25 knots W
  • Sea state: calm, rippled
  • Temperature today

Visitors/Marine Traffic:

  • Today Greg delivered water
  • There was one pleasure craft fishing within the reserve this morning.
  • One whale watching boat today. They came very close to the jetty where there was an elephant seal soaking in the water to relieve his molting discomfort. The elephant seals visibly react to the disturbance with vocalization similar to when they are threatened by other male seals.
  • One large private vessel passed through on Saturday evening with roughly 15 people on board

Ecological Observations:

  • The goslings are doing well and have been moving around the island. The parents seem very alert and keep them close. It is quite impressive given how limited fresh water can be.
  • There have been quite a few young (still have grey plumage) seagulls passing through. They don’t integrate with the other seagulls, but rather stay on the more exposed areas of rock.
  • The nesting seagull population seems to have stabilized, and there are roughly 300 seagulls consistently on the island. When Daniel was here he counted around 80 nests, but there seem to be more appearing daily.

Census:

  • 294 Seagulls
  • 12 Adult black oystercatchers
  • 2 Black oystercatcher chicks
  • 117 Harbour seals
  • 1 Juvenile bald eagle
  • 6 Brandt’s cormorants
  • 59 Pigeon guillemots
  • 2 Male elephant seals
  • 1 Young stellar sea lion
  • 16 Adult Canadian geese
  • 4 Canadian goose goslings

 

Hustle and Bustle / Pleasure Craft Violation / Census

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Weather: 

  • Sky overcast, hazy, steady rain this afternoon
  • Visibility 15 miles this morning, < 2 miles this afternoon
  • Wind 0-10 knots NE
  • Water calm

Boats/Visitors: 

    • A whole boat load of visitors this morning! VP of Pearson College Tyrone, Alum in residence Norbert and friends to advise on our solar panel system, a desalinator consultant (in preparation for the new desalinator!), and an insurance appraiser.
    • Fewer whale watching boats this week, but we have been concerned about the frequent use of flash photography and its possible effects on the wildlife.
    • Greg also made another trip to bring us some water this afternoon.
    • Yesterday we watched a pleasure craft approach the sea lions near our jetty and throw some kind of food at them (some of it hit the sea lions). We were able to capture them scaring the animals, who stampeded into the water. They hovered to take photos and unfortunately pose with their open alcohol. Even more unfortunate, the bait that we saw being thrown at the sea lions previously and perhaps this time as well is not suitable for consumption, as many times it has been treated with formaldehyde.

Ecological: 

  • Many sea lions now, and unfortunately a few that are injured. Aside from the two that we have mentioned previously, we have been finding more fishing hooks scattered around and a sea lion appearing to have a nasty wound possibly caused by an embedded fishing hook.
  • This afternoon we also noticed a sea lion with a propeller inflicted gash on his head. He seemed to be dazed or perhaps concussed due to the injury. Normally the sea lions are skittish and make a ruckus if we get too close, but this one didn’t react to our presence and seemed notably lethargic. We were concerned that he might fall victim to the injury, but approximately an hour later he seemed more alert, reacted to our presence, and seemed to be doing okay.
  • We reported the tagged sea lion to the researchers in California and were excited to hear that they have some information about him and his early life. We hope to be able to share more soon! This little guy has already swum almost 1500 km from his birth place, Ana Nuevo CA.
  • Yesterday there was quite a bit of smoke caused by controlled burning taking place on the nearby DND land. They burned 20 hectares of Gary Oak habitat to protect the species (from invading conifers) and and prevent spread of invasive plants.

Census:

  • 350 sea lions
  • 50 harbour seals
  • 1 elephant seal
  • 40 cormorants
  • 60 adult gulls, and some chicks (they are too hard to see from the lighthouse)
  • 4 geese
  • 20 turnstones

 

Plastic Pollution Strikes Again, Injured Sea Lion

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Today we saw another entangled sea lion hauled out near the jetty. It appears to be wrapped in fishing line, which has embedded itself in the sea lions flesh over time causing infection/rotting.

Seeing these injured animals is a reminder that improperly disposing of garbage, fishing (cut/broken lines, lost nets, etc.), and other ecologically detrimental human activities causes the suffering and death of large (and small) marine life.

Even after an entangled animal dies the damage continues. Modern fishing line made of nylon or polyvinylidene fluoride can take hundreds of years to decompose and after that, it continues to have detrimental effects. The majority of plastics used by humans decompose into ‘microplastics’ composed of/leeching out toxic chemicals such as BPA (bisphenol A) which can then magnify up the food chain accumulating in the organs of larger and larger animals, humans included.

BPA and other compounds such as plasticizer (plastic softener) Diethylhexyl phthalate effects humans as well as other animals, long after we pollute our environment. As the polymer chains break down, humans can be easily exposed by eating seafood, drinking contaminated water, and many more avenues of exposure. This may lead to cancer, birth defects, childhood developmental issues and more. 

We’ve notified Marine Mammal Rescue, hopefully they will be able to help this sea lion and the other entangled one.

Whales! (and census)

Gallery

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This gallery contains 4 photos.

Weather:  Visibility: Very clear, 15 miles Wind: 15-25 knots Sky: Mostly clear, some clouds Water: Choppy, white caps Boats/Visitors:  Today a contractor visited to fix our internet/ phone cable in the main residence. At the same time Corey, two BC … Continue reading →

Spring big tides and a 10 days old baby girl visit

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Weather

On Thursday  June 15th : Wind:gale warning for the afternoon to 30/35 knots North East wind . Calm sea early at 5:30 and later in the morning rain and fog visibility drop from 10 miles to 2.The temperature was around 11dgrees with 82% of humidity.On the 16th Friday early the wind was 24knots and again same pattern a gale warning for the afternoon . clear sky 15 miles visibility and 11.9 Air  temperature. The rest of the week we had a calm sea with light winds

Ecological

We have between 6 and 9 elephant seals on the rock mainly younger one with always Chunk the old timer. A very young one surprised me : 5 months at the most. The rock is becoming pretty dirty …poo and flies everywhere . It’s getting yellow and white with the birds even the roofs have changed; not so clean anymore…We have less nesting gulls this year. A few oyster catchers couples like usual at this time and on the same spots. The tides are strong those days.by example:on the 15th low tide at 13:30: 2 feet and high tide at 22:30: 8 feet.Slag are long too

Vessels

I had to phone 2 times this past week to Pedder Bay marina because 2 of their renting boats were very closed and worst fishing ; Asian people each time . So for the fist boat they left as soon as contacted but for the second i had to use horn and shouting to get the same result.Many eco-tourism vessels. Big coast guard boat seen on Friday

Maintenance

The generator has not been used for 10 days…Very efficient solar panels. work like usual in and  around the house

Visitors

Christine arrived on the 19th for a few days on the rock and the same evening we had a nice visit of Kyle and Sabrina with Sabrina’s parents and the little 10 days old baby girl Tyler.

Other

1 Helicopter and 1 plane above

 

 

Navy Submarine!

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 15-20 knots North East
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: 1′ chop
  • Borderline fog in the evening.

Ecological

  • The same ten elephant seals on Great Race today.
  • Through the window I saw a small flock of black songbirds perched in the bushes, but they had flown away before I could take a photo.
  • I went outside to try and find them, but by then they were gone.
  • Perhaps they were red-winged blackbirds? That’s the only predominantly black songbird that has previously been recorded in these parts that would fit what I saw.

Maintenance

  • Finished up and submitted the April report.
  • Hand pumped diesel into the day tank.
  • Goose work.

Boats

  • A few eco-tours came by.
  • One boat was fishing in the reserve, but I have seen it before, and I am pretty sure that it is a First Nations boat.
  • What I can only assume was a US Navy submarine with an escort passed through the strait south of Race Rocks shortly before 18:00.

Sunny Day

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles, Mt. Baker visible in the late afternoon
  • Wind: 0-5 knots North, later up to 10-15 North
  • Sky: clear and sunny
  • Water: rippled

Ecological

  • Still only the weaner on Great Race.
  • Very cute!

Maintenance

  • Cleaned the solar panels.
  • Various daily and bi-daily tasks.

Boats

  • At least 4 eco-tours came by today.
  • One of them was likely too close to the sea lions on the South Islands, as there was a stampede.
  • One boat was definitely fishing within the Rockfish Conservation Area, but I was unable to identify any numbers on the boat, and I suspect they were First Nations, which would make it none of my concern.
  • One sailboat wandered through in the early afternoon.

Last day for the student

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Weather 

On Saturday:West wind 6 knots at 8:00 was light the whole week end,overcast to sunny, visibility over 15 miles,pretty cold days :3degree celsius.sea calm.On Sunday:15 to 25 knots,North East wind,Sea:calm,Visibility over 13 miles,Air temperature:2 degrees celsius and water temperature  around 6.5.Cold week end.

Ecological

For the first time the Elephant Seal pup went closed to the water and spend part of the Saturday at the top of the railway and the 2 other males were around ;the young one very closed and the adult one in the water at the jetty…

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Vessels

We had a boat very closed to the rocks which was evidently.fishing .We saw him coming so he didn’t stay long . He saw the big camera and heard the Air horn! It left quickly towards Esquimalt…The other picture shows a watching boat way too closed!Many recreational fishing boats around east Sooke and on Sunday a RCMP boats spend half an hour doing exercises of navigation closed on south sideDSC_0065 DSC_0824