Animal Census First Sea Otter at Race Rocks

Sea Otter in race ROcks Kelp Beds, photo by Adam Bird

Sea Otter in Race Rocks Kelp Beds, photo by Adam Bird on June 10/2012

Things have been fairly quite lately regarding birds and mammals here, though one of the eco-tour boats reported seeing a Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) in a kelp bed on Monday! The percussive blasts from Rocky Point military testing range scared off most of the Sea Lions last Thursday and only a few have returned in the last couple days. A large pod of orca passed through and near the reserve on Tuesday. Thanks to Suna, Doris and Ishmael for the census.

Elephant Seals: about 10
Steller Sea Lions: 2
California Sea Lions: 2
Harbour Seals: 204
Glaucous-winged Gull: 246
Surfbirds: 18
Pigeon Guillemots: 108
Canada Goose: 13
Bald Eagle: 3
Black Oystercatcher: 12
Northwestern Crow: 1
Raven: 1
Sparrow: 4
Sea Otter: 1
Caspian Terns: 6
Herring Gulls: 20

Explosions Don’t Belong Here

I am rather annoyed to put it mildly. The military base at Rocky Point, an ordinance training facility is responsible today for about 10 of the loudest explosions I have heard since being here. The windows shook, and I could feel the percussion in my chest. As a result all the sea lions appear to have left the reserve, and half the juvenile elephant seals made for the water. The military has a huge piece of land so why do they have to practice on the beach of the incredibly beautiful Bentinck Island directly across from the reserve? If they need to practice why can’t they do it inland where the noise and pollution can be contained? Who are they accountable to? Besides the disruption it causes to animal life, it also means there are no animals for the tour operators to share with their clients. In other words we all lose.

Busy whale-watching season

The weather has settled after a couple of blustery days and the sun is shining. Erik and I are refuelling the station which involves transporting about 6,000 litters of diesel fuel from Pedder Bay Marina to the island. We should be completed this afternoon. Hopefully this will last about one year, but that depends on conserving energy/electricity wherever possible.

Seven Pearson students spent last weekend here and we may get another group this coming weekend, however that depends on getting a new part for our desalinator. Without water it is challenging to host our guests, and I may have to ration our dwindling supply for a few weeks until the new part arrives. I counted just under 20 whale-watching vessels in the preserve last week, averaging 2 a day with 4 or 5 on the weekends. I will monitor the numbers more closely as tourist season arrives. DND continues to explode ordinance on Bentinck Island, much to the annoyance of every living thing in the reserve. The percussive shock waves rattle the windows and seem very incongruous with the spirit and intention of this place. I can’t quite understand why they won’t perform their exercises in an inland location where the noise and pollution can be better contained. I believe they are violating federal guidelines and hope they will take measures to ameliorate the effects of their mandate.

 Dunlin

Hundreds of pigeon guillemots are banding the seashore around Great Race and they add a colourful and busy presence to the island. Three scruffy young female elephant seals are busy moulting their pelage. Little scraps of old skin and fur are littering the island, adding to the biological detritus that makes up the bulk of the soil layer along with guano, shell and decayed plant material. A few California Sea Lions are in the area along with the Stellar and Northerns.

 Stellar Sea Lion

 We have a new camera now with a good telephoto lens so I hope to edu-tain you with beautiful pictures of magnificent animals…. stay tuned!

Animal Visitors

Yesterday two Whimbrels were seen on the south shore of Great Race and this morning a posse of California Sea Lions was swimming about South Rocks barking in their distinctive manner. Garry alerted me to another weaner elephant seal pup on West Rocks. Today we have 5 e-girls here at the station: Bertha, Squall, Divot (she has raw sores/holes in her skin but seems otherwise healthy), Goat (this one crawled up to the weather station in  the middle of the island), and 5086 (Fifty/Fiddy) whom I believe we first saw in December. I had thought Squall had left as I didn’t see her for a few days but turns out she had crawled up into the boathouse to get some peace and quiet!

Plenty of recreational fisherfolk are fringing the reserve. I suppose it makes a cunning sort of sense to hunt near the place where most of the fish are, but there is a self-serving element to that way of thinking that is reflective of why we need to have parks, reserves and preserves in the first place! Personally I prefer finding my dinner on the shore within the intertidal zone where I can be sure of what I am catching and can ensure there are plenty left to restock the locale. Unfortunately for me I won’t be eating creatures from the reserve though!

Today 6 kayakers lingered for quite a while at Middle Rocks; the Sea Lions didn’t like it and went in the water. We think of kayaks as benign but i have found that most animals prefer to know when the humans are coming and kayaks allow us to sneak up on them, ironically causing more panic than a motorized vessel. Yesterday I observed a huge submarine pass within 2 miles of the island. I reckon it was a Trident nuclear sub as it was escorted by the American Coast Guard. I can’t imagine the Sea Lions liked that either!

Marine Traffic and Blasting

Marine traffic in the reserve has increased over the last 2 weeks with vessels in the reserve almost on a daily basis now.  For the most part they respect the DFO’s requested speed limit of less than 7 knots within 400 meters of the rocks.  It appears that the requested marine mammal viewing distance of at least 100 meters generally does not hold much weight, though it is sometimes challenging to judge distances.   There aren’t very many sea lions yet so less incentive to get very close.  While there is a juvenile elephant seal learning to swim in the reserve we are being extra cautious about boat traffic.

Personal Watercrafts in the reserve

Saturday, March 24: 4 vessels including 1 private, 1 ecotour and 2 personal water crafts (PWCs).  The PWCs came into the reserve around 1600 well in excess of the 7 knot speed limit creating a lot of noise and causing the sea lion on the South islands to exit the rocks for the water.  These vessels generally do not carry radios (or if they do they wouldn’t be able to hear them anyway), their ID is next to impossible to see, and they likely are not aware of DFO guidelines.

Monday, appear to be within 100 meters of elephant seals on middle rock

Sunday, March 25: 3 vessels including 2 eco tour, 1 private.  The ecotour vessel Constance operated by Prince of Whales exited the reserve Sunday afternoon from the South side of the island.  They appeared to accelerate beyond 7 knots within 400 meters of Great Race.  I established radio contact with them on marine VHF channel 79 to let them know and request that they follow the DFO’s guidelines.  The vessel operator believed he been beyond 400 m, I appreciated their cooperation.

Monday, March 26: 5 ecotour vessels.

Tuesday, March 27: Strong E wind and swell, no vessels.  DND raised their red flags to signal blasting.  I went off island to take the station whaler in for maintenance and repairs so did not record any blasts.

Thursday, again, appear to be within 100 meters of elephant seals on middle rock

Wednesday, March 28: 3 ecotour vessels including one I haven’t seen before, the King Salmon operated by Great Pacific Adventures.  This was the loudest and most polluting diesel vessel i have seen in the reserve, I could smell it on Great Race and it left a haze behind it.  DND blasts recorded at 1004 (heavy), 1009 (medium), 1018 (light).

Thursday, March 29: 2 ecotour vessels.

Friday, March 30: 3 ecotour vessels including one called the Jin Jang I haven’t seen before.

Loaded, Blasted, Tilted, Misery

Yesterday morning Erik came out on Second Nature with Julien,
Garry, and Jake.  He took off a pretty full load of wood scraps from a reno of the crane deck, garbage,  4 monitors, propane tanks, old composting toilet, etc.  DND blasting occurred at 11:11, 11:14, 11:35 (twice), and 11:36.   This morning around 4 am I heard a male elephant seal, presumably Misery, who has been back on the island all day.  I worked with Jake on installing the first solar PV tilt kit on the roof of the engine room.  The kit is apparently rated to withstand 125 mph winds.  It should provide greater solar exposure and accumulate less gull excrement thereby requiring less desalinated water to clean.

Visit to island- eco-reserve warden update

Julien and I went out to the island to go over the various mechanical and recording systems on the island with Alex for the purpose of possibly  developing  an improved electronic data-logging system.
Many large blasts were noted throughout the morning  from the DND ordinance disposal pit on Rocky Point. Gulls on South west corner were dispersed on one of the blasts.
Material to be sent back for recycling was loaded by winch on the boat and Erik and Jake brought us back to the college. They picked us up in the afternoon bringing back the station whaler having undergone repairs over the last few weeks. Erik drove Julien and I in a rather rough return ride in the rigid hull inflatable which has been the substitute boat at the island.
Jake stayed out with Alex to work on the refitting of angle brackets on the solar panels on the roof of the energy building over the next few days. These are intended to increase efficiency by giving more of an angled tilt to the south.
Camera 1 panorama picture was redone to give better ability to click on the panorama image for control of camera.
I noted that a dozen or more of the introduced (non-migratory) strain of Canada geese still persist on the island. Their grazing in the area of the first nations burial cairns remains to be a problem as soil erosion is obvious. I have suggested that we might put up several netted enclosures to document the impact of their grazing.
5 dead immature glaucous -winged gulls were noted on various parts of the island, A full count is pending. This is probably from normal; fall mortality of new birds. On top of the south rocks today, 100 cormorants, probably double  crested lined the ridge.

Garry Fletcher- ecological reserve warden

Partial List of DND Activity 2002 to 2011

This was taken from the Race Rocks Log database recorded before the new logging system was started, so it is a partial record and is here in raw data only.

remove first (number, ex (2,
INSERT INTO `dnd` (`id`, `day`, `time`, `action`, `notes`, `puser`, `ptime`) VALUES
‘2002-10-24′, ’23:36:00’, ”, ‘Blasting today — Islands cleared of sealions by noon. Mike Demaerchi and his team ( 4) were observing throughout the day from the tower. ‘, ‘Garry’, ’23:37:11′),
(2, ‘2002-10-07′, ’23:40:27’, ”, ‘DND blasting   two  blasts at 1:00 PM  5 minutes apart.  25% of middle island population vacated on second blast. ‘, ‘Garry’, ’23:41:58′),
(3, ‘2002-11-08′, ’15:57:27’, ”, ‘Mike Demarchi was displeased to find that we had moved a tripod from the lighthouse, especially as he thought that we wern”t allowed up there. He also didn”t want us to film his departure. We wait for his reaction to the interview tapes.’, ‘Rosie, Jeremias and Ahmad’, ’16:08:33′),
(4, ‘2003-01-10′, ’01:08:55’, ”, ‘There were 2 blasts,about 1 minute apart, at 13:40. As usual the first blast alerted the hauled out sealions and the second cleared the rocks except for the elephant seal and the sealion on southeast rocks and one California sealion hauled out by the east’, ‘Mike’, ’01:13:08′),
(5, ‘2003-01-23′, ’00:10:30’, ”, ‘There were blasting exercises in Whirl Bay but since they were under water did not expect much disturbance of the wildlife and did not observe any.’, ‘Mike’, ’00:12:20′),
(6, ‘2003-02-05′, ’00:43:13’, ”, ‘The blasting had the usual effect on the wildlife, the birds take flight and on the first blast at 10:05 the Sealions were alerted. The second blast about one minute later sent at least 50% of the approx. 120 Northern Sealions hauled out on the smaller of’, ‘Mike’, ’02:10:15′),
(7, ‘2003-02-20′, ’16:57:08’, ”, ‘Blasting started about 10:15 The first blast alerted the hauled out Sealions,the second blast cleared the rocks. As usual the birds took flight with each blast, flew around for a minute or so then set back down.At nightfall there were 4 Sealions hauled ou’, ‘Mike’, ’17:03:57′),
(8, ‘2003-02-22′, ’11:31:44’, ”, ‘The first blast this morning cleared the rocks, animals still nervous from the blasting yesterday. The Sealions did not attempt to haul out again until late afternoon.’, ‘Mike’, ’11:33:40′),
(9, ‘2003-04-14′, ’01:34:18’, ”, ‘At about 8:25 p.m. there was a fairly loud blast on Bentinck Island followed by 2 lesser blasts, too dark to see how the Mammals reacted but the birds all took flight.Still hear the California Sea Lions barking sometime close by, sounds like they are swim’, ‘mike’, ’01:41:58′),
(10, ‘2003-01-05′, ’00:12:44’, ”, ‘DND blasting at Race Rocks. \r\nAt 11:45 when first of three blasts went off , all the cormorants, about 50 left the West side of Great Race  and flew away. Also all the Pigeon Guillemots  (80) feeding in front of docks took off . \r\n\r\nSecond blast  scared t’, ‘Garry’, ’00:16:21′),
(11, ‘2003-06-03′, ’17:59:24’, ”, ‘Numerous navy ships passed by.’, ‘LBPC Student’, ’18:00:18′),
(12, ‘2003-10-09′, ’18:32:27’, ”, ‘5 Blasts’, ‘Carol + Mike’, ’18:29:50′),
(13, ‘2003-10-10′, ’14:24:20’, ”, ‘1 loud blast at 11:15 from Bentinck Island\r\n’, ‘Irena’, ’14:27:39′),
(14, ‘2003-10-11′, ’11:47:00’, ”, ‘Two blasts at Bentinck, after second almost all sea lions slipped to the ocean’, ‘Irena’, ’10:27:06′),
(15, ‘2003-10-11′, ’12:15:00’, ”, ‘2 more blasts from the Bentinck’, ‘Irena’, ’11:39:50′),
(16, ‘2003-10-01′, ’10:30:05’, ”, ‘One blast at Bentinck 10:30, second one followed 10:35’, ‘Irena’, ’10:09:43′),
(17, ‘2003-10-01′, ’11:17:00’, ”, ‘1 blast at the Bentinck island’, ‘Irena’, ’10:52:44′),
(18, ‘2003-10-02′, ’10:25:00’, ”, ‘1 blast at 10:25, second followed shortly afterwards’, ‘Irena’, ’10:08:45′),
(19, ‘2003-10-29′, ’10:25:00’, ”, ‘I blast at 10:25 at Bentinck followed by a second one shortly after. ‘, ‘Irena’, ’07:19:26′),
(20, ‘2003-10-29′, ’11:15:00’, ”, ‘2 blasts at Bentinck’, ‘Irena’, ’07:23:53′),
(21, ‘2003-10-31′, ’08:45:00’, ”, ‘3 blasts, 2 at 8:45 one shortly after the other, third blast at 8:57’, ‘Irena’, ’08:51:13′),
(22, ‘2003-11-01′, ’18:21:18’, ”, ‘blasting’, ‘Carol + Mike’, ’18:17:58′),
(23, ‘2003-10-31′, ’18:22:12’, ”, ‘blasting’, ‘Carol + Mike’, ’18:18:42′),
(24, ‘2003-11-07′, ’18:25:00’, ”, ‘Blasting’, ‘Carol + Mike’, ’08:50:19′),
(25, ‘2003-11-20′, ’18:21:45’, ”, ‘Blasting’, ‘Carol + Mike’, ’18:22:15′),
(26, ‘2003-11-21′, ’18:21:10’, ”, ‘day of blasting’, ‘Carol + Mike’, ’18:21:34′),
(27, ‘2004-03-11′, ’18:17:09’, ”, ‘Blasting’, ‘c’, ’18:17:36′),
(28, ‘2004-05-11′, ’18:41:52’, ”, ‘Blasting 09:05 to 14:30’, ‘Carol or Mike’, ’18:46:10′),
(29, ‘2004-05-13′, ’18:51:47’, ”, ‘Blasting 09:55 to 14:50’, ‘Carol or Mike’, ’18:53:18′),
(30, ‘2004-05-12′, ’18:53:40’, ”, ‘Blasting 09:15 to 13:00’, ‘Carol or Mike’, ’18:54:27′),
(31, ‘2004-05-10′, ’18:55:08’, ”, ‘blasting 09:15 to ??:??’, ‘Carol or Mike’, ’18:56:03′),
(32, ‘2004-06-25′, ’18:47:22’, ”, ‘blasting’, ‘Carol or Mike’, ’18:49:11′),
(34, ‘2008-07-28′, ’11:06:53’, ”, ‘DND detonations from Bentick isl.\r\nvery loud maybe due to atmospheric conditions.\r\nscared a lot pf the wildlife’, ‘chris’, ’08:26:06′),
(35, ‘2008-07-28′, ’11:33:00’, ”, ‘DND detonation Bentick isl’, ‘chris’, ’08:26:47′),
(36, ‘2008-07-28′, ’11:38:37’, ”, ‘DND detonation Bentick isl’, ‘chris’, ’08:27:19′),
(37, ‘2008-10-22′, ’17:23:13’, ”, ‘DND blasting occurred throughout the day. Between 5 and 6 explosions were heard.’, ‘lbpc’, ’17:24:00′),
(38, ‘2008-10-23′, ’11:11:22’, ”, ‘DND blasting took place through the morning, with three successive blasts taking place at 0923, 0928 and 0933. Successive blasts also took place at 1103, 1108 and 1114. Animal life on the island was very disturbed. The sea lions on middle and north rock took off into the water, and the gulls on great rock were very disturbed’, ‘lbpc’, ’19:10:58′),
(39, ‘2008-11-15′, ’15:26:24’, ”, ‘none’, ‘laurie’, ’15:26:30′),
(40, ‘2009-01-19′, ’15:00:06’, ”, ‘Blasting activity today, first since I arrived in December.  Louder than I remembered!’, ‘ryan’, ’15:01:58′),
(41, ‘2009-04-03′, ’11:21:19’, ”, ‘blasting at 11:15’, ‘Ryan’, ’11:21:27′),
(42, ‘2009-04-17′, ’10:06:22’, ”, ‘Blasting on Bentinck Island today and yesterday.  Some conducted on the southern shore facing the reserve, second one today so loud that ALL seabirds took to the air.  Now less than 1/4 as many Pigeon guillemots on the North side of Great Race as before blasting.’, ‘Ryan’, ’10:08:41′),
(43, ‘2009-06-24′, ’09:50:55’, ”, ‘2 blasts 10 seconds apart.’, ‘Adam’, ’09:51:09′),
(44, ‘2009-06-24′, ’12:01:47’, ”, ‘2 successive blasts’, ‘Adam’, ’12:02:06′),
(46, ‘2009-11-09′, ’13:23:55’, ”, ‘Six blasts were heard between 13:00-14:30.  The first caught the sea lions attention with most heads shooting up, second only several stirred, and very little to no reaction to the latter blasts.’, ‘Ryan’, ’14:17:17′),
(47, ‘2009-11-10′, ’11:06:54’, ”, ‘More blasting that sound similar to those yesterday.  They are occurring more frequently than yesterday, some less than 2 minutes apart.  These frequent blasts are most likely to rouse and then agitate resting sea lions, making them much more prone to disturbance from other sources like boat traffic.’, ‘Ryan’, ’11:31:44′),
(48, ‘2010-01-06′, ’14:30:04’, ”, ‘There has been a lot of air traffic around the reserve this week, that had by and large kept above 1000\\” or has skirted the reserve boundaries.  Today at 14:25 a Sea King helicopter approached from the SE at around 100\\” and buzzed Great Race Island before heading towards Esquimalt.  This disturbance sent 90% of the birds in the reserve to the air, and all three species of marine mammals present reacted with Steller sea lions, harbour seals, and a female elephant seal taking to the water.  This disturbance was reported to DFO on the 1-800-465-4336 hotline.’, ‘Ryan’, ’14:33:25′),
(49, ‘2010-01-28′, ’16:01:17’, ”, ‘Helicopter 437 made two low passes through the reserve, including a very noisy pass directly over the mainkeeper\\”s residence.  This activity created a marine mammal disturbance and  scattered the several bald eagles in the reserve.  This activity was reported to DFO.’, ‘Ryan’, ’17:13:19′),
(50, ‘2010-03-25′, ’10:24:14’, ”, ‘One large blast on the near-side of Bentinck Island.  I certainly don\\\\\\”t envy the DND personnel in the zodiac in Race Passage!  ~90% of all birds in the reserve took flight, with most gulls landing back on the island in short order.  The pigeon guillemots left their perches and regrouped on the water.’, ‘Ryan’, ’10:24:17′),
(51, ‘2010-03-25′, ’10:31:20’, ”, ‘Smaller blast in same location on Bentinck Island.  The Pigeon guillemots on the water scattered, but the gulls stayed put on the island.’, ‘Ryan’, ’10:25:02′),
(52, ‘2010-03-25′, ’12:21:09’, ”, ‘Third blast in same location, intermediate size.  Gulls unaffected, pigeon guillemots scattered again.’, ‘Ryan’, ’12:15:46′),
(53, ‘2010-03-25′, ’12:27:33’, ”, ‘Fourth blast’, ‘Ryan’, ’12:20:43′),
(54, ‘2010-04-15′, ’10:42:06’, ”, ‘Very loud blast at 10:42, all pigeon guillemots and many gulls took flight.’, ‘Ryan’, ’10:35:43′),
(55, ‘2010-04-15′, ’10:47:21’, ”, ‘Another blast from Bentinck Island, over 100 pigeon guillemots were seen taking to the water on the N side of the island alone.’, ‘Ryan’, ’10:44:56′),
(56, ‘2010-04-15′, ’12:10:50’, ”, ‘Two more blasts by 12:10 for a total of 4 so far today.  Most cormorants and pigeon guillemots have left the island.  The last blast was unusual in that there were two explosions in quick succession.’, ‘Ryan’, ’12:04:52′),
(57, ‘2010-04-25′, ’06:45:26’, ”, ‘There isn\\”t a much more audible separation of church and state than military blasting beginning 6:45 on a Sunday morning.  The second blast came at 6:52.’, ‘Ryan’, ’06:52:50′),
(58, ‘2010-04-25′, ’07:13:41’, ”, ‘Two more blasts at 7:13 and 7:18.’, ‘Ryan’, ’07:26:21′),
(59, ‘2010-04-26′, ’11:05:20’, ”, ‘A medium-sized blast on the near side of Bentinck Island had its customary effect on the seabirds beginning to nest on Great Race Island and the surrounding rocks.  The gulls did show any response, while nearly 100% of the Pigeon guillemots in the North part of the reserve took flight.’, ‘Ryan’, ’10:59:50′),
(60, ‘2010-04-26′, ’11:10:01’, ”, ‘Same location, smaller blast.  Similar effect on seabirds.’, ‘Ryan’, ’11:03:22′),
(61, ‘2010-04-26′, ’15:20:59’, ”, ‘Blasting continued throughout the day.’, ‘Ryan’, ’15:13:19′),
(62, ‘2010-04-27′, ’11:33:13’, ”, ‘DND has been blasting all morning, the last two have been some of the largest explosions all year.  Gulls and even geese take flight in response to these blasts and the last few Steller sea lions have dwindled in number as they take to the water after the biggest blasts.’, ‘Ryan’, ’11:34:22′),
(63, ‘2010-04-28′, ’10:02:05’, ”, ‘Blasting began at 10:02 with a large demolition, followed by just one other before the flags were taken down on Bentinck Island.’, ‘Ryan’, ’10:10:44′),
(64, ‘2010-04-29′, ’09:27:08’, ”, ‘Blasting began before 9:30, with a very large blast at 9:33 that caused gulls to take flight.  With the incessant blasting, the Pigeon guillemots are now very scarce on the island with only a few individuals on the S side of Great Race.  There are small groups in the water on the SE side of the island; total in the reserve is less than 25% of the population 4 days ago.’, ‘Ryan’, ’09:29:31′),
(65, ‘2010-05-13′, ’16:26:05’, ”, ‘Low fly-overs through the reserve occurred in the morning and afternoon today.  A cargo plane well below 1000 feet buzzed Great Race Island going West causing a huge disturbance to both nesting shorebirds and marine mammals.  In the evening, a helicopter with \\”433\\” stamped on the tail flew N over sea lions hauled out on SE Rock.  These disturbances were reported to the DFO Marine Mammal Disturbance hotline.’, ‘Ryan’, ’16:30:25′),
(66, ‘2010-06-23′, ’13:40:21’, ”, ‘DND has been blasting today. The first blast was heard at 1052hrs, followed by a second blast at 1059hrs. At 1222hrs another blast was heard, followed by another at 1227hrs. In all cases, most of the birds took to the air. Guillemots were especially frightened.’, ‘adam’, ’13:42:21′),
(67, ‘2010-11-01′, ’11:30:00’, ”, ‘At least 5 blasts between 11:30 and 14:30’, ‘VirginieLP’, ’20:40:24′),
(68, ‘2010-11-02′, ’20:32:55’, ”, ‘Blasting between 10:00 and 15:00. Disturbed sea lions (photo documented by Raisa). ‘, ‘VirginieLP’, ’20:34:01′),
(69, ‘2010-11-03′, ’20:00:00’, ”, ‘loud explosions at:\r\n10:05\r\n10:08\r\n10:15\r\n11:31\r\n11:35\r\n11:40\r\n14:00\r\n14:01\r\n14:03’, ‘VirginieLP’, ’08:21:16′),
(70, ‘2010-11-04′, ’19:20:54’, ”, ‘blasts heard at:\r\n9:50\r\n10:00\r\n11:30\r\n11:33\r\n’, ‘VirginieLP’, ’19:21:21′),
(71, ‘2010-11-29′, ’00:00:00’, ”, ‘blasting throughout the day, check LGL monitoring report for details’, ‘AlexF’, ’09:46:12′),
(72, ‘2010-11-30′, ’00:00:00’, ”, ‘blasting throughout the day, LGL monitoring report for details’, ‘AlexF’, ’09:45:38′),
(74, ‘2010-12-08′, ’15:00:00’, ”, ‘Warship south west of the rocks gunning blanks.’, ‘AlexF’, ’09:26:49′),
(75, ‘2011-01-19′, ’09:00:27’, ”, ‘First blast at 9:05’, ‘Ryan’, ’08:59:33′),
(76, ‘2011-01-20′, ’11:40:11’, ”, ‘Blasting began at 10:00 today.’, ‘Raisa’, ’11:39:12′),
(77, ‘2011-01-28′, ’14:30:57’, ”, ‘Military exercises south of Esquimalt made for an unusually loud hour here this afternoon.  With low winds and flat seas the sound carried very far (one helicopter was just a spec above the horizon).’, ‘Ryan’, ’15:02:39′),
(78, ‘2011-02-03′, ’08:28:07’, ”, ‘Blasts at 11:20, 13:45, 13:47 and 14:30’, ‘VirginieLP’, ’08:29:04′),
(79, ‘2011-03-02′, ’16:10:22’, ”, ‘Canadian Forces helicopter flew low through the reserve twice today.’, ‘Ryan’, ’16:10:43′),
(80, ‘2011-03-08′, ’13:45:29’, ”, ‘Blasting by CFAD Rocky Point has been continuous today with the exception of a lunch break at noon.  It is very disappointing that the 5-minute interval designed to minimized DND\\”s impact on the ecological reserve has not been observed.  Most blasts come in clusters with ~2-minute intervals.  The blasting occurring around the time of this report ~13:54 had ~1-minute intervals.’, ‘Ryan’, ’13:47:33′),
(81, ‘2011-03-23′, ’09:16:27’, ”, ‘Blasting from Rocky Point has been heard all morning.  Small blasts have been heard in rapid succession with 3 or more explosions within 60 seconds.’, ‘Ryan’, ’09:17:26′),
(82, ‘2011-03-24′, ’09:06:01’, ”, ‘Blasting continued into a third day.  The rapid-fire blasts from Rocky Point come as frequent as 3 in 20 seconds.  No marine mammals are present north of Great Race.’, ‘Ryan’, ’09:07:09′),
(83, ‘2011-03-24′, ’10:42:35’, ”, ‘Blasting frequency has increased with the last 3 blasts over a span of 14 seconds.’, ‘Ryan’, ’10:43:05′),
(84, ‘2011-03-30′, ’11:00:59’, ”, ‘The third low altitude flight came at 11:07 today.  The plane flew W to E through the N end of the reserve at an altitude ~300 feet.’, ‘Ryan’, ’11:05:18′),
(85, ‘2011-09-22′, ’15:22:32’, ”, ‘Small blasts were heard from Rocky Point throughout the day.  The barely audible explosions did not cause any stampedes that I saw.’, ‘Ryan’, ’08:23:27′),
(86, ‘2011-09-26′, ’12:03:39’, ”, ‘Blasting on Bentinck Island began today for the season.  Blasts can be heard over the howling wind.  The rough landing for the monitoring scientists had more of an impact on the sea lions than the blasting so far.  With 30 knot easterlies, I don\\”t envy them their return home.’, ‘Ryan’, ’12:04:41′),
(87, ‘2011-09-26′, ’13:55:03’, ”, ‘It is always puzzling why DND blasting does not space its blasts to the 5 minute intervals which have been proven to reduce impact on the marine mammals at Race Rocks. The two largest blasts of the day (and season so far) occurred within seconds of each other today at 13:55.  The first blast had almost no impact, the second disturbed the 50+ California sea lions on the N side of Great Race, many of those then took to the water.’, ‘Ryan’, ’13:57:33′),
(88, ‘2011-09-27′, ’13:26:08’, ”, ‘Blasting today is following yesterday\\”s pattern with many, frequent blasts.  The two largest of the day just occurred within seconds of one another and sent sea lions into the water from the N and E side of Great Race.’, ‘Ryan’, ’13:27:13′),
(89, ‘2011-09-27′, ’14:47:21’, ”, ‘Large paired blasts again at 14:05 and 14:46.  The intensity is now such that sea lions are taking to the water during the first blast and then large groups follow with the second blast.’, ‘Ryan’, ’14:48:42′),
(90, ‘2011-09-28′, ’07:43:14’, ”, ‘LGL personnel caused a stampede of ~50 sea lions on the N side of Great Race on landing.  Similar result as their landing the previous two days.  Today however, they caused a nursing Steller sea lion pup to be chased into the water.’, ‘Ryan’, ’09:24:08′),
(91, ‘2011-09-28′, ’09:24:11’, ”, ‘Blasting continues today without intervals between the larger blasts that had been requested.  No attempt has been made to reduce their impact on the species of Special Concern Eumetopias jubatus at Race Rocks.’, ‘Ryan’, ’09:25:28′),
(92, ‘2011-09-28′, ’10:18:29’, ”, ‘Only 25 seconds between the largest blasts of the season.  The strong shock wave from the explosions rattles the windows here and this latest volley knocked over items on the shelf in my bathroom.’, ‘Ryan’, ’10:19:11′),
(93, ‘2011-09-28′, ’11:09:13’, ”, ‘The blasts are now so powerful and the sea lions already so agitated that the single massive explosion is enough to drive sea lions from the land.  This volley had 3 explosions in the span of 28 seconds.’, ‘Ryan’, ’11:10:07′),
(94, ‘2011-09-28′, ’13:19:12’, ”, ‘Large blasts 20 seconds apart.  The majority of the sea lions hauled out on the jetty took to the water, approximately 50 animals visible just from the front window.’, ‘Ryan’, ’13:20:01′),
(95, ‘2011-09-29′, ’09:21:37’, ”, ‘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.’, ‘Ryan’, ’09:23:28′),
(96, ‘2011-09-29′, ’11:50:07’, ”, ‘The hourly volleys of large double blasts only seconds apart continues.  I have recorded audio of the second blasts for reference.’, ‘Ryan’, ’11:51:03′),
(97, ‘2011-09-29′, ’11:53:32’, ”, ‘A large single explosion just blasted; far fewer sea lions took to the water (~10 on the N side of Great Race).’, ‘Ryan’, ’11:54:42′),
(98, ‘2011-10-05′, ’10:21:10’, ”, ‘A single blast sent 40 Steller sea lions stampeding off the North end of Great Race.’, ‘Ryan’, ’10:21:30′),
(99, ‘2011-10-05′, ’10:53:33’, ”, ‘Another single blast sent Northern and California sea lions stampeding into the waters.  An eco-tour vessel was present and smartly backed away from the island.  It is very unfortunate that military activities have a negative impact on both conservation of our natural resources and our local economy.’, ‘Ryan’, ’10:54:48′);

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.

Race Rocks (XwaYeN) Proposed Marine Protected Area Ecosystem Overview and Assessment Report

Correct citation for this publication: Backe, N., S. Davies, K. Conley, G. Kosmider, G. Rasmussen, H. Ibey and K. Ladell.2011. Race rocks (XwaYeN) proposed marine protected area ecosystem overview and assessment report. Can. Manuscr. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2949: ii + 30
Executive Summary
Background
Race Rocks (XwaYeN), located 17 km southwest of Victoria in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, consists of nine islets, including the large main island, Great Race. Named for its strong tidal currents and rocky reefs, the waters surrounding Race Rocks (XwaYeN) are a showcase for Pacific marine life. This marine life is the result of oceanographic conditions supplying the Race Rocks (XwaYeN) area with a generous stream of nutrients and high levels of dissolved oxygen. These factors contribute to the creation of an ecosystem of high biodiversity and biological productivity.In 1980, the province of British Columbia, under the authority of the provincial Ecological Reserves Act , established the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. This provided protection of the terrestrial natural and cultural heritage values (nine islets) and of the ocean seabed (to the 20 fathoms/36.6 meter contour line). Ocean dumping, dredging and the extraction of non-renewable resources are not permitted within the boundaries of the Ecological Reserve. However, the Ecological Reserve cannot provide for the conservation and protection of the water column or for the living resources inhabiting the coastal waters surrounding Race Rocks (Xwa YeN) as these resources are under the jurisdiction of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). The federal government, through the authority of theOceans Act (1997), has established an Oceans Strategy, based on the principles of sustainable development, integrated management and the precautionary approach. Part II of the Oceans Act also provides authority for the development of tools nece ssary to carry out the Oceans Strategy, tools such as the establishment of Marine Protecte d Areas (MPA). This federal authority will complement the previously established protection to the area as an Ecological Reserve, by affording protection and conservation measures to the living marine resources. Under Section 35 of the Oceans Act, the Governor in Council is authorized to designate, by regulation, Marine Protected Areas (MPA) for any of the following reasons:

  • (a) the conservation and protection of commercial and non-commercial fishery resources, including marine mammals and their habitats;
  • (b) the conservation and protection of endangered or threatened species and their habitats;
  • (c) the conservation and protection of unique habitats;
  • (d) the conservation and protection of marine areas of high biodiversity or biological productivity; and
  • (e) the conservation and protection of any other marine resource or habitat as is necessary to fulfill the mandate of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

In 1998, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans announced Race Rocks (XwaYeN) as one of four pilot Marine Protected Area (MPA) initiatives on Canada’s Pacific Coast. Race Rocks (XwaYeN) meets the criteria set out in paragraphs 35(1) (a), (b) and (d) above. Establishing a MPA within the Race Rocks (XwaYeN) area will provide for a more comprehensive level of conservation and protection for the ecosystem than can be achieved by an Ecological Reserve on its own. Designating a MPA within the area encompassing the Ecological Reserve will facilitate the integration of conservation, protection and management initiatives under the respective authorities of the two governments.

physical and biological systems of Race Rocks (XwaYeN) was completed by Wright and Pringle (2001). The 2001 report provides an extensive ecological overview describing the geological, physical oceanographic and biological components of
Race Rocks (XwaYeN) and the surrounding waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca at the time. Natural history observations and some traditional knowledge were also included. The following report is a brief update to summarize new information that has been collected in the Race Rocks (XwaYeN) area since that time and describe any changes
to trends in species distributions and oceanographic conditions. This work is meant to supplement the existing ecological overview (Wright and Pringle 2001).

See the full 32 page PDF  Ecosystem overview2011