Category Archives: PC Students at Race Rocks

March 14 – West Wind and Waves

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Overcast and rain in the morning, sunny in afternoon
Wind: 1-11 knots from the W and N in the morning, 22-46 knots from the W from the late morning onwards
Air Temperature: Low 9.3°C, High 11.3°C
Ocean Temperature: 9.2°C

A gale warning in the afternoon, with winds gusts up to 46 knots, remained in effect for the rest of the day. The gulls had a hard time sitting and claiming their nesting sites when the wind gusts reached 46 knots. Due to the winds, the afternoon was filled with indoor tasks like cleaning, organizing the basement and drinking tea. The winds diminished in the evening.

Hanne Christensen, one of the visiting Pearson students, took some photos around the island yesterday and today. They are included in the gallery below.

March 13 – Finding Nests and Making Water

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Cloudy with sunny breaks
Wind: 2-14 knots, NE in morning SE in afternoon
Air temperature: Low 8.7°C, High 11.3°C
Ocean temperature: 9.0°C

A bazaar of 27 pigeon guillemots spent the morning on the wharf, nearby rocks and occasionally gathering in the water to float through Middle Channel. They appeared to be checking out nesting sites on the rocks between the wharf and helicopter pad. They like nesting in the crevices and under the blasted rocks on the northwest side of Great Race.

The visiting students helped unroll the fire hoses to pump salt water into the cistern, which is underground between the lighthouse and the Ecoguardian’s house. The water from the cistern is pumped through the desalinator. This afternoon, the desalinator ran for eight hours, producing about 700 litres of fresh water.

There were three eco tour boats and two recreational boats in the ecological reserve today.

March 12 – Sunny Census Thursday

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Sunny
Wind: 0-13 knots SW in the morning, NE from mid morning to afternoon and SW in the evening
Air Temperature: Low 9.9°C, High 13.2°C
Ocean Temperature: 9.0°C

Three Pearson students came to Race Rocks this morning. Karen, Sunny and Hanne joined Martin, who has been here since Monday.

The students did some work this afternoon: sweeping all 99 steps of the lighthouse and continuing the process of stowing the chopped wood in all the nooks and crannies of the buildings, to be used next winter to heat the main house.

There was DND blasting happening in the morning and early afternoon on Bentinck Island, less than 1km away from the ecological reserve.

Today’s high temperature of 13.2°C, as measured at the ground weather station, was the highest recorded since 2006, when the weather station was installed. A high of 14°C was recorded by the instruments at the top of the lighthouse.

Three eco tour boats visited the reserve. One boat came very close to a group of sea lions swimming and others hauled out on the South Islands.

The low tide of 1.1m at 13:52, exposed lots of species from the low tide zone into the air. The shore and tidal pools were full of life: mussels, barnacles, limpets and lots of other flora and fauna of the sea. The oystercatchers and shore birds were having a feast.

There were no small birds perching birds seen today. There are usually a few fox, sparrows, savannah sparrows and occasionally juncos and robins zipping around the island.

Here are the results from today’s Megafauna Census:
Elephant Seal: 1
Steller Sea Lion: 54
California Sea Lion: 43
Harbour Seal: 52
Bald Eagle: 9
Great Blue Heron: 1
Crow: 1
Oystercatcher: 4
Double Crested Cormorant: 12
Brandt’s Cormorant: 21
Gull: 247
Canada Goose: 14
Pigeon Guillemot: 9
Harlequin Duck: 13
Surfbird: 3
Black Turnstone: 10
Rock Sandpiper: 2

March 10 – Juncos and a Robin

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Cloudy, with fog in the morning
Wind: 0 – 16 knots from the W then NE in the morning, switching to SE in the afternoon
Air Temperature: High 10°C, Low 7°C
Ocean Temperature: 8.9°C

This morning, the Pearson students here for Project Week helped stack firewood in the cupboards outside of the Engine Building.

Four oregon juncos and a robin were seen flying around the southern part of Great Race.

This afternoon, four students took part in rescue diving scenarios with Chris. Afterwards a few of them went snorkelling around the jetty to check out the sea stars, a sea slug and other species.

Chunk continues to hang out near the Marine Science Centre.

Three ecotour boats came into the ecological reserve to share the sights, sounds and smells of the marine mammals and birds with their customers.

March 9 – Pearson Project Week Visitors

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Fog overnight, sunny begining at 9:00
Wind: 6 – 27 knots W to SW
Air Temperature: High °C, Low °C
Ocean Temperature: 9°C

Five second year Pearson students came to Race Rocks this morning to spend part or all of Project Week. Yam, Sean, Martin, Neel and Bader will be exploring Race Rocks, helping out with tasks, studying and diving. Chunk came back onto the island just in time to welcome the visitors as they toured around the ecological reserve.

Yam helped shrink the firewood pile by the tank house by stacking it underneath the stairs of the Marine Science Centre. It will dry out over the summer and be ready to heat the Ecoguardian’s house next winter.

One eco tour boat visited the reserve today.

Feb 23, marine science class visit

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Sunny, wind East 5 knots.

Courtney brought Laura and 3 marine sciences classes to Race Rocks on Second Nature (3 trips), 36 students in total.  The classes did a lab studying waves, they took measurement and made observations on different sides of the island.

I saw a sea otter again today over by the south islands.  The mother elephant seal continues to stay close to the pup’s body.

DND blasting throughout day.  2 pleasure craft and 1 chartered fishing boat in the reserve. The chartered boat appeared to be getting quite close to harbour seals near North rock.  I called Pedder Bay Marina about one rental boat speeding. I went off island in the afternoon to pick up a guest.

 

Camera 2 Reconnected

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The weather changed many times today. It started out foggy with no wind, then cleared with a light north wind. Then it clouded over and blew a little more from the southeast. By late after noon there was light rain, which continued into the evening while the wind shifted back to the northeast. The barometer remained fairly steady until this evening when it started to fall. The forecast for the weekend is cloudy with showers and a strong wind warning for central Juan de Fuca Strait.

Only one whale watching boat was noted in the Ecological Reserve today and it arrived in front of the jetty at the exact time that Second Nature arrived with students from Pearson. Second nature tied up to the jetty and conducted a working dive installing the underwater camera (Webcam #2). Half the team dealt with mounting and connecting the camera while the rest of the crew ran the cable out and secured it along the way. Everyone was well-briefed top-side and it was probably a thrilling dive with the many sea lions in the water all around the divers. Students Stuart, Alex and Sean were in the water with Chris and Courtney led Joliene, Sarah and Yam. Riikka was dive marshal and had a crew of three who made sure that everything went according to plan. The camera is installed and connected and we should be able to view it again shortly.

I didn’t spend much time on ecological observations today but as I was wheel barrowing gear around in the morning, I looked up and saw a big flock of Turkey Vultures. They seemed to be coming from Rocky Point and heading across the Strait to Washington State. They seemed to be using the light tower as a navigation aid. I counted and the group included 102 birds. Five of them turned around just after Race Rocks, maybe they had forgotten their passports.

Today was a clean-up and re-group day here. I tidied up after the electricians and moved and packaged up the waste and debris from the oil change on the Lister generator. The solar panels were washed, fresh water made and electricity generated. Just before the dive was over I launched the boat and went to pick up Alex.

Marine Science Students Visit Race Rocks

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Coming from Bamfield, I expect large volumes of water when the barometer drops and it starts to blow southeast. It was grey and wet today but the wheelbarrow I left out to collect rainwater only has about 500ml of water in it at the end of the day. The barometer is still sliding so maybe I should be careful what I say. The wind did turn around to westerly for a while as it cleared in the late afternoon and is now flowing out from the northeast with more drizzle approaching real rain. From Environment Canada’s forecast it looks like the trend for this week.

Although there are still plenty of recreational fishers around, only one was noted in the reserve today and they were looking at sea lions. There was only one whale watching boat noted in the reserve.

Laura brought the first of her three marine science classes, from Pearson College to Race Rocks today. Courtney masterfully landed Second Nature at the very unforgiving pier and we had a wonderful field trip with a student:teacher ratio of 4:1. The students were really good at moving with stealth so as to not startle the sea lions. This allowed for good sea lion observations, which were noted in their journals. They saw all four species of Pinnipeds and added to their growing species lists with Black Oystercatchers, Black Turnstones, Glaucous-winged, Heerman’s and Thayer’s Gulls. They spotted new (to me) branded California Sea Lions including three branded in the Channel Islands. All of the students had a bird’s eye view from the top of the light-tower thanks to Courtney and we finished off with warm cinnamon buns at the keeper’s house.

After the visitors left, I caught a glimpse of these two Steller’s Sea Lions entangled in sports fishing gear. Those are salmon flashers hanging out of their mouths, which is not good news, as these cannot be disentangled the way the neck-rings can. The individual with one flasher has been hauling out at this same spot for a few weeks now. The one with two flashers, has not seen before today.

I will be watching out for this animal over the next month.

I will be watching out for this animal over the next month.

 

Today was the first time this animal with two flashes was seen here. It will be easy to distinguish it from the one with only one flasher.

Today was the first time this animal with two flashes was seen here. It will be easy to distinguish it from the one with only one flasher.

Killer Whales and Sport-fishers to the West

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Another glorious day on the rock with good visibility, calm waters and a clear sky. The barometer rose gradually until noon and then dropped slightly. Barely perceptible outflow winds kept the fog out at sea and it looks like a similar forecast for Friday.

There was a lot of activity in the Reserve today with whale watching boats stopping by to see the sea lions en-route, back and forth between Victoria and the two pods of transient (aka Bigg’s) Killer Whales off to the west. The smaller pod had four individuals and passed close to the reserve heading west spending the day between Becher Bay and Beachy Head. A second larger pod was reported from further west near Otter Point by days’ end. A total of 37 tour boats were noted in the reserve and many more passed by at speed outside of the boundaries. They keep constant contact with the whales during the day and pass off to each other, on leaving the area.

A couple of recreational boats spent time in the reserve today, one photographing sea lions for several hours and the other jigging. The conservation area is bounded by the 40 meter contour, and no jigging is allowed. Jigging targets territorial fish such as rockfish and lingcod although you can catch coho that way too. The Conservation Area is enforced by DFO and is there to protect long-lived, territorial fish like rockfish and lingcod, so that their offspring can disperse to other areas with the currents. A Marine Protected area like Race Rocks becomes a source of recruitment of young fish to nearby areas that don’t have protection and this ultimately makes the fishing more sustainable.

It was census day today.
Biggs’ Killer Whales 4
Steller’s Sea Lions 243 (7 brands noted)
California Sea Lions 334 (7 completed brands noted, 1 incomplete)
Total sea lions both species = 577
Harbour Seals 142
Elephant Seal 1 (pup)
Savannah Sparrows 8 (seemed to fly off to the south across the Strait after visiting)
Double-crested Cormorants 11
Pelagic Cormorants 4
Black Turnstones 7
Sandpipers 5
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Glaucous-winged Gulls 99 (4 chicks still begging)
Heerman’s Gulls 5
California Gull 1
Black Oystercatchers 7
The Pigeon Guillemots were not spotted today so I assume that the chicks finally fledged and have headed off to sea. I will miss them. It is fun to watch them ride the currents and carry crazy-looking fish to their young.

There were no visitors today, although both Second Nature and Hyaku made multiple trips within a stone’s throw of the jetty, as part of student orientation week.

Baleen at sunset

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Fog in the morning that burned off around 1030h. Winds reached 35 knots mid-afternoon. Light winds forecasted for tomorrow morning and increasing in the afternoon. Barometric pressure still dropping.

2 whale watching boats

1 recreational fishing boat

Last of the gull chicks are learning to fly. Another elephant seal arrived on the boat ramp today, bringing the number to four. Spotted a baleen whale off the SW side of the reserve at 2030h this evening as the sun set.

Courtney came out in Second Nature with a tour group this morning of alumni and then made another trip to do maintenance on the desalinator (which is now in working order). Cistern was very low so Anne and I ran the pump for most of the day. Continued with Anne’s training.