Wind: 15-20 SE in the morning, 5-10 N in the evening (quite unusual)
Sky: partly cloudy
Water: Ripply
Boats/Visitors/Sightings
Kyle again brought several technicians from PTTP to do further work on the energy systems. They were able to connect the system to the internet which now allows them to remotely monitor solar input and usage. I also helped them lift the new batteries off the floor and place them on to an insulated rack.
Noticed an ecotour boat from the United States going around the reserve, and I’ve never seen this boat before. Maybe it was a 4th of July special?
Birds
Most seagull eggs have hatched, but some still remain whole. The seagulls are extremely aggressive now, and hard hats are a must for any visitors at this point.
A couple of juvenile bald eagles are making the rounds on the island – I initially mistook them for golden eagles, but Kyle explained they were simply juveniles.
Marine mammals
Kyle and I went to grab some photos of Ollie the sea otter that lives in a kelp patch near turbine rock.
We also spotted a humpack’s blow but by the time we got close it was gone.
The calm weather attracted several ecotour boats as well as many private boats
I witnessed several boating violations:
2 marina boats were getting really close to the sea lions. I had to call the marina and report the boats.
A private small boat tried to enter the ramp area near the jetty. I went up to the jetty and asked them to reverse out of that area.
A whale watching boat almost entered the lighthouse island and the south islands, but stopped short when I went outside and made myself visible.
Technical
Over the last 48 hours, for some reason, the batteries were draining faster than usual and even running the generator for 2+ hours daily wasn’t enough. This morning the batteries came to a critical low of 18%. I got in touch with Guy over IM and we troubleshooted the cause to be excess power consumption from the student house. After closing a few switches and unplugging some machines, I ran the generator for 4 hours and was able to bring the batteries back up to 100%. The bright sun all day today definitely also helped juice the batteries up faster.
Ecological
Noticed several more seagull eggs today. None hatched so far
Sky: Partly Cloudy to dense fog in the late afternoon
Water: Calm
Boats/Visitors
a few ecotours went by today
Guy, came by with a few guys to start moving out the old batteries so the new batteries will hopefully be lifted off the concrete soon and we won’t have to run the generator as much
Ecological
Still a dozen elephants, one young male among all the females
