Category Archives: weather notes

Jan 20-21

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Sir Wilfred Laurier alongside Rosedale Reef buoy, Port Angeles and Olympic mountains in background

Jan 20: Wind North around 15 knots, partly clear sky.  The Coast Guard vessel Sir Wilfred Laurier came by to do a buoy tender on the Rosedale reef marker.  1 pleasure craft and 1 ecotour.  I called the eco tour company to let them know they were too close to mammals and that there had been some disturbance.

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It looked like they took the buoy out and replaced it, I think the old buoy is on the deck of the Laurier, a zodiac with a few people stayed behind to finish work on the new one.

Jan 21: Wind N around 15 knots, periods of rain.  Younger male elephant seal has been on the main island most days lately. Towards dusk I heard the vocalizations of a elephant seal pup and mother again on West rock.  I think this is probably a second birth for this season. There have been 4 regular female elephant seals on the small island and there hasn’t been a sign of the other pup since the first week..  Worked on fire wood cutting and storage, cleaned sensors on YSI salinity instrument that had been giving faulty reading.

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Pam Birley took this picture from Camera 1 of the second pup born in 2015

 

Jan 15-19

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Jan 15: cloudy, N wind 10-15. DND blasting on Bentinck Island

Jan 16: wind light, clear sky. DND blasting on Bentinck Island. female elephant seal came into the boat ramp area but didn’t haul out for very long. Did some fire wood cutting. Went off island to pick up guest in the late afternoon.

Jan 17: cloudy with periods of rain, wind North 10-20 knots becoming West overnight. 1 dive boat, 2 eco tour.  Built a firewood cutting jig.

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dive boat getting tossed around in waves, Jan 17

Jan 18: wind 30-40 knots West overnight, gusting over 50 knots. The wind decreased in the afternoon. The younger male elephant seal came onto the main island in the afternoon. I was able to get a closer look at him, he has many small scars and marks on his back likely from Chunk bitting him. Sealion with orange data transmitter on its back off East side of island.

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California sealion with data transmitter with marking “5” visible

Jan 19: Partly clear, some rain.  Wind west, some gusts throughout day, light in the evening.  Went off island in the morning and returned in the afternoon.  Chunk and the younger male were both on the main island when I got back.

Census (Jan 17):

California Sea lions: 10

Northern Sea Lions: 2

Harbour Seals: 28

Elephant Seals: 3

Cormorants: 88

Canada Geese: 25

Gulls: 50

Bald Eagle: 1

Harlequin Ducks: 2

Black Turnstone: 5

Black Oyster Catcher: 32

 

 

Orcas, Jan 11-13

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On the morning of Jan 11 a pod of at around 20 orcas passed by in the morning on both sides of the reserve heading NE.  Mid morning they returned passing by on the East side of the reserve.  The whales were spread out and some were breaching as well as lying on their back slapping the surface of the water with their tails.

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the sealions on the south islands seemed apprehensive as the orcas swam nearby

 

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beyond south island, Rosedale Reef buoy and bulk carrier in background

 

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off the south islands

 

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on its back tail slapping the water

 

 

 

Persistent NE wind 10 -20 knots with mostly overcast sky for the past days.

Jan 11: 1 private vessel, 1 dive boat, 2 ecotour

Jan 12: one sea otter seen circling the island and a female elephant seal came on the main island briefly.  There have been very few female elephant seals on the main island so far this winter.

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Jan 13: 2 ecotour

Jan 14: 3 ecotour

I haven’t seen or heard the elephant seal pup in several days, dont know if it still alive. Have been working on wood cutting and did some more work on the composting toilet install, levelling the chamber so it drains, plumbing the chute and fastening the seat.

Jan 8-10, census

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Wind has been fairly steadily N-NE 10-15 knots for past days with overcast sky and intermittent light rain.

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The “Orca Spirit”, large and loud.

Jan 9: 2 ecotour vessels including the very large Orca Spirit which passed through the reserve twice, I dont usually see this vessel this time of year here.  It is quite a loud boat when it puts its engine(s) in gear.

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Jan 9,leg-banded cormorant, red KJ8

Census, Jan 9: 
Continue reading →

Jan 5-7

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Jan 5: Cloudy, rain, 10 knots E.  Had a lot of rain water in a short time, there was a lot of standing water.  Some water leaked under the doors into the engine building, down the roof vent in the battery room and the drain on the roof got plugged up.  I worked on the roof drainage and mopped up in the engine building.  Finalized month end report. Foghorn was going off throughout the night.  One sports fishing/recreation vessel.

Chunk was on the island in the morning but left mid day.

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Jan 6, in the centre a ring necked sealion is visible, hauled out on South Islands.

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Jan 2-4

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Jan 2: Cloudy, light rain. 1 recreational rental going too fast inside the reserve. I contacted Pedder Bay Marina and they talked to the boat renters.  I went off island in afternoon to get supplies.

Jan 3: Cloudy, light rain, wind 10-15 knots NE. 3 recreational boats, 4 eco tour boats. 1 dive boat that got quite close to sea lions on the rocks.  I spoke with the dive boat operator who was apologetic and understanding.  Chopped wood. Did a calibration check of the “YSI” digital sea temperature and salinity meter as requested by DFO. Sent off Dec seawater data to DFO.

checking calibration of YSI unit against analog hydrometer and thermometer

checking calibration of YSI unit against analog hydrometer and thermometer

Jan 4: Cloudy, rain throughout the day. Wind 10-15 knots NE. Chunk had been back on the main island but departed this morning.  One sports fishing boat.

new year, census

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Dec 31: Clear sky, freezing temperature. Wind N 9 knots. 1 recreational and 3 ecotour vessels in the reserve.  Worked on month end report, chopped wood.

Jan 1: Clear sky, 3 ecotour vessels.  Contacted one company about a boat of theirs in the reserve that was traveling too fast and got too close to sea lions.   Worked on writing month end report, cutting fire wood.

Census: Continue reading →

good weather, 1 speeding boat

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Another beautiful day of clear sky and light wind.  The barometer hit a high of over 1040 hPa today.

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sunrise, mpountain peaks in the US

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rosedale reef buoy, olympic mountains in background

 

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birds feeding in the straight, olympics in background

Vessels observed in the reserve today: 1 ecotour, 1 dive boat, 1 pleasure craft (rental from Pedder Bay Marina).  The rental boat was traveling over the designated speed limit of 7 knots within 400 meters of the rocks.  I photographed the vessel with 4 people onboard, got the hull numbers and reported it to Pedder Bay Marina who said they would speak with the operators-who were likely unaware of the regulations.

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Chopped wood and did some more cleanup of debris in the jetty area.

 

dec 25- 29

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A few days to catch up on…

Dec 25th: good weather,  went off island early and got to spend the day with family. On the way back there was a very cooperative juvenile bald eagle on top of the crane and I was able to photograph it from the jetty.  In the vertical photo the eagle’s nictitating membrane is half way across it’s eye.

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I got back to a nice sun set and a very calm sea.

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Dec 26th: NE 10-15 knot wind. 1 sports fishing boat, 1 eco-tour vessel.  Went off island in afternoon to bring guests out for the night.  Had a wet ride and in the evening a lot of driftwood got blown in to the jetty.

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rainbow in the morning, to the East.

Dec 27th: Calm in the morning but picked up to 30-25 knots West around noon.  Rain throughout the day, often sideways. Went off island in the morning to bring back guests, wet ride again.  2 eco tour vessels. Cleaned up boat ramp/jetty and cut wood.

Dec 28th: Wind N 10 knots, partly sunny.  Went off island in the morning to pick up Garry and Val for the annual bird count (see previous post). Notably, Val and Garry discovered a (regionally) rare Boreal Owl during their count.  Earlier in the morning 3 juvenile bald eagles wrestled over a small fish and displayed some impressive acrobatics. In the evening the internet and phone connection went offline.

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Dec 29th: Clear sky, 20 -25 knots N wind in the morning that picked up to 35-40 knots before noon. Strong winds persisted most of the day dropping to around 25 knots in the afternoon. Winds picked up again in the evening gusting to 35 knots.  I went up the tower in the morning to check on the internet/phone disconnection.  Was able to reboot and get it working again.  I had a good view of the elephant seals on the W rock today, there are two males, Chunk and a younger male as well as one fairly large looking female, possibly Bertha.  Temperature is going down, will be keeping an eye on water lines  More driftwood accumulating with the NE wind. Cleared boat ramp and cut fire wood.

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