Category Archives: weather notes

Macrocystis integrifolia: Giant Kelp–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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GF2014-11macroccystis

Macrocystis integrifoia photo by G.Fletcher

 


Macrocystis (Greek=Large bladder), the largest of all seaweeds, is represented by two species along the outer shores of British Columbia.
Macrocystis integrifolia is the most common species, distributed from Alaska to Monterrey, where it normally inhabits the lower intertidal and upper subtidal regions in areas subjected to moderate waves.
Description: This species of kelp forms extensive forests and is one of the largest and most complex algae. Floating at or near the sea surface, extensive masses of beds with rich-brown leaf-like blades 25 to 35 cm long by 5 cm wide.The blade or lamina is wrinkled or grooved in an irregular pattern and each is bouyed up at its origin by a small pneumatocyst. The blade edge is lined with toothlike projections.The terminal blade, located at the apex of the stipe, is split from the base with several new leaf-like branches in various stages of separation.(see photo above) The lamina of this kelp grow throughout the length of the stipe of the algae instead of only at the terminal region near the surface.Thus a dense forest is established which serves as a valuable habitat for many species of fish and invertebrates.

Habitat and Distribution:
Macrocystis integrifolia occurs in the very lowest portion of intertidal and in subtidal waters 7 to 10 m deep. It favors areas exposed to the open sea but somewhat sheltered from the full force of heavy wave action. It does not seem to grow in areas with salinity lower than that of the open coastal waters, so it is not found completely into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The closest beds we know of to Race Rocks are at Sooke.

macrocystis-at-sookeThis video provides a good portrait of Macrocystis in a shallow habitat at Sooke BC

After the first large storms in October, Macrocystis will end up in tangled masses with Nereocystis on the beaches at Race Rocks and on other beaches on Southern Vancouver Island such as Taylor Beach.
Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Chromophyta
Class: Phaeophyceae
Order: Laminariales
Family: Lessoniaceae
Genus: Macrocystis
Species: integrifolia (Bory)
Common Name: Giant Kelp
Other Phaeophytes or Brown Algae at Race Rocks

taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams. Matthieu Bakhoun, PC yr 28

 

Cormorants vs eagle

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ood Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 9.5 ºC »» Min. 7.8 ºC »» Reset 9.4 ºC »» Rain 6.8 mm
MARINE LIFE: Although the forecasted high winds did not materialize most of the hauled out Sealions along the north shore of Gr. Race have taken to the water or moved farther inland to avoid the high swells coming in from the weather system to the east. This afternoon one mature Bald Eagle spent about an hour on the high point of West Race. The 200 or so Cormorants took to the air as the eagle landed but soon settled back down leaving a good distance between them and the great raptor.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 5 Ecotour boats and 3 pleasurecraft through today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:09 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind North East 5 Knots »» Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:25 AM

Change in the weather

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Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.0 ºC »» Min. 7.1 ºC »» Reset 9.3 ºC »» Rain 0.4 mm
MARINE LIFE: Well what a change in the weather, was beginning to think we were going to miss out on the usual October Nor’easter! The breaking surf drove most of the seals and sea lions into the water and the bird population is down considerably.The temperature is really not that much different from yesterday but the wind is so cold. A lot of kelp was broken up in the 5 foot seas and has drifted away.We will soon be getting much of it back- tangled masses of driftwood and kelp on the dock- with the winter winds.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Believe it or not 5 Ecotour boats through today. Must have been quite a ride.Watched Naturally Salty ‘bounce’ through and did not envy them at all.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:22 PM

Fall weather

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TEMPERATURE: Max. 17.0 ºC »» Min. 9.1 ºC »» Reset 15.7 ºC
MARINE LIFE: The sealions seem to enjoy the near fall sunshine as much as we do, many of them with their bellies up, soaking in the warmth.The nesting gulls are all but gone, the odd juvenile returns to search the old nest area for a free meal maybe but finding only a few feathers to peck at soon flies back out to sea.We are not too sad that the ‘bird’ season is pretty much over- spent the day scrubbing and washing down the porches – will take a few roaring northeasters to really clean things up! The sunsets are fantastic (check out camera # 1in the evening) and with the clear skies, the moon light is so bright, have to close the blind to sleep!
HUMAN INTERACTION:There were 7 pleasure craft, 6 kayakers( too close to North Rks.- scared about 20 sealions into the water),13 Ecotour boats,2 dive charter boats and 1 Fish charter boat-SeaStar- which we contacted via VHF to advise that they were approaching too close and disturbing wildlife ( sealions into the water and cormorants took flight)
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:03 PM

Visitors

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Good evening! It was a very quiet day here at Race Rocks. No ecotour boats came in the reserve. Only one dive charter (Ogden Point) came into the reserve for two different dives. There were four visitors from Pearson College… we gave them a tour of the facility and information on the history and geography of Race Rocks. The weather was clear until the late afternoon when there were a few drops of precipitation. Interestingly, there were dark clouds hanging with what looked like heavy rain over Port Angeles while Victoria was sunny with a few clouds. Wind was west 10 – 12 knots. The seas were rippled. Chris, Jane and Morgan were out.

fixed the fog horn

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Wednesday, July 24, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 16.3 C  Min. 10.3 C Reset 12.3 C
MARINE LIFE:Well what a change in the weather, the fog and moderate westerlies is a nice relief from the heat.The Coast Guard came out in the sea truck with someone to fix the fog horn which failed last night – it was strange to be in the fog and no horn sounding! Well the geese spent the afternoon perfecting their landing skills, with the 25+ knt wind getting airborne was the easy part, we will miss them but in a way glad to see them spread their wings and move on to greener pastures.There are 6 harbour seals with pups that haul out each night, some on the boat ramp and others on various rocks on either side of the dock. The past couple of nights we can hear pups calling out for their mothers which are most likely out feeding, it’s a rather mournful sound but in most cases the pups are not left all that long.
HUMAN INTERACTION: The Coast Guard sea truck made 2 trips from Victoria to service the fog horn. There were 3 pleasure craft through the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:43 PM

Good MorningWEATHER: Sky Obscured  Vis 3 – 5 Miles Fog  Wind West 27 Knots Sea 4 Foot Moderate With Low South West Swell

posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:17 AM

Another hot day with the birds panting and the chicks seeking any shade they can find

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Monday, July 22, 2002

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 25.0 C  MIN. 10.9 C  Reset 23.1 C
MARINE LIFE: Another hot day with the birds panting and the chicks seeking any shade they can find be it under an adult or next to a rock. Not only do they get the heat from the sun above, the rocks they sit on heat up and retain that heat long into the night.Again no wind in the evening to cool things down. The geese spent most of the day following the shade around the buildings,also went swiming twice this afternoon. Still not flying but a lot of wing flapping in preparation, will be interesting to see that first try.The California sealion spent most of the day hauled out on the southeast rocks with quick dips in the sea every couple of hours and still hearing at least one elephant seal during the night down by the dock.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 13 ecotour boats and 9 pleasure craft through the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:06 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear  Vis. 15 Miles  Wind South East 3 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:06 AM

fog rolled in this morning

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Saturday, July 20, 2002 Good Evening

TEMPERATURE: Max. 14.1 C  Min. 10.2 C  Reset 12.3 C
MARINE LIFE: The fog rolled in this morning and really didn’t disperse until after 17:00 when the afternoon westerly got the air moving, so mostly only able to hear what was going on around us.There were no eagles today, the birds were fairly quiet. The chatter on the VHF radio alerted us to the Orca passing by again but they were traveling outside the reserve and because of the fog didn’t even see any of the whale watching boats- did hear a few – there were a few times that the fog lifted a bit, counted 5 Ecotour boats and later in the day there were 2 pleasure craft through the reserve.The past few nights the moon has been especially beautiful, because it is so low in the sky this time of year it looks unusually large.It is also very orange, I wonder if the smoke from all the forrest fires has anything to do with the colouring.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:15 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear  Vis 8 Miles Wind West 13 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:20 AM

Have seen 8 seal pups,

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Monday, July 08, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 16.0 C Min. 10.8 C  Reset 12.5 C  Rain 3.9 mm
MARINE LIFE: A cool and breezy start to the day, remnants of a very active weather system that roared in about 12:20 a.m. The rain was very heavy for about 25 mins, almost 4 mm, at least it cleaned the roofs somewhat and the air is much fresher. I watched very carefully for the gulls bringing food to the chicks and it’s not too encouraging- no abundance of silvery fresh fish so far. A few nests are empty of chicks and eggs -I suspect the otter. Have seen 8 seal pups,the females tend to stay fairly close to shore for the first week or so then when not hauled out to sleep and nurse the pups, they spend a lot of time in the kelp beds. The female is still with the dead pup and tonight as it floated in the rising tide she pushed it along with her in the water by the boat dock. Earlier this morning I went down to see and she was hauled out about 1metre from the pup, as I approached closer she moved up to the pup, patted it a couple of times with her front flipper then nuzzled it’s face with her nose.While she was doing this she periodically looked up at me with those big, sad, dark eyes.I’m sure even seals feel loss and grieve, It affects me at any rate. The Orca were through the reserve on their way east.Saw about 7 pass by between Gr. Race and North Rocks. They moved along at a fair pace but saw some breaching and tail slapping. The tour boats were quite spread out and except for the 2 boats that were in the reserve ahead of the whales none followed them through.
HUMAN INTERACTION: there were 17 tour boats and 3 pleasure craft through the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:23 PM

Good MorningWEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis. 15 Miles  Wind West 30 Knots Sea 4 Foot Moderate

posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:13 AM

Several gulls nests have chicks since yesterday

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Wednesday, July 03, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max 14.0 C  Min 9.9 C  Reset 12.0 C  Rain tr
MARINE LIFE: Don’t mind the clouds and cool temperatures but really the constant westerly tends to wear on the nerves, the birds don’t seem to mind it – they just tuck their bills under a wing and nap. Several gulls nests have chicks since yesterday, watched, from the front porch, the first chick hatch from the group of nests closest to the house. It’s a fairly slow process, first a tiny, dark beak breaks through the egg and over a couple of hours the chick pushes it’s way out. The adult is on and off the nest checking the progress and when finally the chick is free of the egg the shell is taken about 3 m away and discarded.In an hour or so the chick is dry with yellowy-brown down-totally unlike the adult.The Oyster Catcher chicks on the other hand look very much like the adults except for bill colour and slightly lighter plumage. The Gulls are usually 2-3 years before they take on all the characteristics of the adults.The dark cloud lurking over this wonderful new life arrives between 1and 2 a.m. creating havoc, devouring some eggs and crushing others, some chicks are crushed and some eaten all the while the adult gulls are in the air screeching piteously diving at the intruder to no avail- the otter is on the hunt again! Haven’t seen the otter for several weeks, not even any signs of it like scat in the usual places- was really hoping it had moved on, maybe to Bentinck Island.Some resident Orcas were in the reserve this afternoon moving quite slowly along the south side of Gr. Race they did a lot of tail slapping,rolling and fishing in the kelp.There was the usual flotilla of whale watcher boats which for the most part abided by the guidelines – however after the Orcas had moved east away from the reserve at about 15:30, 2 ecotour boats went by too fast with respect to the no -wake policy and 3 others were too close to shore just west of the dock where there were feeding Pigeon Guillemots. 1 ecotour operator stopped in the kelp just off the northwest bluffs of Gr Race and pulled kelp into the boat for the passengers.Since this is a protected area such activities are not within the guidelines.
HUMAN INTERACTION: there were 5 pleasure craft through the reserve and 23 ecotour boats.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:07 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy  Vis 15 Miles  Wind West 25 Gust 30 knots  Sea 3 – 4 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:25 AM