Human Interaction
At 0829hrs PDT a floatplane flew under 1000 ft from E to W over Rosedale Reef.
A pod of orcas passed through Race Passage (W to E) this afternoon. At one point, at least 15 whale watching vessels were in pursuit. Subsequently, heavy eco-tour traffic was experienced in the Reserve this afternoon. Most vessels respected established guidelines, but there were a few notable exceptions:
1. Birds of a Feather approached within 100 metres of California sea lions hauled out near the jetty. The sealions did not upset as there was already activity on the jetty.
2. A vessel from Seaquest based out of Sidney was observed speeding into the east side of the Reserve, well within the limits of the 7 knot speed restriction, then later observed speeding out in the same direction.
3. Several other vessel were observed speeding within the boundaries of the Reserve, either to obtain a better vantage point for viewing whales or to shorten travel time to the whales once the whales had moved well past Race Rocks.
Luke came out to RR to dive this afternoon with Adam to help take measurements of the materials testing platform and for pleasure. Erik and Hao also arrived as did a contact from \”The Big Blue Technologies\” of Victoria and his two young kids.

There were 6 visitors to the island today.