We are happy to be back on Race Rocks surrounded by the animals again. A big thanks to Nick for leaving things in excellent shape!
Weather:
- Visibility: 10+ NM (Victoria Clear)
- Wind: 10-15 knots NW
- Water calm
- Sky overcast
Visitors/Boats:
- No visitors to the island since we arrived on Wednesday
- One whale watching vessel yesterday with three people on board
- Three jet skis passed through on Thursday evening
Ecological:
- There are 10 elephant seals resting outside of the house this morning
- One is the last remaining pup, as pointed out by Nick
- The map of Goose nests that Nick left for us remains accurate, but there are many new eggs.
- The seagulls are beginning to arrive and fight over nesting spots. We have observed them beginning to pull up tufts of grass and lay them down for nesting.
- Yesterday evening we noticed an entangled sea lion from the jetty. It appears to have a plastic packing strap wrapped around its neck, similar to the one that we saw last year.
- There are two mature eagles that have been periodically swooping over the reserve, causing quite a stir.
- There are at least two pairs of oyster catchers preparing to nest. Yesterday we saw the pair which nested near the guest house last year defending the same rocky area.
