Ecological Notes:
- The Male Elephant Seal has been spending most of his time in the water near the pier. Its a great way to balance the warmth of the sun and the cooling of the water.
In and out of the shallows all day
- Definitely a Cetacean day in and around the reserve! Over 8 Humpback whales between Race and Victoria, and then 15 Biggs (Transient) Orca approached from the east. 10 or so entered the reserve and conducted at least 3 separate successful hunts!
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- Biggs (aka Transient) Orca
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- Biggs (aka Transient) Orca
- Most Gulls seem to be dealing well with the heat, but did find a couple chicks, and 2 goslings that didn’t make it through the day unfortunately.
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- Normal thermo-regulating behaviour … fast, deep breaths
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- Chicks do this too
Visitors:
- 2 Pearson College Instructors were visiting with family.
Noted Vessel Traffic:
- Several Ecotourism vessels, all waiting as/per the guidelines until there were no whales present in the reserve before entering
- 2 Paddle boarders, in the main channel, then in the rocks to the north.
- Several Private vessels passing through, and sightseeing
Noted Infractions:
- Paddle boarders at first were doing well, maybe a bit close to the elephant seal at the pier, but they were just out of the current, getting a little break (spoke with them, they misjudged the current levels). But when the Orca entered the reserve, the paddlers went directly to them, getting very close, even during the hunts. They made every effort to follow the Orca even well out of the reserve
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- Had paddled up to Orca
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- One either side of several orca
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- Paddling towards
- C-Tow Vessel blasted through center channel, was intercepted by an ecotourism vessel, and told to slow down before I could get the camera out.
- 3 private vessels entering and exiting the reserve at full speed.
Full speed almost right to the pier ….. eventually slowed as we were waving to them
- 5 different private fishing vessels fishing in the reserve today. 2 of which were “educated” directly by ecotourism operators.
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- Right by turbine rock (photos submitted)
- I attempted to contact others by radio, planning to suggest they brush up on the rules in a Rockfish Conservation Area. In each case, they did not respond, but quickly raised lines and left …. suggesting they knew where they were.
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- Gaffing a fish
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- Right after they heard me hailing them on the VHF
Weather Events:
- Very hot and clear all day. Mostly southerly winds of 5 knots during the day, switching to westerly winds of 15 – 20 knots in the evening.
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Weather – Current:
http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72
Weather – Past: