Windy days and checking in with the elephant seals

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Tuesday May 5th

Ecological Notes

It has been quite windy on the rocks for the past few days!

Even the gulls are feeling it

 

As you may know, elephant seals haul themselves out of the water once a year to shed their fur and outer skin layer. You and I shed some hair and skin a little bit everyday, no big deal, but elephant seals do it more like a snake: they shed it all at once in what is called a catastrophic molt!

The five elephant seals are all at different stages of their molt, lets check in with them!

The youngest (yearling) is going through her first molt, which can be quite challenging the first time.

Send her good wishes, she is going through a lot!

Two of the other young females are yet to be started on their molt. Here’s one of them looking really cute:

Just being the cutest, so photogenic 💕

Her again, so baby 💖 (not actually a baby, but you know what I mean)

The two adult females spend a lot of time dozing in the grass.

One of the adult female is quite advanced in her molt and is looking a little bit like the stuff of nightmares at the moment (no offense).

A very interesting process to watch!

Facility work

  • Battery top-up
  • Generator check
  • Salinity testing
  • Fence check: fixed tear, unfortunately broken spot was right in front of the nest I addled the day before and the geese were not pleased to see me again so soon

DND Event

3 blasts, between 11:20 am and 12:32 am. I scare easily and that definitely does it every time.

Weather Events

⋄ Wind (kts): 28.2
⋄ Sunny clear skies
⋄ Air temp (°C): min 10.5, max 13.5
⋄ Sea state: white caps

 

Wednesday May 6th

Ecological Notes

One of the geese nest I addled previously had a new egg today. I am now public geese enemy number one.

I have not found an oyster catcher nest so far, but I saw one of those little guys harassing a bald eagle! Pretty bold.

Fearless

This gentlemen had to be politely asked to move

Quite a nice sunset tonight! Unfortunately, I was pooped on while taking pictures.

We know who did it

Facility work

  • Fence check
  • Keeper’s kitchen deep clean: floors, house laundry, all kitchen surfaces
  • Salinity testing
  • Addling: 1 egg

Visitors

Today a group of Pearson students with their chaperones Laura (another Laura!) and Bella came to Race Rocks for a field trip. Students took notes on the species they were seeing around the island and observed how different organisms were distributed in the intertidal zone. Laura (not me) was very knowledgeable about Race Rocks and I learned quite a few things!

Weather Events

⋄ Wind (kts): gusting 8-15, Gale warning in effect for the evening
⋄ Overcast in the morning, brief hour of sun in the afternoon, large clouds in the evening
⋄ Air temp (°C): 12.3
⋄ Sea state: white caps

NB: All pictures were taken with a telephoto lens, which makes distant objects appear closer. All animals were photographed at a respectful and reglementary distance.

First time at Race Rocks!

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Hi everyone! My name is Laura, I am taking on the duties of Eco-guardian for the first time, and I am feeling privileged to get to call Race Rocks my home for a few weeks!


Saturday May 2nd

Ecological Notes

Spent the afternoon getting familiar with my new duties and cooing over the 5 elephant seals that are staying on the island at the moment!

I just can’t stop talking to them using a baby voice

 

As for the gulls, they have been constantly mating or fighting, but they also scream.

Initially, I thought that the animals slept at night like I do and would stop yelling when it gets dark, silly me! ;)

Facility work

  • House move-in
  • Salinity testing
  • Generator check
  • Electric fence check

Visitors

Pearson college students and 2 chaperones stayed on the island from Saturday to Sunday. It was nice to spend a few moments around everybody. I am sure that everyone was very pleased with the weather! 🌞

Weather Events

⋄ Wind (kts): 14.4
⋄ Clear skies, sunny
⋄ Air temp (°C): min 8.8, max 12.2
⋄ Sea state: calm

 

Sunday May 3rd

Ecological Notes

I said goodbye to the Pearson students, and Greg dropped off a life saving appliance before leaving: an electric coffee grinder!

I spent a lot of time on my animal census and went to the top of the lighthouse about 3 times that day, morning, evening, and nighttime to see the stars!

Only one pelican on the island that day, but it was a good one!

Fantastic sunset, and a beautiful moon for the second night in a row!

Facility work

  • High solar power day: learned to ran the desalinator while monitoring solar voltage
  • Salinity testing
  • Animal census
  • Electric fence check, spotted 2 Canada geese nests

Weather Events
⋄ Wind (kts): 8.8
⋄ Clear skies, sunny
⋄ Air temp (°C): min 10.1, max 20.8
⋄ Sea state: flat, glass at sunset

 

Monday May the 4th

Ecological Notes

Woke up to a bald eagle!

I identified a couple of Canada geese nests on my walks. One of the hen was incubating a single egg, but the second hen had no less than 6 eggs and a very protective male to help her defend the nest! It was my first time addling so I made a plan of action and decided I was probably scary enough to handle it. The operation went better than I thought, and I returned the addled eggs to their respective nests.

The geese are definitely not the biggest fan of me

Facility work

  • Set up Race Rocks password for the blog
  • Washed solar panels
  • Flag down (Gale warning for the evening)
  • Ran desalinator
  • Salinity testing
  • Addling of the 2 Canada geese nests, addled eggs marked with an “X” and returned to their respective nests. Total addled eggs: 7
  • Split wood

DND Event

2 blasts, scared me just as much as it scared the birds.

Weather Events

⋄ Wind (kts): Gale warning, 4 kts in the morning, slowly increasing to 32 kts in the evening
⋄ Sunny, clear skies
⋄ Air temp (°C): min 10.6, max 16.3
⋄ Sea state: choppy, white caps

NB: All pictures were taken with a telephoto lens, which makes distant objects appear closer. All animals were photographed at a respectful and reglementary distance.

Animal Census May 3

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Mammals:

⋄ Steller sea lion: 7 (morning) / 9 (evening)
⋄ California sea lion: 24 (morning) / 36 (evening)
⋄ Harbor seal: 74 (morning) / 12 (evening)
⋄ Elephant seal: 5

Birds:

⋄ Brown pelican: 1 (very exciting!)
⋄ Barn swallow: 4 (flying by)
⋄ Whimbrel: 3 (evening, very cute)
⋄ Gulls: 62 (morning) / 170 (evening)
⋄ Cormorants: 56 (morning) / 200 (evening)
⋄ Canada goose: 8
⋄ Pigeon guillemot: 50
⋄ Black oyster catcher: 3
⋄ Harlequin duck: 8 (evening)
⋄ Savannah sparrow: 2

Note: the animal census was done at 10 am (morning) and 6 pm (evening) on May 3rd, 2026.

Month End, and Bye for now!

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Thanks for another fun term out here at Race rocks, Will be back in the fall!

Ecological Notes:

  • 2 adult female Elephant Seals
  • The Female that had the pup here this season is particularly vocal and bossy!

(video coming)

  • 2 Elephant Seal pups, 1 might be a small yearling
  • With the warmer weather, all the Elephant Seals enjoy their daily dip in the water.

(video coming)

  • As usual, the Geese are very protective of their nests

  • But the “baby” Elephant seal seems to take great pleasure in harassing the gees at their nests

  • Orca only observed passing the reserve once in the last week (but from other reports, they may have passed by unnoticed or early in the morning)

Visitors:

  • 1 volunteer came out to help Richard with projects

  • 2 sets of students came out for orientation and tasks assignments, they also enjoyed some mini presentations from the Eco-Guardian
  • Richard  came to work on his projects when the students were here

Facility Work:

  • Battery electrolyte levels
  • Fuel Transfers
  • Full general house clean
  • Tidy student house after visitors
  • Ongoing solar panel cleaning, and battery electrolyte top ups

  • Valve replacement and servicing on the salt water pump to fill the cistern
  • Filling the cistern, and then flushing the pump with fresh water
  • Some desalinator runs, successful running on just solar as well 
  • All month end reports and filing

DND events:

  • Some blasts on Friday, no noted disturbance

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • As most Whale sightings were east of Victoria, only a occasional Eco-Tourism vessel visits
  • Some Private boats

 Noted Infractions:

  • none

Weather Events:

  • Sunday, April 26:
    • Sky: Mostly clear overhead, with a few clouds rolling through in the afternoon …. north and south of the reserve had more clouds, and low lying mist/fog to the west and south
    • Wind: W 5-10kts until noon, then rising to 30kts by midnight
    • Sea: rippled most of the day
    • Temperature Low 8.2oC, High 13.3oC
  • Monday, April 27:
    • Sky: Foggy until mid-afternoon, clear and sunny to overcast
    • Wind: W/WSW 16-37 kts
    • Sea:  light chop turning to high waves by evening
    • Temperature Low 12oC, High 20oC
  • Tuesday, April 28:
    • Sky: Foggy until mid-afternoon, clear and sunny to overcast
    • Wind: W/WSW 16-37 kts
    • Sea:  light chop turning to high waves by evening
    • Temperature Low 12oC, High 20oC
  • Wednesday, April 29:
    • Sky: Mostly clear overhead, with a few clouds rolling through in the afternoon 
    • Wind: W variable to 8kts, shifting to S mid day, then rising to W 18kts late afternoon
    • Sea: rippled 
    • Temperature Low 8.3oC, High 14.2oC
  • Thursday, April 30:
    • Sky: Mostly clear overhead, with a few clouds rolling through in the afternoon 
    • Wind: Rising through the day to 25kts, variable directions all day
    • Sea: rippled most of the day
    • Temperature Low 8.6oC, High 15.6oC
  • Friday, May 1:
    • Sky: Foggy until late-afternoon, mixed sun and clouds afterwards
    • Wind: W 15-25 kts, rising slightly in the evening
    • Sea:  light chop turning to 2 ft chop and whitecaps late in the day 
    • Temperature Low 8.6oC, High 15.6oC, cool windchill though (while cleaning solar panels on the roof!)

 

 

** Any wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

https://tempestwx.com/station/190757/

 

Weather – Past:

https://tempestwx.com/history/190757

April 2026 DAILY SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND SALINITY OBSERVATIONS

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DAILY SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND SALINITY OBSERVATIONS
Institute of Ocean Sciences, North Saanich, B.C., V8L 4B2
Station: RACE ROCKS
Observer: JAP / Derek Month: April
YSI ID: #9 Year: 2026
YSI YSI
Temp Sal
Day Time ºC ppt
1 14:37 8.5 30.5
2
3
4 16:30 9.0 30.6
5 16:45 9.0 30.6
6
7 18:00 8.9 30.7
8 19:00 9.0 31.1
9 20:00 9.0 31.0
10 20:30 89.9 30.9
11 20:30 9.0 31.0
12 10:00 9.0 30.9
13
14 12:50 8.9 30.5
15 13:15 8.9 30.3
16 14:00 9.1 30.3
17 14:30 8.9 30.8
18 15:20 8.9 31.1
19 16:00 8.9 30.8
20 17:00 8.9 30./8
21 17:30 8.9 30.6
22 18:30 8.8 30.6
23 20:30 8.9 30.5
24 21:30 8.9 30.9
25 21:30 8.9 30.7
26 11:15 8.9 30.6
27 12:15 9.4 30.9
28 13:00 9.5 30.6
29 13:40 9.5 30.6
30 14:15 9.4 30.8

Animal Census April 26 2026

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  • Harlequin duck                                       24
    • (unusually high, maybe some passing through?)
  • Bald eagle adult                                     2
  • Bald eagle juvenile                                4
  • Turnstones                                             18
  • Gulls                                                      340
  • Cormorants                                            198
  • Pigeon Guillemots                                132
  • Oyster catcher                                        14
  • Canadian goose                                      10
  • Surf Birds                                                 3
  • Savannah Sparrows. flickering between shrubs,   2

 

Mammals

  • Steller sea lion                                            28
  • Harbour seal                                                67
  • California sea lion                                      38
  • Elephant seal pup                                        1
  • Elephant seal (yearling?)                            1
    • seems a bit big to be a pup, but not big enough to say yearling for sure
  • Elephant Seal Adult Female                        2

Although none today, Transient Orca have been seen regularly just outside the reserve

More Elephant Seals!

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Ecological Notes:

  • 2  Adult female Elephant Seals
  • 2 young ones…. 1 is this years pup born here… the other is a bit bigger,  it seems pretty big to be a new pup, but a bit small to be a yearling….. we will see when the moult starts

The 2 newest ones

  • Gulls and Oyster Catchers still paired off, no noted nest building yet
  • Orca and a Humpback passed the reserve, without entering
  • Although most have given up, found a new Canadian Goose nest…. easy to miss them when they use an old site, and cover it well when they’re not there!

Visitors:

  • Greg And Richard for fuel and grocery delivery
  • Guests of Pearson College came to the Rock to stay in the Student Building
  • Greg also brought the future Eco-Guardians for a quick overview of the site.

Facility Work:

  • Richard sealed a crack on the desalinator bunker roof

  • Solar Panel cleaning
  • Fuel transfers

DND events:

  • Several Blasts on Wednesday and Thursday

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Starting to see more Eco-Tourism vessel
  • Weekends also included more private vessels coming through to observe the wildlife

  • RCMSAR  vessel did a bit of a tour through the reserve

 

 Noted Infractions:

  • none

Weather Events:

  • Wednesday, April 22:
    • Sky: haze overhead, clouds in all directions on the horizon
    • Wind: WSW 10-22kts, variable throughout the day
    • Sea: rippled to 2′ chop
    • Temperature Low 9.3oC, High 12.4oC
  • Thursday, April 23:
    • Sky: High overcast with haze on all horizons…. giving way to mostly clear late afternoon overhead
    • Wind: W/WSW 16-37 kts
    • Sea:  light chop turning to flat by afternoon
    • Temperature Low 9.0oC, High 11.8oC
  • Friday, April 24:
    • Sky: Sunny and bright, some haze on the horizon lines though
    • Wind: Variable wind, mostly NE to SE, 5-15kts
    • Sea:  light chop turning to high waves by evening
    • Temperature Low 7.6oC, High 15.9oC
  • Saturday, April 25:
    • Sky: Sunny and bright, some haze on the horizon lines 
    • Wind: Variable S SE winds 0-10 kts
    • Sea: very little chop, some slight current lines
    • Temperature Low 7.3oC, High 16.6oC
  • Great Solar generation today so far! (the “from battery” number includes everything drawn during the night too)

 

 

** Any wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

https://tempestwx.com/station/190757/

 

Weather – Past:

https://tempestwx.com/history/190757

A Long, Busy Week!

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Ecological Notes:

  • 1 Adult Female Elephant Seal is regularly here now, with nearly daily dips in the water. Sometimes she spends an awful amount of time bellowing…. maybe a “call out” to others?
  • The Elephant Seal pup also visits the water daily, and tends to move around avoiding the adult, although I have not seen any negative interactions between them. One day I noticed her watching quite closely as I came and left from the house … When I came in for the evening, a student got a video of her following my to the house and then playing against the door.

 

  • Gulls and Oyster Catchers are still paired off well, haven’t detected any nests yet.
  • Some of the Canada  Geese pairs looks like they have given up nesting for the season, but I search daily as they sometime just move to a new location to nest. 

  • Averaging every other day, Orca are passing the reserve, occasional far offshore sightings of Humpback Whales, and even a Gray Whale

Visitors:

  • Hosted students and chaperone from the Westcoast Adventure Tourism college for their 3 day course on Marine Mammals of the Salish Sea …. Filled out with tour and discussion on Race Rocks, as well as the students helped with tasks, and those that were interested learned about the Eco-Guardian tasks and responsibilities 
  • One set of Pearson College students did an overnight visit
  • 2 sets of students came over for their intertidal transects

Facility Work:

  • Greg did a rebuild of the composting toilet in the student and science center

  • Regular fuel transfers and battery maintenance
  • Scheduled Oil, oil filter, and fuel filter changes on the generator
  • Checked oil level and all connections on the desalinator
  • Thorough cleaning of the solar panels
  • Pressure washed the main path to the main house and surrounding landings
  • Moved logs up to the bucking area, and cleaned up a lot of the “garbage” wood around top of the boat ramp
  • Electric fence repairs as usual
  • Richard continued the dismantling of the old generator, as well as cover holes left in the walls from removed pipes and vents 

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Some commercial Eco-Tourism vessels and private vessels in the reserve, no noted infractions

 Other:

  • During both my regular career, and travelling, I don’t get much time cook … on of the pleasures of being at Race rocks is the time to cook better meals!

Butter Chicken with vegetables, over basmati rice!

Weather Events:

  • Monday, April 13:
    • Sky: mostly clear, some haze
    • Wind: W 20-35kts
    • Sea:  2 to 3′ chop
    • Temperature Low 8oC, High 10.4oC
  • Tuesday, April 14:
    • Sky: overcast, with occasional rain squalls throughout the day
    • Wind: wind back and forth from W to S, 5-15kts
    • Sea:  light chop 
    • Temperature Low 7.2oC, High 8.6oC
  • Wednesday, April 15:
    • Sky: mostly clear
    • Wind: W 15-25 kts
    • Sea:  l2 ft chop most of the day
    • Temperature Low 5.5oC, High 11oC
  • Thursday, April 16:
    • Sky: slight overcast
    • Wind: W 5 kts rising to 22kts late in the day
    • Sea:  light chop turning to low waves by evening
    • Temperature Low 7.5oC, High 11.2oC
  • Friday, April 17:
    • Sky: light overcast
    • Wind: W 15 kts, backing to SE and dropping to near 0kts late afternoon, backing to WNW during the evening
    • Sea:  light chop turning to high waves by evening
    • Temperature Low 7.5oC, High 11.2oC
  • Saturday, April 18:
    • Sky: mixed high cloud and clear
    • Wind: ENE veering to WSW throughout the day, rising to  15 kts mid morning, then dropping to 5kts by end of day
    • Sea:  light chop 
    • Temperature Low 5.9oC, High 12.7oC
  • Sunday, April 19:
    • Sky: mostly clear
    • Wind: primarily E  10-15kts, brief rise to 20kts
    • Sea:  light chop
    • Temperature Low 8.0oC, High 14.9oC
  • Monday, April 20:
    • Sky: High overcast, with brief sunny patches
    • Wind: Veered throughout the day from NE to W …5 -25kts, rising higher in the evening
    • Sea:  3 ft chop when wind was with tide
    • Temperature Low 8.3oC, High 18oC

 

 

** Any wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

https://tempestwx.com/station/190757/

 

Weather – Past:

https://tempestwx.com/history/190757

Animal Census April 19 2026

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  • Harlequin duck                                       6
  • Bald eagle adult                                     3
  • Bald eagle juvenile                                4
  • Turnstones                                             27
  • Gulls                                                       385
  • Cormorants                                            220
  • Pigeon Guillemots                                 87 
  • Oyster catcher                                        16
  • Canadian goose                                      10
  • Surf Birds                                                 9
  • Savannah Sparrows. flickering between shrubs,   6
  • Swallow looking birds, black or very dark brown on the back        2

 

Mammals

  • Steller sea lion                                            39
  • Harbour seal                                                48
  • California sea lion                                      26
  • Elephant seal pup                                        1
  • Elephant Seal Adult Female                       1

Although none today, Transient Orca have been seen regularly just outside the reserve

Animal Census April 12 2026

Posted on by
  • Harlequin duck                                      8
  • Bald eagle adult                                    2
  • Bald eagle juvenile                                4
  • Turnstones                                             18
  • Gulls                                                       340
  • Cormorants                                            187
  • Pigeon Guillemots                                74 
  • Oyster catcher                                        14
  • Canadian goose                                       8(?)
  • Surf Birds                                                 3
  • Brown Pelicans                                         1
  • Small wren like birds. flickering between scrubs, Pacific wrens?  8
  • Swallow looking birds, black or very dark brown on the back        4

 

Mammals

  • Steller sea lion                                            17
  • Harbour seal                                                34
  • California sea lion                                      22
  • Elephant seal pup                                        1
  • Elephant Seal Adult Female                       1
  • Animal Tracking and Injuries:          Steller branded 595Y