He’s Back!!

Posted on by

Today was a very low key day as I have been a bit under the weather the past few days. The weather backed me up on this, pouring rain and wind made for the perfect inside day.  Not too many boats on the water today but still a few ecotourism vessels around. 

Anddddd in true Race Rocks fashion, just as I was about to press “publish” on my boring little post above, I heard an elephant seal commotion outside. This isn’t unusual, the two remaining females here often vocalize but I peeked out the window anyway and I’m glad I did. The male elephant seal who I haven’t seen since March has returned and it was like seeing an old friend! Well for me at least… I don’t think he could care less. After chasing the larger of the two females around the grass for a while he has now settled in the grass and pineapple weed outside my front door, the same spot he would lay in March.

He has gained a fair bit of weight, and he towers over the large female who now looks tiny in comparison. His vocalizations are throaty and a much lower pitch than the females. It’s so cool to have him back, I hope he sticks around!

Vessels:

  • Ecotourism: 8 vessels

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy/Rainy, turned to blue sky in the afternoon
  • Wind: Low of 10 knots, High of 17 knots
  • Sea: Whitecaps
  • Temperature: Low 8•C, High 14•C

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

Gull Eggs and Eagle Snacks

Posted on by

Good news! The foghorn is officially working! Bad news for me was that I made this very startling discovery at 3am.

Nothing major to report today, I found more gull nests and eggs today but thankfully still no aggressive behaviour (yet). I did get to watch a bald eagle devour a pigeon guillemot on a near by rock which was very cool to witness so close. I’ve also seen online and through colleagues that the Southern Resident Killer Whales are around so fingers crossed I can cross K and L pods off my sighting bucket list soon!

Visitors:

– Cedric and 2 future eco guardians

Vessels:

  • Greg and the Pearson boat circumnavigated the reserve with 3 different groups
  • Ecotourism: 15 vessels

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy
  • Wind: Low of 1 knot, High of 8 knots
  • Sea: Calm
  • Temperature: Low 7•C, High 16•C

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

Sunday Update

Posted on by

There were about 50 sea lions on the rocks out front when I went to sleep last night, and I think all 50 of them decided to be particularly chatty from 4am onward. Needless to say, today ended up being an early morning start for me be but I’m glad it was! I opened my bedroom curtains to find about 15 brown pelicans resting on the rocks outside my window. I crept outside with my camera being careful not to disturb them and then sat on the back porch in the mist and watched them preen and dry their wings. I think I could stare at pelicans forever, they’re such funny looking creatures.

 

The Swiftsure International Yacht Race continued throughout the day with all boats on their way back to Victoria. Unfortunately the wind was at 0 knots and the ebb was strong so some of them appeared to be going backwards. Slowly I watched boat by boat as they admitted defeat, bringing their sails down and starting their engines. A few persevered but the same boat I saw at 7am was still bobbing outside the reserve at 1pm, trying its best to get past the currents.

Back to the animals —we are down to two elephant seals now, just one big and one small female. The gulls have officially started laying eggs which I know because one was dropped outside my front door this morning. They haven’t shown any aggressive behaviour towards me yet but I imagine I’ll be ducking for cover any day now. Ollie is still doing his best to blend in with the harbour seals, his bed of kelp and seaweed looking especially cozy today.

The weather today stayed windless with dark clouds and on/off rain. Quite a few ecotourism vessels passed by today, this time they did not bring the whales with them. Also noted a couple private vessels and one kayaker, all respecting the rules.

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

Swiftsure International Yacht Race 2024

Posted on by

This weekend is the Swiftsure International Yacht Race which is a long distance sailing race that starts and end in Victoria. There are a few different courses that go up the Strait of Juan de Fuca towards Swiftsure Bank, meaning all of these boats go directly past/around Race Rocks.

The wind and current was rough this morning and I don’t know much about sailing but it definitely didn’t look like a fun way to start a race! Before too long there were close to 100 (if not more) sailboats passing by and it was so neat to watch. Due to the race (I assume) the ferry MV Coho that travels between Victoria and Port Angeles had to detour and ended up closer to Race Rocks than I’d ever seen. Right as it was passing by, one of the racing boats ended up cutting in front of it. I’m not sure if that was purposeful or accidental, but it seemed far too close for comfort from where I was standing! That being said, everyone on both boats appeared to be calm, cool, and collected so its very possible that my perspective and a very zoomed in photo makes the 2 vessels look closer than they actually were. I’ll post them below and let you be the judge!

After from the race excitement died down and most boats passed by, I spotted another interesting vessel on the horizon…a submarine! I did some digging and I believe that this is an American nuclear sub that is based in Bremerton, Washington and if it’s not, then they sure look alike!

Killer Whales Everywhere!

Posted on by

What a killer day!

I think the rainy days might be my favourite so far. This morning it poured with rain as I drank my coffee, the mist hung low around the reserve and I could see the steamy breath of the sea lions as they yelled and yawned.

The ocean surface was glassy, and Ollie casually floated in the water around South Seal Rocks. Sometimes I think that otter has spent so little time around other otters and so much time around pinnipeds that he thinks he is a seal. The seals are completely unbothered by him, just giving him the occasional side eye.

I completed most of my to do list in the rain, which makes the cleaning tasks far easier. Around noon I headed inside to eat and just as I was about to sit down I noticed a few slow moving ecotourism boats in the distance. I ended up eating my lunch with one hand and holding the binoculars in the other to try and figure out what was coming my way. After a few minutes I saw at least 5-6 transients heading towards me so I ran out with my camera. As per usual they stuck to the outside of the reserve, although this time they passed by slightly closer. No hunting today, they were on the move with an adorable baby in tow. Each time it came up for a breath it basically flung it’s entire body out of the water. As I watched them I looked up and a flock of 19 brown pelicans flew over my head, I think the rainy days might be the best for spotting animals!

After that amazing experience, I went back inside to try and sit down yet again. I had barely taken off my shoes when I saw 2 more boats heading my way from the same direction as the previous ones. I pulled the binoculars back out only to find ANOTHER family of 5-6 transients following the same route as the others. These ones came closer and actually cut into the reserve, but not too close, sticking a couple hundred meters behind the South Islands. This family had an even smaller baby with them which was exciting to see. No hunting for these guys either, another quick pass by but I was grateful that it was the closest I’ve seen yet!

At this point I gave up on taking a break for the day. I continued on with my to do list and just as I went down to the jetty to take the salinity and temperature readings, 2 large killer whales popped up 100m in front of me. Of course I didn’t have my camera with me but I’ve never seen orca so close from land before, it was incredible. By the time I sprinted back inside to get my camera they were almost at the outskirts of the reserve. The current was strong so they came up that one time in front of me and by the time they surfaced again they were already out near Turbine Rock where they took another dive and I wasn’t able to spot them again.

Today was unbelievable, I am truly living the dream out here!

Facility Work:

  • Topped up battery electrolytes
  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Cleaned outside windows of both houses
  • Chopped wood and kindling
  • Scrubbed algae off of outer lighthouse stairs
  • Swept/cleaned deasal bunker floor

Vessels:

  • Ecotourism: 15
  • Private: 1

Weather:

  • Sky: Clouds and rain
  • Wind: Low of 1 knot, High of 7 knots
  • Sea: Flat
  • Temperature: Low 8•C, High 13•C

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

So Many Sea Lions!

Posted on by

I swear the sea lions have doubled in number since yesterday’s census! Or maybe they just ALL decided to hangout around the jetty today. Between the Stellers and the California’s I counted 40 sea lions out front this afternoon! Okay, so maybe they haven’t quite doubled…but there is about 10 more today and that seems significant.

One of the California sea lions had an orange flipper tag with the numbers 14-1 on it. While the Vancouver  Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society uses these tags, this is not the numbering system they use so I’m still on the hunt to find out where he came from. I’ve reached out to a few of my contacts in Washington and California to see if its an American tag but no luck so far. I’ll be sure to update the blog when I find out!

I also noticed a different California sea lion with a large wounded front flipper. The wound was clean and pink with no noted necrosis or signs of infection and he seemed otherwise fat and healthy. All good signs, especially when there is a wound of that size! Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) keeps track of all incidents, disturbances, deaths, injuries, etc when it comes to marine mammals so although this animal doesn’t require intervention I did report it to them so they can add it to their yearly totals. I hope this guy sticks around over the next few weeks so I can observe his healing progress!

Aside from staring at sea lions, I did do some actual work today. While I love how lush and green the site is right now, the plants have overgrown so much that they’ve made some of the paths nearly non existent. I decided to fix that today with a weed whacker which I had way too much fun with. I got a few done and  I still have a few paths to work through, trying my best to only clear the edges and not take away anything that isn’t necessary. We’ve just had so many guests and students this month that I want to ensure everyone actually has a nice path to walk on!

I also found a few new patches of these pretty pink flowers around the house today. It amazes me how many different flowers and plants grow here and I wonder how they got here. Some of them pop up in the most random places so I wonder if they were intentionally planted at one point and have now spread. I enjoy it either way!

Facility Work:

  • Rolled fire hoses
  • Big clean of main house
  • Weed whacked along the paths
  • Cleared out garbage from student house basement

Visitors:

  • Cedric + 2 contractors

Vessels:

– Ecotourism: 7

Weather:

  • Sky: Blue sky, some clouds
  • Wind: Low of 7 knots, High of 17 knots
  • Sea: Relatively calm
  • Temperature: Low 8•C, High 18•C

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

Wednesday’s Animal Census

Posted on by

It’s Wednesday which means it’s time to count the animals in the reserve! I find when I do this each week that I get competitive with myself and always want to spot more species than the week prior. Today was a win because I think it’s the most variety I’ve seen in one day so far!

Mammals:

California sea lions: 24
Elephant seals: 3 (females)
Harbour seals: 96
Sea otter: 1 (Ollie)
Steller sea lion: 7
Not quite in the reserve, but honourable mentions: 1 killer whale and 3 humpbacks

Birds:

Bald eagle (adult): 3
Bald eagle (juvenile): 3
Barn swallows: 3
Canadian geese: 10
Cormorants: 102
Gulls: 369
Harlequin ducks: 8
Oyster catchers: 8
Pigeon guillemots: 64
Ravens: 2
Whimbrel: 1 

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

Rainy Tuesday

Posted on by

It rained all day long today, and I actually really enjoyed it. There was no wind and the ocean was glassy and calm. The cloud cover was low down so everything was misty and quiet. I took advantage of the rain and scrubbed the solar panels and pathways to clear them of bird poop. Cedric popped by with supplies and some guests for a tour which is always fun! Nothing of note for the animals today, but the elephant seals are always keeping an eye on me as I work!

Facility Work:

  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Cleaned paths
  • Work done on desalinator to repair leak
  • Additional 500L of fresh water added to main tank

Visitors:

  • Cedric and 6 guests
  • Cedric again with supplies

Vessels:

Ecotourism: 11

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy and raining
  • Wind: Low of 3 knots, High of 21 knots
  • Sea: Calm
  • Temperature: Low 9•C, High 14•C

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

Monday Update

Posted on by

Nothing too exciting to report today! There seem to be more sea lions around the jetty and the rocks lately, I’ll have to compare this week’s census to the past few and see if its true.

I did find one new creature today that I haven’t seen here yet – a sea roach! Despite living in the marine environment, sea roaches are terrestrial isopods and will not survive if fully submerged. This particular little guy was on the wall next to the generator building door, no where near the water!

A Whale of a Day

Posted on by

Happy Sunday! The sun is shining, the air is calm (finally!!!!) and I spotted my first baleen whale of the season!

My favourite days here are ones like this – I can get a lot of work done but also pause between tasks to soak up the warm weather and experience the wildlife. Today’s wildlife involved a humpback whale and I couldn’t be happier about it. The humpbacks have been making their way back into the Salish Sea for a while now so I’ve been not so patiently waiting for one to come by. With the wind being so strong this past week its been nearly impossible to spot the spout of a cetacean, but today was perfect for it and I even got a little fluke shot.

Hopefully more days like this to come!

Facility Work:

  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Cleaned main house windows
  • Repaired breaks in electric fence
  • Started bucking/chopping remaining wood in the outside pile

Vessels:

  • Ecotourism: 5
  • Private: 4
  • Dive boat: 1

Infractions:

  • No infractions, I did remind one private vessel to keep their distance from sea lion haulouts but no animals were disturbed. Tons of fishing vessels near/around the reserve but none came in.

Weather:

  • Sky: Blue sky and sun
  • Wind: Low of 4 knots, High of 16 knots
  • Sea: Calm, small whitecaps in afternoon when wind picked up
  • Temperature: Low 7•C, High 16•C

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