Grey and Rainy

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Today was very grey and rainy but it didn’t stop the animals from showing off.

All 3 elephant seals (1 male, 2 females) are now on the main island. The smaller of the 2 females has been asleep in the grass behind the student house since last night. The larger one was chased up the boat launch by the male. For about 20 minutes he chased her around, lunging and throwing his head, grabbing her hind flippers and shaking them, both were very vocal. Since they are large and not so graceful this event (I’d call it a low-speed chase) involved lots of rest breaks. Finally the male made his way back to the water and the female found a place to sleep in the grass.

 

The torrential downpour was the perfect opportunity to deep clean the main house. Between cleaning I spotted 2 transient orcas, as well as the darker of the new sea otters a little while later.

 

So close but yet so far

This place is pretty unbelievable even when the weather isn’t!

Facility Work: (today and yesterday)

  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Split wood
  • Deep clean main house 
  • Cleaned windows of the main house inside and out
  • Cleared boat launch of drift wood
  • With the help of a very motivated Pearson student we also finished gardening around the old bricks at the base of the flywheel!

 

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Ecotourism vessels

Weather Events:

  • Saturday, March 23:
    • Sky: Dark cloudy skies, on and off heavy rain
    • Wind: High of WNW 10 knots, Low of ESE 1 knot
    • Sea: Calm
    • Temperature: Low 8oC, High  10oC

** 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:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Happy International Seal Day!

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March 22nd is International Seal Day and what better way to celebrate it than with the arrival of a female elephant seal FINALLY coming onto the main island. That being said, the male has spent the whole day on the North Island so there is still only one elephant seal here right now, but I will take what I can get! 

True seals (especially the harbours and the ellies) have always been my favourite animal and I’ve been so lucky to spend these past 3 weeks surrounded by both. I’ve included some of my favourite seal photos below, hope you enjoy!

 

 

 

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

Wildlife Everywhere!

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Every day when I think I’ve seen it all here, somehow something new happens and its what I love most about this place. Aside from the seals that is…and the sea lions…and the sea otters.

This morning as I did my morning walk around I spotted one of the female elephant seals in the water next to the jetty. Shortly after, the male elephant seal joined her. There was a lot of chaos — heads thrashing, biting, splashing, vocalizing. It finished as fast as it started. The female was nowhere to be found and the male took back his spot on the boat launch.

 

This afternoon I spotted a lone male killer whale who may be one of the largest I’ve personally seen. I’m working on my ID skills still but I’d love to figure out who he is. He was quite far away so my photos aren’t too clear. One of these days I’ll get whales in the reserve! (I hope.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few hours later 4 more killer whales passed by about the same distance away. These ones appeared to have a baby with them and although they were travelling we did get to see a couple little spy hops!

 

As we were watching the whales, one of the California sea lions near the jetty popped up right in front of us with a large octopus in his mouth. He thrashed it around and put on a pretty great show!

 

As for the less exciting non animal notes — I’m still working on cleaning and getting the main house ready for the next Ecoguardian to arrive, including cleaning out the vents in the house now that the furnace is up and running. Talk about dusty! (see photos below).

I have also been trying to use the desalinator as much as possible to get the water level up. It dipped down low after we did some pressure pressure washing earlier this month and coupled with the 9 extra people here this week I want to make sure the Ecoguardian coming after me isn’t left high and dry!

 

It has been so great getting to know the students from Pearson. Everyone has such different interests and knowledge, I think I have learned more from them than they have me!

 

Additional information from the day:

DND Activity:

  • 2 blasts around 11:30
  • 2 blasts around 13:00
  • 2 blasts at 15:45
  • Observers were on the water all day. No blasts happened while orca in the area and no noted disturbance to animals within the reserve.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 5 ecotourism vessels
  • 5 RCMP vessels

Weather Events:

  • Thursday, March 21:
    • Sky: Sunny morning, some cloud cover in the afternoon
    • Wind: High of ENE 13 knots, Low of 0 knots
    • Sea: Calm
    • Temperature: Low 7oC, High  10oC

** 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:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Animal Census and Blog

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The great weather had to come to an end eventually! Despite being a dark and cloudy day we lucked out with no rain and no wind.

I had 9 extra helpers for the animal census today, the Pearson students are extra observant so this may be the most accurate count yet!

No sea otters were seen today but the two new ones have been around the past few days. Still no additional elephant seals on the main island, just our solo male! A couple of females have been hauled out on the various surrounding rocks but none of come ashore here.

March 20th Animal Census:

Birds:

Oyster catcher: 15
Harlequin duck: 12
Gulls: 261
Cormorant: 62
Pigeon guillemot: 149
Juvenile eagle: 3
Adult eagle: 4
Canadian geese: 9
Shore birds: 10
Turnstones: 28
Savannah sparrow: 1

Marine Mammals:

Steller sea lions: 17
Harbour seal: 64
Male Elephant seal: 1
Female elephant seal : 2 (north rocks)
California sea lion: 20

Injuries:
Harbour seal with facial injury


DND Activity:

  • 2 blasts at 12:55 and 13:00. They did startle the harbour seals and the second blast sent a California sea lion fleeing into the water.
  • 3rd blast at 14:15 no obvious disturbance noted. 
  • 4th blast at 15:05 no obvious disturbance noted.
  • 5th blast at 15:08 no obvious disturbance noted.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • One ecotourism vessel
  • One Coast Guard vessel
  • Three RCMP vessels

 

 

Weather Events:

  • Wednesday, March 20:
    • Sky: Cloudy all day
    • Wind: High of WNW 13 knots, Low of  SW 4 knots
    • Sea: Calm
    • Temperature: Low 8oC, High  10oC

** 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:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Growing sea lion numbers…

A Steller Monday

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What started out as a very foggy morning turned into a blue sky and sunshine kind of day with an unbelievable sunset!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Animal Notes:

 

 

A large male Steller sea lion has been hauled out on the rocks near the jetty all day and he make the makes the California sea lions look tiny in comparison! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A female elephant seal spent the morning sunbathing in the water behind the student house. I think this may be the same one that’s been hauling out on the South Island. She’s yet to come ashore here though. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spotted 3 harbour porpoises just outside the reserve this morning, I see so many back home in Vancouver so I’m surprised that this was the first time I’ve seen them here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I came across a giant pacific octopus at low tide (deceased unfortunately) but it made a great meal for a young gull and an even better learning opportunity for the students that are currently on the island!

 

 

 

 

Finished the night off by watching the sunset with the blonder of the two new otters as it floated off the rocks behind the student house. (No photos, just enjoyed the moment).

Facility Work:

  • Filled the cistern 

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • One ecotourism vessel
  • Two private vessels

Weather Events:

  • Monday, March 18:
    • Sky: Foggy morning, clear blue sky until sunset
    • Wind: High of ESE 11 knots, Low of SE 1 knot
    • Sea: Glassy all day long
    • Temperature: Low 7oC, High  13oC

** 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:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Sea Otters at Sunrise

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An early morning alarm clock to watch the sunrise paid off when one of our new sea otters popped up just off the rocks beside me. No colourful urchins to munch on today, just some sleepy floating and grooming. The weather was warm in the morning and cooled off later in the day with the wind. Despite cooling down, the sun was strong and I was able to run the desalinator off pure solar all afternoon!

 

A moment of appreciation for our lone boy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Facility Work:

  • Topped up battery electrolytes
  • Topped up generator’s diesel
  • Cleaned inside keeper’s house and prepped rooms for next Ecoguardian

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Ecotourism vessels

Weather Events:

  • Sunday, March 17:
    • Sky: Clear, not a cloud in the sky
    • Wind: High of W 24 knots, Low of NE 2 knots
    • Sea: Glassy morning, whitecaps in the afternoon
    • Temperature: Low 8oC, High 11oC

** 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:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Sunny Saturday!

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Warmest day yet! Rather uneventful as far as animals go today (or so I thought), managed to get some facility work done – lots of cleaning. Just as I was watching the sunset a pod of transient killer whales passed by just outside the reserve. A beautiful and exciting day way to end a Saturday!

 

 

Facility Work:

  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Cleaned windows of both houses inside and out
  • Chopped wood

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Ecotourism vessels
  • One recreational vessel came to check out the sea lions, kept a good distance away.

Weather Events:

  • Saturday, March 16:
    • Sky: Clear, not a cloud in the sky
    • Wind: High of E 19 knots, Low of  SSW 3 knots
    • Sea: Flat calm
    • Temperature: Low 8oC, High 13oC

** 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:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Not a Fun Day to be a Sea Lion!

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Another epic day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning I spotted the darker of our two new otters feeding off South Island again. These two might need names if they keep sticking around. Bright red urchins were on the breakfast menu for today, personally I prefer a few less spikes with my coffee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The afternoon brought transient killer whales past the reserve who spent 2.5 hours in the area hunting sea lion. While they didn’t come super close, they did put on a pretty unbelievable show!

 

 

Visitors:

  •  Greg and furnace repairman

Facility Work:

  • Keeper’s house furnace now working!
  • Prepped student house for visitors

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Ecotourism vessels

Weather Events:

  • Friday, March 15:
    • Sky: Blue sky
    • Wind: High of 14 knots, Low of 6 knots
    • Sea: Whitecaps
    • Temperature: Low 6oC, High 10oC

Two Otter Thursday

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It’s been a busy few days for sea otters! While I didn’t see Ollie today, the smaller of the 2 I saw a few days ago spent the majority of this morning near the South Island. Later in the afternoon what appeared to be the same otter came past the jetty before heading out toward North Rocks. I figured the two new kids on the block were just passing through but its been 4 days now so we’ll see if they stick around. I couldn’t get great photos but I’ll include a couple below!

 

Weather for Thursday, March 14:

    • Sky: clear
    • Wind: High NE 11 knots, Low WNW 3 knots
    • Sea: Flat calm, slight ripple with afternoon current picking up
    • Temperature: Low 6oC, High 10oC

 

 

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