The Male Beachmaster (Bernard), 2 Adult Females, and 1 weened Male “pup” (very large now!)
Traffic Jam at the ramp …… we’ll all just have a nap!
“I’m cool if you’re cool”
The last pup had grown to almost double the size he was when I got here, and I had hoped to report he was doing well, but unfortunately the nature and the Beachmaster had other plans. The (female)pup passed suddenly about a week ago and was returned to the sea today. Samples were taken for analysis, including hopefully testing for DNA to check paternity.
1 California Sea Lion noted with rope entanglement. He is surprisingly active for the depth of the wound. Reported to the Marine Mammal hotline.
On a more positive note, the Black Oystercatchers are paring off, and some Gulls are wondering around showing off nice clumps of grass they have collected to whoever will notice.
“See my stuff????”
Visitors:
A couple of visits from the shorefront coordinator, delivering groceries, parcels, diesel fuel, and parts for repairs.
Facility Work:
After a couple attempts to repair the existing connections from the outside line to the pump, it was decided to just replace and simplify the pipes ….. to a final success.
Lots of extra pieces and leaks!
Much neater ….. when we change the copper, the pump will be mounted on the tank properly.
Repaired the VHF Antenna on the main house, applied tape to hopefully stop it from vibrating the threads free in the wind.
comes off after repeated exposure to winds
DND events:
On and off all week, except the weekend of course
Noted Vessel Traffic:
Several Ecotourism vessels enjoying the sights and sounds of the reserve.
Responsible viewing and educating
With the nicer weather, several kayaks and outrigger canoes have looped out around the reserve, experienced paddlers who all stayed out of the main channel in the reserve where currents can be strong.
Noted Infractions:
Some private fishing very close to the reserve, but measurements with a laser rangefinder suggest they were just outside the 40M depth contour.
Weather Events:
A mixture of winds, but mostly light days with mostly sun for the last couple days.
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
The West Coast Environmental Law Organization published this comprehensive report on the Laws regarding marine protected areas. Chapter 4 deals with Ecological reserves and Race Rocks as an example. See page 166
Great to be back at the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve after a couple months away with family! Thanks to the previous Eco-Guardians who left things in such great shape, in spite of a particularly hard winter weather-wise.
Great first day back!
An old favorite
Ecological Notes:
The beachmaster Male Elephant Seal is still here, keeping everyone in check.
Spring is in the air
1 Nursing Female/pup set
1 very large male pup here, appears to be recovering well from injuries received before I arrived.
Another Adult Female Elephant Seal has returned.
Facility Work:
Tidied up some of the fencing
Battery level servicing
Equalization Charging of the Battery System
Trouble shooting of water pump system in the main house. One-way valve to be serviced once it is confirmed parts are available.
Various diesel fuel transfers
Ongoing firewood stocking
The Previous EcoGuardians got good use of the wood stockpile
Thankfully, they left me a good start of wood to buck and split!
Noted Vessel Traffic:
4 Ecotourism vessels and 5 private vessels sightseeing in the reserve.
Weather Events:
Primarily westerly winds of 20-30 knots, shifting to cold and clear northeasterly winds on Sunday.
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Race Rocks is a wealth of biodiversity, and an amazing place to get to spend any amount of time. Despite the huge amount of wildlife that spend time on Race Rocks over the winter, it can feel a little quiet. Not last week!
We were super lucky getting some of the Pearson College students out despite COVID lockdowns on Campus, this is always one of the highlights of our time at Race Rocks! The kids always have the best questions and remind me why I pursued the life I live now. Any opportunity to share the joy and smells of Race Rocks.
Pearson Students getting Elephant Seal 101. Photo by Laura Verhegge
After the final group of students left, we got a surprise visit from DFO via their helicopter coming by for a socially-distanced visit. We had a helicopter buzzing us throughout the week, and it wasn’t until it landed at the end of the week we realized that was most likely the crew checking out the island, seals, and heli-pad. The elephant seals clearly weren’t fans of the helicopter. Interesting-ly the idling helicopter covers the same sound frequencies the Beachmaster uses to drum his dominance. Our Beachmaster tried drumming at the intruder, but he couldn’t overpower the sound and decided that abandoning his harem and a trip into the ocean was preferable to hanging out with a helicopter.
The next day we woke up to a new female Elephant Seal! We suspect this seal was Tyra from last year, going off her scar patterns and BEAUTIFUL eyes. At this point in the season we have expectations for these seals: they come ashore, hang out for 5 days, give birth, nurse for 21 days, mate and leave. Tyra was a reminder that we don’t really know that much about these mysterious animals. She came ashore, mated, and left. She looked great, very plump. I am really quite surprised. Maybe not all pregnancies come to term, and in that light her behaviour actually makes a lot of sense. She needs to come ashore when a Beachmaster is ready to mate, and if she doesn’t have a pup to birth then there really isn’t a reason to stick around and wait until it’s time to moult.
Tyra returning to Race Rocks to visit the Beachmaster. All hail the Beachmaster!
And we had a new pup born! I told you lots happened. Rhi-Rhi has been ashore since January 25th and slipped out a new pup this morning. The new pup is super chirpy, and very mobile; it had a very ‘rolled up’ vibe directly after being born, with curled fingernails and it’s giant flippers wrapped around itself. We expect her to nurse until the 22nd of February, but clearly I need to stop trying to predict what these animals are going to do.
Rhi-Rhi inspecting her newborn pup.
Facility Work:
Race Rocks has a Boston Whaler from it’s Coast Guard era that can be used in case of an emergency. During a very low tide we figured this was the ideal time to re-spool the twisted up cable used to launch the boat. While it’s easy to think that emergencies never happen, it’s great to know that in that hypothetical situation the boat will be able to be launched on any tide without any problems. Big thanks to the previous Eco-Guardians who did some great boat maintenance!
DND events:
Lots of blasting over the last week, some of the Pearson College students were definitely surprised.
Elephant Seals seem happiest when all smushed up against each other.
Feature Event:
We had someone report a wayward Elephant Seals wandering around Sturdees Beach & the Gorge vale Golf Club. This fits very well with the theme of ‘we don’t really know much about Elephant Seals’ and thought it would be worth mentioning. As the Northern Elephant Seal population continues to recover, hopefully we’ll all get to experience more Elephant Seals in British Colombia, and sometimes that might be a returning pup who hasn’t really figured out the timing of things yet. They’re really remarkable animals, who spend a very small proportion of their time (<10%) above the water Over the last 2 years there have been wayward pups reported crawling around in areas where they were not wanted, these little seals are just looking for some place safe to moult and head back into the ocean. This is one of the parts that makes Race Rocks such an important place for these animals: a place on land where the seals can hang out and sleep without being disturbed: their time on land relies on them fasting for weeks on end losing up to 40% of their body weight during these stints. Every time they get woken up or stressed that is another drain on their limited energy available, leading to the first couple of years where mortality can be up to 75%.
A wayward elephant seal pup at Christie Point, photos by Dorothy Chambers
The silver colouration shows this wayward pup has already moulted, so probably from last years birthing season. While we would expect pups to return to Race Rocks to moult, we don’t really know how they return to the same areas, and they may just try out new areas at different times; or just get lost.
We have a new female Elephant Seal on Race Rocks! While she looks suspiciously like one of the returning mothers, without a tag it is hard to tell. She was thoroughly investigated by our local Beachmaster, and sassed Mikey for getting too close. Mikey seems to have learned his lesson to stay out the Beachmasters way, after a few small bites Mikey is now quite mobile and has learned the paths on the island to avoid further conflict.
Lil Blasty in one of the few moments not blasting squawks.
As for the other Elephant Seal Pup: named Nereo by it’s mothers namesake, but I have been referring to it as ‘Lil Blasty’ due to his extreme volume while ‘chirping’. The current theory is that Elephant Seal moms and pups learn each others vocalizations to identify each other, and regardless of the background noise present, they seem to always vocalize at the same volume.
Jocelyn’s vocalizations come in around 50-70db, where Lil Blasty is clocking in at 100-110db with his vocalizations. For reference: WCB recommends not being exposed to over 85db for prolonged times due to hearing damage. It definitely hurts to be outside when he’s shrieking.
The Beachmaster being grumpy that no one wants to mate with him.
Facility Work:
We bucked up the logs that were snagged over the last week, and got them off the boat/seal ramp. Heavy algae growth over the last 2 weeks so we’re started pressure washing the algae to keep things from getting too slipper.
DND events:
Canada’s Navy has started doing tester laps outside of Esquimalt.
Feature Event:
Mikey has learned to avoid the Beachmaster when he’s on the prowl, and decided to explore off the beaten path to avoid any conflict. We suspected he would fall off the ‘mountain’ climbed today, but displayed some remarkable manoeuvrability for a chubby little seal.
Mikey mountain-climbing.
A hallmark of the maturing pup is the wear-pattern on their chins. The chin is a key instrument for Elephant Seal locomotion: where they re-arrange their belly by lifting it up with their chin. The chin can also work to level the seals bulk up onto rocks, steps, and rough terrain.
Mikey starting to show his all-important chin patch.
Weather Events:
January means the start of some epic sunsets.
The last couple of days the temperature has dropped down to 4°C with light N winds around 10-15knots. This is log weather.
