‘This morning after the students returned to Pearson College, Garry and Mark took out fourteen international visitors from a conference on Sea Ducks in Victoria. They were particularly impressed by the assortment of bird life on the way out, Belted Kingfishers, Great Blue Herons, Double- Crested Cormorants, and Bonaparte”s Gulls were common, Rhinocerous Auklets and a flock of , 6 Ancient Murrelets as well as several flocks of Marbled Murrelets -20+) were an added bonus. A few Western Grebes were also in the Pedder Bay region. Double Crested Cormorants, Western and Thayer”s gulls were the most common around Race Rocks, with a few juvenile Glaucous winged gulls mixed in. ‘, ‘Garry Fletcher’, ’22:05:42 ,
Wave watching Day
Good morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast »» Vis. 5 Miles »» Wind North-East 7 Knots »» Sea Choppy/Rough
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 9.1 ºC »» Min. 7.1 ºC »» Reset 8.0 ºC »» Rain 9.0 mm Today the blasting is over. We will finish editing the footage and it will appear on the website shortly. We have had some impresseive looking waves crashing on the rocks today, and they have been scaring the birds from their resting places.
posted by Race Rocks Relief at 1:16 PM
A Video made by the students this week:
http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/archives/viddailyduties.htm
Today was another day of blasting.
Good Evening
Temperature: Max. 9.1 ºC »» Min. 7.8 ºC »» Reset 8.0 ºC
Rainfall: 3.6mm
Today was another day of blasting. The first blast occurred at around 9.30 am and sent all the animals stampeding off their respective islets. We finished two of our video projects today, which only leaves one to complete. We had a visit from some scientists who were studying the impact of the blasts. We conducted an interview which should hopefully be available with the rest of the footage on this website.http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/archives/vidlionblasts.htm
posted by Race Rocks Relief at 6:13 PM
Temperature: Max. 9.1 ºC »» Min. 7.8 ºC »» Reset 8.0 ºC
Rainfall: 3.6mm
Today was another day of blasting. The first blast occurred at around 9.30 am and sent all the animals stampeding off their respective islets. We finished two of our video projects today, which only leaves one to complete. We had a visit from some scientists who were studying the impact of the blasts. We conducted an interview which should hopefully be available with the rest of the footage on this website.http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/archives/vidlionblasts.htm
posted by Race Rocks Relief at 6:13 PM
WEATHER: Sky Overcast »» Vis. 5 Miles »» Wind North-East 7 Knots »» Sea Choppy/Rough
The storm has not yet materialised, but the blasting continues. Today the blasting is louder, and the seals and sea lions have already deserted their islet. Today there are some scientists visiting the island to study these effects. ( LGL) If you want to see the blasting, you can track it on the remote control camera at racerocks.com.
Yesterday’s rainfall was 4mm. We are expecting more today.
TEMPERATURE: Max. 9.1 ºC »» Min. 7.8 ºC »» Reset 8.0 ºC
posted by Race Rocks Relief at 10:38 AM
The storm has not yet materialised, but the blasting continues. Today the blasting is louder, and the seals and sea lions have already deserted their islet. Today there are some scientists visiting the island to study these effects. ( LGL) If you want to see the blasting, you can track it on the remote control camera at racerocks.com.
Yesterday’s rainfall was 4mm. We are expecting more today.
TEMPERATURE: Max. 9.1 ºC »» Min. 7.8 ºC »» Reset 8.0 ºC
posted by Race Rocks Relief at 10:38 AM
Tidal Cycle at Race Rocks Video
This clip was produced on 8.11.2002. As Race Rocks Marine Protected Area is a place where large (3 meter) tidal range occurs, it is a good location to observe the raising and lowering of the water . A rock in Race Passage near the West shore of Great Race Rock was chosen and a camera was installed in front of the window of the research room in the Marine Science Centre. Video clips were taken for 15 seconds every hour of daylight, high tide occurred during noontime. The second part of the clip shows the tide going in fast motion, a day at the rock passes in 25 seconds.” Jeremias Prassti, ( PC yr 28)
From Victoria Tide tables for this date.. 8.11.2002. :
time… tidal height (ft)………….(meters)
0910 …………………..8.9……………..2.7
1100………………….. 8.5……………..2.6
1445………………….. 9.2……………..2.8
2345………………….. 1.0………………0.3
PROJECT IDEA:
1. On graph paper, using the data above, plot the tidal variation for the day. Then pause the video on each of the levels, measure the height of an exposed piece of the rock and then plot it on the graph. In this way you should be able to determine the elevation of the top of the rock.
2. Link to the physical factor page for Race Rocks – Go to the Tidal calculator links available and compare the shape of the graph for November 8, 2002 with the graph you have made here
Marine Life Disturbance
MARINE LIFE DISTURBANCE: If you are checking out camera 1 or the remote camera today, you probably noticed that the middle island was full of sea lions this morning and was completely empty by noon. The Department of National Defence is doing their blasting exercises today again over at Bentinck Island . They will be doing the same tomorrow. A rather tragic occurance that happens every fall. Eventually the Northern Sea Lions (endangered species) and the Californian Sea Lions just move out of the Race Rocks area. There is a video on the marine mammals archive page that shows the effect of the Oct 7 blast. We have recorded todays events, (so far seven blasts) and will have it up in the archives also in a few days. In the meantime, look at the before and after pictures taken from the sitezap robotic camera just before and after noon today. This will appear in a file at http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/marmam/sealion/dndblastnov7.htm
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.2 ºC »» Min. 8.7 ºC »» Reset 8.7 ºC »» Rain 4.0 mm
posted by Garry Fletcher at 12:55 PM
Sea lion Behaviour after DND Blasting at Bentinck Island
Two videos are presented here showing the effect of DND blasting on Bentinck Island on the sea lions at Race Rocks. The first is from October 7 and the second was done by student s on the project week on November 8, 2002, (not Oct 7 as stated in this draft version of the video) . The students from Lester Pearson College who were out for a project week were able to catch the images of the impact of these blasts on the first day from the science centre window and on the second day from the top of the light tower. In the tower, they interviewed Mike Demarchi of LGL who is currently doing a $50,000 contract for the Department of National Defence to monitor the impact of these blasts and to compare them with other disturbances at Race Rocks.
See also before and after images of effects of blasting on sea lion behaviour
See the index of Human Effects on Animal Behaviour at Race Rocks
The following pictures were taken on November 7,2002 from the site zap camera at Race Rocks. The top set of pictures was taken at 9:30 AM . The DND started blasting at 11:00 . The bottom set of pictures were taken at 12:00 noon, after 5 blasts when most of the sealions had jumped off the rocks, They remained off the rocks mid afternoon.
 Image from before a blast |
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 and then the Image from after the blast |
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DND Blasting disturbs sea lions.
On November 7, 2002, the DND were still doing their demolition blasting exercises at Bentinck Island. (not Oct 7 as stated in this draft version of the video) The students from Lester Pearson College who were out for a project week were able to catch the images of the impact of these blasts on the first day from the science centre window and on the second day from the top of the light tower. In the tower, they interviewed Mike Demarchi of LGL who is currently doing a $50,000 contract for the Department of National Defence to monitor the impact of these blasts and to compare them with other disturbances at Race Rocks. (Click on audio icon below) Click the arrow on the left in the bar below for
THE INTERVIEW WITH MIKE DEMARCHI
by Jeremias Prassl (LBPC yr29)
Before and After images of DND Blasting effects
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| You may see the complete report here. Note in particular, the discussion of the results concerning the effects of blasting on the behaviour of sea lions. |
Before and After DND blasting at Bentinck Island
- The following pictures were taken on November 7,2002 from the site zap camera at Race Rocks. The top picture was taken at 9:30 AM . The DND started blasting at 11:00 .
- The bottom set of pictures were taken at 12:00 noon, after 5 blasts when most of the sealions had jumped off the rocks, They remained off the rocks mid afternoon until evening.
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- 9:30 AM . The DND started blasting at Bentinck Island at 11:00
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- 12:00 noon, after 5 explosions at Bentinck Island
group of Orca approaching from west
Good evening
Temperature: Max. 9.1 ºC »» Min. 7.1 ºC »» Reset 8.7 ºC »» Rain 3.4 mm
Today only three whalewatchers passed by, the weather starts
becoming worse. During our salinity check waves were high
enough to wash over the docks.Just after 13:00 spotted a group of Orca approaching from the west, there were 2 Ecotour boats in the area at the time and they identified these Orca as the L pod with 1 calf. The group was very spread out and travelled in a northeasterly direction along the southern boundary of Gr. Race and although the weather conditions were not the best did see a few breaching.The Orca were probably feeding as they spent about an hour in the area.
posted by Race Rocks Relief at 7:49 PM
Temperature: Max. 9.1 ºC »» Min. 7.1 ºC »» Reset 8.7 ºC »» Rain 3.4 mm
Today only three whalewatchers passed by, the weather starts
becoming worse. During our salinity check waves were high
enough to wash over the docks.Just after 13:00 spotted a group of Orca approaching from the west, there were 2 Ecotour boats in the area at the time and they identified these Orca as the L pod with 1 calf. The group was very spread out and travelled in a northeasterly direction along the southern boundary of Gr. Race and although the weather conditions were not the best did see a few breaching.The Orca were probably feeding as they spent about an hour in the area.
posted by Race Rocks Relief at 7:49 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast»» Vis. 10 Miles »» Wind East 4 Knots »» Sea Rippled / Choppy
We’re expecting a storm at some time in the next day or two.
posted by Race Rocks Relief at 8:40 AM
WEATHER: Sky Overcast»» Vis. 10 Miles »» Wind East 4 Knots »» Sea Rippled / Choppy
We’re expecting a storm at some time in the next day or two.
posted by Race Rocks Relief at 8:40 AM
Daily Duties at Race Rocks for students
This video was produced in 2002 when Mike and Carol Slater were ecoguardians at Race Rocks . When students would go out for a project week, after training from Mike, they would be responsible for the daily duties at Race Rocks. This was before the era of alternate energy at Race Rocks and the upgrading of many of the weather measurements, so is now somewhat of a recording of history.
Written, and video by Rosie, Ahmad, and Jeremias.:
“During our project week at Race Rocks, Mike Slater, the Race Rocks Marine Protected Area Guardian asked us if we could make a video explaining the daily duties necessary to maintain the facility. Students who are relieving on the island during Mike’s absence will be able to use this data as a guide for performing their duties, as well as providing a useful information resource for students visiting the island.
These duties include two daily engine checks, a salinity check one hour before high tide, and keeping a record of the days weather, as well as explaining the functions and instructions for testing machinery located on the island.”