young Northern Sealions hauled out on the southwestern slope

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Tuesday, June 18, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 13.5 C Min. 9.5 C Reset 12.5 C  Rain 0.8 mm
THE DAY: Part Cloudy  Vis 15 miles  Wind West 15 Till 9:00 then 20 Gusting 33 Knots Sea 1 – 2 Foot Chop until 10:15 Then 3 to 5 Foot Moderate
MARINE LIFE: The birds continue to sit on nests and when alerted take to the air to ward off the one mature Bald Eagle that made several unsuccessful hunting flights over Gr. Race. The Eagle left the area just after noon,then again just after sunset a lone mature eagle made one last flight along the shoreline before heading across Race Passage towards Bentinck Island.3 young Northern Sealions hauled out on the southwestern slope of the southeast rocks along with approx. 13 Harbour seals.Counted 7 small to medium size elephant seals on middle rock,did hear loud bellows and snorting near the dock last night that could be the larger bull elephant seals but have not seen them hauled out for a few days.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Chris and Ryan delivered 2 loads of diesel fuel with the Second Nature in the morning and 1 tour boat was through the reserve today.
posted by at 6:06 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy Vis. 15 Miles Wind West 17 Knots  Sea 1 – 2 Foot Chop
posted by at 6:03 AM

The whales were ‘accompanied’ by a flotilla of 17-23 tour boats

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Monday, June 17, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 15.1 C  Min. 9.3 C  Reset 13.2 C  Rain 2.8 mm
THE DAY: Overcast  Vis 15 Miles  Winds Light South West  Sea Rippled  Rain Showers through-out the Day.
MARINE LIFE: Most of the Gulls are incubating eggs now although there are the ‘late bloomers’ still gathering nesting material and engaging in the usual turf wars. The 5 goslings are looking more like geese every day,all have the distinctive tail markings but their wings are still very small their down is rapidly giving way to feathers.With the Eagles hunting every day, I’m surprised all the chicks have survived. Three gulls were not so lucky,the first one was taken by a juvenile Bald Eagle just after 11:00 in front of the Science centre. Two mature Eagles hunted the area most of the afternoon and had successful kills at 13:55 and 16:20.The highlight of the day — a group of 12-15 Orca came through the reserve, five of them were in the kelp just off the end of the dock.One orca looked to be a fairly small calf traveling close to 4 or 5 larger animals. We knew they were headed this way from the west by the ‘chatter’ on the VHF radios about 10:30.The whales were ‘accompanied’ by a flotilla of 17-23 tour boats until they were too far east to see with the telescope -7 hours at least. As the orcas approached the MPA one of the boat operators reminded the other boats about not following the whales through the reserve as per the guidelines. No one did, however the Flotilla was waiting on the other side of Gr. Race! The whales put on a great show, breaching, spy hopping, and rolling in the kelp just off the east shore.They spent about 40 minutes in the reserve.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Chris in with Second Nature this morning to pick up tank for fueling tomorrow, also Ryan returned to civilization? in the zodiac- strange to see no lights in the science centre -just the two of us again! 2 pleasure craft and 17 tour boats through the reserve today.
posted by at 6:34 PM

Westmont Montessori Class Visits Race Rocks as part of our Schools Project

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In June, 2002 the grade six students of Nadine Cruikshank’s class at Westmont Montessori school in Metchosin came out to Race Rocks to participate in a live webcast. Pearson College students Ben, Joe, Kiprop and former student Ryan who were staying at Race Rocks for the Johan Asuvud Race Rocks 2002 Project introduce them to the ecology and the history of Race Rocks. (17 minutes)

Tidepool # 3 at Race Rocks

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This file has been started to present some of the information we have acumulated on the pool in order to stimulate students to raise further questions and devise problems that can be investigated at the pool. It is also intended to be part of a cumulative digital legacy that those examining the pool can pass on to future students.

Some ideas to consider:

  • This pool is very shallow and has a very low biodiversity. Diatoms, amphipods and a few barnacles live here. Since it is only a few centimeters higher up the shore than pool 4, note how elevation makes a significant impact on the abiotic factors of Temperature and salinity.

WEBCASTING CREW –AT RACE ROCKS JUNE 2-14, 2002

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MEET THE CREW:

“We had a great time webcasting live from Race Rocks on Camera 4 during the first two weeks of June for the Johan Ashuvud Race Rocks02 Project”

Current first year students from Pearson College, Joe, Ben, Kiprop and Jedrzej and Ryan Murphy, who graduated last year stayed at the Marine Science Centre. Ryan is returning to Race Rocks this month to do research for Mt.Allison Univ. on the macroalgal community, They conducted daily live and prerecorded webcasts with teacher Garry Fletcher from the intertidal and from underwater using camera 4.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For one of the webcasts we were joined by Sean LeRoy, Graduate Researcher, Georgia Basin Futures Project Sustainable Development Research Institute, University of British Columbia and Dr.James Tansey also of UBC. They came to participate in the webcast with Garry and Ryan on Marine Protected Areas in new Zealand and Canada with Tim Langlois, Leigh Marine Laboratory University of Auckland, and Anne Saloman, University of Washington, Zoology Department.

On three days we hosted small groups of students from local elementary schools who served as proxies in webcasts done for their classmates.

Support for the Race Rocks02 Project came from the Johan Ashuvud Race Rocks Memorial Fund.

Sean Leroy doing Masters Thesis on MPA Advisory Process

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Thursday, June 13, 2002
TEMPERATURE Max 20.8C  Min 11.1C  Reset 19.2C
MARINE LIFE: The harbour seals are becoming very nervous of human presence, several times today they swept into the water at the sight of people on the pathways. The 4 pairs of Oystercatchers all have chicks now, a good sign that perhaps the river Otter has left the island. Two octopus were sighted in the low intertidal over near the surge channel this morning.

Sean Leroy at Race Rocks

HUMAN IMPACT: Five eco-tourism vessels through the reserve and five fishing vessels on the reserve’s perimeter.

Garry and Hyaku docked with two visitors this morning, Sean LeRoy, Graduate Researcher, Georgia Basin Futures Project
Sustainable Development Research Institute, University of British Columbia and Dr.James Tansey also of UBC. They came to participate in the webcast with Garry and Ryan on Marine Protected Areas this morning with Tim Langois, Leigh Marine Laboratory University of Auckland, and Anne Saloman, University of Washington, Zoology Department .

langoisgroupAfter a tour of the Island and a great discussion about MPA’s in Canada and New Zealand they all left in the afternoon.
posted by at 10:49 PM

Good Morning:
WEATHER: Sky Clear  Vis. 8 miles  Wind 0-5 Knots from West  Sea 1-2 Foot Chop
posted by Garry Fletcher at 5:03 AM

Bayside Middle School Visits

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Wednesday, June 12, 2002
Good Evening:
TEMPERATURE Max 19.5C  Min 7.8C  Reset 19.5C
MARINE LIFE: Some large sea anemones spotted in the low intertidal today, many covered with shell grit as a protective layer from the heat. One Bald eagle sighting this morning, however none this evening. The Geese and Goslings were drinking from the freshwater pond frequently today, a sign of the hotter weather, however raising concerns about the eventual limits of the water supply.
HUMAN IMPACT: Hyaku docked with Garry and five students and their teacher from Bayside Middle School at low tide today. They participated in our live webcast as we showed them the special features of the island’s ecosystems. We have been particularly careful to provide a low-impact program so that the seabirds and seals are not disturbed. Zodiac left during the late evening. 6 ecotourism and three fishings boats through the reserve today. Michael Kiprop returned to Metchosin today to catch his flight home to Kenya tomorrow. We have appreciated his daily commitment to the technical aspects of our live mobile webcasts.
posted by at 11:20 PM

Westmont School, for the 10:00 AM live webcast

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Tuesday, June 11, 2002

Good Evening:
TEMPERATURE Max 15.C  Min 9.2C Reset 9.2C
MARINE LIFE: A fairly quiet day on the island, perhaps due to the heavy fog which came several times. Two Bald Eagle visits this morning, however none this afternoon. A very low tide revealed some sun bleaching on the surf grass in the low intertidal. The Goslings are quite large now, perhaps double their size of last week. It is a shame to note that we saw no Sea lions today, they have not been present since the DND blasting a few days ago.
HUMAN IMPACT: 7-8 ecotourism vessels today, despite the fog. Second Nature emerged from the fog to dock with Garry and another group of 4 school children from Westmont School, again for the 10:00 AM live webcast. Garry noted that he had never seen the fog as heavy as this morning. Within a half hour it lifted. Zodiac was taken out twice in the afternoon. The divers went in around the docks at 18:30.
posted by at 11:17 PM
Good Morning:
WEATHER: Sky Overcast  Vis. 8 miles  Wind 20 – 25 Knots from West  Sea 2-3 Foot Chop
posted by at 4:33 AM

Goslings went for a swim with their parents this morning

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Monday, June 10, 2002

Good Evening: TEMPERATURE Max 14.0C Min 9.8C  Reset 13.0C
MARINE LIFE: Two fly overs by a Bald Eagle today, however no birds taken. The Goslings went for a swim with their parents this morning, however only staying in the shallow waters. Several harbour seals moving about the docks this morning, probably hunting.
HUMAN IMPACT: Hyaklu and Second Nature both docked today. 6 ecotourism vessels and two fishing vessels moved through the reserve. Garry brought out a group of 4 students and a parent from West -Mont school today for the live webcast. They toured the island and the intertidal near the docks.
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear  Vis. 6 miles  Wind 25-30 Knots from West  Sea 2-3 Foot Chop
posted by at 5:03 AM

The Johan Ashuvud Race Rocks 2002 Project- Video by Ben

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Ben Dougall (PC yr.28) from Australia has edited this clip demonstrating some of the highlights of his stay with “The Crew” at Race Rocks.They were there for the Johan Ashuvud Race Rocks02 Project in the first two weeks of June 2002 . As well as providing daily webcasts from the mobile camera, they took over the duties of the Ecological reserve  ecoguardians and worked on producing a number of video sequences for the video archives and Race Rocks Taxonomy.


Go to “MEET THE CREW” for the Project.