Firing up the DeSal

Posted on by

Mon, Sept 9, 2024

Today we spent some time with Greg going over the finer points of running the desalinator machine. It pulls ocean water from a 10,000L cistern and converts it to fresh water for use on the island. We also patched up some of the weaker points of the electric fence along the SE border. The sealions will be with us in large numbers until the beginning of December and the fence is important to protect the infrastructure and other habitats on the island. The weather has begun to turn as the wind kicked up and the temperature dropped compared to our first few days here.

Unfortunately, we also spotted this guy with an injury on his back. Reported to the DFO Marine Mammals Unit.

  • Ran generator
  • Ran desalinator
  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Patched electric fence
  • Water sample

Whale Watching Vessels: 17

Private Vessels: 3

Weather:  Mix of sun/cloud. Wind 8-12kts

 

Census Day!

Posted on by

Sunday September 8th

Today we spent a lot of time on the fence again. We painstakingly went through each section to ensure that charge was being held the whole way through. This was a very tedious process and we still don’t have the voltage up to where we want it to be…. but there have been no pinniped breaches yet, so fingers crossed!

Today, Scott and I climbed the lighthouse tower to complete our first wildlife census. As a marine ecologist, I have a lot of experience counting fish underwater. However, counting over 600 Sea lions that all look like overlapping brown logs or trying to count birds that keep on flying away or are hidden between all the sea lions was way harder. With that said, being a top the tower made everything much easier to see and to conceptualize on a greater scale.

While we were up there we also got to enjoy a couple of humpback whales engaging in tail slapping or “lobtailing” behaviour for well over 30 minutes. It is thought that the sound and force generated by the slaps frighten the bait fish into tighter schools making them easier to hunt. Based off gull activity, there were definitely a lot of bait balls around, so hopefully we will get to see more of this behaviour in the coming days!

  • Water Sample
  • Ran Generator
  • Washed Solar Panels
  • Patched and checked new electric fence
  • Island animal census

Whale Watching Vessels: 25

Private Vessels: 7

Census Results:

Birds:

  • Turnstones: 15
  • Killdeer: 1
  • Gulls: 528
  • Cormorants: 70
  • Oystercatchers: 2
  • Canada Goose: 6

Mammals:

  • Stellar Sea Lions: 115
  • California Sea Lions: 497
  • Sea Lions (Too Far for confident ID): 205
  • Harbour Seals: 63

Weather: Slightly Hazy/Overcast. Wind NW Building all day to ~ 15knts

Fortifying Fence

Posted on by

Saturday September 7 – Day 3

Our first day alone on station. We spent the morning refurbishing the fence that runs along the SW west portion of the island in front of the lighthouse down to the main residence.

It was super satisfying to have a unified barrier… until about four hours later… when some sections were promptly breached by our pinniped neighbours for the flat, comfy nesting spots they are protecting. The battle continues… Later in the evening we had to rescue our water sample bucket as an unnamed thrower let go of the rope.

  • Water Sample
  • Ran Generator
  • Washed Solar Panels
  • Repaired electric fence with anchored stanchions

Whale Watching Vessels: 20

Private Vessels: 6

Weather: Calm and Glassy, <5knts, Slightly Hazy/Overcast Wind picked up in the evening

Busy day

Posted on by

Friday September 6 – Day 2

Today was another day of Visitors. Early in the morning, Greg dropped off a couple contractors to work on the windows in the Student Housing. We did our first clean of the solar panels. SO MUCH SEAGULL POOP.

Greg came back with all the materials to fortify the fencing that is supposed to keep the Sea Lions away from the Lighthouse infrastructure. I can confidently tell you that this fortification is needed.

At least 6 Humpback Whales feeding all day off the South and South West sides of the island. Greg swears he saw a full breach.. though we didn’t, and there are no photos soooooo……

  • Water Sample
  • Washed Solar Panels
  • Intro to rock drilling

Whale Watching Vessels: 15

Private Vessels: 3

Weather: Hot and Sunny, Calm and Glassy, <5knts

** So sunny we didn’t have to run the Generator all day

September Eco-Guardians are Here

Posted on by

Neha And Scott

Thursday, September 5 – Day 1

Hey! We are Scott and Neha, the next Eco-Guardians for the month of September.

Bit of a whirlwind first day, we got paid a visit by the Canadian Coast Guard who were here to check out the foghorn that has been having some issues. They also sent an engineer to check out the lighthouse and dock crane. Had a nice cup of coffee with a couple of the guys, learning about different ways people work on our amazing coast!

We spent the rest of the day getting accustomed to the house and grounds and we are slowly introducing ourselves to the 800 + Sea Lions we are currently sharing the rock with. We ended the day watching the sunset on the top of the tower, joined by a couple of feeding humpback whales in the strait.

  • Water Sample
  • Ran Generator
  • Chopped Wood

Whale Watching Vessels: 11

Weather: Hot and Sunny, Calm and Glassy, <5knts

James Logs from August 25th to September 3rd

Posted on by

Greetings, I’m James Tuohy. I’m here at the Race Rocks Reserve as a Relief Eco-Guardian for 2 weeks with my 16 year old daughter Annie. We were also here in August 2017 for 10 days. Prior to that, I did 3 or 4 relief tours here in the mid 1990’s. I was here in the mid 1990s. I was here on April 01/97 when the light station become “automated” after 137 years of faithful manning.

Sunday Aug 25th

  • Afternoon fog – No Fog horn during fog event
  • Ran the Generator
  • Cleaned the main building
  • Did animal census late afternoon

Weather: Cloudy with Breeze, Afternoon Fog to 1/8 mile

Monday, August 26th

Foghorn was again not sounding during quite a heavy fog. It did, however; pipe up during the evening. Narrowly missed a gull in flight while walking down to the engine room in the dark.

  • Ran generator
  • Water sample
  • Cleaned solar panels in rain

Weather: Cloudy with light rain and wind. 1km of visibility.

Tuesday, August 27 

Saw a mild Aurora Borealis just after midnight. Beautiful starry night.

  • Water sample
  • Washed windows of house
  • Able to run entirely on solar
  • Big clean up day of house and battery room

Weather:  Partly cloudy, W 25

Wednesday, August 28 

Half way through our short stint! Beautiful day with calm seas. Dealing with a broken refrigerator was the event of the day. Lots of whale activity caused an increase in tourism boats

  • Ran station on solar only
  • Cleaned the lens of the NW camera
  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Water sample

Weather: Partly Cloudy, Wind SE 08, Fine Wx

Thursday, August 29

There was a bull orca in the vicinity of the island today exhibiting lots of behaviour. Breaches, spy hopping, tail slapping etc. Lots of boats the see the action. Lovely sunset over Beechy Head, perfect weather.

  • Engine room maintenance with Coordinator Greg
  • Food management after fridge incident
  • Water sample
  • Cleaned solar panels

Weather: Partly Cloudy, Wind SE 07, Fine Wx

Friday, August 30 

Perfect weather today. Two humpbacks were in the area spouting and showing tail flukes. Unfortunately, also saw a Stellar sealion that had eaten some salmon fishing gear.

  • Water sample
  • Cleaned solar panels

Weather: Partly Cloudy, Wind SE 07, Fine Wx

Saturday, August 31

New fridge arrived today. No sign of sealion that was caught up in fishing gear, hopefully they were able to spit it out.

  • Ran generator
  • Cleaned solar panels in the evening
  • Water sample

Weather: Partly Cloudy, Wind SE 07, Fine Wx

Sunday, September 1

There were three humpback whales displaying lots of activity off the South end of the island. A couple of kayakers did a lap of the reserve. Three Biggs orcas right off the jetty. Bull, cow, and calf heading west. Did some updating of the safety marking around the island. Foghorn sounded for half an hour around 6pm. Weekly census was done today. Sealion population increased by 350!

  • Water sample
  • Cleaned solar panel

Weather: Cloudy, Wind to 20 knots W

Monday, September 2 

3 Humpbacks feeding ½ mile to the south. Started to tidy house and pack for departure. Went over food inventory with upcoming guardian!

Weather: Cloudy, SE 8 AM, Swings to W 18

Tuesday, September 3

Socked in with fog in AM. No Horn, We left at 13:30 … Bye for now!

  • Washed solar panels

Weather: AM Fog, SW o7

August Seawater Data

Posted on by
DAILY SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND SALINITY OBSERVATIONS
Institute of Ocean Sciences, North Saanich, B.C., V8L 4B2
 YSI 15 Email monthly to cynthia.bluteau@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Station: RACE ROCKS
Observer: Christine Chourmouzis/James Tuohy Aug-24
YSI ID: 15 Year: 2024
YSI YSI
Temp Sal
Day Time ºC ppt
1 13:17 10.6 30.8
2 14:08 11.0 30.4
3 14:52 10.1 32.1
4 14:33 11.0 32.0
5 16:15 10.2 31.7
6 16:59 10.6 31.9
7 17:00 11.0 32.6
8 17:45 10.9 32.1
9 18:05 10.8 32.4
10 18:30 10.7 32.5
11 7:50 10.8 32.6
12 8:30 11.0 32.5
13 9:25 11.3 32.2
14 10:01 11.4 32.4
15 11:02 11.9 32.8
16 11:51 11.5 32.0
17 13:05 11.7 31.8
18 13:56 11.0 32.8
19 15:01 10.5 32.9
20 15:15 10.0 33.2
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

It is my time to leave

Posted on by

Once again, this is my last night on Race Rocks.

Wildlife notes:

The sea lions are steadily increasing each day and the sea gulls might have doubled in number in the last week. More gull chicks have fledged, leaving their parents guarding the old empty nesting areas. The female elephant seal may also have moved on as I have not seen her for a couple of days.

Facility work:

  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Ran generator and desalinator, fresh water tank is full with 4500L
  • Operation walkway – work in progress

Vessels:

  • 23 Ecotourism, 3 private

Weather:

Periods of fog until early afternoon then partial cloud. Wind direction variable, light to gentle breeze. Daytime temperatures: low 12, high 16.

 

I will miss this magical place