The Flag is Back

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Weather: 

  • Sky overcast, some clear patches (not much solar power generated today)
  • Visibility 15+ miles, no fog
  • Wind 10-20 knots W
  • Water calm. Some interesting standing wave patterns lately.

Boats/Visitors: 

  • On Thursday Greg came in the afternoon to top up our water supply. Pearson alum Norbert (currently alum in residence) also came along for the ride to check out our solar panels and provide suggestions for future improvements. Pearson maintenance volunteer Jimmy also stopped in for the night to visit race rocks before he goes home to Mexico. Safe travels!
  • We had many hands on deck, so we were able to successfully repair and raise the flagpole.
  • Yesterday Greg visited with a group of college guests who toured the island.

Ecological: 

  • The sea lions have started to haul out on the N + S/SW sides of Great Race Rock.
  • The oyster catcher chicks have grown to be nearly as big as their parents and are flying all over!
  • The seagull chicks are getting bigger and when rival adults attack they now fight back. On Thursday we spotted a chick with one eye pecked out and were concerned that it would not survive. Fortunately, when we checked later it was doing well.
  • There have been large numbers of black turnstones present this past week, 30+ at once

 

 

 

The Sea Lions Are Coming

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Weather:

  • Sky blue, partly cloudy
  • Visibility 13+ miles
  • Wind 10-20 knots SW
  • Water calm

Visitors/Boats: 

  • Not much boat traffic these past few days. It has been quite foggy and windy (40+ knots of wind)
  • Today Greg is bringing some water for the main tank. He is also bringing a volunteer from the college who will stay overnight.
  • Tomorrow morning we will have a group tour the island

Maintenance:

  • Yesterday Alex Fletcher came to take measurements from the batteries that supply the entire island. We have been having some problems with the technology but the batteries are looking good and healthy.
  • Our Canadian flag is still down, as the flag pole was too heavy for us to lower alone. We will try to enlist the help of Greg and the volunteer today and get things back in order!

Ecological: 

  • The sea lions are starting to haul out onto Great Race Rock more and more. We will need to put up the electric fence soon to prevent them from coming right up to our backdoor as their local population increases. We are waiting for the elephant seals to leave, as the fence would prevent them from moving freely onto the jetty.
  • There are now two younger elephant seals who arrived a couple of days ago. One of them went back to a favourite spot of one of this years spring pups, so we wonder if it is the same one.

Sunny Skies, Census

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Weather: 

  • Blue skies, no clouds
  • Visibility 15+ miles
  • Wind 10-20 knots W
  • Water calm

Boats/Visitors: 

  • Greg came by yesterday with some fresh water for our main tank.
  • Quite a few tour vessels
  • Greg and Pearson Alumni are touring the reserve over the next few days as part of their reunion, but they will not be coming on land.

Ecological: 

  • There are quite a few more sea lions this week than last. They have started to haul out on Great Race Rock in addition to West and Middle Rock.

Census:

  • 51 sea lions
  • 40 seals (including 3-5 pups)
  • 3 Cormorants
  • 2 families of geese (from the spring nesting season)
  • 2 elephant seals (moulting males)
  • 300 + seagulls

A Quiet Week

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Weather: 

  • Sky blue, a few clouds
  • Visibility 15+ miles (less fog lately)
  • Wind 20-30 knots W
  • Water choppy, waves to .5 m, whitecaps

Boats/Visitors:

  • No visitors to the island since Greg delivered water on Monday. We were happy to have a few guests of the college also stop in for a visit at the same time.
  • Lately there have been quite a few eco-tourism vessels (20+ each day). The noise from the vessels is continuous and can be felt as a low vibration even inside the house. We have seen the odd private pleasure craft as well but they are typically smaller and move more slowly.

Ecological: 

  • The seagulls are growing more and more! The chicks have started to flap their wings into the wind, and wading into the water near the jetty. The adults seem to be attacking the young less frequently as they get bigger, but we still spot the odd deceased chick. Today we saw an adult gull swallow an unlucky chick whole.
  • The oyster catcher chicks have begun flying! They are able to cross the short distance between the jetty and the nearby rocks.
  • There are only two moulting male elephant seals on the island now. They look like they will likely leave soon, as their peeling of skin and fur is nearly done.
  • Earlier this week we saw orcas in the reserve, making twice in the past week and a half.
  • There have been a handful of seal pups and their moms resting in the shallower intertidal on the SE side of the island (also many seals on rosedale rock)
  • There has been a slow increase in sea lions hauling out onto west and middle rock. They occasionally stop on the jetty at a higher tide, or the rocks nearby.

 

Disappointing Activity

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Ecological:

Today we saw a group of orcas (4-6) within the ecological reserve, and noted that there was a horde of whale watching/ecotourism boats that followed. Shortly after the pod entered the reserve, we observed 12-15 boats convening in the area, forming a wall of motorized vessels on the border of the reserve. A diving boat was also present in the reserve, and had approximately 5 divers in the water at the same time.

While the ecotourism boats may have maintained an “appropriate” distance, it was undeniable that their approach from one direction as a large group negatively affected the wildlife. The diving boat had divers in the water, which inevitably means it is difficult to move away.

After only a few minutes of the boats approaching the orcas departed, heading away from the approaching boats, which gave chase.

Weather:

  • Wind: 10-15kn
  • Sky: Partially overcast
  • Visibility: 10mi
  • Water: Small waves not in excess of 0.5m

Boats/Visitors:

We have had no visitors over the last while, short of Greg delivering water yesterday.

Census

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  • Weather: 
  • Sky blue, partly cloudy
  • Visibility 15+ miles
  • Wind 30-40 knots W (wind warning in effect)
  • Water white caps, waves to 1 m

 

  • Census Today:
  • 19 sea lions
  • 106 harbour seals (2 pups)
  • 3 elephant seals (moulting males)
  • 300 adult seagulls, many chicks
  • 8 known adult oyster catchers and  5-10 chicks
  • 5-10 pigeon guillemots
  • 1 ruddy turnstone
  • Throughout the week:
  • 5 western sandpipers
  • 1 short billed dowitcher
  • 2 bald eagles

Feels Like Summer

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Weather: 

  • Clear sunny skies, a few small clouds
  • 15+ miles visibility
  • Wind 20-30 knots SW
  • White caps and waves up to .5 m

Boats/Visitors:

  • A steady stream of whale watching boats today, but not too busy (15 or so). We were pleased to note that they seemed to be keeping mostly to the centre of the channel.
  • Quite a few small pleasure crafts just outside of the reserve, but only a few entered.

Ecological:

  • The seagull chicks are getting bigger every day and are beginning to wander more adventurously. This is making it harder for us to move around the island as they are unpredictable and often stray onto the paths. The adult seagulls are more aggressive than ever and have started to dive at our heads.
  • We noticed that the lack of wind yesterday and clear sunny day was causing the seagulls to pant like dogs. Apparently this is a way for them to shed excess heat through their mouth lining.

Clear Skies and Many Birds

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Weather: 

  • Sky clear and sunny- no fog!
  • Wind: 10-20 knots SW
  • Water: Rippled. Strong currents today (+4.4 knots)
  • Visibility: 10 miles

Visitors/Boats:

  • Greg came by today with some water that we pumped into the main tank. We are told that the new desalinator should be on its way soon, but is going to take a few weeks to ship.
  • A few whale watching boats today (10-15). Many came close (-50m) to the elephant seals in the jetty and the sea lions on middle rock. We often see them within 10m of the sea otter and kelp patch that it calls home.

Maintenance: 

  • A few days ago we replaced the worn Canadian flag on the flagpole. Today we noticed that the entire rope/pulley system had somehow blown loose and fallen to the ground. The pole is to high for us to reach the top with our ladder, so when it is less windy we will have to take the pole down to make repairs (this will be difficult with so many seagulls about).

Ecological: 

  • Many interesting birds in the reserve this week. Today we spotted some western sandpipers, a couple short billed dowitchers, and a ruddy turnstone all from our kitchen window!
  • Every day we see more and more sea lions. Greg said that he even spotted a stellar sea lion on his way today.

Cannibalistic Seagulls?!

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Weather:

  • Sky: Foggy morning, clearing around 2pm
  • Wind: 15-20 knots W
  • Water: Rippled
  • Visibility: Morning fog 0 miles visibility, clearing to 15+ miles

Visitors/Boats: 

  • Only a few whale watching boats today, as the fog was extremely thick until mid afternoon. One boat came very close to the jetty and a sea lion resting on it.

Ecological: 

  • Yesterday we noticed that the gulls are continuing to attack each others young. As the chicks grow larger and more continue to hatch, it seems as if the population as a whole may be running out of food on the island. We noted that one seagull was pecking at an evergreen shrub, which we haven’t seen them interested in until now. As the gulls become more desperate for sustenance, they appear to be cannibalizing their neighbours young to provide for their own. We found an interesting article about the appearance that Climate change may be turning seagulls into cannibals, written about the observations of biologist Jim Hayward on Protection Island, also located in the Strait of Juan de Fuca (2016).