| Daily Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity Observations | |||||
| Station: | Race Rocks | ||||
| Observer: | Rod King | ||||
| Month: | Feb-21 | ||||
| Day | Time | Temp °C | Sal ppt | ||
| 1 | 16:00 | 8.1 | 31.3 | ||
| 2 | 8:30 | 7.9 | 31.7 | ||
| 3 | 16:30 | 8.1 | 31.3 | ||
| 4 | 8:30 | 7.9 | 31.5 | ||
| 5 | 16:00 | 8.9 | 31.3 | ||
| 6 | 9:00 | 8.1 | 31.3 | ||
| 7 | 11:30 | 8 | 31.4 | ||
| 8 | 9:00 | 7.8 | 31.4 | ||
| 9 | 8:30 | 7.6 | 31.5 | ||
| 10 | 8:30 | 7.9 | 30.4 | ||
| 11 | 11:30 | 7.5 | 31.3 | ||
| 12 | 13:00 | 7.7 | 31.3 | ||
| 13 | 11:00 | 7.2 | 31.2 | ||
| 14 | 15:30 | 7.2 | 31.6 | ||
| 15 | 15:30 | 7.4 | 31.6 | ||
| 16 | 9:00 | 7.5 | 31.3 | ||
| 17 | 8:40 | 7.5 | 31.3 | ||
| 18 | 8:40 | 7.5 | 31.2 | ||
| 19 | 8:20 | 7.5 | 31.2 | ||
| 20 | 10:02 | 7.5 | 31.2 | ||
| 21 | 8:15 | 7.5 | 31.5 | ||
| 22 | 9:00 | 7.7 | 31.5 | ||
| 23 | 10:55 | 7.5 | 31.4 | ||
| 24 | 10:21 | 7.4 | 31.4 | ||
| 25 | 18:00 | 7.7 | 31.5 | ||
| 26 | 13:52 | 7.9 | 31.9 | ||
| 27 | 9:00 | 7.6 | 31.6 | ||
| 28 | 13:30 | 7.8 | 31.6 | ||
| 29 | |||||
| 30 | |||||
| 31 | |||||
New stairs main house
Facility work: Contractor over today to measure up the new stairs to main house front and back.Due to high exposure to salt spray over many years, the wood has decomposed.
Weather
Sun and clouds today check this link for weather updates. http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?id=72
Census February 28, 2021
The island is busy with activity. Spring is seeing a rise in the bird population. California sea lions are back after the snow has melted. Here is the census:
Mammals
- Steller sea lion 79
- Harbour seal 75
- California 62
- Elephant seal male 2
- Elephant seal female 1
- Elephant seal pup 4
- Sea otter 1
Birds
- Bald eagle adult 2
- Bald eagle juvenile 6
- Turnstones 18
- Killdeer 0
- Gulls 84
- Cormorants 665
- Pigeon guillemots 54
- Oyster catcher 6
- Canadian geese 6
- Harlequin 9
Boats in the Ecological Reserve today
Dive boat in reserve.
Private boat speeding in the reserve.
Private vessel with two divers Sunday.
Three Eco tour vessels respectively viewed animals in main channel.
Wind is back again today SW 37 to 40 knots.
Solid whit caps around the island seas 4 to 5 foot with a big swell. Scatter clouds and sun patches.12 NM visibility.
Halibut fishing on again
The wind has stopped for a day.Wind NE .50 calm seas ski clear visibility 15nm
small boats fishing Pedder bay Beachy Head and halibut spots.
The island is full of life today. Elephant seals have been busy moving all over the island. Birds are very active today. Gaggles of Canadian geese are arriving to the island. Pigeon Guillemots are looking to nest , lots of eagles today. Spring is in the air at Race Rocks.
Earth quake this morning
Feb 23 2021 Woke up to the rumble of a earth quake this morning. Wind from the west all night all morning steady 30+ knots. 10 nm Visibility with rain sun cloud hail all morning. Sea state 3 to 4 bigger in tide lines.
Census and Orcas.
Animal Census: Feb 17 2021
Gulls 68
Cormorants 738
Pigeon Guillemots 54
Eagles 12
Black Turnstones 28
Harlequin ducks 7
Steller sea lions 77
California sea lions 39
Pacific Harbour seal 62
elephant seal male 2
elephant seal female 2 pups
orca 4
Biggs orcas 7 East bound Southern Resident Lpod J, k pod west bound.
Weather– Current: http://www.
Weather–Past: http://www.
wind west 20 knots sky over cast and rain visibility 10 nm sea state 3 foot chop.
Why are the Waters around Race Rocks so Nutrient Rich?
The productivity of the waters passing by Race Rocks contributes to the high biodiversity and abundance of organisms in the area. Part 5 of the following journal article provides a clue for the incidence of high Nitrogen level throughout the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Free Access
Influences of the Juan de Fuca Eddy on circulation, nutrients, and phytoplankton production in the northern California Current System
5. Regional Effects of the Juan de Fuca Eddy
5.1. Nutrient Enrichment of the Northern CCS
[44] The Juan de Fuca Eddy has been described as an “upwelling center”, allowing water to be raised from deeper depths than in classical wind‐driven upwelling [Freeland and Denman, 1982]. Upwelling in the eddy enriches the deep waters that flow into Juan de Fuca Strait as part of the estuarine circulation return flow. The penetration into the strait of this nutrient‐rich water mass is evident in a vertical section of ambient nitrate concentration measured in September 2003 (Figure 13). At the mouth of the strait, nitrate concentrations below 100 m (the approximate depth of the division between inflow and outflow) are >34 μM. Similar concentrations are present in bottom water along the strait axis, reaching ∼150 km east of the Strait entrance where strong mixing in shallow regions of high tidal currents mixes them upwards.
Figure 13
Vertical section of nitrate concentration measured in an along‐axis Juan de Fuca Strait transect (18 September 2003). Station names are across the top of the section and geographically in the insert figure. Continue reading