Weather

• Visibility: 15 miles
• Wind: 20-25 knots NE
• Water: 2′ chop
• Sky: overcast

Ecological

• The newest female elephant seal was gone this morning.
• Chunk mated with the current mother on Great Race today. Unlike the other times I have seen him initiate mating, the female did not fight back or try to get away. She seemed okay with it, and her pup lay beside her as it happened.
• Chuckles spent the day on the south-east corner of Great Race.
• Status quo on Middle Rock with the mum and pup.
• Lady left the island at 3:30, just after the 5th and 6th DND blasts.
• Watched a bald eagle tear away at weaner’s head for over half an hour at dusk. This was the first time I had seen an eagle approach the corpse. Fascinating.

Maintenance

• Mopped up the remaining water in the Energy Building.
• Stacked more firewood in the water shed.
• Cleared logs and debris off the ramp three times.

Other

• There were 6 very powerful DND blasts today coming from Bentinck Island. They came in three pairs, each pair spaced out from the other. I was outside for the first two and they hurt my ears. I was inside for the final four, and they shook the house considerably.
• After when I walked around the island, I noticed that nearly all the birds and sea lions had disappeared. There was only 1 sea lion on Great Race, and he appeared to be injured, which would explain why he was the only one who stayed. There were about 10 sea lions left on South Island, and 20 Harbour Seals. No cormorants. The blasting must have scared the rest off.

Smoke from blasting.