Yesterday was the last day of project week, in the morning I brought students back to campus in two trips on the whaler. It has been great group to have out here for the past week, they have helped out with several projects and tasks, endured some stormy weather, survived without a shower, cooked their own food (and shared a few good meals with me), and experienced the isolation and richness of the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. During their stay they were very conscious of the time and resources required for importing fuel and generating energy and fresh water and did a great job minimizing consumption and waste.
In the final days of the week students helped out with transferring diesel to the furnace tanks and cleaning cupboards in the science centre kitchen. Throughout the week the group maintained a daily count of animals in the reserve, the count is included below.
Feb 27 | Feb 28 | Feb 29 | Mar 1 | Mar 2 | Mar 3 | |
Harbor seals | 45 | 50 | 10 | 22 | 20 | 16 |
Elephant seals | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Sea lions | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
Gulls | 57 | 23 | 33 | 43 | 31 | 26 |
Cormorants | 60 | 27 | 29 | 40 | 56 | 32 |
Oyster Catchers | 3 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 7 | |
Bald Eagles | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
Brown Sandpiper | 4 | 12 | 8 | 6 | ||
White Sandpiper | 5 | 3 | 4 | |||
Pigeon Guillemots | 22 | 150 | ||||
Common Mergansers | 2 | |||||
Harlequin Ducks | 12 | 7 | 6 |
Thanks to the group for their contributions and good company.