Ecological Notes:
- The California Sea Lions have made themselves at ease in the snow.
- The large female Elephant Seal was very active and vocal today. She spent much of her time ,moving around the center of the island, from high spot to high spot, lifting high as though she was looking for something, all the while bellowing and “calling”
- A first for me, while I had the camera out with the long lens, I saw a female Steller Sea Lion nursing pup! With further scanning with the camera, I found 3 other nursing pairs.
Female Steller nursing a pup!
- I have been doing water-based tours of the area for nearly 20 years and had noticed there were a lot more small sealions than I had ever seen here at Race Rocks.
Facility Work:
- Although shoveling the snow was futile, I’ve managed to cut tracks now so that I don’t have to wander too much to get from location to location!
- With too much snow on the paths from the drifts, resorted to moving fuel old school in fuel cans.
- Water is still frozen, but checked the heat tapes to make sure they were still working
Weather Events:
- Thursday December 22:
- Sky: Overcast with occasional flurries and freezing rain
- Wind: N/NE winds 20-30 Knt
- Sea: 1 meter swells
- Temperature Low -8 oC, High -3 oC
- Friday December 23:
- Overcast
- Wind: ENE to N mid-day 30knts, then back to ENE 10-15knots in the evening
- Sea: 1 – 2 meter waves
- Temperature Low -1oC, High 3oC
- Some snow melting
- Tower weather electronics are still down, so wind numbers are estimates.
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Weather – Current:
http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72
Weather – Past: