T 562 pink tag, pregnant

Weather: Overcast, light wind. Showers in the afternoon.

Ecological:

-Around noon a large, pregnant looking female elephant seal hauled up the boat ramp and onto the island.  She is the first pregnant female to show up on the main island this season and is possibly the first flipper tagged pregnant female to come here.  She has a pink flipper tag (T562) which indicates that she was born at Point Reyes or the Farallones Islands near San Francisco. One of the male elephant seals took immediate interest and rushed over to her, there was some physical contact, some biting (him) and lots of wailing and wriggling (her). She did not seem interested at first but eventually they were lying side by side and seemed calm.  The larger male seemed only semi-interested and let them be.

-The Polar Adventurer, a crude oil tanker, passed by on its way from Anacortes to Valdez.  It is in the photos below with a male elephant seal in the foreground. The Alaskan Legend, also crude oil tanker,  passed by on its way from Valdez to Cherry Point.

Vessels: 2 tour boats

Maintenance:

-cut wood

-work on month end report, records and write up

-send in December sea water sample data