MARINE LIFE DISTURBANCE: If you are checking out camera 1 or the remote camera today, you probably noticed that the middle island was full of sea lions this morning and was completely empty by noon. The Department of National Defence is doing their blasting exercises today again over at Bentinck Island . They will be doing the same tomorrow. A rather tragic occurance that happens every fall. Eventually the Northern Sea Lions (endangered species) and the Californian Sea Lions just move out of the Race Rocks area. There is a video on the marine mammals archive page that shows the effect of the Oct 7 blast. We have recorded todays events, (so far seven blasts) and will have it up in the archives also in a few days. In the meantime, look at the before and after pictures taken from the sitezap robotic camera just before and after noon today. This will appear in a file at http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/marmam/sealion/dndblastnov7.htm
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.2 ºC »» Min. 8.7 ºC »» Reset 8.7 ºC »» Rain 4.0 mm
posted by Garry Fletcher at 12:55 PM
Tag Archives: blasting
DND Blasting disturbs sea lions.
On November 7, 2002, the DND were still doing their demolition blasting exercises at Bentinck Island. (not Oct 7 as stated in this draft version of the video) The students from Lester Pearson College who were out for a project week were able to catch the images of the impact of these blasts on the first day from the science centre window and on the second day from the top of the light tower. In the tower, they interviewed Mike Demarchi of LGL who is currently doing a $50,000 contract for the Department of National Defence to monitor the impact of these blasts and to compare them with other disturbances at Race Rocks. (Click on audio icon below) Click the arrow on the left in the bar below for
THE INTERVIEW WITH MIKE DEMARCHI
by Jeremias Prassl (LBPC yr29)
Before and After images of DND Blasting effects
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| You may see the complete report here. Note in particular, the discussion of the results concerning the effects of blasting on the behaviour of sea lions. |
Before and After DND blasting at Bentinck Island
- The following pictures were taken on November 7,2002 from the site zap camera at Race Rocks. The top picture was taken at 9:30 AM . The DND started blasting at 11:00 .
- The bottom set of pictures were taken at 12:00 noon, after 5 blasts when most of the sealions had jumped off the rocks, They remained off the rocks mid afternoon until evening.
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- 9:30 AM . The DND started blasting at Bentinck Island at 11:00
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- 12:00 noon, after 5 explosions at Bentinck Island
LGL does contract for DND on Blasting
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 7.9 ºC »» Min. 5.0 ºC »» Reset 6.7 ºC »» Rain 0.8 mm
MARINE LIFE: The California Sea Lion with the injured hind flippers is still hauled out on the dock and keeps to it’s self. The poor animal is most likely in pain- looks quite thin, probably not able to manouever too well to catch it’s food.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 6 Ecotour boats, LGL observers boat. The Second Nature made two trips, one about noon With Garry and his class then again with Garry, Scott and Don to work on Camera # 2 system.
MARINE LIFE: (Reported by Garry Fletcher) I had the opportunity to be at Race Rocks twice today. On first arriving at 11:45 AM it was obvious that the DND had been conducting their explosions on Bentick island. We have gotten used to the sealions building up their numbers over the past few weeks. The main island to the East of the House , and the whole northeast front have been covered with animals throughout the daytime. The major concentration however has been on the middle island, which if you have been checking on camera 1 these days has been covered with a mass of bodies. By 11:45 today most of these areas were bare.. only a few brave individuals had crawled back up on the rocks we will see tomorrow how many have returned, but if it follows the patterns of other years, their numbers will start to taper off if the harassment continues. This year the DND has decided to check out our allegations of harassment of these endangered species — yes that is the category the Northern Sea Lions now occupy in Canada. A contract has been let to the consultants of LGL to survey the effect of disturbances, so they have had observers in the tower on the two occasions of blasting this fall. Today the result was obvious. The irony does not escape one that this is an ecological reserve, an MPA and even that does not protect endangered species in Canada.. For a video of the effect of a blast on the behaviours of the birds and mammals at Race Rocks, go to one I recorded on October 7 – its in the marine mammals archive at: http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/archives/viddndblast.htm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:12 PM
DND Blasting Disturbs Sealions
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.7 ºC »» Min. 8.3 ºC »» Reset 9.7 ºC »» Rain 0.6 mm
MARINE LIFE: Another unsettled day for the wildlife with another day of blasts at DND. The fog rolled in very thick last night and until just after noon we were only able to observe the sea lions and Harbour seals along the north shore of Great Race.The first blast at about 10:12 alerted the sea lions, the second blast about 1 minute later sent 35 of the 79 sea lions hauled out prior to the blasting into the water, of the 13 Harbour seals hauled out in the dock area 2 took to the water on the first blast,9 on the 2nd blast, the birds that we could see took flight ‘en masse’ and most settled back down fairly quickly. The second series of 2 blasts was approx 1 hour later and 9 more sea lions went into the water from those hauled out along the north of Gr. Race. The sea lions were unsettled the rest of the afternoon. Most of the Northern S.Lions stayed in the water swiming about in groups of 5 to 12. The ones still hauled stayed close to the water, they were very agitated, there was a lot of noisey head butting.Most days, left undisturbed the sea lions are fairly quiet. Just around 17:00 a small group of Orca appeared along the northeast boundry of the reserve, looked to be T10 and T11 group. There were a lot of seals and sea lions in the water, several groups of Northern S.L very close to the whales but did not see any hunting action. The Orca disappeared as quickly and quietly as they had appeared. There were 9 Ecotour boats and 3 pleasurecraft in the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:03 PM
pigeon guillemots took to the water with the first blast and did not return
Friday, April 19, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.3 ºC »» Min. 6.1 ºC »» Reset 9.0 ºC
MARINE LIFE:2 mature bald eagles again today, one arrived after 14:00. Still 3 geese, the one, is definitely an un-welcomed interloper as far as the pair are concerned. There have been several noisey,feather ruffling encounters but no injuries and the ‘loner’ is very persistent!
HUMAN INTERACTION: 5 pleasure craft and 2 ecotour boats today. 2nd Nature – student class about 2 hours. Another day of D.N.D. blasting and again most affected were the birds.The pigeon Guillemots took to the water with the first blast and did not return for the rest of the day.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:04 PM
TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.3 ºC »» Min. 6.1 ºC »» Reset 9.0 ºC
MARINE LIFE:2 mature bald eagles again today, one arrived after 14:00. Still 3 geese, the one, is definitely an un-welcomed interloper as far as the pair are concerned. There have been several noisey,feather ruffling encounters but no injuries and the ‘loner’ is very persistent!
HUMAN INTERACTION: 5 pleasure craft and 2 ecotour boats today. 2nd Nature – student class about 2 hours. Another day of D.N.D. blasting and again most affected were the birds.The pigeon Guillemots took to the water with the first blast and did not return for the rest of the day.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:04 PM
ammunition detonations at the D.N.D. site
Thursday, April 18, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 11.5 ºC »» Min. 5.7 ºC »» Reset 8.5 ºC »» No Rain :o)
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature bald eagles today, which spent the day flying between North and Southeast Rocks. Constantly on the alert because of the eagles, the birds were further upset by the ammunition detonations at the D.N.D. site.There were 4 sets of 3 blasts, with 2 minutes between each blast.Although there are not many sealions hauled out at this time of the year they were disturbed to the extent that 6 went into the water. The birds take flight with each blast. The more energy they expend, the more food they require and they are coming into breeding season now, putting a greater demand on the birds energy requirements.There were 3 geese today,1 pair and a loner that follows the pair around the island, wonder what happened to the 4th goose?
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2nd Nature in twice, station boat 2 return trips to Pedder Bay. 2nd Nature went out to pleasure craft to advise fishers of the ‘no fishing’ guidelines in the reserve.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:33 PM
TEMPERATURE: Max. 11.5 ºC »» Min. 5.7 ºC »» Reset 8.5 ºC »» No Rain :o)
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature bald eagles today, which spent the day flying between North and Southeast Rocks. Constantly on the alert because of the eagles, the birds were further upset by the ammunition detonations at the D.N.D. site.There were 4 sets of 3 blasts, with 2 minutes between each blast.Although there are not many sealions hauled out at this time of the year they were disturbed to the extent that 6 went into the water. The birds take flight with each blast. The more energy they expend, the more food they require and they are coming into breeding season now, putting a greater demand on the birds energy requirements.There were 3 geese today,1 pair and a loner that follows the pair around the island, wonder what happened to the 4th goose?
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2nd Nature in twice, station boat 2 return trips to Pedder Bay. 2nd Nature went out to pleasure craft to advise fishers of the ‘no fishing’ guidelines in the reserve.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:33 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind West 3 Knots »» Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:59 AM
WEATHER: Sky Clear »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind West 3 Knots »» Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:59 AM