Tag Archives: boris

Boris Is Back!

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Weather:

Visitors:

  • Greg visited today with supplies- thanks Greg!
  • The last of the first year students visited yesterday in small groups. We have been enjoying showing them around the island and hope to see more students soon.

Ecological Observations:

  • The sea lion population seems to be steadily increasing. Interestingly, the stellar sea lions tend to stay on the further outcroppings while the california sea lions are happy to haul out all around the main rock. The two species intermingle, but typically only in the area of our jetty.
  • We were joined again by a young elephant seal yesterday! Unfortunately we still haven’t been able to get a clear look at the green tag visible.
  • A small group of black turnstones came through today, accompanied by a single surfbird.
  • Boris the sea lion has returned! We have been anticipating his return as the sea lion population climbs. Boris was first spotted last year, when he arrived with what appeared to be a propeller injury to his skull. We were uncertain if he would survive, as according to Marty (vet, MMR), sometimes these injuries can cause brain infections if the skull fragments. He is easily identified by the scar that remains, and his unusual behavior- he doesn’t seem to be bothered by our presence much at all. To view previous posts about Boris, click the “boris” tag under this post!

Glaucous-winged gulls nest

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Weather: 

  • Sky partly cloudy (intermittent fog)
  • Visibility 15+ NM (less than 400 m this morning)
  • Wind 15-20 knots W
  • Sea state: calm, rippled

Marine Traffic: A few eco-tourism vessels over the past few days. One approached extremely close to the sea lions today.

Ecological: 

  • The five goslings seem to have been eaten by another animal, perhaps eagles. We have not been able to spot them in two days, since we had a very stormy night. We found one gosling deceased near our back steps following the overnight storm. It appeared that it had become separated and could not survive the elements alone.

Windy Windy Spring Weather

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Weather:

  • Visibility 8-10 NM
  • Sky overcast
  • Wind 35-40 knots W
  • Sea state: large swells and chop, breaking at 1m

Visitors/Marine Traffic:

  • No marine traffic today as it has been very windy
  • Greg and a technician came on Wednesday
  • Garry and a visitor came yesterday evening

Ecological: 

  • there is one elephant seal now. She spends most of her time near the fuel shed, or on the jetty near “Boris” the sea lion (with the propeller injury on his head).
  • The seagulls have been fighting quite a bit now that their population is becoming denser and space is limited. The male seagulls fight more often, and their female mates are usually nearby observing.

Windy Week and Sea Lion Update!

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Weather:

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky clear
  • Wind 15-20 knots W
  • Sea state: calm, rippled
  • It has been very windy this week. Most days the wind has hovered around 30 knots, sometimes as much as 35+ knots! It has been overcast intermittently, and we did receive some rainfall.

Visitors/Marine Traffic: 

  • Greg visited today with some supplies. Thanks Greg!
  • Since it has been so windy, there has been very little boat traffic. Yesterday we saw one small pleasure craft playing in the waves near Pedder Bay, and one coastguard ship passed by earlier today. A few small vessels and fishing boats passed by but no vessels entered the reserve.

Ecological:

  • Animal activity has been very quiet due to our stormy weather
  • The geese seem to be moving on now- there are fewer every day.
  • There are not many more seagull nests beginning but the seagulls have chosen their nesting locations and are defending them from other breeding pairs.
  • There is one sea lion who has been coming onto the jetty and does not move away from us as the others do. We believe this is the same one that we observed last year who seemed to have a propeller injury on his head. It’s interesting that he has been able to survive with seemingly quite a bit of behavioral impact due to the head trauma.

 

Hustle and Bustle / Pleasure Craft Violation / Census

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Weather: 

  • Sky overcast, hazy, steady rain this afternoon
  • Visibility 15 miles this morning, < 2 miles this afternoon
  • Wind 0-10 knots NE
  • Water calm

Boats/Visitors: 

    • A whole boat load of visitors this morning! VP of Pearson College Tyrone, Alum in residence Norbert and friends to advise on our solar panel system, a desalinator consultant (in preparation for the new desalinator!), and an insurance appraiser.
    • Fewer whale watching boats this week, but we have been concerned about the frequent use of flash photography and its possible effects on the wildlife.
    • Greg also made another trip to bring us some water this afternoon.
    • Yesterday we watched a pleasure craft approach the sea lions near our jetty and throw some kind of food at them (some of it hit the sea lions). We were able to capture them scaring the animals, who stampeded into the water. They hovered to take photos and unfortunately pose with their open alcohol. Even more unfortunate, the bait that we saw being thrown at the sea lions previously and perhaps this time as well is not suitable for consumption, as many times it has been treated with formaldehyde.

Ecological: 

  • Many sea lions now, and unfortunately a few that are injured. Aside from the two that we have mentioned previously, we have been finding more fishing hooks scattered around and a sea lion appearing to have a nasty wound possibly caused by an embedded fishing hook.
  • This afternoon we also noticed a sea lion with a propeller inflicted gash on his head. He seemed to be dazed or perhaps concussed due to the injury. Normally the sea lions are skittish and make a ruckus if we get too close, but this one didn’t react to our presence and seemed notably lethargic. We were concerned that he might fall victim to the injury, but approximately an hour later he seemed more alert, reacted to our presence, and seemed to be doing okay.
  • We reported the tagged sea lion to the researchers in California and were excited to hear that they have some information about him and his early life. We hope to be able to share more soon! This little guy has already swum almost 1500 km from his birth place, Ana Nuevo CA.
  • Yesterday there was quite a bit of smoke caused by controlled burning taking place on the nearby DND land. They burned 20 hectares of Gary Oak habitat to protect the species (from invading conifers) and and prevent spread of invasive plants.

Census:

  • 350 sea lions
  • 50 harbour seals
  • 1 elephant seal
  • 40 cormorants
  • 60 adult gulls, and some chicks (they are too hard to see from the lighthouse)
  • 4 geese
  • 20 turnstones