Tag Archives: branded

Eagle Food

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There was nothing remarkable about the leaden morning with light and languid, north-northeast winds. Partially overcast skies cast a silvery pall over the Strait but bits of blue sky held promise for better things to come. The barometer held overnight at just above 1010 hPA and by mid-afternoon had dropped to 1008 As evening falls the barometer is holding at 1007. In the afternoon there was some sunshine but it was really a day dominated by cloud.

Five commercial whale-watching vessels were observed working in the Ecological Reserve today. Three were seen working in behind (south side) South Rocks and they were travelling very slowly and cautiously. Sea conditions were calm. The sea lions did not appear too disturbed by their presence. A few younger animals close to the water went in but it would be difficult to determine cause. On that note, military blasting continued as planned, from late morning to mid afternoon. Interceptor vessels and red flags warned boaters off. The sea lions and birds did not seem to react.

The wild goose chase continued and progress is happening. By early afternoon, most of the geese had retreated to the military zone to graze on the large lawn there. One pair staking out an area by camera 5 were more persistent, but eventually left for greener pastures. A couple of pairs of gulls were seen doing some of the broody things they do when nest building but as it is early yet, they are probably just practicing for the big day when they actually start to build a nest. The Pigeon Guillemots continue to flock here in the morning and leave in the afternoon as noted by Riley. Many were practicing walking on land today and in the water they worked the ebb flow through the rocks taking a ride and then flyew back upstream for another one.

A partially decomposed Northern Elephant Seal pup and part of its skull was located not far from the octopus in the boulders beach east of the Ecoguardian’s house. From the size, it appeared to have been a very young pup, if not premature, at death. The octopus was bigger. The plentiful, rich food sources are starting to explain the large number of eagles here daily.

A branded Stellers Sea Lions was photographed today 319Y and 4332 was observed. A California Sea Lion with a number on its rump and an X anterior to that was observed but the number was not verified nor was a successful photo taken.

 

There were no visitors and chores were routine today.

 

 

Wild Goose Chase

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Last night’s north easterlies created a bit of a symphony: percussion on soffits accompanied by back door whistling its multifarious tunes. Morning started with the call of Canada Geese arriving, southerly winds (10 – 15 knots) and rainy skies. By late morning the wind direction had changed to west and the sky eventually cleared to a mix of sun and cloud by late afternoon. The gentle to moderate westerly is forecast to continue tomorrow bringing a 30% chance of showers. The barometer has been rising all day, so things are looking up.

‘Sports’ fishers were seen passing and fishing in the distance today and there were no sightings of whale watchers in the Ecological Reserve.

I went out to clear off the geese first thing and saw a pair mating in the water. That inspired me to ramp up daily goose patrols. No sign of nests yet, but there are a few pairs that are hormonally persistent. The large number of Bald Eagles is potentially helping keep the geese nervous. I saw an adult eagle flying with some sort of large bird, hanging from its talons but could not tell if it was a goose or a cormorant. The gulls seem to be setting up their territories, even though it still seems quite early for anything very serious. Pigeon Guillemots, Glaucous-winged gulls, and Black Oystercatchers are all in breeding plumage, as are many of the three species of cormorant.

Chunk actually moved today, leaving his dead, stink zone for fresh flowers and a sloped recline on the other side of the paths. I also saw him open one eye as I walked past, a small feat of energetic response. He really is wiped out from all of his male activities.

A California Sea Lion, which is equally lethargic, is hauled out beside the derrick and he looks quite emaciated with backbones and ribs showing. The rest of Sea Lions that remain look healthy and haul out tightly together in two spots, a small group just down to the northwest of the Science House and a larger group on the South Islets. There are a few branded animals but I haven’t been able to get photos yet. A male Steller’s 76Y (left side) and a couple of rump branded Columbian California Sea Lions. 76Y was branded at St. George Reef in northern California, just south of Oregon, in 2002 as a pup. 443Y is just going into its third year and was branded at Rogue Reef in southern Oregon, just north of the California border, in 2013.

 

There were no visitors and chores were routine.

 

 

 

Animal Census and Gale conditions

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Weather

  • In the morning:
  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-10 NE
  • Water: 1′ chop
  • Sky: overcast
  • From 10 A.M. onwards:
  • Wind: 25-45 W
  • Sky: showers

Ecological

  • Chuckles spent all day on Great Race.
  • In the morning Chunk went into the water; he returned a couple of hours later. “Watch” him climb over a log in the photo slideshow!
  • Conducted a census. Unfortunately the gale force winds started up just before I climbed the tower to do the largest portion of the census, so by the time I began, many animals had fled seeking shelter.
  1. California Sea Lions: 44
  2. Northern Sea Lions: 13 (1 branded with ?6Y)
  3. Elephant Seals: 2
  4. Seagulls: 106 (there were more before I did my count)
  5. Pigeon Guillemots: 80 (these I counted before the gale)
  6. Cormorants: 57 (there were more before I did my count)
  7. Black Turnstones: 22
  8. Bald Eagles: 20 (13 immature, 7 adults)
  9. Surfbirds: 11
  10. Canada Geese: 10

Fire Extinguisher Return

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knots NE
  • Water: rippled
  • Sky: clear

Ecological

  • Chunk and Chuckles still on Great Race.
  • Chuckles had some fresh wounds on his back that were weeping fluids.
  • Saw a California sea lion branded with 8240.
  • Saw a Sea Slater (Ligia Pallasii) crawling in the muck near the jetty today.

Maintenance

  • Found all the “loaner” fire extinguishers and collected them up.
  • Loaded said fire extinguishers and a box of recycling into the maintenance boat when Jeff and his assistant came by.
  • Checked the water level in the cistern; things are good.

Boats

  • Jeff came by to pick up some items. He did not disembark.

Other

  • Heard six DND blasts today. They came in pairs, each pair progressively bigger, from loud, to house shaking. 10:03, 10:05, 10:55, 10:57, 11:41, and 11:43.

Birds and Boats

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knots NE
  • Water: rippled
  • Sky: clear
Sunset

Sunset

Ecological

  • Chunk and Chuckles still on Great Race.
  • Saw a northern sea lion branded with 354Y.
  • Saw a northern sea lion with a cooker cutter shark scar.
  • Noticed at least 50 harbour seals out on the south islands today.
  • Saw a common merganser wash itself on a rock close to shore. Apparently it is quite uncommon to see them at Race Rocks. Later some harlequin ducks swam nearby.
  • Saw a jellyfish floating around near the jetty. Not sure what variety it was.
  • Noticed some grape hyacinth for the first time today. By my estimate there are least 6 different species of flowers now in bloom out here.

Bald Eagles and Snowy Mountains

Maintenance

  • Stacked firewood until there was no remaining space. Will have to restart stacking once some of the stores have been burnt up to create space.

Boats

  • Jeff and his two Belgian volunteers came by with food supplies this morning. Eggs, milk, and bread. Surprised the Belgians didn’t bring me any Jupiler.
  • Quite a bit of traffic today out in the straight. Documented the more interesting looking ones with photographs.
  • One fishing boat went through the middle channel of the reserve.

Other

  • Heard 5 DND blasts today from Bentinck Island. A small one at 12:47, and then 4 medium blasts at 12:50, 12:55, 15:04, and 15:06. The animals didn’t make too much of a fuss.

One of today's DND blasts

Two Branded Sea Lions

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 15-25 knots NE
  • Water: 2′ chop
  • Sky: clear

Ecological

  • Spotted two northern sea lions with brands on them. The bigger one seemed to have 76Y branded on it, although the “7” was a bit undefined. The smaller one had three circles branded on its side. I assumed this was a brand, although in one of Anne Stewart’s log posts she mentions “cookie cutter shark scars” so perhaps this sea lion has three of those in a row?
  • Chunk and Chuckles spent the day in the same positions as yesterday.
  • Sadly, the weaner elephant seal on Middle Rock seems to be deceased. When I looked over there this morning I saw 8 bald eagles and blood stains all over the rock. I assume that one of the males killed it in the night. The body must have washed into the water.
  • With that death, we are now 0/4 at Race Rocks with elephant seal pups for 2016; 1 pup killed accidentally and 3 weaners killed on purpose. Killed for what purpose we do not know.

Maintenance

  • Stacked more firewood today.
  • Hauled some very large logs off the ramp. They seemed like small boats.
  • Had some troubles getting the YSI to turn on, so I took the sea water samples the old fashioned way first, before finally getting the YSI to work.

Boats

  • No boats in the reserve today.

Branded Sea Lion 443Y

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knots W
  • Water: 1′ chop
  • Sky: mostly clear

Ecological

  • Spotted 9 immature bald eagles on South Island with one mature eagle a bit farther away.
  • Status quo with the elephant seals, although I have my suspicions that the female whom Chuckles tried to mate with yesterday is not the grieving mother, but a different one arrived the night before, and the grieving mother departed.
  • The pup out on Middle Rock seems to be getting quite large. Perhaps he’ll become a weaner soon?
  • There were over 50 harbour seals in the reserve today.
  • Saw a northern sea lion branded with 443Y.

Maintenance

  • More cleaning in the Student’s House.
  • Stacked firewood in the water shed.

Boats

  • No eco-tours today.
  • One fishing boat passed nearby.
  • A large container ship seems to be anchored out in the strait towards Victoria.

Weaner deceased

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 12-17 knots E
  • Water: 1’ chop
  • Sky: clear
  • Beautiful day. Mt. Baker was clearly visible.

Ecological

  • When I got up in the morning, I discovered that the weaner elephant seal was dead. His head had been crushed in during the night by several bites. Chunk had blood stains around his mouth, while both the females had blood stains along their bodies. All 4 living elephant seals were across the path from the dead weaner.
  • Chuckles was with the mum and pup on Middle Rock, who still appear to be doing well.
  • In the afternoon Chunk went over to the dead weaner and rolled him over onto his back.
  • Saw a sea lion with the number “2” branded onto its back. The remainder of the sea lion was underneath a pile of the great beasts, so I could not see the full branding number.
  • There appeared to be half as many cormorants today as there were yesterday, but a similar amount of seagulls.

Maintenance

  • Cleared logs off the ramp once.
  • Cleaned bird droppings off the solar panels.
  • Reorganized the dry firewood and started storing the new firewood prepared by Alex.
  • Vacuumed up hundreds of fruit flies in the basement near the composting toilet.

Boats

  • One pleasure craft containing 4 people who were recreational fishing appeared to be just inside the boundary of the rock fish conservation area.
  • Two eco-tour boats came by this afternoon. The first one seemed to go too close to the islands, at one point a mere stones throw away from the dock. The second one also looked rather close at times.
  • Two navy ships were out and about near William Head. HMCS Whitehorse (705) and HMCS Ottawa (341).

Storms and calms Dec 21-27

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Ecological

  • Dec 21. Wind SE up 35-40 knots in the morning.  This combined with a higher than normal high tide. Barometer dipped below 990.
  • Dec 21. Nursing Northern sea lion seen on west side of Great Race, first time I have seen this here and apparently only the second time we have gotten photographs of this here.  Solo humpback west of race rocks. Barometer dipped below 990.
  • Dec 22. Wind shifted to West and increased overnight, by morning it was 5-10 knots W but there were still heavy swells coming in from the straight. Barometer dipped below 990 again today. At high tide the large sets of waves were breaking over the jetty and spray from waves was reaching above the helicopter pad.  Sealions were surfing reef break off South side of Great Race.  2 branded sealions: 409Y and 315Y (photo) observed.
  • Dec 23. Strong westerly overnight again and high tides. Wind picked up to 30 knots SW in the evening.
  • Dec 23.  A second female elephant seal came onto the island bringing total to 4 on Great Race, she is smaller than the other one and going through catastrophic molt.
  • Dec 24. Relatively calm day, partly clear, wind NE 5-10 knots. Atmospheric pressure on the rise.
  • Dec 25. Relatively calm day, partly clear, easterly picked up later in the day.  Over past few days there have been more sea-lions on Great Race than I can recall from previous years at this time.
  • Dec 26. wind NE 10-15 knots increasing to 25 N in the evening.  Atmospheric pressure reached 1030 early in the day before starting to descend.  Chuckles (smaller male e-seal, name short for Chunk-Holes in reference to the many tooth marks across his back caused by Chunk) sustained more wounds overnight from Chunk, he was hiding up at the base of the tower in the morning.
  • Dec 27. N wind over 20 knots and rain, pressure falling.  River otter around derrick deck.  Had to cancel transport for Christmas bird count  at RR due to weather. Chuckles still at base of tower, I dont think he has gone off island for about a week, at least its raining now so he will get a rinse.

Marine Vessels

  • Dec 22. 2 Eco tour
  • Dec 24. I went off island in the morning and returned just after noon.  2 ecotour vessels in afternoon.
  • Dec 25. I went off island mid morning and returned mid afternoon.  1 ecotour in afternoon.
  • Dec 26. 1 eco tour.

Maintenance

  • Dec 21. Got prices on stove parts.  Lots of wood to clean up on boat ramp.
  • Dec 22. Stormy most of the day.  Checked water levels in batteries. Cut and chopped fire wood.
  • Dec 23. Stormy day. Lots of wood to clear of ramp. Sent stove parts price list to Chris for approval.  Sent photos of chimney in student house attic to Jeff.  Made parts list for town run.
  • Dec 24. Picked up plumbing parts (at Andrew Sherret) for rainwater tank and leaky water line in basement and bar oil for chainsaw (Slegg). Picked up pressure washer from shorefront. Pressure washed rain water tank and put tank back in place.  Brought in jerry cans for gas but marina was closed in the afternoon.
  • Dec 25. Lots of wood to clear off ramp.  Cut logs and ran derrick to haul a couple.
  • Dec 26. Lots of wood to clear off ramp. Transferred one barrel of diesel to tidy tank and filled day tank. Filled jerry can for derrick.  Topped up derrick engine fuel and oil (low and needs a change). Derrick battery was too low to turn over engine so plugged in trickle charger for 2 hours after which it started up.  Pulled several logs onto deck.  Got electric chainsaw sharpener running off a spare boat battery, sharpened chainsaw.  Cut firewood. Re-stocked firewood in main house in advance of cold and wet weather coming. Missing cap for downspout clean-out to rain water tank.
  • Dec 27. Cleared, cut and chopped wood.

Dec 19th and 20th

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Ecological

  • Wind has continued to shift between predominantly West and South East reaching a peak of over 30 knots Sunday afternoon
  • Both male elephant seals have remained mainly on Great Race. Saturday morning there were signs of fresh wounds on the smaller male’s back.
  • Pelagic cormorants, with iridescent green and purple tinted black plumage,  were clearly distinguishable in the sunlight Saturday morning
  • A california sealion with brand number 8240 was seen Sunday afternoon

Marine Vessels

  • Saturday afternoon two ecotour vessels were seen in the reserve. They entered from around West Rock and proceeded up middle channel against a ~4 knot ebb while there were sealions hauled out on the West side of the Great Race.
    Traveling against the current as well as within 100 meters of marine mammals are both careless and unprofessional.
  • Sunday afternoon a group of sailing yachts circumnavigated race rocks passing inside the reserve occasionally.  They were out when windspeed was peaking at 30 knots.

Maintenance

  • Assessed wood stove and contacted supplier to get prices on replacement parts, two baffle tubes are burnt out, bottom brick liner is broken into several pieces and baffle is a bit worn.
  • Worked on generator fuel transfer, had some problems with transfer pump over loading filling pipe and backing up with fuel.  Spoke with Jeff about it and locating fuel gauge on day tank (its on the South side, against the wall).  Transferred one barrel of diesel to tidy tank then filled up day tank.
  • Sunday battery voltage was bellow 48V at 2 pm so started generator early and ran desalinator for 8 hours.
  • Oil level on desalinator high pressure pump was above fill line so drained some out before starting up.

Other

  • Went off island Sunday morning for some supplies and returned around noon.  Picked up a plug in watt meter to measure energy loads of appliances and re-stocked on newspaper for fire starting.