Another great day in paradise! See below for today’s animal census.
Mammals:
California sea lions: 18
Steller sea lions: 16
Harbour seals: 87
Elephant seals: 3 (all female)
Sea otter: 1 (Ollie)
Birds:
Gulls: 231
Geese: 6
Bald eagles: 1 adult, 2 young
Pigeon guillemots: 208
Oyster catchers: 5
Cormorants: 42
Bonus – 16 brown pelicans yesterday!
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Today started out sunny with no wind which was a lovely change! A big fog bank rolled through in the morning but thankfully didn’t stick around too long. Cedric stopped by with 9 guests for a tour which is always fun. I love being able to talk to people and tell them about this history of the island, my job, and of course all the seal facts possible!
I got some outdoor work done (without the feeling like I was going to blow away) including giving the solar panels a good clean. I think we are almost at the time of year where this becomes a daily task. Despite the wind we’ve had a ton of sun and I have only used the generator a few times since my arrival at the end of April. These long sunny days are so wonderful!
The wind picked up in the afternoon, but not before a flock of 16 brown pelicans took a lap around the reserve before flying back out to sea! I don’t think seeing them will ever get old.
Visitors:
– Cedric + 9 guests
Vessels:
– 3 Ecotourism
Weather:
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Today was so action packed I’m not even sure where to begin!
I woke up just after sunrise as I knew today was going to be busy and I wanted to get a few tasks out of the way. At 6am it was already warm out with barely a breeze. The ocean was glassy as I cleaned the solar panels – which were yet again decorated by the birds.
Around 8:30am the first group of Pearson students were dropped off for their marine science exam which was taking place here at Race Rocks. By 9am we had 46 humans on the island which is a lot after not seeing anyone for a whole week. Today’s tide was one of the lowest I’ve seen since being here and its neat to see the rocks and small islands that are usually well below the surface.
Halfway through the exam we had a surprise visit from Coast Guard via helicopter to continue working on the fog horn. Thankfully all of the students were safely tucked away working on their exams down in the tide pools when it arrived. This time they had a smaller helicopter so they actually landed on the grass next to the tower rather than the helipad. Overall disturbance was limited aside from birds leaving the area (but immediately returning) and the minor panic exhibited by me.
If that wasn’t excitement enough, we saw 3 passing transient killer whales shortly after! Once again, they were quite far in the distance but always nice to see. One of these days I’ll see them up close!
On return to the school, one of the boats found a deceased harbour porpoise floating on the surface. I reported this to DFO and the animal was collected and brought back to the college where it can be stored in a freezer until the DFO team and veterinary pathologist are able to perform a necropsy.
The afternoon slowed down once it was just me and the animals alone on site. Ollie was relaxing in the kelp beds, the sea lions were quiet, and the sun was toasty. I ventured down to the rocks behind the student house to soak up some sun when something shiny caught my eye. Partially sticking out in the dirt I picked up what originally looked like some sort of bivalve or calcified shell, almost something you’d expect to see on a tropical beach. Upon picking it up I realized how heavy it was and that it actually appeared to be man made, with grooves that seemed as though they would hold rope or line. My next guess was that it was a lead fishing weight of some sort or maybe a piece of similar equipment. I rinsed it off and sent some photos to colleagues to further inquire. One of the other Eco Guardians, Derek, helped me to ID it as an “open-end strain insulator” and it supports guy wires/cables by working under compression. Through a page on the Maine Historical Society website I was also able to learn that this porcelain egg like tool was made in 1900. How wild is that! I know this island holds more history than I’ll ever know, but never did I think I’d stumble across a little piece of it among the dirt and the goose poop. I’m going to have a read through some books here tonight and see if there are any photos or mention of it!
Wow, okay I think that is everything for today! Race Rocks will never cease to amaze me.
…I guess I spoke/posted too soon! Shortly after publishing this blog post I spotted a brown pelican circling the reserve and figured it deserved a mention!
Additional info:
Ecotourism vessels: 10+ busiest day I’ve seen so far!
Weather:
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Compost project was completed on Saturday, with incorporation of a barrel of rain/fog water from the roof as the final touch. The rainwater was heavily contaminated with gull droppings, so not useful for much, but excellent to keep the compost moist and provide nutrients. The number and aroma of sea lions is increasing, but bird diversity remains low.
Ecological Notes:
Weather:
Facility Work:
Vessel Traffic:
Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.
Brown Pelicans
Short-billed-Dowitcher
Surfbirds
Short-billed Dowitcher with Black Turnstones
Birders checking out the shorebirds in East Bay
Young Glaucous-winged Gulls and young elephant seal
Young elephant seal beside the Science Building
Harbour seal and pup
Brown-headed Cowbirds
Bonaparte’s Gull
Steller’s sea lions
Steller’s sea lions
Branded Steller’s sea lion
Steller’s sea lions
Steller’s sea lions
Steller’s sea lions
Collected rainwater makes good compost moisture!
Boards all in place and ready for compost action
Compost project – Done!
Tomorrow is a shift changeover and my last day on the Island. Ann Nightingale is coming to be the Ecoguardian. I have enjoyed my stay here for the past five weeks. The near constant west wind provided excellent air conditioning. I learned to live harmoniously with the nesting gulls and chicks. The marine mammals (elephant seals, sea otter, humpback whales, orcas, and Steller sea lions) provided me with plenty of entertainment. I fixed more things on the island than broke. Another successful Ecoguardian shift.
Ecological Notes:
Weekly Census observed on Wednesday, August 3:
Weather:
Visitors:
Facility Work:
DND Blasting:
Vessel Traffic:
Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.
Ecological Notes:
Weather:
Visitors:
Facility Work:
DND Blasting:
Vessel Traffic:
Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.
Ecological Notes:
Weather:
Visitors:
Facility Work:
DND Events:
Vessel Traffic:
Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.
Ecological Notes:
Weather:
Visitors:
Facility Work:
Vessel Traffic:
Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.
Hello!
Ecological notes:
This week I have been fortunate enough to have uncommon visitors stop by the reserve… Brown Pelicans!
A group of a dozen pelicans have flown by 2-3 times this week and stopped for an afternoon break on an occasion as well!
Weather:
My morning routine consists of listening to the radio marine forecast accompanied by my cup of joe. This morning they shared that there is a ridge (High pressure system) along the west coast once again. This is good for the solar panels :) but will most likely indicate stronger westerlies (which had finally calmed down) coming into the straight once again.
Weather – Current: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72
Weather – Past: http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?
Environment Canada forecast:https://weather.gc.ca/marine/region_e.html?mapID=02
Or call 2503636880 to hear the radio forecast (for the region around Race Rocks) on your phone :)
Once you have chosen a region if you can also click on the “synopsis” tab it will show the marine synopsis. This is the part of the forecast were they talk about the systems (high and low pressure) positions.
Weather:
Ecological:
Census:
