Tag Archives: C887

April 11 and 12 – Weekly Census

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Wind: yesterday W-S 0-32 knots, today W-SE 2-17 knots
Sea State: both days calm
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy then clear from mid morning, today clear
Temperature: yesterday 8-14 °C, today 7-14 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 416.33 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The lawn in front of the house got busier this morning with nine elephant seals, two more than yesterday. A tenth seal, the pup, was near the jetty. The two new arrivals have green tags on their tail flippers. One is a male tagged C887. The other is a juvenile tagged G512 on the right flipper and E779 on the right. I will update the information on age and past sightings when I hear back from the researchers. The green tags signify the elephant seals were tagged at Año Nuevo, south of San Francisco.

[UPDATED April 13: I heard back from Dr. Patrick Robinson, the researcher from Año Nuevo Reserve. The elephant seal with green tags E779 and G512 was tagged as a pup in February 2019, where he was born at Año Nuevo. This is the first time the male juvenile has been spotted outside of Año Nuevo, where he was last seen as a weaner in March, 2019. The elephant seal with the green tag C887 is a juvenile male that was born at Año Nuevo in February 2017. He has been seen at Race Rocks in the month of December in 2017, 2018 and 2019.]

There was one boat seen in the ecological reserve on each of the past two days, a pleasure boat yesterday and a sailboat today.

Census results observed this afternoon at low tide:
10 elephant seals (1 female pup, 1 female juvenile, 1 juvenile, 2 sub adult males, 5 female adults)
16 steller sea lions
91 california sea lions
1 sea otter
72 harbour seals
5 bald eagles (2 juveniles, 3 adults)
16 Canada geese
1 black brant goose
99 gulls (mostly thayer’s)
17 pelagic cormorants
4 brandt’s cormorants
5 double-crested cormorants
6 black oystercatchers
24 pigeon guillemots
7 harlequin ducks
2 surfbirds
5 black turnstones

  • Two eagles on Turbine Rock and a colourful sailboat passing through Race Passage.
  • Newly arrived juvenile elephant seal tagged G512 and E779
  • Green tags G512 and E779 on the juvenile elephant seal.
  • Newly arrived sub adult male elephant seal tagged C887
  • Green tag C887 on the sub adult male elephant seal
  • Black brant goose
  • Four elephant seals waiting for the water to come to them
  • Newly arrived juvenile seal exploring the boardwalk
  • A view from the top of the lighthouse this afternoon of the clear water of the east bay. A group of sea lions can be seen on the rocks.
  • These lucky gulls won of the goose egg hunt

Townsend’s Warbler

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Weather: 

  • Sky: Overcast
  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 10-20 knots NE
  • Water: Choppy under a metre

Boats/Visitors: 

  • A couple visitors today and expecting more throughout the week

Ecological

  • Saw this adorable little Townsend’s warbler on my way to turn the generator room, it was just hopping around in the flowers
  • The young female elephant seals, there were three did not stay very long, they have all left but there is still 5 males, 3 young ones and two big ones
  • Two of the young ones are tagged green tags C887 and D108
  • They are scattered around right now making some of my daily tasks difficult but it is so great to see them here before I take off

 

Elephant Seals

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Weather: 

  • Sky: Overcast
  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 10-20 knots SE
  • Water: Choppy under a metre

Boats/Visitors: 

  • A few tour boats still out and about

Ecological

  • The sea lions numbers were still kind of holding steady until yesterday, a couple hundred of them have left again and there are still a few hundred sticking around.
  • There are now 5 elephant seals, two of them tagged, the small pink tag is still around along with a familiar one green tag C887 who I called Flounder last year.
  • Two bigger males, one of them the familiar Bernard, a slightly smaller guy and then flounder being the smallest male along with two females that are under a year old.
  • Not much else going on here the weather has been very dreary, still a mild winter though I’ve only had one or two storms so far

C887

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 0-15 NE
  • Sky: Partly Cloudy
  • Water: Calm

Boats/Visitors

  • had a couple of visitors today, come by for a little tour

Ecological

  • Turns out the elephant seal we have been identifying as female since it first turned up in December 2017 is actually a male. It is tagged, a green tag C887
  • I noticed he went through a major growth spurt since spotting him in December 2018 which is common in male elephant seals but not really in females, he is hanging out with the tagged elephant seal that had the pup here in January
  • the pups are doing great, swimming in the mornings when the adults are out of the water, they don’t interact much with the mature elephant seals

Last post until the new year

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I am heading out tomorrow for winter break but both Jeff and Alex will be here.

Thought I would do one last count before I head out for a couple weeks, there seemed to be more Steller Sea Lions around today

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: From 0 – 15 NW but its supposed to blow pretty hard tomorrow
  • Sky: Overcast
  • Water: Pretty calm, can see some decently sized rollers out there

Boats/Visitors

  • A few ecotours going by today, it was relatively calm out

Maintenance

  • Getting the house ready for the next person, trying to fill up the fresh water tank as much as I can before I go as well

Ecological

  • Decided to do another count, seems to be the same amount of Californias but a few more stellers out there today
  • Another large male elephant seal showed up, the scars on his back resemble chunk which makes wonder if the one that has been here the past couple days is Bernard or Boss, will need more photos to compare
  • There are currently 3 female elephant seals, one of them is tagged, C887
  • a few surf scoters out there today
  • Noticed a neck banded sea lion on the jetty today, will let the next person know to keep an eye on him, if he sticks around maybe we can get some help for him

Census

  • California Sea Lions – 216
  • Steller Sea Lions – 265
  • Harbour Seal – 18
  • Elephant Seal – 5 male, 3 female
  • Cormorants – 120
  • Gulls – 224
  • Canada Geese – 18
  • Black Turnstones – 28
  • Eagle – 6
  • Raven – 1
  • Oyster Catchers – 8
  • Surf Scoter – 4