Weather: 

• Sky blue, a few clouds
• Visibility 15+ miles (less fog lately)
• Wind 20-30 knots W
• Water choppy, waves to .5 m, whitecaps

Boats/Visitors:

• No visitors to the island since Greg delivered water on Monday. We were happy to have a few guests of the college also stop in for a visit at the same time.
• Lately there have been quite a few eco-tourism vessels (20+ each day). The noise from the vessels is continuous and can be felt as a low vibration even inside the house. We have seen the odd private pleasure craft as well but they are typically smaller and move more slowly.

Ecological: 

• The seagulls are growing more and more! The chicks have started to flap their wings into the wind, and wading into the water near the jetty. The adults seem to be attacking the young less frequently as they get bigger, but we still spot the odd deceased chick. Today we saw an adult gull swallow an unlucky chick whole.
• The oyster catcher chicks have begun flying! They are able to cross the short distance between the jetty and the nearby rocks.
• There are only two moulting male elephant seals on the island now. They look like they will likely leave soon, as their peeling of skin and fur is nearly done.
• Earlier this week we saw orcas in the reserve, making twice in the past week and a half.
• There have been a handful of seal pups and their moms resting in the shallower intertidal on the SE side of the island (also many seals on rosedale rock)
• There has been a slow increase in sea lions hauling out onto west and middle rock. They occasionally stop on the jetty at a higher tide, or the rocks nearby.