Tag Archives: california sea lion

August 3 – Station Boat

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The Race Rocks 14′ Boston Whaler boat has not been used in a while. After the elephant seals cleared the ramp for their post swim afternoon nap, I lowered the boat to the water with the electric winch. Once I made sure the motor was running properly, I took the boat out for a quick 20 minute ride, including idling to take photos and look in the binoculars. I had back up by VHF radio and cellphone in case anything went awry. Pearson’s boat Second Nature was in the area, taking alumni on tours around the Ecological Reserve. The station boat is running well. I look forward to more around the rocks tours over the coming weeks. I do need to troubleshoot the GPS/SONAR unit before I go out next. Oddly, it was working fine in the boathouse. Race Rocks would be boring if everything worked all the time.

The sea lion population continues to climb with 60 on Middle Rock and 13 on Great Race by the jetty. That is a big difference to yesterday afternoon when there were no barks or belches coming from the main island, just the occasional elephant seal bellow or sleep apnea snort.

Facility work:

  • Launch boat and take it out for a spin
  • Tidy boat house
  • Clean windows on ecoguardian’s house

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 27
  •  Private: 5

Weather:

  • Sea: up to 2′ chop
  • Sky: Partly cloudy, fog (and foghorn) from 20:26 onwards
  • Wind: W 16-30 knots
  • Air temperature: low 11°C, high 13°C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.1°C

** All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

August 2

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I will contact NOAA and DFO to report the resighting of the California sea lion with the tag 13-2. The orange tags mean the sea lion was rehabilitated. The tag on the left flipper means the sea lion is a male. I will update the log when I hear back about his history. The rest of the California and Steller sea lions are currently hauled out on Middle Rocks. Perhaps this guy needs a break from the frat party.

Facility work:

  • Clean solar panels
  • Check guest house for supplies and cleanliness

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 12
  •  Private: 3

Weather:

  • Sea: rippled in morning, up to 3′ chop in afternoon/evening
  • Sky: Partly cloudy
  • Wind: variable light winds overnight; from 07:00-12:00 westerlies 8-20 knots; afternoon/evening westerlies 20-31 knots
  • Air temperature: low 12°C, high 21°C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.0°C

** All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

August 1 Census

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Census Results:

Mammals:

  • Elephant seal: 2 (female and male)
  • Steller sea lion: 34
  • California sea lion: 11
  • Sea otter: 1
  • Harbour seal: 78

Birds:

  • Bald eagle: 1
  • Canada goose: 3
  • Cormorant: 33
  • Gull: 584
  • Black oystercatcher: 20
  • Pigeon guillemot: 131
  • Whimbrel: 1
  • Surfbird: 28
  • Black turnstone: 137
  • Song sparrow: 2
  • Least sandpiper: 1

Facility work:

  • Reacquaint myself with the standard operating procedures and various systems on the island
  • Check boat electronics, safety equipment, and winch
  • Clean solar panels
  • Sample seawater

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 23
  •  Private: 5

Weather:

  • Sea: Rippled
  • Sky: Clear in morning, then partly cloudy
  • Wind: Variable light winds overnight until sunrise ~06:00, when wind switched to easterlies varying from 3-14 knots throughout the rest of the day
  • Daytime air temperature: low 13 C, high 24 C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.6 C

** All wildlife photos are taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Farewell! (For Now)

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Well, just like that it’s been 6 weeks and it’s time for me to return to the mainland. The wind is gusting 65km/hour right now, giving me one final storm before my departure. The animals are all hidden away, protecting themselves from the weather. All except the male elephant seal who is still harassing the gulls.

I thought I’d wrap up my final blog post with my favourite photos and moments from this trip. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Pinnipeds:

Cetaceans:

Ollie the Sea Otter: 

Birds:

Northern Lights:

Sunsets:

That’s all from me for now, but I’ll be back! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

So Many Sea Lions!

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I swear the sea lions have doubled in number since yesterday’s census! Or maybe they just ALL decided to hangout around the jetty today. Between the Stellers and the California’s I counted 40 sea lions out front this afternoon! Okay, so maybe they haven’t quite doubled…but there is about 10 more today and that seems significant.

One of the California sea lions had an orange flipper tag with the numbers 14-1 on it. While the Vancouver  Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society uses these tags, this is not the numbering system they use so I’m still on the hunt to find out where he came from. I’ve reached out to a few of my contacts in Washington and California to see if its an American tag but no luck so far. I’ll be sure to update the blog when I find out!

I also noticed a different California sea lion with a large wounded front flipper. The wound was clean and pink with no noted necrosis or signs of infection and he seemed otherwise fat and healthy. All good signs, especially when there is a wound of that size! Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) keeps track of all incidents, disturbances, deaths, injuries, etc when it comes to marine mammals so although this animal doesn’t require intervention I did report it to them so they can add it to their yearly totals. I hope this guy sticks around over the next few weeks so I can observe his healing progress!

Aside from staring at sea lions, I did do some actual work today. While I love how lush and green the site is right now, the plants have overgrown so much that they’ve made some of the paths nearly non existent. I decided to fix that today with a weed whacker which I had way too much fun with. I got a few done and  I still have a few paths to work through, trying my best to only clear the edges and not take away anything that isn’t necessary. We’ve just had so many guests and students this month that I want to ensure everyone actually has a nice path to walk on!

I also found a few new patches of these pretty pink flowers around the house today. It amazes me how many different flowers and plants grow here and I wonder how they got here. Some of them pop up in the most random places so I wonder if they were intentionally planted at one point and have now spread. I enjoy it either way!

Facility Work:

  • Rolled fire hoses
  • Big clean of main house
  • Weed whacked along the paths
  • Cleared out garbage from student house basement

Visitors:

  • Cedric + 2 contractors

Vessels:

– Ecotourism: 7

Weather:

  • Sky: Blue sky, some clouds
  • Wind: Low of 7 knots, High of 17 knots
  • Sea: Relatively calm
  • Temperature: Low 8•C, High 18•C

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Happy Friday!

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We have been down to just 3 elephant seals the last few days! The two small females and one larger one are still enjoying the grass, however the largest female has not been around in a few days. The last I saw of her was 2 days ago when she was bobbing around in the water behind the student house, so I wonder if she’s just chosen to haul out on one of the surrounding rocks.

Ollie spent his day in the water near Middle Rocks, just floating and looking extra fluffy.

The Stellers were no where to be found today but the California sea lions have spent the week tucked in to the left of the jetty. They must be smarter than they let on because that area is definitely the most protected from the wind. They still require the occasional reminder to stay off the jetty throughout the day but otherwise behave themselves.

California sea lion proudly displaying his snaggle tooth

Lastly on the mammal side of things, the harbour seal numbers seem to have grown since I was here in March and with pupping season just a few weeks away I hope to see that number grow before I leave in June!

There are tons of pigeon guillemots around lately, I love to watch them on the rocks and I think my favourite thing about them is that their feet perfectly match the inside of their mouth. 

Hopefully this wind dies down in the next few days and I can get back to taking more photos!

Facility work:

  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Topped up battery electrolytes

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy, sun and clouds in afternoon
  • Wind: Low of 14 knots, High of 19 knots, gusts up to 30 knots
  • Sea: Small whitecaps
  • Temperature: Low 7•C, High  15•C

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Thursday Update

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I think I experienced every possible type of weather today! From a beautiful rainbow at sunrise to dark clouds and sideways rain, to enough sun to charge the batteries to 100%, to now window rattling wind as I type this. I guess that’s technically not EVERY type of weather, but at this point I wouldn’t be shocked by a snow storm before dark.

Weather aside, today was still very productive which is my favourite kind of day. No boats in the reserve today which wasn’t surprising.

Facility work:

Cleaned outer windows of both houses

Finished work on desalinator; it has been leaking so Cedric did some work on it yesterday and I finished putting it back together this morning but unfortunately it still leaks so more work to come!

Lots of cleaning and organizing inside the house, the wind is too strong for much else right now. My favourite thing to do when the weather is bad is to bake so I quickly whipped up some banana muffins during the rain. I always do my best to not waste any food and make the most of all my supplies here so this was the perfect opportunity to make use of my very brown bananas. 

DND:

– 6 blasts throughout the day; minimal animal disturbance noticed (although I nearly jump out of my skin every time!)

Unphased

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy, sun and clouds in afternoon
  • Wind: Low of 17 knots, High of 20 knots, gusts up to 31 knots
  • Sea: Rough, whitecaps
  • Temperature: Low 9•C, High  15•C

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Monday Update

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Another day of blue sky and sun but unfortunately another day of wind too! 30 knots today and it looks like it will continue through the rest of the week.

Due to the weather I did not see any boats on the water today aside from cruise ships and freighters on the horizon.

I was able to clean all the house windows on the outside before the wind nearly took the brush out of my hand and I had to move onto indoor cleaning and organizing.

When moving the sea lions from the jetty this morning I did notice that one of the California sea lions has what appears to be an old eye injury. His other eye is normal, his body condition is great, and it is overall not concerning.  Just thought it was worth mentioning because it caught my eye – no pun intended.

Not the most eventful day today, but great nonetheless!

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Friday Update

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The Steller sea lions have taken over the rocks to the right of the jetty which has resulted in the California sea lions inconveniently taking over the jetty and spilling over into the rocks on the left. Usually a calm and careful walk down the jetty clears them off but by the time I get back to the shed they are already back. Some seem to learn quicker than others or are more fearful of humans so those ones find themselves a new spot right away. However there are always a few stragglers that don’t seem to care in the slightest which results in me taking many trips down to the end of the jetty and back.

When I’m here I try to do everything in my power to not disrupt the animals, however it’s important to keep the jetty clear for when our boat arrives as well as for emergencies. It can also be dangerous at a very low tide if there are sea lions on the jetty and something spooks them. It’s a long drop into very shallow or no water and when something sets them off they seem to react first, think later. So really, a clear jetty is for both human and animal safety. Thankfully there are plenty of other areas for them to snooze and sunbathe and eventually they get tired of seeing me on the jetty and find themselves a safer place to relax.

Ollie spent his day in the kelp beds behind the student house again, grooming and sleeping before moving onto the rocks to settle onto a not so comfy looking bed of mussels.

The same 4 female elephant seals are still here. Elephant seals go through something called a catastrophic moult each year where they shed their fur as well as their top layer of skin. It’s quite common to see these guys looking pretty rough but all 4 of the ones that are currently here appear to be in good condition.

Facility Work:

  • Topped up battery electrolytes
  • Started filling the cistern, it is very low so I plan to run the pump tomorrow too

Vessel Traffic:
– 1 ecotourism vessel
– 2 cruise ships on the horizon and multiple freighters/tankers

Visitors:
– Cedric to help me fill the cistern and with a few other tasks around the site

Weather:
Sky: Sun and clouds
Wind: High of 10 knots, Low of 6 knots
Sea: Calm
Temperature: Low 7, High  13oC

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Sunday Update

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This morning’s sunrise made up for yesterday’s gloom. All 3 elephant seals are still on the island. I’ve nicknamed the smaller female “Petal” because every time I find her she is squashing a different bed of flowers. Tonight she settled on the largest patch of grape hyacinth behind the house, but not before flattening the majority of the remaining daffodils. 

The darker of the new sea otters spent the morning around the South Island snacking on bright red urchins. It amazes me how they can make their way through the sharp spines and remain completely un-phased. I have not seen the little blonde one or Ollie this week. 

This afternoon I counted 26 California sea lions on the rocks near the jetty. I know this number may seem low for anyone whose here at busier times of the year but until today the most I’ve seen is 10! There was also one large Steller who snuggled himself in amongst the significantly smaller California boys. 

Lots of eagles around lately too!

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **