Tag Archives: california sea lion

Census

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Ecological 

  • Wind NE 15-20 increasing to 25 knots, clear sky, temperature low.
  • Census. Numbers are low or zero for some species likely due to persistent cold temperature and wind which causes them to seek more shelter.  Notable there is a relatively high count of Califiornia sealions, most of which were sheltered on the leeward, south side of Great Race:
    • California sealions: 102
    • Northern sealions: 72
    • Elephants seals: 2M 1F
    • Harbour seals: 53
    • Bald Eagles: 2A 1J
    • Cormorants: 27
    • Gulls: 40
    • Harlequin ducks: 4

Vessels

  • 2 ecotour

Maintenance

  • Reboot of overloaded UPS in tower, communications restored.
  • Wood clearing, cutting and chopping
  • checking for potential freeze ups due to cold temperature

A Stormy Census

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Ecological Happenings

  • A Stormy day on the Rock with Gale force winds and large swell running.
  • Sea lions rode out the winds in the ocean swells, rafting together in large moving masses or surfing in groups.
  • The two Bull Eseals stayed on the island.

Marine Vessels

  • Navy vessel on manoeuvres outside the reserve.
  • Accompanying Navy helicopters flying out from the ship over the reserve at night.

Maintenance

  • Some driftwood cleared from the boat launch ramp after the winds dropped.
  • Camera 2 re-set. Further investigation needed to resolve the network problem.

Other

  • Number of animals in the reserve was affected by the storm (and maybe the counting too due to conditions!).

Census Count

Sea Lion 135
Harbour Seal 4
Elephant Seal 2
Cormorant 37
Gull 212
Sparrows 2
Surfbirds 3
Oyster Catcher 10
Black Turnstone 28
Raven 2
Spotted during the week
Bald Eagle (Adult/Immature) 2/8
Sparrows 5
Surfbirds 12
Oyster Catcher 18
Black Turnstone 12
Harlequin Duck 18
Canadian Geese 3
Bufflehead 1
Whales (Humpback) 2
Thayer's gulls hunkered down

Thayer’s gulls hunkered down

Surfs Up

Surfs Up

Catching a wave

Catching a wave

Jetty

No Landings today!

 

Elephant seal hiding from the storm

Elephant seal hiding from the storm

Black oystercatchers

Black oystercatchers

December Dawn

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December Dawn

December Dawn

Ecological Happenings

  • Adult and immature Bald Eagles around the reserve and using the derrick as a lookout.
  • Building winds and overcast skies.
  • Two Bull Eseals came up onto the main Island today.
  • Winds building. Blustery and overcast.

Marine Vessels

  • Coastguard helicopter passed overhead.

Maintenance

  • More familiarisation and settling in.
  • New pressure gauge fitted to the brine pump on the De-sal unit.
  • Fid made for splicing new lines onto the Whaler.
Elephant seal guarding the energy centre

Elephant seal guarding the energy centre

Elephant Seal Snoozing

Elephant Seal Snoozing

What do you mean I’m not camouflaged?

What do you mean I’m not camouflaged?

Buzzzz Off

Buzzzz Off

Buffeted Bald Eagle

Buffeted Bald Eagle

Sleepy sea lion

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Weather

Light cloud cover this morning and mostly sunny in the afternoon. Wind was variable – light in the early morning picking up towards the afternoon to as high as 16kts @ 17:00. Barometer was up a little to ~1012hPA. Forecast is for winds steadying between 10-15kts, and a chance of showers this evening and Sunday.

Boats in the reserve

15 Pleasure vessels, one of which was fishing in the reserve. After failed attempts to make contact on VHF16, DFO will be notified. There were also 3 tour boats and trawler activity around the reserve.

Ecological happenings

  • New Californian Sea Lion tag sighted (C733) – no photo yet
  • Two gulls spotted with broken wings
  • Harbour seal hanging out close to RR docks

No visitors today.

New Eco-guardians.

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Sea lions visit Pearson College Divers Photo by Jasper Rea.

Sea lions visit Pearson College Divers Photo by Jasper Rea.

It was a beautiful day at Race Rocks, with light southeast winds and a mostly clear sky. The barometer fell a little today to ~1013hPA and the forecast for tomorrow is for sunny skies. There is a strong wind warning in effect for overnight with diminishing southeast winds Friday. Rain is forecast for Saturday.

Only four whale-watching vessels were noted in the protected area today and three pleasure craft passed through going slowly. The people on one of those vessels, the Kaos were observed feeding rockfish to sea lions in the Ecological Reserve. It is illegal to feed wildlife and if it happens they will be reported.

Today was animal census day and here are the results.

Animal Census

Steller Sea Lion 321

California Sea Lion 637

Harbour Seal 77

Northern Elephant Seal 9

Sea Otter 0

Humpback Whale (1 observed within one mile of ER southeast of

Great Race)

Canada Goose 23

Harlequin Duck 5

Surf Scoters 11 (flying through to east)

Common Murre 5

Rhinoceros Auklet 4

Double-crested Cormorant 73

Brandt’s Cormorants 25

Pelagic Cormorant 9

Unidentified Cormorants 20

Bald Eagle 1 adult

Black Oystercatcher 11

Black Turnstone 7

Kildeer 2

Glaucous-winged Gull 248

California Gull 3

Thayer’s Gulls 707

Herring Gull 0

Ring-billed Gull 1

Western Gull 2

Heerman’s Gull 14

Mew Gull 0

Unidentified gulls 53

Total gull count 1028

Common Raven 2

Red-winged Blackbird 7 (during count week)

Savannah Sparrow 12

Song Sparrow 2

American Goldfinch 1

American Pipet 1

Don and Nina, the new eco-guardians in-training arrived today. They worked hard all day, after getting up very early to catch the morning slack and are progressing really well in learning some of the idiosyncrasies of Race Rocks operations.

Golden Day at Race Rocks.

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This morning dawn came with a mostly overcast sky and fog distant. It cleared by late morning and stayed sunny, only clouding over in the early evening. The wind was light, less than 10 knots and easterly all day. The barometer was up to 2022 earlier and is falling now. The forecast includes a strong wind warning for tonight. Thursday is expected to be sunny with a few clouds.

Four whale watching vessels were observed working in the protected area today. Several sport fishers passed through. The salmon gillnet fleet and packers passed through Race Passage heading east. There was a big swell during the morning and early afternoon.

Second Nature brought one of the Pearson College student dive teams today and the students who got into the water had a fantastic dive. Not only were they able to observe and film the incredible richness of this biodiversity hotspot, they were also visited underwater by curious sea lions.

Several new sea lion brands were noted today including Californians U20, U503, U363 and U844. One of the California Sea Lions made it right up to camera #5 today. By the time I got outside with the blog camera, he was already descending.

I noted the other day that I hadn’t noticed cookie Cutter Shark scars on the Steller’s Sea Lions. Well since I made that remark I am seeing theme everywhere, so take that back.

On the bird front, we had a little female American Goldfinch visit today. It landed on the thistles right in front of me over by the tower. Also on the bird front a suspected Brandt’s Cormorant with two leg tags was spotted today; yellow on the left leg and white on the right leg. There was also a strange bird amongst the Brandt’s Cormorants that I was hoping would be the Brown Booby that has been floating around out here.

 

Chores were routine and in preparation for the new eco-guardian crew coming out tomorrow. There were nine people on board Second Nature.

 

Plastic No No Band

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Thanksgiving Monday was a wet day dominated by light north-northeast winds in the morning and a moderate westerly in the afternoon. Wind speed was 10 or less knots until it turned to west. By early evening it had risen to 15 – 20 knots. The barometer fell early and has been climbing since late morning boding better weather tomorrow. The wind is forecast to drop after midnight and switch to light easterlies for Tuesday. Forecasters expect a mix of sun and cloud with fog patches dissipating in the morning. A brighter day expected.

Seven whale watching vessels visited in the morning and none in the afternoon and the three pleasure craft that passed through were also in the morning.

On wet days, it seems as if the sea lions spend more time in the water although there are pockets of Californians (on the cairns, for example) that stayed put, hauled out all day. The rock-climbers also stayed where they were (up by the heli-pad), some for a couple of days. I did see one “new” (to me) brand today, California Sea Lion ‘U755’ from the Columbia River area. There was also a “necklaced Stellers Sea Lion on the rocks by the energy building today. That rock is quite popular with Stellers which surprising due to its proximity to the activity.

Six young Northern Elephant Seals were ‘hanging out’, tussling in the water by the jetty all day today.

Salmon continue to pass through, as observed in sea lion kills throughout the area. The Glaucous-winged Gulls and Thayers Gulls continue to scavenge at the surface during the kills and in the mixed species feeding flocks where diving birds force forage fish balls up to the surface. Humpback Whales continue to forage adjacent to the protected area. The Humpback out by Rosedale Reef today is an extremely large one (probably a female). It spends very little time at the surface with dive times averaging greater than 10 minutes

California Sea Lion with brand U755. The U is also a C and indicates the animal was branded as a weaner near the Columbia River.

California Sea Lion with brand U755. The U is also a C and indicates the animal was branded as a weaner near the Columbia River.

and sometimes only one or two blows. They are tremendously high, straight blows.

More and more Double Crested Cormorants arrive daily raising the total number of cormorants using the protected area to forage and roost. The adult Bald Eagle returns each morning and worries the gulls and cormorants.
Chores are routine and it is really great to have company.

Twofold Foggy: Friday – Saturday

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Friday started with fog again and light southeast winds, from 5 to 10 knots. By late morning there were glimmers of clearing and by mid-day the sun was shining. The wind stayed calm and it stayed fairly clear, with clouds rolling by as the wind turned to west, in the late afternoon. By evening it was still and the sky mostly clear but that must have changed as the was fresh rainwater in the morning. The barometer bottomed out Friday morning at 1007 hPA before rising briefly. It started to drop again mid-day falling until mid-Saturday. The gale warning for Saturday, came true after another very foggy morning and light easterly winds. The turn to westerly was rapid, the fog was blown off and ominous clouds with a black line on the water to the west, foretold of what was to come. It blew up fast, reaching 40 knots and then settled back down to the up and down of 20 – 35 knots. There is gale warning is still in effect and the wind is forecast to lighten overnight, then become easterly 5 to 15 near noon Sunday. (I am collecting rainwater for laundry, bonus.)

Only two whale watching vessels were observed in the protected area Friday. Two sports fishing vessels also passed through. Saturday was a little busier with five whale watching vessels noted in reserve but there were no pleasure craft, they were probably seeking shelter. It is quite possible that I missed traffic both days due to thick fog reducing visibility.

Thursday was too foggy to do the animal census so it is cobbled together from the brief time slots when visibility permitted on Friday. It is interesting to note that the gull population plummeted after the arrival of the first Bald Eagle to be seen here, since I arrived at the end of August. Not sure if that is coincidental or not.

I only noticed the eagle because of the hundreds and hundreds of gulls moving en masse, from North Rock over to Great Race. When I peeked through the spotting scope, all the cormorants were in the water, the gulls were gone and there sat an adult Bald Eagle. Only the Harbour Seals seemed to ignore its presence.

There was no sign of the eagle today and the gull numbers are perhaps even lower. Glaucous-winged juveniles and adults continue to mill around summer territories. Some young ones are still practising picking things up, flying up and dropping them. Most of the adults are fully into their alternate plumage now. Their faces recovering from the physical aspects of feeding young.

The sea lions are spending more time in the water now that their favourite haul-out spots are worse than pig pens. Some of them have turned to rock climbing and I saw the first scouts up on the heli-pad today.

Animal Census

Steller Sea Lion 317

California Sea Lion 428

Harbour Seal             156

Northern Elephant Seal 6

Sea Otter 1

Southern Resident Killer Whale ( observed within one mile of ER during count week, (Race Passage, east, west and south of RR)

Biggs Killer Whale (Transients) ( during count week Race Passage & southwest)

Humpback Whale 2 (1 observed within ER west side during count week)

Minke Whale 1 ( observed within one mile of ER during count week just east of North Rock)

Canada Goose 4

Harlequin Duck 7

Surf Scoters 73 (flying through to east)

Double-crested Cormorant 35

Brandt’s Cormorants 29

Pelagic Cormorant 9

Bald Eagle 1 adult

Black Oystercatcher 23

Black Turnstone 6

Kildeer 2

Glaucous-winged Gull 258

California Gull 41

Thayer’s Gulls 874

Herring Gull 0

Ring-billed Gull 0

Western Gull 2

Heerman’s Gull 20

Mew Gull 18

Unidentified gulls 361

Total gull count 1574

Common Raven 2

Savannah Sparrow 19

Fox Sparrow 1

Junco 1

Golden-crown Kinglet 1

American Pipet 1

 

Starting the countdown on my last week on the rock for this shift. I may be back for a bit at the end of October, if extra training is needed for the new folks.

Drizzle, Fog and Steaming Sea Lions

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It was a wet, drizzly, foggy day at Race Rocks but very calm. For most of the morning, the wind varied little from  east northeast at less than 5 knots. It only picked up to 10 – 15 knots as it swung around to north northeast in the evening. The forecast for Thursday is similar and while winds are expected to rise to 25- 35 knots southeast on Friday. Periods of rain, cloud and showers are on the horizon in spite of the barometer rising (overall trend) since late Monday.

It was a quiet day on the vessel observation front and only three whale watching vessels were noted in reserve. One ‘sports’ fishing vessel came through at very low speed, well positioned away from the animals.

There was some cetacean activity noted during the day as visibility increased to over 5 nautical miles. This included two Humpback Whales feeding near Rosedale Reef just outside reserve to the south, a Minke Whale just east of North Rock and Dall’s Porpoise to the southwest.

On Great Race, the Sea Lions were steaming today as air temperature hovered around 12 degrees C. and the cooling rain was evaporated off. Part of their haul-out at this time of year is a physiological need to warm their skin during the moulting process, thus the tidy rows of animals pressed against each other and the piling on top of each other to share their body heat. Some California Sea Lions have taken to rock climbing these last few days. They are well established above the boathouse now and at the base of the cliff under camera 5, so the logical (to them) extension was to move further up and there were three of them up by the helicopter pad today. I suspect that they will really like the heli-pad, if they make it that far.

There were six Northern Elephant Seals hanging out in the water around the jetty today.

Adult Glaucous-winged Gulls and this years young, continue to frequent their nesting territories much to my surprise. I have seen them chase off Thayers Gulls. The “visiting” gulls roost in peripheral areas away from the nest sites. A family of four Canada Geese continue to make the island their home.

Chores were as usual and there were no visitors.

Noticeably Darker Day

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Today was more of a fall day with cooler temperatures and a threat of rain in the air. Light levels were way down too. The barometer rose to 1014 hPA from a low of 1010 yesterday and it has just started to fall again. Rain and east winds of up to 25 knots are predicted to bring tomorrow’s forecasted rain, with a cool, wet outlook for the week ahead.

Thirteen visits to the protected area, by whale watching vessels, were observed today. Only one pleasure craft was noted.

There was a lot of cetacean action in and around Race Rocks for most of the day. It started with two big, bull, Biggs Killer Whales (Transients), travelling in from the west on the Rosedale side. They were later spotted in Race Passage and not long after an adult female Killer Whale was seen well inside the reserve by Turbine Rock. There were two Humpback Whales, one feeding just east of Race Rocks that moved west through Race Passage. It had a definite white splotch on the right fluke. The other one was feeding just west and had dark flukes, the same one, I think, that has been around for a while. There was also a Minke Whale feeding just to the south of Race Rocks.

Accumulated solar radiation levels today were less than half of what they have been for the last few days, 150 versus 300 to 350 Langleys and the days are getting noticeably shorter, faster now. Migrant species are moving through the reserve daily with hundreds of Surf Scoters moving through from west to east every day. All three species of cormorants are using the rocks here as roosts now and feeding in the multi-species flocks that surround the reserve with much commotion. This change into autumn not only impacts the biodiversity of the reserve but also has an impact on practical things like power generation.

Solar power has been producing over 90% of the power needed to run everything on the island and that amount will change over the next few months. Right now the shortfall is made up with a diesel generator but the plan is to move to cleaner burning propane in the near future. A great deal of progress has been made in reducing the amount of fuel stored and used here, from the days of the Coast Guard when there were six giant diesel tanks dominated the rock and the generators ran 24/7. A big shout goes out to Pearson College, for both reducing the ecological footprint in terms of CO2 and for reducing the risk of a spill.