Tag Archives: california sea lion

Enter the Merry Month of May

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The wind was just a zephyr today, with a weightless push from south, then southwest, and then nothing for a while. Not much to sail with and the flag hung lifelessly. The barometric pressure was similarly lethargic, going up ever so slightly, then down by about the same. The strong wind warning continues, so it may get here by Sunday evening and the forecast is for sunshine.

There were no whale-watching boats in the Ecological Reserve today although a sports fishing boat came by to look at the sealions in the evening. One rental boat from Pedder Bay with three men, insisted on fishing for and catching rockfish in the closed Rockfish Conservation Area, while the regulars were well outside. There needs to be more notification and communication about where the conservation area is located.

The bull kelp has reached the surface at low tides and is forming fairly massive beds around Turbine Rock where the Sea Otter likes to hang-out. In by the jetty where the current is less active it is at the surface all the time now and some of it is very reproductive, with large sori patches visible on the fronds.

Bull kelp fixes carbon faster than just about anything and grows so fast it makes bamboo look like it is standing still.

Bull kelp fixes carbon faster than just about anything and grows so fast it makes bamboo look like it is standing still.

Bull kelp sori

You can easily see where reduction division (meiosis) happens in the lighter yellow spore patches. You can also see where early patches have popped out of the frond and drifted off.

 

The pair of geese nesting at the base of the light-tower were out walking their goslings today. It looks like five out their eight eggs successfully hatched. The gander belonging to another, younger pair gave himself a real scare today, walking past the basement door where he could see his own reflection. That was really troubling to the pair and also very noisy. The gulls are also noisily going about their business.

Gwgu mate gwgu mate2

The elephant seals continue to moult although a few of them are down to just a few eyebrow hairs now. The younger males seem to be the last to moult and the most active. The same 12 to 14 individuals continue to frequent Great Race.

This almost three year old male (#5850) continues to spend day and night on Great Race. He has finally started to moult.

This almost three year old male (#5850) continues to spend day and night on Great Race. He has finally started to moult.

This young female is ahead of the young males in her moult.

This young female is ahead of the young males in her moult.

California Sealions were hauled out on Great Race today for the first time since I arrived in March and there was a male Californian (sealion) on the jetty that didn’t want to leave when I went down to sample seawater in the afternoon.

The solar panels were well supplied with sunlight today and produced enough energy to run the de-salinator and top up fresh water supply. The high value was 900 W/m2 and the cumulative amount for the day, at 7:00 PM broke the week’s record.

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There were no visitors today and maintenance included routine chores and a couple of little projects.

Beautiful Spring Day

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The wind didn’t do much until mid-afternoon when the westerly came up and blew 10 – 15 knots. Velocity kept increasing during the afternoon and evening and as the sun was setting it was blowing a steady 30, gusting to 35 knots. It was a very sunny day with 354,000 watt-hours per meter2 accumulated throughout the day. The barometer continued its slow descent begun on Saturday and is heading inexorably towards wet weather in the forecast. Although it is still supposed to blow west tomorrow, with showers, the rest of the week looks darker and wetter.

A couple of whale watching boats were observed in the Ecological Reserve today: both were proceeding with caution, at a minimal speed and staying a respectful distance away from the wildlife. These companies are practicing sustainable wildlife viewing practices. One rental boat was observed speeding in reserve.

The Northern Elephant Seal moult continues and is becoming more visible on the older animals. The measuring device was modified to allow for more accurate length measurements and the animals continued to cooperate by going one by one, down the ramp and into the sea for a swim. #5850, the young male tagged as a weaner in 2012 was stretching bull kelp stipes today, a biomechanics activity done by phycology students everywhere on the west coast. No teeth involved, so no confounding tearing factor.

Northern Elephant Seal #5850 tests the elasticity of bull kelp.

Northern Elephant Seal #5850 tests the elasticity of bull kelp.

 

Another tagged and branded California Sea Lion was photographed today. This one is number 1960 (left side).

California Sealion with brand #1960 hauled out on South Islets. Photo lightened to show up number.

California Sealion with brand #1960 hauled out on South Islets. Photo lightened to show up number.

Two unidentified little birds made a brief appearance, they sounded like blackbirds or starlings some kind. I didn’t get a chance to see them again but caught them on camera.

Identification needed on this pair that made a fleeting visit today.

This pair of Brown-headed Cowbirds made a fleeting visit today. Identification by Dick Cannings Bird Studies Canada. (Thank you.)

There were no visitors today and chores were routine.

Spring flowers on the site of the original garden from the 1860s. A pair of Glaucous-winged Gulls in the backgroud

Spring flowers on the site of the original garden near where the first keeper’s home was built in 1860. A pair of Glaucous-winged Gulls on their chosen site.

What a beautiful day.

Smokey Skies

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The wind was still, early this morning. It didn’t really start moving until mid-afternoon, 5 – 10 knots from an east-southeastly direction. Although it was sunny, there was a haze in the air that made for a blazing sunset last night and sunrise today. I am curious if this is smoke, all the way from Squamish, where there was a big creosote wharf fire a few days ago?

sunset

Are these red skies in the evening and the morning a result of the Squamish wharf fire?

Are these red skies in the evening and the morning a result of the Squamish wharf fire?

The barometer rose slowly until about noon and then it started to slowly fall, nothing dramatic and no strong winds. The forecast is for more of the same, with afternoon westerlies tomorrow.

Three whale watching boat were noted in the Ecological Reserve today. The last whale watching vessel of the day, idled slowly through, keeping a deferential distance away from the animals, Tourists were out on the bow, shooting pictures of the blazing sunset and lounging marine mammals. It was a tranquil scene. No sports fishers were observed either speeding in the Ecological Reserve or fishing in the closed area, although several passed through at speeds respectful of the wildlife in the area.

Passive Northern Elephant Seal data collection continued. As luck would have it, all seven animals that had been sleeping in the garden, woke up and decided to go for a swim late morning. This allowed me to take their photos as they passed by the measuring device. I was also able to get some photos inside mouths for dentition information while they were wallowing around gargling saltwater and ‘wrestling’. Tagged animal #5850 continues to hang out as one of the seven ‘gardeners’.

Dentition changes with age and can be a health indicator. Say ah.

Dentition changes with age and can be a health indicator. Say ah….

A branded and tagged California Sealion # U 902 was noted hauling out on South Islets this afternoon. Note the large range of sizes of both species.

California Sealion branded and tagged U902 also read as C902 C is for the mouth of he Columbia River where it was born.

California Sealion branded and tagged U902 (lower left) can also be read as C902. C is for the mouth of he Columbia River, where it was born.

 

There are still three pairs of Canada Geese trying to establish nest sites and they are having a hard time finding territories on this tiny island that already has at least nine Canada Goose nests. Maybe they will head over to Vancouver Island where there is more room. Their territoriality can get in the way of other species having a piece of the very small island as they chase off, not just each other, but Glaucous-winged Gulls, Black Oystercatchers and Pigeon Guillemots.

There were no visitors today. Maintenance chores were routine.  About 9:30 PM the phone/Internet went down for the seventh time since I arrived. Even that is becoming routine.

It is all in the branding

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The weather was chilly today but bright, with breezes from the east and west and a few points in between. As the sun sets, brilliant pinks and orange light up the bottom of purple clouds and the wind has picked up to 10 knots from the west. The barometer started a slow climb for the first time since Thursday and the forecast is for a warmer, sunnier day tomorrow.

There were some very persistent sports fishers jigging in the Rockfish Conservation Area today: five men in a fibreglass run-about with an old engine and a kicker.

No tour boats were sighted today.

Another three branded sea lions, two Northern and one Californian were spotted today but only one photograph was good enough to be unequivocal – a Northern (or Steller’s) Sea lion #975R born at Rogue Reef, off southern Oregon in 2011.

Another Steller's Sea Lion branded as a pup in southern Oregon.

Another Steller’s Sea Lion branded as a pup in southern Oregon.

The California Sea Lion being used as a head rest by the Steller's has a brand on the left side but only the tops of numbers are visible.

The California Sea Lion being used as a head rest by the Steller’s has a brand on the left side but only the tops of numbers are visible. Maybe 3427 but I will get back to you on that one.

Ubiquitous Canada Geese - photogenic, but a bit hard on the vegetation and other island inhabitants.

Ubiquitous Canada Geese – photogenic, but a bit hard on the vegetation and other island inhabitants.

Chris in Second Nature, picked up the student group, which was here for the long weekend, just before noon today. It was a treat to have them here as visitors and they even managed to have fun helping with some of the chores. I was a little taken aback by the obvious increase in energy consumption while they were here though, and had to run the generator twice today to keep the batteries up, even though it was fairly sunny all day. Part of that may have been me staying up late to do the blog last night. After I discovered that the genny needed to be run a second time, I went over and turned off several breakers in the science house.

Mount Baker to Bahokas Peak.

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It was clear here early and once easterly outflow breezes cleared the American side, it was a beautiful day on the Strait. There was a hazy view all the way to Mt. Baker in the east and out to Bahokas Peak in the west. The barometer is continuing its leisurely dive, started Thursday and as the sunsets, is close to 1003 hPa. The forecast is for more of the same with showers and a chance of thunderstorms.

No tour boats or fishers were noted in the Ecological Reserve today however one boat sped through Middle Channel from the west and then after slowing down went between the South Islands and extremely close to seals and sea lions. Sea lions and seals were on high alert. All of the seals went into the water and some of the sea lions jumped in between the rock and the boat. The boat went back and forth very close to the sea lions several times before speeding off in the direction of Victoria. The whole thing only took a few minutes. The rest of the day made up for it in calm and peacefulness.

Antenna just visible in top left, boat below sea lions.

Antenna just visible in top left, boat below sea lions.

Speeding off.

Speeding off.

Last night as I was saying goodnight to the students who had been helping with chores, there was a definite smell of baleen whale breath in the evening air. I thought it might be the first Humpback Whale of the season. We looked but it was almost dusk and we didn’t see a whale. I heard on the VHF radio today that the whale watching boats had spotted their first Minke Whale of the season, so my guess is that there was a stinky Minke upwind last night.

While doing the seawater sample today, I noticed that there is plenty of big plankton right now. Visible from the jetty are gazillions of beautiful ctenophores or comb jellies. Their scientific name is Pleurobrachia and another common name is sea gooseberry. These jellies are spherical and unlike most jellies they don’t have stinging cells, just sticky cells on their two dangling tentacles, to tangle their prey. They also have eight rows of amazing, tiny paddle-like structures called combs or ctenes. The combs basically do the wave and when they do, it makes a rainbow-like shimmering. So a clear ball, with eight rows of rainbow inducing pulsations and two trailing tentacles; this is a pretty intriguing looking creature.

Ctenophores are important top-down regulators of copepod abundance so they are important ecologically. Copepods are little crustaceans that feed directly on phytoplankton, the photosynthetic kind of plankton. The copepods can be so abundant that at times most of the phytoplankton biomass can be found in their guts. One reason the water is so clear right now may be due to an abundance of copepods. There are also lots of cross-jellies, which are true jellies or cnidarians, meaning they can sting. Their scientific name is Mitrocoma cellularia and they are also predators on smaller animal plankton like copepods. These large plankters are of course also food for baleen whales.

I had a bit of a catch-up day today. I gave the solar panels a thorough scrub and wash, fixed the underwater camera, took photos, cleaned up in front of the boat-house and generally monitored and documented things while tidying up.

A more peaceful sail past ata more respectful and legal distance.

A more peaceful sail past at a more respectful and legal distance.

It has been a treat to have students out for the weekend and I think they have been enjoying the peacefulness, nature and each other’s company. I went out to dinner for the first time on the island and we had a delicious meal prepared by the students.

 

March 26 – Census

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Sunny
Wind: 0-17 from varying directions throughout the day
Air Temperature: Low 9.2ºC, High 11.8ºC
Ocean Temperature: 9.0ºC

Today was spent preparing for the shift change. Anne Stewart will arriving tomorrow to take over as the Eco-Guardian.

There was one eco tour boat seen in the reserve today.

Here are the results of today’s megafauna census:
Steller Sea Lion: 58
California Sea Lion: 31
Harbour Seal: 79
Bald Eagle: 3
Cormorant: 16
Canada Goose: 24
Gull: 256
Crow: 2
Oystercatcher: 4
Pigeon Guillemot: 234
Surfbird: 8
Black Turnstone: 16
Savannah Sparrow: 1

March 24 – Sea Otter

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Sunny, patches of rain the afternoon
Wind: W 4-17 knots, calm in the late evening
Air Temperature: Low 7.7°C, High 10.7°C
Ocean Temperature: 8.9°C

This afternoon, a ring-necked california sea lion was observed on the South Islands. It had something tightly wrapped around its neck, which is digging into the flesh.

While observing the sea lions, a small creature appeared on the edge of the rock ten metres away from them. Much smaller than the sea lions, at about one metre long, it was eating the molluscs in the intertidal zone. To my great excitement, it was a sea otter (enhydra lutris). The sea otter ate, dove, rolled and swam around the South Islands for about two hours.

March 23 – Ships and Sea Lions

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Overcast and light rain, sun breaks in the evening
Wind: NE 3-14 knots, switching to W 5-11 in the evening
Air Temperature: Low 7.2°C, High 9.4°C
Ocean Temperature: 8.8°C

Today was filled with the usual chores of cleaning rust of things, collecting wood, stacking firewood, running the generator, creating fresh water with the desalinator, measuring the salinity and temperature of the ocean water and looking out for the species of the ecological reserve.

This afternoon, a large aircraft carrier passed within 4km of the ecological reserve. The USS John C Stennis is a nuclear powered super carrier, the largest type of aircraft carrier, measuring 333mx77m and weighing over 100,000 tonnes.

See the photos below of the ships that passed to the south of Race Rocks, close to where the sea lions swim, hunt and haul out.

Upon looking at the photo of the aircraft carrier, I noticed a sea lion in the foreground that is branded 26Y. This steller sea lion was born at Rogue Reef, Oregon in 2002.

March 19 – Last Day of Winter- Census

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Raining
Wind: NE 4-14 knots
Air Temperature: Low 8.8°C, High 10.3°C
Ocean Temperature: 8.8°C

The wet conditions were helpful with cleaning some exterior walls and windows. The rain water cistern was filled up from the roof. The rain also helped wash away the algae and slime on the walls, along with some scrubbing.

The low light and rain made the census difficult. In recent days, there has been a much higher number of harbour seals hauled out on the rocks. The sea lions also spent most of the day in the water. It was not possible to distinguish between the species of cormorants on Turbine or Middle Rock.

There were no boats seen in the reserve today.

Census results:
Steller Sea Lion: 59
California Sea Lion: 62
Harbour Seal: 21
Bald Eagle: 7
Cormorant: 27
Canada Goose: 24
Gull: 352
Black Oystercatcher: 4
Harlequin Duck: 9
Pigeon Guillemot: 13
Surfbird: 4
Black Turnstone: 16
Rock Sandpiper: 6
Savannah Sparrow: 1

March 17

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Sunny, light rain in the late afternoon
Wind: 3-9 knots NE in the morning, 1-6 knots SE in the afternoon, calm at 18:00, 9-15 W in the evening
Air Temperature: Low 7.6°C, High 10.7°C
Ocean Temperature: 8.9°C

The morning was filled with chores: collecting garbage, tidying, cleaning the solar panels and mistaking a swimming seal for a sea otter (three times). The sea otter, which visited the ecological reserve during the winter hasn’t been seen within the past few weeks.

I was off the reserve for a few hours in the afternoon to drop off garbage and pick up gas, groceries, deionized water for the batteries and cleaning supplies. It happened to coincide with Elizabeth May giving a talk at the college.

The sea lions were very active and vocal leading up to the sunset at 19:21.

There were no boats seen in the reserve today.