Sea state: white caps, fast moving water, waves and swells up to 1 m
Visitors/Boats:
There have been no visitors to the island and no boats within the reserve
Ecological:
There is a new goose nest with one egg so far established in the middle of the island where the footpaths intersect
The young pup has seemed particularly inactive recently, and we have not seen her in the water for some time. Nick mentioned to us when he visited that she seems to have gained weight so we are not overly concerned. She spends most of her time near the jetty behind her favorite fence post.
The goose with an injured leg continues to limp around the island, but seems to be making do and there are no signs of deteriorating condition.
The eagle activity has been steady, aside from today with these strong winds
The seagulls are beginning to pull the grass and collect other debris for nesting, but no established nests so far.
Maintenance:
The generator is still out of commission, but we have been taking in a substantial amount of solar energy. Combined with the smaller generator contributing, our batteries have remained healthy. We are conserving water heavily until the new part arrives, as the desalination process requires a sizable amount of electricity.
Felted sea lion fur
Goose down clinging to rocks
Abandoned goose nest behind fuel shed
E103, “Erica” enjoying the sprinkle from a punctured fire hose
Visibility 10 NM this morning, 15+ NM this afternoon
Sky overcast in morning but clear this afternoon
Wind 20-30 knots NW-NE
Sea state: white caps (.25m), fast moving ripples
Visitors/Boats:
Greg and Nick on Monday
Greg and Nick on Tuesday
Greg and a technician for generator maintenance on Wednesday
Greg and Nick this afternoon (Thursday)
Aside from this there have been very few vessels aside from commercial/shipping traffic. Today a couple of sailboats passed by despite the astounding wind gusts (all a fair distance away).
Ecological:
There have been 4 eagles in the reserve daily on average, both juvenile and adult. They typically perch on Rosedale Rock to our SE, but we have been spotting them on the webcam tower, crane, and diesel tank near the power building. The juvenile eagles seem to be more interested in Great Race Rock, while the adults tend to stick to the outcroppings. Occasionally they swoop over the reserve, prompting the seagulls to rise into the air to avoid becoming lunch!
The geese continue to protect their nests but no new eggs have been observed.
The elephant seals have settled to complete their moult, all in various stages. The remaining pup is still here, and spends most of its time on the jetty away from the others.
There is a sea lion with a significant head/neck wound that we have been seeing daily. It looks like it has been tagged by the Vancouver Aquarium, so we are wondering if it has been disentangled and tagged at the same time.
Yesterday we spotted a killdeer, a type of plover. We’ve never seen one here before!
Repairs/Maintenance:
We filled the underground cistern with sea water to be desalinated (pumped using the fire pump and fire hoses).
To maximize our solar intake we have been keeping the solar panels as clean as possible (when they are covered in bird waste they create much less power).
Two kayakers in the reserve yesterday- very respectful of the wildlife, well done folks!
One pleasure craft yesterday that drifted around the reserve for quite a while (at least an hour)
A few “drifting through” pleasure crafts/off shift whale watching boats sprinkled over the past two days
We spotted the HMCS Regina heading into Pedder Bay
Ecological:
We found another goose nest yesterday underneath the back steps of the main residence containing 8 eggs. We noticed that the nest near the desalination structure has been looted by seagulls and abandoned.
The seagulls continue to arrive and establish their nesting spots. There are roughly 50% more gulls this week.
Two juvenile gulls spent yesterday in the reserve. We didn’t observe them catching or eating anything.
Census:
92 Harbour Seals
87 Sea lions
11 elephant seals
8 pelagic cormorants
1 double crested cormorant
1 bald eagle (adult)
14 Canada geese
140 seagulls
3 black turnstones
2 black oystercatchers
1 black brant goose
The HMCS Regina
A cormorant taking flight
A young seal waits for mom to return (1/6)
2/6
3/6
4/6
5/6
6/6
An oyster catcher searching for snacks at low tide
A branded sea lion
The elephant seals have been soaking up the sunshine
A young eagle
Two kayakers making their way through race passage from Pedder Bay
Wind: yesterday variable 2-28 knots, today W 7-38 knots Sea State: yesterday calm, today rippled in morning and up to 1 m chop in evening Visibility: both days 15 NM Sky: both days clear Temperature: yesterday 7-13 °C, today 8-11 °C Atmospheric CO2: 415.81 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
Today is my last full day on the island before the shift changeover. Tomorrow morning, Mara and Kai will arrive to take over as Ecoguardians. They were here last year from May to September.
I spent the past two days finishing up some tasks around the island and cleaning. I also took time to walk around the island and get a look at all of the incredible species, land and shoreline that make up this ecological reserve.
There were no boats in the ecological reserve.
See the photos below for some views from around the island.
The combination of clear water and low tide make it easy to see lots of colourful seaweeds, surfgrass, urchins and other intertidal species.
Two swallows were fluttering around the island yesterday. This one landed on the a cable on the winch long enough for me to take a photo.
At first I thought it was barn swallows, but then with the help of a field guide realized it’s a violet-green swallow.
The sun peering over the horizon at 6:20 this morning.
The lighthouse just after sunrise this morning. The moon, in its third quarter, can be seen to the south.
A thayer’s gull with a Canada goose egg in its beak.
Can you spot the juvenile elephant seal in the middle of the photo, amongst the group of california sea lions?
A beautiful sunset on the edge, where the land meets the sea meets the sky.
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.
Wind: yesterday W 0-26 knots, today W 11-38 knots Sea State: both days calm in am and up to 1 m chop in pm Visibility: yesterday 15 NM, today 0-15 NM Sky: yesterday clear, today fog from 7:00-8:00 then clear Temperature: yesterday 7-9 °C, today 7-10 °C Atmospheric CO2: 417.85 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
The youngest elephant seal pup came back ashore, on the east side of the island. She is easy to identify from the scar below her right eye. She spent the evening and night on the southeast side of the house, where she spent several weeks in February and March once she weaned from her mother. Today she had moved around to haul out on the boat ramp and swim in the sheltered water by the jetty.
A new sub adult male elephant seal has joined the other elephant seals. He is a bit smaller than the other sub adult male that joined the last week.
Yesterday there were two visitors, Guy and Corey, in the college boat Second Nature. There were no other boats in the ecological reserve.
The youngest elephant seal pup spent yesterday evening and night by the south east side of the house.
A view to the south
Newly arrived sub adult male elephant seal
Pup practicing swimming in the jetty bay
Canada geese in flight
The fog signal sounded for an hour this morning, before the sky cleared. It hasn’t sounded for almost two months. The fog signal is (3) 60 s, which means three blasts sound and repeat every minute. The more detailed version is blast 2 s; sil. 3 s; blast 2 s; sil. 3 s; blast 2 s; sil. 48 s.
Wind: yesterday variable 0-17 knots, today variable 0-22 knots Sea State: both days rippled Visibility: both days 15 NM Sky: yesterday partly cloudy, today clear Temperature: both days 5-10 °C Atmospheric CO2: 416.03 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
Yesterday morning, I noticed a pod of at least six orcas on the western edge of the ecological reserve. They swam east through Middle Channel, passing just north of the main island. What a treat it was for me to watch them from the front porch. See the photos below.
The older of the two female pups has been gone for the whole day. She left the island at some point early this morning. It’s been 14 days since the oldest of the three surviving pups left the island. Perhaps the pup who left today is following the strict schedule, as she is 14 day younger than the male pup who left 14 days ago.
Today, there were three boats in the ecological reserve: two pleasure craft and one local whale watching boat with two people on board.
This gull managed to snatch an egg from a goose nest
The large dorsal fin of a male orca and a smaller female.
A younger male orca swims by two california sea lions.
Orcas swimming by a juvenile bald eagle. The shorelines of Esquimalt and Victoria are in the background.
The older of the female pups was resting on this spot above the goose nest for two days, before she went for a swim at some point this morning. Notice the calendula flower in her mouth.
This tulip, surrounded by grape hyacinth is taking its time to blossom.
Blue bells are starting to appear in a few place.
The juvenile elephant seal scared away the goose from this nest with two eggs. The goose came back after the seal left.
Wind: yesterday W 15-40 knots, today variable 2-17 knotsSea State: yesterday up to 0.5m chop, today up to 1 m chopVisibility: both days 10-15 NMSky: both days partly cloudyTemperature: both days 4-7 °CAtmospheric CO2: 415.60 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii) … Continue reading →
Wind: yesterday variable 4-40 knots, today W 3-25 knots Sea State: yesterday up to 1 m chop, today rippled Visibility: yesterday 10 NM, today 15 NM Sky: yesterday partly cloudy with rain in morning, today clear Temperature: yesterday 5-8 °C, today 5-7 °C Atmospheric CO2: 415.65 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
I took soundings on all the water and fuel tanks as well as other notable measurements for the month end report. Here are some of the numbers. The desalinator produced 6,650 L of water, which was used mostly for pressure washing the buildings and other cleaning. 540 L of diesel was used to run the generator to top of the batteries, when there wasn’t enough sun to charge the solar panels. The generator ran for 141 hours over the month, for an average of 4.5 hours/day. There were 24 visitors (16 unique visitors) to the island over the course of the month.
No boats were seen in the ecological reserve over the past two days.
See the gallery below for views around the island.
A high concentration of harbour seals on Turbine Rock at low tide
A small midden of deconstructed mossy chitons
Five out of the six elephant seals going for a dip in the jetty bay
Elephant seal pup buddies
Another view of the post sunrise sunny rain, from inside the energy building
Canada geese reflecting pond
A post sunrise double rainbow, while it was sunny raining
Different stages of moulting. The elephant seal on the left has got rid of most of the fur and skin on her head, except a patch on the nose.
Wind: yesterday mostly from W 4-22 knots, today N-NE 2-9 knots
Sea State: yesterday calm in morning 0.5m chop in afternoon, today calm
Visibility: both days 5-15 NM
Sky: yesterday overcast with patches of rain and sun, today partly cloudy
Temperature: both days 6-8 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 415.43 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
There were no boats in the ecological reserve over the past two days.
The youngest elephant seal pup practicing her water skills in the shallow water by the boat ramp and jetty.
Recently, the harbour seals have been hauling out around the shoreline of main island and nearby shoals. In the winter, they only hauled out on the outer islands away from the boisterous sea lions.
More harbour seals
A Canada goose sitting on a nest made of grass and feathers. She lay seven eggs about the size of tennis balls.
The older of the two female pups likes daffodils.
The adult female elephant seals are showing more signs of moulting. This one on the left has shed some of her whiskers as well as fur around her eyes, nose and mouth. The white stuff is snot.
A view from the tower of a sea otter grooming itself on the intertidal rock near three harbour seals.
A sea otter napping in the water. Can you see the camouflaged harbour seal on the left?
Another view from ground level of the sea otter grooming itself on a rock with a harbour seal looking on.
A song sparrow perched on a rock ledge on the south side of the house. The succulent plant growing around the rocks is called sedum anglicum or English stonecrop, an introduced species from a lightkeeper in the 1980’s.
