Yesterday we spotted a group of kayakers who had emailed to let us know they were coming: We tried to wave, but you were too far away to see us- hope you had a good paddle!
Ecological:
The seagull population has skyrocketed this week, but still no fully constructed nests
The elephant seals have left now, aside from one. We anticipate that we may see a few large males in a month or so.
Census:
16 Geese
8 Oystercatchers
39 Sea Lions
40 Harbor Seals
1 Elephant Seal
1 Bald Eagle
580 Seagulls
42 Pigeon Guillemots
Lots of greenery filling in
Sunset from lighthouse
Some wider shots to break up the closer ones we typically post (guest house)
Marine Traffic/Visitors: One pleasure craft drifted through in the early afternoon. They did an amazing job of drifting with the current so the animals would not be disturbed, and were very careful of the kelp and shallow areas. Well done!
Ecological:
The animals have been keeping to themselves and trying to stay out of the elements as yesterday there was quite a bit of rain and wind. When the weather is harsh, the elephant seals typically try to lay behind a rock or outbuilding to avoid the wind. The seagulls point themselves into the wind and sit close to the ground. The sea lions don’t seem to mind at all, but the geese love the rainy days! They like to drink from puddles and clean their feathers in the fresh water.
Yesterday we were visited by a flock of pigeon guillemots, who prefer the jetty or rocks immediately surrounding.
Wind 5-10 knots N (yesterday was very windy, 35+ knots)
Sea state: calm
Marine Traffic/Visitors:
This morning we observed 3 kayakers in the reserve when we heard the hullaballoo of sea lions rushing into the water. They stayed for roughly 20 minutes before crossing back towards Pedder Bay.
A few fishing vessels outside of the reserve
One large commercial fishing vessel from Vancouver passed by quite close to the reserve yesterday evening
Today we saw the large “Cable Innovator” crossing towards Port Angeles. This article state that it’s the largest of its kind (2017)!
Ecological:
Yesterday we spotted the beginnings of the first seagull nest of the season. They have begun to hover overhead when we leave the house and have become much less afraid of us.
The sea lions have started to venture further onto the island. They wiggle under the fence on the jetty now to make space for more. The stinky days are on the horizon.
The last remaining pup is not present in the reserve today. We are wondering if she has finally left her birthplace to explore!
We spotted two wandering tattlers today. We suspect this is what we saw earlier in the week, and not a willet.
Census:
2 Adult Bald Eagles
120 Seagulls
63 Harbour Seals
23 Sea Lions
16 Canadian Geese
8 Adult Oystercatchers
9 Elephant Seals
2 Wandering Tattlers
We occasionally see a sea lion or elephant seal penis. We’re not sure why.
Example of erosion caused by geese on Race Rocks
Incredible clarity over Victoria this week. We wonder if this is partially due to reduced pollution emissions.
A view of the many scientific instruments on top of the lighthouse, including internet antennae and weather instruments.
The young seal pup near the generator building.
Port Angeles on a clear day.
Olympic Mountain Range over Port Angeles
Coastal Defence Vessel HMCS Brandon
Commercial fishing vessel at the mouth of Pedder Bay
Yesterday we saw a humpback whale pass through the straight roughly 1 NM away. Notably, this is only the second time that we have spotted a whale from Race Rocks without tourism vessels following close behind.
Not seen today in our census, there have been many black turnstones in the reserve this week (at least 10 at once).
Early this week we spotted what looked like a non-breeding adult willet. It seems as if it would be unusual to see one here so we are unsure if this is the correct ID. Without a photo it’s hard to be sure!
Census:
9 elephant seals
180 seagulls
134 harbor seals
112 sea lions
11 cormorants
6 oyster catchers
2 adult bald eagles
The last pup left has been moving around the island, here it rests near the generator building.
Sea lions resting on an outcropping rock
We’ve been seeing these eagles around nearly every day.
The goose count rises, and so does the time we spend cleaning up after them!
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 0-19 knots from W then E, today 2-19 knots from N then W
Sea State: yesterday calm, today calm in am and rippled in pm
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: both days clear with cloudy patches throughout day
Temperature: yesterday 5-8 °C, today 4-6 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.23 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
Six visitors briefly came to the island yesterday morning. Lawrence installed the new deck hatch he made for the station boat. Everyone helped transport and load eight of the old batteries onto the college boat to be taken back to the shore for recycling.
I ran the water pump for five hours to fill up the cistern with cleaner seawater.
Three tour boats were in the ecological reserve yesterday. Today, a dive boat had several divers in the water just north of North Rocks at slack tide in the mid morning.
There was a lot biodiversity in the ecological reserve today. Here are the results from the weekly census:
6 elephant seals (1 adult female, 2 adult males, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
57 steller sea lions (all on Middle Rock)
50 california sea lions (19 on Great Race, 31 on Middle Rock)
52 harbour seals
1 sea otter
6 bald eagles (4 juveniles, 2 adults)
8 Canada geese
18 brandt’s cormorants
16 double-crested cormorants
35 pelagic cormorants
2 ravens
141 gulls (mostly thayer’s gulls)
14 black oystercatchers
1 whimbrel
86 pigeon guillemots
16 harlequin ducks
10 surfbirds
28 black turnstones
1 snow bunting
1 song sparrow
1 fox sparrow
Amatuana, a Pearson College sailboat, sailed a couple kilometres to the northeast of Race Rocks on Friday afternoon. Downtown Victoria is in the background.
The almost full moon over the lighthouse
Raven
The two female elephant seal pups were hanging out and chatting with each other today in the sun on the south side of the house. The younger pup is on the left and the older by six days is on the right.
Wind: yesterday 3-34 knots from N to W, today 19-33 knots from W
Sea State: yesterday rippled, today chop up to 1 m
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy with rain in evening, today overcast then heavy rain late morning clearing in afternoon
Temperature: yesterday 6-9 °C, today 6-7 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.05 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
Census results from Sunday, February 16:
7 elephant seals (4 adult males, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
68 california sea lions
21 steller sea lions
40 harbour seals
9 bald eagles (8 adults, 1 juvenile)
2 Canada geese
19 brandt’s cormorants
16 double-crested cormorants
30 pelagic cormorants
547 gulls (mostly thayer’s gulls)
2 black oystercatchers
8 harlequin ducks
10 black turnstones
1 song sparrow
1 snow bunting
Yesterday, I used the leaf blower in the boat house to clean out the thousands of dead flies left over from last summer. I laid out 76 m (250′) of fire hose to pump water from the jetty to the cistern. The fire pump ran for a couple hours to top up the seawater cistern used for the desalinator.
For the first time this winter, I saw about 20 pigeon guillemots in the water just north of the jetty yesterday morning. I haven’t seen any since.
There were 3 tour boats in the ecological reserve yesterday and no visitors on the island this weekend.
Photos from the past two days:
The alpha male elephant seal stopped by to check the progress on filling the cistern with seawater.
The two female elephant seal pups have been hanging out near each other for the past two days. Perhaps a friendship is forming.
The daffodils are starting to open up.
Soaring bald eagle
Harbour seals on South Islands
One of the male elephant seals is hauled out on the Middle Rocks. There are also sea lions, gulls and eagles.
Wind: yesterday 0-52 knots from S to W, today 0-18 knots from W to NE
Sea State: yesterday rippled with waves up to 1 m in afternoon and evening, today rippled
Visibility: yesterday 5-10 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: yesterday rain then patches of sun, today clear
Temperature: yesterday 5-12 °C, today 3-5 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.49 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
This morning at sunrise, the elephant seals saw their shadows. As the lore goes for their fellow mammal the groundhog, that means six more weeks of winter. Hard to believe with the crocuses blooming and daffodils buds almost ready to burst. Although, there is snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow as the temperature drops to 0 °C.
There were no visitors to the island. Two eco tour boats were seen in the reserve this afternoon.
Here are the results for the weekly census, conducted in the afternoon of Sunday, February 2:
10 elephant seals (3 female adults, 4 male adults, 1 female pup, 1 male pup and 1 unknown gendered pup)
147 steller sea lions
288 california sea lions
104 harbour seals
10 bald eagles (5 adults, 5 juveniles)
1 raven
109 brandt’s cormorants
182 pelagic cormorants
49 double-crested cormorants
24 canada geese
931 gulls (most are thayer’s gulls)
18 black oystercatchers
1 whimbrel
1 surf scoter
8 harlequin ducks
16 black turnstones
1 snow bunting
1 fox sparrow
The oldest elephant seal pup splashes in a puddle created by the heavy rain of Friday night. Perhaps he is practicing swimming skills before jumping into the deep end.
The elephant seals saw their shadows this morning. Six more weeks of winter!
A view from the southwest corner of the island at a daytime low tide.
The intertidal zone with gooseneck barnacles, acorn barnacles, mussels, sea lettuce and lots more.
Wind: yesterday 15-46 knots W, today 3-14 knots W shifting clockwise around to S
Sea State: yesterday up to 2 m waves, today rippled water
Visibility: 10 NM
Sky: yesterday overcast, today mainly sunny
Temperature: yesterday 6-7 °C, today 3-5 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.56 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
The last two days were spent doing some tasks around the island like running the desalinator, topping up the batteries with the generator and cleaning. Today, the sun in the morning and early afternoon was taken advantage of to get a great view of all the species for the weekly census and do a solar powered load of laundry.
The only visitor was Greg, who came out from the college this afternoon for an hour to show me how to use some equipment and remove a load garbage from the island. No other boats were seen in the ecological reserve.
Wind: 0-25 knots NE
Sea State: up to 1 m chop
Visibility: 15 NM
Sky: overcast with sunny patches throughout the days
Temperature: between 6 to 7 C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.28 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)
This morning, I heard a ruckus outside the west side of the house, where the a few of the elephant seals have been hanging out. The largest male appeared to be fighting the small juvenile male, while the female watched. The adult was slamming its head down onto the juvenile and biting it. This lasted for a few minutes before the juvenile and female fled to the north side of the path.
While I was doing the census in the middle of the day, there were three people snorkelling off the southwest of Great Race Rock Island. They took turns snorkelling in pairs, while one person stayed in the boat. Six other pleasure craft and eco tour boats were seen in the reserve over the past two days.
Weekly Megafauna Census for December 26:
5 elephant seals (1 juvenile male, 1 female, 3 adult males)
18 harbour seals
175 california sea lions
207 steller/northern sea lions
Birds:
8 harlequin ducks
9 surf scoters
4 canada geese
12 black turnstones
21 black oystercatchers
1 fox sparrow
15 bald eagles
107 cormorants (pelagic and double-crested)
224 gulls (a variety of species)
The large male elephant seal wrestles and bites the small juvenile.
The juvenile and female move away from the large male.
The daily task of sampling the water temperature and salinity at the end of the jetty also requires politely asking the sea lions to move.
