Weather today: 

• Blue skies with a few small clouds blowing by
• Visibility 10-15 NM
• Wind 10-25 knots SW
• Sea state 0.5 m chop

Visitors: 

• No visitors today, but over the last few days we have have been joined by Greg and a technician to service equipment and deliver supplies to the island. Environment Canada personnel came to update weather equipment on the lighthouse with new sensors and other hardware!
• A handful (5-10) eco-tourism vessels have been though the reserve daily as well as the same for pleasure crafts.

Ecological Observations: 

• Over the last few days it has been very interesting to note the development of the seagulls chicks during our two week absence. The majority of them can now fly, although many appear to spend time in their respective nesting areas. While the young ones spend time on the water and practice bobbing their heads under, they still beg for food from their parent(s).
• There have been 2-5 explosions daily, except for today, at the Esquimalt Canadian Forces Base. They seem to be varying in intensity – sometimes only a sharp ‘thump’, while other times the whole house shakes! The animals in the reserve certainly notice the latter. We sometimes see the majority of the landed birds and hauled out pinnipeds in the area flee to the water or air on these occasions.
• On Tuesday we observed a larger pod (5-6) of orca whales move through the reserve and the surrounding waters. We first spotted them to the inside of north rock and over roughly 20-30 minutes they moved around great rock to opposite side. It looked as though they may have been hunting (moving towards shore in a line formation) but we were not able to see their prey.