Tag Archives: chainsaw

A Dream Come True! (and an animal census)

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Everyone has a favourite animal, maybe its a dog or a cat or maybe its something elusive that you have a slim chance of ever seeing like a platypus. For some people, especially those in the marine mammal field it goes even deeper than that. We have specific animals within a species that we hope to one day see. For me I have two:

CA216C1 Frosty – an all white killer whale that travels between California and BC

T063 Chainsaw – a transient killer whale who visits the Salish Sea for roughly 2 weeks every spring and is recognized by his large jagged dorsal fin

Don’t get me wrong, the list is longer than that…I’ve yet to see K or L pod (Southern Resident Killer Whales), and I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing a narwhal or a leopard seal somewhere in the world one day, but as far as specific animals go – Frosty and Chainsaw are the top of my list.

Around mid afternoon I heard some chatter over the radio and spotted a few slow moving ecotourism vessels on the outskirts of the reserve which usually means there are whales nearby. I grabbed my camera and ran outside to find the man, the myth, the legend…Chainsaw! I almost didn’t believe it at first but that dorsal is hard to miss! He was travelling with at least 4 other whales including a youngster.

Not only have I been fortunate enough to see killer whales twice since my arrival yesterday afternoon but also my bucket list whale! I think this means that this Race Rocks trip will be a pretty spectacular one, I can’t wait to see whats to come. At this rate I should set my sights high, maybe a blue whale?

Now that I’ve shared my celebrity encounter, on to the rest of the day!

Today was animal census day and I proved myself wrong (see yesterday’s blog post) by spotting more pigeon guillemots than I’ve ever seen before. I did not however, see any turnstones today. Ollie was hauled out on Middle Rocks this morning but I heard over the radio that he was possibly near Swordfish Island this afternoon. Last but not least, I spotted my first whimbrel and hope to see more!

 

Animal Census:

Elephant seals: 4 female
Steller sea lions: 14
Harbour seals: 68
California sea lions: 19
Sea otters: 1 (Ollie)
Killer whales: 5 (T65s and T63s)
Gulls: 264
Canadian geese: 7
Oyster catchers: 10
Pigeon guillemots: 106
Eagles: 3 (2 adults, 1 juvenile)
Cormorants: 17
Savannah sparrow: 3
Whimbrel: 1
Raven: 1

 

Thankfully we don’t count bivalves in the census!!

Vessel Census:

1 private
4 ecotourism – far less today!

Weather:

    • Sky: Blue and clear
    • Wind: High of 11 knots, Low of 5 knots
    • Sea: Calm
    • Temperature: Low 8oC, High  12oC

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

August 25

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Wind: W 2-33 knots
Sea State: calm, up to 0.5m chop in evening
Visibility: 0-15 NM
Sky: clear, fog from 5:20 to 7:00
Temperature: 10-15 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 411.96 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Today was spent tidying around the island, chainsawing logs and chopping firewood. I gave the gulls and sea lions a wide berth as I moved around the paths.

650 L of diesel was delivered this afternoon.

Here are a few photos from today:

August 19 – Fog

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Wind: W 4-23 knots
Sea State: rippled
Visibility: 0-15 NM
Sky: fog in morning, clear in late morning, partly cloudy in afternoon, then light rain in evening
Temperature: 12-17 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.58 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The fog began to roll in after sunset yesterday. In the early hours of the morning just before 3:00, the fog got thick enough for the sensor part way up the tower to trigger the fog signal. Three high pitch blasts sounded every minute until 11:20, then the fog gave way to a clear sky.

The steller sea lion with the flasher from yesterday still has it hooked to its mouth and is still on Middle Rock, hanging out with a bunch of other sea lions. I spotted it through the partial fog this morning, but wasn’t able to get a good photo. This afternoon, it was facing away from the main island.

Greg came out in the late afternoon to deliver diesel. We are filling the various storage tanks around the island for the furnaces and generator, in anticipation for the cooler and darker months ahead. There will be more fuel delivered over the coming days, taking advantage of the calm seas.

Other maintenance tasks included trimming the plants growing over parts of the paths, cleaning the solar panels and using the chainsaw to buck up more firewood. I finally cut up a 15 metre log that I saw wash up in a winter storm. It was propped up on rocks in the East Bay.

See the photos below for sights from today:

August 18 -More Sea Lions

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Wind: W 15-29 knots
Sea State: up to 0.5m chop
Visibility: 10-15 NM
Sky: clear in morning, partly cloudy beginning in early afternoon
Temperature: 14-19 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.58 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The groups of steller and california sea lions around the main island and on Middle Rocks have all increased in number. There were two noteworthy sea lions today. In the afternoon, I noticed a lone steller sea lion near the end of the jetty. It had a white and red flasher (fishing lure) hooked to its mouth. Unfortunately, this is a sight that is occasionally seen here. Just last week there was another steller sea lion with a pink and yellow flasher. That sea lion (branded O-19) has not been spotted since. The flashers could have had a fish hooked on the end, which was eaten by the sea lion, or the lure could have appeared to the sea lion to be a fish. The sea lion this afternoon, left the jetty when a large boat went by. A few minutes later, it appeared on Middle Rock where a group of about thirty sea lions were hauled out. I will keep an eye on this sea lion. If it stays around for a few days, it could be a candidate for a rescue from the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre.

When I spotted the sea lion with the flasher haul out on Middle Rock, I noticed a steller sea lion branded 975R. The R means it was branded at Rogue Reef, in Oregon. This animal has been seen here before. See Ecoguardian Anne Stewart’s post from April 6, 2015. The steller was branded as a pup in 2011.

There were about twenty-five eco tour boats that passed through the Ecological Reserve today, some of them repeats. They appeared to be viewing the hauled out sea lions, harbour seals and the floating in the kelp sea otter.

See the photos below for sights and happenings from today: