Tag Archives: Chunk

Jan 15-19

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Jan 15: cloudy, N wind 10-15. DND blasting on Bentinck Island

Jan 16: wind light, clear sky. DND blasting on Bentinck Island. female elephant seal came into the boat ramp area but didn’t haul out for very long. Did some fire wood cutting. Went off island to pick up guest in the late afternoon.

Jan 17: cloudy with periods of rain, wind North 10-20 knots becoming West overnight. 1 dive boat, 2 eco tour.  Built a firewood cutting jig.

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dive boat getting tossed around in waves, Jan 17

Jan 18: wind 30-40 knots West overnight, gusting over 50 knots. The wind decreased in the afternoon. The younger male elephant seal came onto the main island in the afternoon. I was able to get a closer look at him, he has many small scars and marks on his back likely from Chunk bitting him. Sealion with orange data transmitter on its back off East side of island.

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California sealion with data transmitter with marking “5” visible

Jan 19: Partly clear, some rain.  Wind west, some gusts throughout day, light in the evening.  Went off island in the morning and returned in the afternoon.  Chunk and the younger male were both on the main island when I got back.

Census (Jan 17):

California Sea lions: 10

Northern Sea Lions: 2

Harbour Seals: 28

Elephant Seals: 3

Cormorants: 88

Canada Geese: 25

Gulls: 50

Bald Eagle: 1

Harlequin Ducks: 2

Black Turnstone: 5

Black Oyster Catcher: 32

 

 

Jan 8-10, census

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Wind has been fairly steadily N-NE 10-15 knots for past days with overcast sky and intermittent light rain.

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The “Orca Spirit”, large and loud.

Jan 9: 2 ecotour vessels including the very large Orca Spirit which passed through the reserve twice, I dont usually see this vessel this time of year here.  It is quite a loud boat when it puts its engine(s) in gear.

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Jan 9,leg-banded cormorant, red KJ8

Census, Jan 9: 
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Jan 5-7

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Jan 5: Cloudy, rain, 10 knots E.  Had a lot of rain water in a short time, there was a lot of standing water.  Some water leaked under the doors into the engine building, down the roof vent in the battery room and the drain on the roof got plugged up.  I worked on the roof drainage and mopped up in the engine building.  Finalized month end report. Foghorn was going off throughout the night.  One sports fishing/recreation vessel.

Chunk was on the island in the morning but left mid day.

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Jan 6, in the centre a ring necked sealion is visible, hauled out on South Islands.

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Jan 2-4

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Jan 2: Cloudy, light rain. 1 recreational rental going too fast inside the reserve. I contacted Pedder Bay Marina and they talked to the boat renters.  I went off island in afternoon to get supplies.

Jan 3: Cloudy, light rain, wind 10-15 knots NE. 3 recreational boats, 4 eco tour boats. 1 dive boat that got quite close to sea lions on the rocks.  I spoke with the dive boat operator who was apologetic and understanding.  Chopped wood. Did a calibration check of the “YSI” digital sea temperature and salinity meter as requested by DFO. Sent off Dec seawater data to DFO.

checking calibration of YSI unit against analog hydrometer and thermometer

checking calibration of YSI unit against analog hydrometer and thermometer

Jan 4: Cloudy, rain throughout the day. Wind 10-15 knots NE. Chunk had been back on the main island but departed this morning.  One sports fishing boat.

dec 25- 29

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A few days to catch up on…

Dec 25th: good weather,  went off island early and got to spend the day with family. On the way back there was a very cooperative juvenile bald eagle on top of the crane and I was able to photograph it from the jetty.  In the vertical photo the eagle’s nictitating membrane is half way across it’s eye.

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I got back to a nice sun set and a very calm sea.

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Dec 26th: NE 10-15 knot wind. 1 sports fishing boat, 1 eco-tour vessel.  Went off island in afternoon to bring guests out for the night.  Had a wet ride and in the evening a lot of driftwood got blown in to the jetty.

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rainbow in the morning, to the East.

Dec 27th: Calm in the morning but picked up to 30-25 knots West around noon.  Rain throughout the day, often sideways. Went off island in the morning to bring back guests, wet ride again.  2 eco tour vessels. Cleaned up boat ramp/jetty and cut wood.

Dec 28th: Wind N 10 knots, partly sunny.  Went off island in the morning to pick up Garry and Val for the annual bird count (see previous post). Notably, Val and Garry discovered a (regionally) rare Boreal Owl during their count.  Earlier in the morning 3 juvenile bald eagles wrestled over a small fish and displayed some impressive acrobatics. In the evening the internet and phone connection went offline.

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Dec 29th: Clear sky, 20 -25 knots N wind in the morning that picked up to 35-40 knots before noon. Strong winds persisted most of the day dropping to around 25 knots in the afternoon. Winds picked up again in the evening gusting to 35 knots.  I went up the tower in the morning to check on the internet/phone disconnection.  Was able to reboot and get it working again.  I had a good view of the elephant seals on the W rock today, there are two males, Chunk and a younger male as well as one fairly large looking female, possibly Bertha.  Temperature is going down, will be keeping an eye on water lines  More driftwood accumulating with the NE wind. Cleared boat ramp and cut fire wood.

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Teals return again

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Rain throughout the day, wind 15-20 knots most of the day, started North then shifted to West. West wind picked up in the evening gusting over 35 knots.  Barometer reached a high of over 1025 hPa on Monday and has been falling today towards 1010 hPa.

One eco tour vessel in the reserve

Chunk has been on the main island all day until the evening.  There is a second large male elephant seal on west rock, visible on camera 1, that I haven’t seen on the main island yet.

With the rain came the Green Winged Teals (3) again to the muddy flats on the NE side of the island.

Cleared some logs out of the jetty bay with the pike pole and chopped fire wood.

Calm, boat maintenance

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Wind has been light all day, barometer on the rise. Mostly clear sky for a change.

Chunk came back on the main island in the morning, he is resting in one of his usual spots, near the centre of the island close to the metal box that covers the diesel hose spool.

I took the station whaler in to the college in the afternoon to drop it off for annual maintenance, came back out with a zodiac.

Pelican, 50knot gusts

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The barometer hit a low of below 985 hPa in the afternoon.  Winds had been 10 to 20 knots N most of the day but picked up in the evening and switched to west late in the night, gusting over 50knots.

I spotted one pelican offshore in the reserve.  Chunk was on the main island overnight but left around noon.

A submarine passed by close to the reserve.

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submarine passing on the East side of the reserve, heading North.

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pelican in the reserve, N of Great Race

A lot of wood debris got washed up on the boat ramp throughout the day and this evening. Collected lots of driftwood for burning.  Working on compost toilet installation.

Kingfisher, teals, surf, chunk

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Lots of rain today. The barometer continued to fall this morning reaching a low of 985 hPa this afternoon. It was windy overnight and a west wind picked up this evening briefly gusting over 35 knots.   There have been swells coming in on both the NE and W sides of the island today along with high tides all morning that combined to submerge the jetty with waves and provide good surfing conditions for sea lions.

I spotted a infrequent visitor, a belted kingfisher perched on the crane.  There were also three green winged teals in the mud flats on the NE side of the island, I only ever see them when it rains a lot and there are fresh water puddles.

Sealions had good surfing conditions most of the day.  The images were taken off the south side of the island, reef break.

Before dusk Chunk (Zeke) came up the boat ramp onto the island, the first time he has come on the main island during my shift.  He has grown since last winter and has a stronger vocalization.

Animal Census

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Fog on and off since yesterday. West winds rising since the morning from 10 knots to over forty. More fog forecasted for tomorrow and 20-25 knot winds.

4 whale watching boats this morning

Animal Census:

710 Gulls*
15 Pigeon guillemots
4 Elephant seals
142 Steller sea lions
421 Harbour seals
8 Black oystercatchers
6 Canada geese
There are a large number of gulls because of the California gulls which make a large majority (~550). There seems to be a much lower number of Glaucous-winged gulls this year from last. I notice there are a lot more dead chicks, be it the evening visits from the otters or the bald eagles that visit several times daily. There has been no sight of Chunk since Sunday night. Currently there are two young males, a female, a stubborn seal that refuses to lie on its back. This stubborn seal was bleeding from its mouth pretty badly leaving a small pool of blood on the ramp yesterday evening. This morning there was still blood on its face though it seemed to be a bit better. Because the bleeding was perpetual I assume it is more than a simple abrasion but I cannot see the wound well enough to be sure.
Several blasts have gone off on DND land this morning and yesterday.
Some sea lions have started using the jetty as a resting spot so I started putting up the electric fence.