Tag Archives: dead sea lion

August 18

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Wildlife Notes:

  • This morning, I enjoyed watching from the top of the lighthouse as a Steller sea lion feasted on a salmon. See the photos below.
  • I caught a glimpse of four brown pelicans flying through the ecological reserve and stopping in the kelp bed near Turbine Rock. I did see one close up this afternoon. They are my favourite bird I get to see here due to their size and rarity in these waters.
  • With the permission of DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans), the dead Steller sea lion was towed away. The Race Rocks team did not want the carcass to rot in the jetty bay where it hauled out and died on Thursday. The plan was for the dead sea lion to be towed back to Pearson College, so it could be dissected by the Marine Science students. Due to the decomposition, the tow did not work and the carcass was cut loose in deeper water on the east side of the ecological reserve. Now that it has sunk, it is part of the food web.

Facility work:

  • Due to rust, the jetty railing at the top of the built in ladder was removed. A new one will be manufactured and brought out soon. I reconfigured the electric fence at the end of the jetty to ward off the sea lions. After all, they do have so many rocks they can use.
  • This afternoon, I took the Race Rocks station boat out for a leisurely tour around the ecological reserve. The boat ran well. I tested everything a couple weeks ago and was waiting for a good tide and current combination to take it out beyond the jetty. My attempt on Thursday was thwarted when the dead sea lion was blocking the boat ramp. Today, I enjoyed seeing the various smaller islands around the ecological reserve and vantages that I do not often see from Great Race Rocks.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 18
  •  Private: 8

Weather:

  • Sky: partly cloudy
  • Wind: west and southwest 5-15 knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 12 °C, high 19 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.7°C

Photos from today:

Photos from this afternoon’s trip in the Race Rocks station boat:

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

August 17

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Wildlife Notes:

  • The dead Steller sea lion is still in the jetty bay and untouched by scavengers. The tide last night did flip it over and move it slightly away from the boat ramp.

Facility work:

  • The generator ran automatically this morning from midnight to 08:00 because the state of charge dipped to 66%. This afternoon, the solar energy kept the battery topped up.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 14
  •  Private: 4

Weather:

  • Sky: Partly cloudy
  • Wind: (mostly) west 1-15  knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 13 °C, high 16 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.5 °C

Photos from today:

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

August 15

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Wildlife Notes:

  • The dead steller sea lion spotted yesterday was still on the boat ramp this morning. So far it appears to have been untouched by any scavengers. With the permission of DFO, there is a plan in the works to remove the animal from boat ramp in a few days if the high tide does not get to it first.

Facility work:

  • The generator turned on automatically at 10:00 due to not getting enough solar energy for a full charge yesterday. It ran for almost seven hours before turning off with a charge of 94%. I could not figure out why the system decided it did not need a full charge like usual.
  • I cleaned the solar panels with most of the work already done by the rain.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 3
  •  Private: 1

Weather:

  • Sky: fog and rain
  • Wind: variable 2-11 knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 12 °C, high 15 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.6°C

Photos from today:

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

August 14

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Wildlife Notes:

  • A couple of humpback whales passed through the northern and eastern side of the ecological reserve this afternoon. At 14:30, I saw a spout just beyond the North Rocks and watched as the whales swam south. I heard over the radio from the ecotour boats that there appeared to be a mother and calf. I was surprised to see several sea lions swimming around the humpbacks. Most likely the sea lions were feeding on the fish that were being stirred up by the big whales.
  • Early this afternoon, I noticed a Steller sea lion that had hauled out on the boat ramp beside the jetty. The sea lion did not move when I walked near it several times to fix the electric fence at the end of the jetty. It also wasn’t breathing, so I suspected it had died at some point overnight or this morning. I checked on it at this evening’s high tide at 19:30, by which point the sea lion’s mouth and nose were just under the water, but there didn’t appear to be enough tide to take it out. I reported it to the DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans) BC Marine Mammal Response Network, in case they want to check it out. Fortunately, I did not notice any signs of trauma on the animal from what I could see on the top. It had some battle scars on its back like most of the male sea lions and elephant seals I see. I am fairly sure it’s a male that is not mature, based on the thicker neck but not bulk of the fully mature males.

Facility work:

  • Fix parts of the electric fence that were breached by party animal California sea lions. One made a foul mess at the end of the jetty that I washed away with many buckets of sea water. Any excuse to use a bucket on a rope to pull up seawater.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 13
  •  Private: 2

Weather:

  • Sky: partly cloudy
  • Wind: variable directions 0-30 knots
  • Sea: riippled
  • Air temperature: low 12 °C, high 15 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11/2°C

Photos from today:

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

Moulting Elephant seals

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Eco-guardians Allen and  ilka Olsen

TUESDAY 16 April
Winds have lessened but still brisk and; cool out—West 14/gust 24—mid-afternoon.
Continue to go up tower to prepare for census day tomorrow. I’ll dispense with today’s count
as nothing extraordinary spotted except 4 dunlin and possibly 6 Cassin auklets (too swift for pic).
Birds are definitely pairing and prepping for nesting. Found a dead sealion on east shore well
along in decay.
Two additional moulting E seals came ashore; total now 5. Some vocalize frequently.
Of interest was the vessel traffic: HMCS frigate towed along south shore of Bentick to
Quarantine Cove. One likes to think that the two towing tugs have a lower carbon footprint
than the engine on frigate. Four detonations from DND. Spill Response vessel cruised by. Five-
7 freighters transversing at any time; several cruise ships. Number of wildlife tour boats
definitely correlate to number cruise ships in harbour.
Facility Work: Gathered, split and stacked wood, Washed windows.

 

Busy Shorebirds, Sea Lion Shot?

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Weather:

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky partly cloudy, blue sky and sun!
  • Wind 0-15 Knots NW
  • Water calm

Visitors:

  • A few supply drops to the island otherwise quiet, not much traffic
  • Some navy vessels on the water today as some blasting was taking place on the DND land.

Ecological Notes:

  • Today we spotted a young seagull displaying the same symptoms as the one we found a few weeks ago: extending its neck as if to catch its breath or perhaps dislodge something stuck inside its throat. We noticed it initially because it had separated from the group and had tucked under some foliage. Within 15-20 minutes it appeared to be unable to move aside from lifting its head, and with wings splayed it died. We did inspect inside the mouth and throat that we could see and nothing appeared to be lodged inside. We are not sure what caused these deaths (or if it was the same cause), but we are interested to learn more. We are hoping that we will be able to send it for a necropsy.
  • On Saturday we were surprised by a large male elephant seal! He was so huge that he dwarfed even the largest sea lions here in the reserve. Wow! He must have had places to be and moved along the next day.
  • Our whale sightings have slowed down now, although we have been still spotting at least 1 humpback whale every day. They seem to appear around peak ebb current to feed around the reserve.
  • We have been periodically checking on our dead sea lion that appeared last week. Although not officially determined, after some input we strongly believe that the animal was shot. It appears as if it was shot and then made it onto land here before passing. While it is a heartbreaking find, we are excited to observe the decomposition process.
  • We have been observing gulls pecking at the remains of gulls killed by eagles. The cannibalism is not necessarily a surprise to us, having also observed adult gulls eating the chicks of other gulls over the nesting seasons. However, it is interesting, given how much food is readily available.