dead sea lion | Race Rocks Ecological Reserve-

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.

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.