Tag Archives: e-seal pup F076

Pup Deceased

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Since the last update about the pup its condition continued to deteriorate.  On Wednesday March 12, the pup appeared to be losing coordination and mobility.  Its movement was very laboured and its behaviour seemed distressed.  In the afternoon it made its way to a puddle on the North side of the main house and went into convulsions.

While I had been sending updates and photos each day to DFO on Wednesday I sent two videos http://youtu.be/zv–ICW0TDc and http://youtu.be/nht2zTgkYrU to show its behaviour and movement.  I expressed concern that the pup may be going into paralysis. DFO was able to coordinate and get authorization for the Vancouver Aquarium to intervene the next day.

On Thursday March 13th the Marine Mammal Rescue team from the Vancouver Aquarium was deployed.  They arrived at the Pedder Bay Marina around 1600.  The marina had generously agreed to send out one of their boats and a staff volunteered to captain it.  I met them at the marina in the station boat and we brought the rescue team of 5 with gear out to Race Rocks.  Upon arrival they could tell that the pup was in critical condition. One of the team members told me they had never seen one in such bad shape.  They gave it a sedative and moved it onto a sling to transport it to the Pedder Bay Marina boat. Once back at the marina they set the pup down and gave it further treatment and washed out the wounds.  They left around 17:45 and made in time to catch the 19:00 ferry to Vancouver.

At 8:47 PM they sent the following update:

“Alright, we are just about to go off the ferry and drive toward MMR. The animal is still in critical shape. He is minimally responsive to stimuli…The animal is having episodes of full blown seizure lasting up to 2 minutes.”

Just after 11 pm they sent a final update:

“Unfortunately, our little guy did not make it. We treated him aggressively en route to the rescue center, but he arrested at 10:45 PM. Emergency resuscitation was attempted unsuccessfully. I am so sorry to have to share the sad news of his death.  Thank you so much to everyone who chipped in to help with his rescue today.”

I am  very grateful to everyone who was involved in this difficult situation and who helped try to rescue him.  The Vancouver Aquarium team were remarkably caring and dedicated; they did all they could do, it was too late.

My 3.5 month shift ends today. The highlight of the last few months has been watching this beautiful little creature every day since its birth in January.  Watching and listening to it die over the course of the past two weeks, right outside our house, has been more difficult, stressful and frustrating than I could have ever imagined.   I wish I could have done more for him. Living here with these creatures is like a blessing and a curse.

Pup update

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The pup appears to be getting worse with swelling in his head and one eye.  As the rain has let up the wound has started drying out and the damaged flesh dying back to reveal the extent of his wound and infection.  He has been moving around more today but is not behaving the same as he used to.

Images from Monday and Sunday:

Pup injured by Chunk

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On the night of Saturday March 1st the pup started making more noise than usual. He had been on the path by the flag but when I went outside to check he was close to the main house and Chunk, who hadn’t been on the island in several days, was a few feet behind him. The pup was frightened and bleeding with several puncture wounds and scrapes from chunk biting him. Chunk’s mouth and teeth were covered in blood.

It is hard to make sense of this behaviour. After Chunk left the island we installed electric fence around the jetty to keep him out. The pup made his way onto the cistern, leaving a trail of blood, and has remained there all week.

While most of the wounds dont seem too bad there are two nasty gashes around the pups neck with deep cuts from Chunks teeth. Over the past few days these cuts have continued to release liquid, remain open and seem clearly infected. As the pup is not going into the ocean yet he doesnt have the benefit of salt water to flush his wounds. While they are resilient creatures it is still concerning; we are keeping a close eye on him.

These photos taken four days after the attack.

On Thursday Chunk tried to come back on the island via the boat ramp and got as far as the electric fence.

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Tagging the Elephant Seal Pup

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A week ago we asked Paul Cotrell, the Pacific Marine Mammal Coordinator of Fisheries and Oceans Canada to assist us in starting a program of annual elephant seal pup tagging by tagging this years elephant seal pup born on January 14.

2014-02-27 tagcrewThis morning  Erik  Schauff drove the college boat Second Nature out to the Ecological Reserve to transport Paul Cotrell, Sheena Majewski from PBS in  Nanaimo and Mya Cormie from the Victoria DFO office.  Also on board were biology faculty member Ann Stewart, as well as Barry Herring and myself

 

We joined Alex Fletcher and Virginie Lavalie , Ecoguardians at the ecological reserve in helping with the tagging process. We had planned to do this earlier in the week but the East winds were still blowing. As it was we hit a perfectly calm day today.

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The pup was on the grass by the weather instrument and was somewhat bigger than we had estimated, probably 250-300 pounds.

 

 

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Our first attempts to get it on a weighing platform failed as the pup was just too large and difficult to control. Paul decided in order to avoid any further stress, to just do the tagging. Alex held the rear flippers and Sheena used a tagging tool to insert the tags into the webbing of each of the rear flippers.

 

 

 

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Tag on rear flipper of elephant seal pup

A set of turquoise tags numbered F075 and F076, with numbers facing outside were added to the each of the rear flippers. The colour of the tags is important because each research program using tagging has to use unique identifiable colours and numbers.

 

 

 

The first elephant seal to be born on Great Race Rocks in 2009, was tagged with red tags by NOAA scientists when it came ashore in Port Angeles.

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Paul Cotrell telling Pearson College students about the hazards of marine mammal tagging.

 

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Pup moving around the following day

A group of Anne’s students came out from Pearson College to observe the newly tagged pup, it being the first one tagged in Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

Initially after tagging, the pup moved off about 6 metres and settled down in a grassy area.

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Pup settled down on the lawn the next morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning, the pup had returned to the same spot where he had been tagged. He moved around a short distance during the day.

Pam Birley from England also took some pictures of the process using camera and has posted these on her Flickr site

 

 

West winds, Blasting

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The weather this week has shifted to predominantly W and SW with a few nights of winds over 40 NMPH. There have been some big swells rolling in several days this week.  This morning there is a 30 NMPH NE wind blowing 4 foot waves into the jetty but it is forecast to swing back to west this evening. The west wind has brought much warmer temperatures than the previous week.

There has been ongoing military blasting on Bentinck Island this week with some particularly heavy blasts occurring Monday. The images above were captured from video taken on Monday.
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There has also been regular navy activity in the Straight including a submarine that passed by on the 14th

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There have been lots of Bald Eagles in the reserve lately, they have been feeding regularly on the dead sealion in the East bay.

The pup has been much more adventurous lately. He has been moving around the island and has shown an interest in muddy puddles which he seems to have some trouble getting himself out of as he is slippery, still quite chubby and building his strength. Chunk went off island yesterday evening and is back today. He mostly ignores the pup but has occasionally pursued the pup, putting his head and mouth on the pup but without causing harm. The pup squawks and moves away and that seeems to be the end of it.

Went off island on Wednesday afternoon for supplies. On Friday I picked up four guests from Pearson College and brought them to the island for the weekend.

-finished replacing bad drain pipes in main house basement, clean up
-picked up backup Honda water pump and other supplies from College
-cleaning and fixing up assist house, added shelf for VHF regulated power supply box
-have been in touch with faculty regarding planning for a student group to RR for Project Week
-communications with inverter mechanic and about wood stove
-cut, chopped, stacked fire wood

Orcas, Weaner

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Weather has continued to be cold, dipping below zero degrees. Wind has persisted all week NE-E generally over 20 NMPH. Clouds have settled in over the past couple days so it is feeling a bit warmer, forecast for flurries today/this evening.

We were able to get off the island Friday morning for a quick run for provisions. By the time we came back out around noon there were already 3 foot Easterly swells picking up.

Yesterday a pod of around 10 orcas passed by on the West side of Race Rocks heading NE towards Victoria. A group of Pearson divers got to see them from Second Nature on their way for a dive at Swordfish Island.

Bertha left Friday night or early morning Saturday. The young male from middle rock was in the jetty Saturday morning, first time i have seen him on the main island. Chunk has seemed a bit restless. He made his way around the south side of the Science house yesterday and over to main house. He saw the young male in the jetty and chased him into the rocks on the W side of jetty. Chunk went into the water and waited around the jetty, a bit of a standoff. Eventually young fellow made it into the water and I saw Chunk coming back up the ramp around dusk. He seems very uninterested in the pup which is quite different from two years ago when Misery chased and bit Squall all the time. The pup hasn’t moved much and is sleeping a lot.

Feb 8: 2 ecotour vessels in reserve. One vessel caused a disturbance of sea lions on East rocks.
Feb 9: float plane flew over. Sports fishing boat entered reserve in afternoon and was fishing in reserve. I tried contacting them on the VHF radio but they did not respond, I waved at them but they kept on fishing. They didn’t stay long and left for Pedder Bay so I called the marina and reported the incident. The staff person on duty at the marina spoke with the 3 individuals who were apparently not aware of the fishing ban. We have photos and their ID info on record and will report them to DFO if they repeat their offence. Thanks once again to Pedder Bay Marina and their staff for their cooperation and support!

-picked up parts for plumbing drain in main house, bar oil for chainsaw
-cut, chopped, stacked wood
-worked on wiring in station boat, attaching new running light
-shore-master for Pearson divers Sat afternoon
-worked on drain plumbing in main house

Elephant seal Pup now a Weaner.

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“Weaner” — That’s the name all elephant pups receive after their mother has nursed them for up to 28 days and then leaves them suddenly in the night and returns after a month on land  to the sea.

PUP2014-02-08 at 10.29.29 AM

When I first looked on the camera, I could see Chunk on the north side of the steel hose-reel box, but no pup!

On Sunday morning, Feb 8, I received an e-mail from Pam in England pointing out that Bertha was gone.  When I first looked on the camera, I could see Chunk on the north side of the steel hose-reel box, but no pup.

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The pup shows up as the shadow of the lighthouse moves back.

 

 

A few minutes later the shadow of the Lighthouse had moved and  25 days after being born, our pup was certainly all alone on the lawn. Bertha was nowhere to be seen ..

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Morning of Day 2 for the weener.

 

 

 

 

 

DAY 2 not much has changed.. The pup will get a lot of sleeping time as it matures, and lives off the fat it has accumulated.  The aerial in the foreground is that used by Environment Canada to transmit signals from its temperature, barometric and wind data from the top of the  tower.

 

PUP2014-02-09 at 9.36.51DAY2 AM

This starts what will be almost a month of fasting before the fat stores are used up and the pup will go to the ocean. This  evening  and tomorrow it may experience  snow and rain before the weather  warms up.

 

 

Now that the pup has survived this long we are about to give it a name. We have decided to use a name from the First Nations Klallum language. — stay tuned..

NE wind, temperature below zero

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There has been a fairly steady 20-35 NMPH NE wind blowing since Sunday which has meant pretty constant white caps and waves breaking along the jetty, the sky has been mostly clear. This has made any transport to/from island difficult. On Monday Erik brought out an electrician and apprentice to remove the failed inverter. He wasn’t able to stay tied up very long on the jetty. We got the inverter off and it is now in Vancouver for servicing.

On Tuesday one eco tour vessel passed through the reserve. There was also a government barge and tug boat that seemed to have some trouble while going through Race passage. With a strong tail wind and current the barge seemed to pick up speed and get ahead of the main tug. Between here and Church Rock, I watched them maneuvering in what appeared to be efforts to regain control. Eventually they got it under tow again and reversed direction, with main tug pushing the barge from behind going backwards, and they tucked in behind Christopher point for protection. Several hours later they pulled out and returned in the direction from where they came, apparently having abandoned their original destination. Navy exercises most days this week with large vessels and several zodiacs trailing.

Bertha and Chunk continue mating, pup continues putting on fat. Bertha seems ready to leave any day now, she is visibly thinner, paler in colour and seems more passive and lethargic. The female eseal that had been in S bay has left, I assume to get out of the cold wind which has been below zero plus wind chill while sea temp is currently around 7 degrees C. The younger male e-seal is visible out on Middle Rocks today and has been there the past few days.

A coast guard helicopter arrived today for maintenance on the light and fog horn. They landed next to tower as usual which was pretty close to elephant seals, Chunk took off around the other side of the house but returned soon after to mate. While clearly bothered by the sound, wind/debris and proximity of the helicopter the mother and pup didnt or couldnt really move away.

-Checking heating coils on exposed water lines
-cut, chopped, stacked fire wood
-cleaned panels
-running some heat in main house in the evenings to keep it warm
-worked on wiring/lights in whaler
-communications for wood stove/inverter/solar
-entered data and submitted DFO boat count and Seawater samples
-made parts list for plumbing in main house
-month end report fuel inventory

week in review

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I have missed a few days of logs; I was off the island Jan 22-26th. The day after I returned a inverter quit and we lost power to the main house, the internet connection was also interrupted a few days… we are now mostly moved in to the other house and are running ok with only 2 inverters on the island. Planning on having the bad inverter removed on Monday and shipped to Vancouver for servicing. We can still get power there by flipping transfer switch load 1 to “generator” while the generator is running

The weather has been very nice the last two days, sunny and relatively light wind. This house has more south facing exposure and is a bit smaller, it really warms up on a sunny day. We had quite a bit of rain earlier in the week and several days of patchy fog last weekend and early this week. Wind only got up to around 30 knots one evening mid-week.

The pup has really put on weight and is quite the squawker, often right outside the bedroom window… in the middle of the night. Chunk and Bertha are mating. He is quite persistent and she seems quite resistant but she wont leave her pup alone yet. This morning there was blood around her bad eye and it was swollen.

There has been ongoing blasting at Rocky Point this week, every day up to the weekend. One time several blasts were in short succession, sometimes there were flares too. The photo below was taken after one very heavy blast, the sealions all had their heads up right after and seemed alarmed.

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Traffic in reserve:
Sunday Jan 26: I returned in the afternoon on the station whaler.
Monday Jan 27: 1 private, 1 ecotour, helicopter overhead, several navy ships doing exercises nearby in the straight.
Saturday Feb 1: 1 diveboat, 3 ecotour.

Work:
-troubleshooting inverter
-troubleshooting internet
-moving supplies over to other house, switching fridges, etc
-communicating with inverter repair person in vancovuer
-communicating with electrician for inverter removal
-removed 25 ft of 2″ clogged drain pipe from main house, cleaned pipes with rain water
-got crate for 2′ long inverter
-started month end inventory/report
-cut, chopped, stacked fire wood
-cleaned panels as needed
-picked up pipe and hardware for replacing sink drain pipe
-topping up batteries
-picked up parts for repairs on station whaler

Elephant Seal Pup …putting on weight !

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It has been very foggy yesterday so missed seeing the elephant seal pup. I was surprised to see this morning the size he has attained. At 13 days old, gaining  4.5 kg or 10 lbs per day , the pup would have gained  58.5kg or 130 lbs since birth.

At birth pups weigh 75 pounds (35 kg) or more and are about four feet (1.25 m) in length.  This figure comes from research done in California. No one has yet done research for recording  the growth rates for elephant seal pups at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve.

The pups nurse for about 28 days, generally gaining about 10 lbs (4.5 kg) a day.

elephant seal pup2014-01-26 at 10.28.40 AM

Every morning they are in a different location because the pursues the female the previous night.

I took the following pictures from the Remote Camera 1:

elephant seal pup 2014-01-26 at 10.41.50 AM

Note the dark patches on Berthas breast are the locations on nipples.

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Both mother and pup still sleeping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good source of scientific data on Elephant seal growth rates and survivorship  can be found in a 1994 publication : Le Boeuf, Burney J., and Richard M. Laws, editors Elephant Seals: Population Ecology, Behavior, and Physiology. Berkeley:  University of California Press,  c1994 1994. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft7b69p131/