Tag Archives: electric fence

Freaky Fish

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Good news! The storm didn’t leave us with any damage, and the fence withheld the strong winds with only a few minor repairs needed this morning (I’ve seen the sea lions do much worse).

There have been a few weak/droopy sections of the fence that tend to come down the most often so my dad spent his morning fixing those and testing to ensure the current is running strong all the way through, which it now is!

The wind picked up in the afternoon and the clouds rolled in so our afternoon was quite relaxed inside. At least for a little while until my dad decided to get back to work and clean out the wood stove which is now sparkling and clear.

I swear he’s going to take my job while I’m not looking if he works any harder!

While working outside today I found the dried up remains of a small dead fish, that I assume a bird must have dropped. Nothing out of the ordinary, that happens all the time, however on closer inspection it had more teeth than I’ve ever seen in a single animal.

My initial thought is that it could be a juvenile lingcod as they have many rows of teeth, but I am still trying to confirm that. I’ve asked around and I’m hoping someone might see this post and be able to enlighten me. Either way, its the stuff nightmares are made of!

Facility Work:

  • Repaired fence
  • Cleaned wood stove 
  • Chopped wood

Vessels:

  • Ecotourism: 9

Weather:

  • Sky: Sun and cloud, overcast in afternoon
  • Wind: Low of 2 knots, high of 14 knots, with gusts up to 35 knots
  • Sea: Whitecaps in the afternoon
  • Temperature: Low  11•C, High  14•C

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

Sea Lion VS Fence

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The never ending battle of sea lions vs electric fence continues!

They behaved themselves overnight with only a couple posts knocked over which in their defence…could have been the wind.

However today was not remotely windy and every time I went outside the fence needed some level of repair. Down by the jetty was jam packed with California sea lions, a few stellers, and even two elephant seals. Throughout the day they continued to rip down lines and tear out the screws, but I managed to keep up with it (or so I thought).

I had just come inside and sat down with a cup of tea when I looked out my window to see a giant steller lounging on the jetty with the electric fence resting on his back….a good indicator that it was grounding out somewhere.

Something tells me the fence isn’t very hot…

Back outside I went and found the source of the problem – a piece of fence so frayed it was hanging on for dear life and it was clear that no current could run through that. I fixed the fence with fresh fencing material and adjusted the other area around the jetty so that nothing was touching the cement.

Fixed!

I plugged the fence back in and crossed my fingers. No one was back on the jetty by the time it got dark so we’ll see how the night goes!

As per usual, whales everywhere today!

Facility Work:

  • Topped up battery electrolytes
  • Repaired electric fence

Vessels:

  • Ecotourism: 7
  • Private: 0

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy
  • Wind: Low of 1 knot, high of 7 knots
  • Sea: Mostly calm
  • Temperature: Low 9•C, High 15•C

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

As buck would have it!

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Today we tackled the pile of logs just waiting to be bucked into some grade A firewood. The rock is equipped with a beauty Husqvarna 450 rancher chainsaw that just purrs…those logs didn’t stand a chance. In the words of Buckin’ Billy Ray, ‘She cuts eh!” I think swinging an axe might have legs as the next fitness trend! We also made some minor improvements to the fence and touched up some of the auxiliary buildings.

We reported yesterday’s entanglement and unfortunately saw another one today.

Whale Watching Vessels: 20

Private Vessels: 6

Weather: Clear and Sunny all day. Winds out the SE then switching to West later in the aft. 6-12kts

Back on Fence Duty

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Saturday, September 14, 2024

We made some improvements to our last stretch and started on a new section that has been totally wrecked by the sealions. We are again converting from the old-style block anchors to metal stanchions that are bolted into the rock. We chose a course that provided good anchor locations and uses the natural geography to work with the sealions preferred nap spots. We also cleaned the windows of the various buildings because with 715 gulls…well you get the idea.

While having our morning coffee we saw our first Orcas. 5-6 with a baby was a treat for sure. Another notable siting was three ocean canoes coming through middle channel around 2pm, pretty rowdy if you ask me.

Whale Watching Vessels: 15

Private Vessels: 5

Weather: Calm and overcast in the morning. Cleared in the afternoon with winds reaching 14-16kts.

Census Day!

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Sunday September 8th

Today we spent a lot of time on the fence again. We painstakingly went through each section to ensure that charge was being held the whole way through. This was a very tedious process and we still don’t have the voltage up to where we want it to be…. but there have been no pinniped breaches yet, so fingers crossed!

Today, Scott and I climbed the lighthouse tower to complete our first wildlife census. As a marine ecologist, I have a lot of experience counting fish underwater. However, counting over 600 Sea lions that all look like overlapping brown logs or trying to count birds that keep on flying away or are hidden between all the sea lions was way harder. With that said, being a top the tower made everything much easier to see and to conceptualize on a greater scale.

While we were up there we also got to enjoy a couple of humpback whales engaging in tail slapping or “lobtailing” behaviour for well over 30 minutes. It is thought that the sound and force generated by the slaps frighten the bait fish into tighter schools making them easier to hunt. Based off gull activity, there were definitely a lot of bait balls around, so hopefully we will get to see more of this behaviour in the coming days!

  • Water Sample
  • Ran Generator
  • Washed Solar Panels
  • Patched and checked new electric fence
  • Island animal census

Whale Watching Vessels: 25

Private Vessels: 7

Census Results:

Birds:

  • Turnstones: 15
  • Killdeer: 1
  • Gulls: 528
  • Cormorants: 70
  • Oystercatchers: 2
  • Canada Goose: 6

Mammals:

  • Stellar Sea Lions: 115
  • California Sea Lions: 497
  • Sea Lions (Too Far for confident ID): 205
  • Harbour Seals: 63

Weather: Slightly Hazy/Overcast. Wind NW Building all day to ~ 15knts

Fortifying Fence

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Saturday September 7 – Day 3

Our first day alone on station. We spent the morning refurbishing the fence that runs along the SW west portion of the island in front of the lighthouse down to the main residence.

It was super satisfying to have a unified barrier… until about four hours later… when some sections were promptly breached by our pinniped neighbours for the flat, comfy nesting spots they are protecting. The battle continues… Later in the evening we had to rescue our water sample bucket as an unnamed thrower let go of the rope.

  • Water Sample
  • Ran Generator
  • Washed Solar Panels
  • Repaired electric fence with anchored stanchions

Whale Watching Vessels: 20

Private Vessels: 6

Weather: Calm and Glassy, <5knts, Slightly Hazy/Overcast Wind picked up in the evening

Early Spring Cleaning

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Ecological Notes:

  • Still waiting to see if any Elephant Seals show up for the moult season
  • Sea Lion numbers are down a bit and not fluctuating as they have been
  • Transient Orca have been in the reserve 3 times at least over the last few days. they hunted right off the end of the pier, and in the channel just south of the light

Visitors:

  • Shore Front coordinator delivering supplies and fuel

Facility Work:

  • There was water in the basement of the Student and Science Center, and I first I couldn’t find the source. I checked all the plumbing on that side of the room, and mopped up the water. Checked a couple hours later and there was as much water there again. Realize it must be a new leak, and that it was still going. Took longer than it should have to find the leak, as it was working around the lowest points and looked like it was coming from the other direction. Isolated the problem, and repairs will be done tomorrow

  • With warmer weather and less rain, time to start spring cleaning of sidewalks. The algae cleaner needs the temperature, and rain free days to work.
  • Catching back up on fuel deliveries allows the replenishing of the Gerry Cans in reserve.

  • Noticed the fog horn wasn’t working on Sunday during the heavy fog. Coastguard notified so they could put out a notice to mariners. they have scheduled a visit for Thursday to repair it. With current availability of GPS and Radar on vessels, glad I didn’t have to use the manual back up!

  • Checking smoke detectors and first aid supplies that may expired

  • Awaiting new materials for the pier fence, cleaned up old wiring, saving longer pieces for repairs and making gates

DND events:

  • Detonations during the last week, under the guidence supplied by the Marin Mammal Observers on the water.

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Still a few Eco-Tourism vessels coming through.
  • 3 or 4 private vessels as well, all appropriate behavior

Weather Events:

  • Wednesday January 31:
    • Sky: High overcast with occasional sunny breaks
    • Wind: ESE to 30kts early, rotating through to NE 10-15kts during the day
    • Sea: rippled, some standing waves due to wind/tide combinations
    • Temperature Low 10oC, High 13.5oC
  • Tuesday January 30:High overcast, occasional brief rain

    • Wind: NE dropping to 0kts at sunrise, raising through the day to NE 25kts, then dropping again in the evening
    • Sea:  light chop
    • Temperature Low 10oC, High 14oC
  • Monday January 29:
    • Sky: Dense fog all day
    • Wind:N to NE rising from 5kts to 20kts through the day
    • Sea:  light chop
    • Temperature Low 9oC, High 11oC

 

 

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

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

July 11, 12, 13, and Weekly Census

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Weather for July 11:
Wind: W 11 to 27 knots
Visibility: 15 NM
Sky: Partly Cloudy
Sea: rippled in morning, up to 2′ chop in afternoon
Air temperature: 12-14 C

Weather for July 12:
Wind: W 18 to 35 knots
Visibility: 10 to 15 NM
Sky: Cloudy in morning, partly cloudy in afternoon
Sea: 1’ chop in morning, up to 4′ chop in afternoon
Air temperature: 11-15 C

Weather for July 13:
Wind: W 16 to 33 knots
Visibility: 15 NM
Sky: Partly Cloudy
Sea: rippled in morning, up to 2′ chop in afternoon
Air temperature: 11-15 C

DND Blasting:
There was one DND blast at 14:05 on July 12 at nearby Rocky Point.

Visitors:
Greg and Bruce visited this afternoon to deliver 1,400 L of freshwater and a new first aid kit.

Maintenance:
I did the routine tasks of cleaning the solar panels and house windows, topping up the water in the 24 deep cycle batteries, fixing the electric fence, tidying, and maintaining the freshwater system.

Ecological notes:
There have been a lot of humpback whale activity over the past few days to the west, south, and east of Race Rocks. The whale watching boats have been active in the area. From what I hear on the VHF radio, they have been very pleased with the humpback viewing. I have not seen any whales swim through the ecological reserve.

I heard back about the tagged elephant seal, from the researcher at Año Nuevo Natural Reserve, in California. The juvenile seal, tagged H999 and K646, is a male who was born in January 2022. He was previously observed here and reported to the researchers on April 1, 2023. He has been moulting here for at least the past several weeks. He appears to be almost complete the moulting process, so he might be moving on soon to feed in the deep waters.

Weekly Census observed on July 13:
elephant seal: 1 juvenile (tagged H999, K646)
Steller sea lion: 3
harbour seal: 79
bald eagle: 2 adults, 1 juvenile
raven: 1
cormorant: 7
black oystercatcher: 6 adults, 1 chick (that I could spot today)
pigeon guillemot: 148
glaucous-winged gull: 387 adults, 120 chicks
surfbird: 12
killdeer: 4
western sandpiper: 3
barn swallow: 3

Photo highlights from the past three days:

Don’t trust the weather report

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Morning visitors

Weather: SUN! westerly wind 16 knots. Sparkling water.

Visitors: Several whale watching boats. All came close to the seal lions on the jetty but they didn’t disturb them. Fishers outside reserve area.

Work: cleaned solar panels. chopped wood. cleaned windows (on the inside) in lamp room.

 

Energy: Every morning it is a bit of guess work to see  if I can hold off using the generator. Particularly today when it called for clouds and rain. I was happy the first hour of potential solar energy boosted the batteries to over 50 volts. Then I had some breathing room. I tend to look at the numbers often and try to see how I can avoid the generator or use it as little as possible. Not listening to the forecast can be useful!

Observations: Gulls are beautiful. They are so easy to take for granted but now that I am looking closely at them I see how exquisitely white they are. It is amazing to get to watch them go through their courtship. I don’t envy the few immature gulls on the island. If they try to land anywhere near the centre of the island they are quickly reminded that this is a breeding colony and they are not welcome.

Several sea lions have taken to lying on the steps of the jetty. The new electric fence keeps them from coming right up. I feel somewhat sad about this, thinking that for years they have returned and sandwiched themselves on that cement surface. We had to move them off every day to take water samples so it wasn’t an absolutely ideal life. I just wonder how often they need to get zapped to stay away and if there is anywhere nearly as comfortable.

It fascinates me that I can’t get near the nesting Canada geese. I make big detours to avoid the nest and therefore avoid getting attacked and yet the several hundred pound mammals prove no obstacle. They will readily move when I need to take a water sample.

The 6 female elephant seals have split into 2 groups (by size it seems) and life is peaceful for them. Only a few days ago there was lots of conflict. They haven’t left the island today and the male pup has not returned. They have mostly moulted it seems and are waiting for their new fur to grow.

After I wrote this I saw the sea otter! He was around seal rocks for a couple of hours.

 

sea otter!

Curiosity

the three large female elephant seals

the 3 smaller elephant seals

Not this year.

A Wonderful Windy Weather Day

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sunrise and fog

Weather: The morning sunrise was behind fog. It cleared up after an hour. Winds started as westerly. Beautiful sunny day charging the batteries to almost 100%. By 1800 hrs however a north wind started howling (24 knots)It has converted to a westerly as I write this, now at 29 knots. Very dramatic skies!

Visitors: several ecotourism boats, all slowed down and came close to the jetty to see the elephant seals.

Observations:  Besides the pictures below. There are currently 6 female elephant seals. The pup was not on the island all day. Brown-headed cowbird here all day.

Why do the geese eat this?

You won’t tell anyone?

white Brodiaea in bloom

camouflage for the young

ring billed gull? or is eye too dark?

never a dull moment

brown headed cowbird

Is this electric fence going to stay?

Is this electric fence staying?

savannah sparrow

the north wind bringing weather

the north wind bringing weather