Tag Archives: elephant seal

April 11 and 12 – Weekly Census

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Wind: yesterday W-S 0-32 knots, today W-SE 2-17 knots
Sea State: both days calm
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy then clear from mid morning, today clear
Temperature: yesterday 8-14 °C, today 7-14 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 416.33 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The lawn in front of the house got busier this morning with nine elephant seals, two more than yesterday. A tenth seal, the pup, was near the jetty. The two new arrivals have green tags on their tail flippers. One is a male tagged C887. The other is a juvenile tagged G512 on the right flipper and E779 on the right. I will update the information on age and past sightings when I hear back from the researchers. The green tags signify the elephant seals were tagged at Año Nuevo, south of San Francisco.

[UPDATED April 13: I heard back from Dr. Patrick Robinson, the researcher from Año Nuevo Reserve. The elephant seal with green tags E779 and G512 was tagged as a pup in February 2019, where he was born at Año Nuevo. This is the first time the male juvenile has been spotted outside of Año Nuevo, where he was last seen as a weaner in March, 2019. The elephant seal with the green tag C887 is a juvenile male that was born at Año Nuevo in February 2017. He has been seen at Race Rocks in the month of December in 2017, 2018 and 2019.]

There was one boat seen in the ecological reserve on each of the past two days, a pleasure boat yesterday and a sailboat today.

Census results observed this afternoon at low tide:
10 elephant seals (1 female pup, 1 female juvenile, 1 juvenile, 2 sub adult males, 5 female adults)
16 steller sea lions
91 california sea lions
1 sea otter
72 harbour seals
5 bald eagles (2 juveniles, 3 adults)
16 Canada geese
1 black brant goose
99 gulls (mostly thayer’s)
17 pelagic cormorants
4 brandt’s cormorants
5 double-crested cormorants
6 black oystercatchers
24 pigeon guillemots
7 harlequin ducks
2 surfbirds
5 black turnstones

  • Two eagles on Turbine Rock and a colourful sailboat passing through Race Passage.
  • Newly arrived juvenile elephant seal tagged G512 and E779
  • Green tags G512 and E779 on the juvenile elephant seal.
  • Newly arrived sub adult male elephant seal tagged C887
  • Green tag C887 on the sub adult male elephant seal
  • Black brant goose
  • Four elephant seals waiting for the water to come to them
  • Newly arrived juvenile seal exploring the boardwalk
  • A view from the top of the lighthouse this afternoon of the clear water of the east bay. A group of sea lions can be seen on the rocks.
  • These lucky gulls won of the goose egg hunt

April 9 and 10

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Wind: yesterday W 0-26 knots, today W 11-38 knots
Sea State: both days calm in am and up to 1 m chop in pm
Visibility: yesterday 15 NM, today 0-15 NM
Sky: yesterday clear, today fog from 7:00-8:00 then clear
Temperature: yesterday 7-9 °C, today 7-10 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 417.85 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The youngest elephant seal pup came back ashore, on the east side of the island. She is easy to identify from the scar below her right eye. She spent the evening and night on the southeast side of the house, where she spent several weeks in February and March once she weaned from her mother. Today she had moved around to haul out on the boat ramp and swim in the sheltered water by the jetty.

A new sub adult male elephant seal has joined the other elephant seals. He is a bit smaller than the other sub adult male that joined the last week.

Yesterday there were two visitors, Guy and Corey, in the college boat Second Nature. There were no other boats in the ecological reserve.

  • The youngest elephant seal pup spent yesterday evening and night by the south east side of the house.
  • A view to the south
  • Newly arrived sub adult male elephant seal
  • Pup practicing swimming in the jetty bay
  • Canada geese in flight
The fog signal sounded for an hour this morning, before the sky cleared. It hasn’t sounded for almost two months. The fog signal is (3) 60 s, which means three blasts sound and repeat every minute. The more detailed version is blast 2 s; sil. 3 s; blast 2 s; sil. 3 s; blast 2 s; sil. 48 s.

April 7 and 8

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Wind: yesterday W 0-34 knots, today E in am SE in pm 0-16 knots
Sea State: both days calm
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy in morning, clear onwards, today clear
Temperature: yesterday 8-11 °C, today 6-13 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 415.60 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

A sea otter spent most of yesterday afternoon in the South Channel between South Islands and South Seal Rocks. It ate clams, cleaned itself and rested on the rocks. When it dove underwater to grab some more food, I approached to get a closer view from an indent in rocks on South Seal Rocks. See the 16 second video below.

The last elephant seal pup appears to have left today. She was swimming in the jetty bay for most of the day. When I went out in the boat this afternoon, she was floating by the rocks to the north of the jetty bay. When I returned, she wasn’t there anymore or on the land. All three surviving pups left the island within a week of being three months old. The two others haven’t returned. Presumably, they are off feeding themselves after teaching themselves to swim over the past two months, since they weaned from their mothers.

I moved four wheelbarrows of the remainder of this winter’s supply of wood from the cupboards beside the Energy Building to the basement of the house. That wood should last for any cool or damp days of the spring or fall. I fixed some loose boards on the winch deck and boardwalk. Over the winter, the sea lions were rough on that deck.

A single blast was heard yesterday morning just after 11:00, coming from the demolition training area at Rocky Point.

One pleasure boat was seen in the ecological reserve this evening. The Race Rocks station boat was out this afternoon for a quick trip to Pearson College to pick up groceries.

  • Just a few big chunks of fir and skin around her middle remain to moult. T562/T653 is almost done.
  • Sea otter swimming in South Channel in the clear water, as seen from the lantern room of the tower
  • Deconstructed shore crab
  • Watching a sea otter from the south side of the island yesterday evening. See the video below.
  • The full moon rising yesterday evening just after sunset
  • When I headed out in the boat in the late afternoon, the youngest elephant seal pup was floating in the water by the rocks, near a resting california sea lion.
  • The view of the ecological reserve coming out of Pedder Bay, passing Bentinck Island.
A video of a sea otter cleaning itself on the south end of the island. A california sea lion pops up twice.

April 5 and 6 – Orcas

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Wind: yesterday variable 0-17 knots, today variable 0-22 knots
Sea State: both days rippled
Visibility: both days 15 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy, today clear
Temperature: both days 5-10 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 416.03 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Yesterday morning, I noticed a pod of at least six orcas on the western edge of the ecological reserve. They swam east through Middle Channel, passing just north of the main island. What a treat it was for me to watch them from the front porch. See the photos below.

The older of the two female pups has been gone for the whole day. She left the island at some point early this morning. It’s been 14 days since the oldest of the three surviving pups left the island. Perhaps the pup who left today is following the strict schedule, as she is 14 day younger than the male pup who left 14 days ago.

Today, there were three boats in the ecological reserve: two pleasure craft and one local whale watching boat with two people on board.

  • This gull managed to snatch an egg from a goose nest
  • The large dorsal fin of a male orca and a smaller female.
  • A younger male orca swims by two california sea lions.
  • Orcas swimming by a juvenile bald eagle. The shorelines of Esquimalt and Victoria are in the background.
  • The older of the female pups was resting on this spot above the goose nest for two days, before she went for a swim at some point this morning. Notice the calendula flower in her mouth.
  • This tulip, surrounded by grape hyacinth is taking its time to blossom.
  • Blue bells are starting to appear in a few place.
  • The juvenile elephant seal scared away the goose from this nest with two eggs. The goose came back after the seal left.

 

April 3 and 4 – Weekly Census

Gallery

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This gallery contains 6 photos.

Wind: yesterday W 15-40 knots, today variable 2-17 knotsSea State: yesterday up to 0.5m chop, today up to 1 m chopVisibility: both days 10-15 NMSky: both days partly cloudyTemperature: both days 4-7 °CAtmospheric CO2: 415.60 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii) … Continue reading →

April 1 and 2

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Wind: yesterday variable 1-21 knots, today W 2-31 knots
Sea State: both days rippled
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: both days partly cloudy then clearing in the mid morning
Temperature: yesterday 4-10 °C, today 5-6 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 415.81 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Yesterday morning, a new elephant seal arrived on the island. He has green tags on each tail flipper, D018 and D019. The green tags signify it was tagged at Año Nuevo Reserve, similar to the female juvenile seal here right now. Due to the website being down for a few days, I didn’t realize at the time the seal was the same one here for the last two weeks of December. The seal was also seen here for two weeks in April 2019. I reported the sighting to Dr. Patrick Robinson, the Director of Año Nuevo Reserve, near San Francisco in California. He reported back that the seal was born at the beginning of 2017, meaning he is now a three year old sub adult. Based on the photos I sent Dr. Robinson and included in the gallery below, he determined the seal is in great body condition but fur/skin is in poor condition.

In the past few days, the sea lions have been taking over the jetty, something they haven’t done in critical mass since the beginning of the winter. This afternoon, I finished setting up and testing the electric fence on the jetty to deter sea lions from congregating and damaging the railings and boat cleats. When I need to use the jetty to test the seawater or for boats, the sea lions need to be cleared off. No matter how slowly I approach the them, they only have one speed of getting off the jetty, which is stampede. It will take some time each day to maintain the fence from sea lions bumping it, as well as wind and waves.

Only one boat was seen in the ecological reserve, a Coast Guard rigid hull inflatable went through Middle Channel yesterday afternoon and stopped to take photos of sea lions on the rocks.

  • Sunrise from the top of the tower
  • Morning mountain view
  • The newly arrived sub adult male elephant seal
  • He has a green tag on each tail flipper D018 and D019
  • D018
  • The beginnings of the electric fence to protect the jetty from sea lions
  • Colourful sunset

March 30 and 31

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Wind: yesterday variable 4-40 knots, today W 3-25 knots
Sea State: yesterday up to 1 m chop, today rippled
Visibility: yesterday 10 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy with rain in morning, today clear
Temperature: yesterday 5-8 °C, today 5-7 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 415.65 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

I took soundings on all the water and fuel tanks as well as other notable measurements for the month end report. Here are some of the numbers. The desalinator produced 6,650 L of water, which was used mostly for pressure washing the buildings and other cleaning. 540 L of diesel was used to run the generator to top of the batteries, when there wasn’t enough sun to charge the solar panels. The generator ran for 141 hours over the month, for an average of 4.5 hours/day. There were 24 visitors (16 unique visitors) to the island over the course of the month.

No boats were seen in the ecological reserve over the past two days.

See the gallery below for views around the island.

  • A high concentration of harbour seals on Turbine Rock at low tide
  • A small midden of deconstructed mossy chitons
  • Five out of the six elephant seals going for a dip in the jetty bay
  • Elephant seal pup buddies
  • Another view of the post sunrise sunny rain, from inside the energy building
  • Canada geese reflecting pond
  • A post sunrise double rainbow, while it was sunny raining
  • Different stages of moulting. The elephant seal on the left has got rid of most of the fur and skin on her head, except a patch on the nose.

March 28 and 29 – Spring Cleaning

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Wind: yesterday variable 1-19 knots, today W 5-25 knots
Sea State: yesterday calm, today up to 1 m chop
Visibility: yesterday 10 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy, today clear
Temperature: yesterday 8-10 °C, today 7-9 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 415.68 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Today marks a big milestone for me, spending 100 days at Race Rocks. I’ve enjoyed witnessing the entire winter and transition into spring from this incredible ecological reserve on the edge, where the land meets the sea meets the sky.

Lots of chores were done around the island this weekend: cleaning windows, chopping wood rounds with the axe, vacuuming and mopping.

Two pleasure boats were in the ecological reserve today. A lone occupant of on of those boats was fishing near North Rocks.

Census Friday

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Wind: yesterday mostly from W 4-22 knots, today N-NE 2-9 knots
Sea State: yesterday calm in morning 0.5m chop in afternoon, today calm
Visibility: both days 5-15 NM
Sky: yesterday overcast with patches of rain and sun, today partly cloudy
Temperature: both days 6-8 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 415.43 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Census results from today:
6 elephant seals (2 female pups, 1 female juvenile, 3 female adults)
21 steller sea lions
62 california sea lions
1 sea otter
91 harbour seals
3 bald eagles (1 juvenile, 2 adults)
12 Canada geese
6 brandt’s cormorants
4 double-crested cormorants
10 pelagic cormorants
59 thayer’s gulls
12 black oystercatchers
14 harlequin ducks
108 pigeon guillemots
56 surfbirds
26 black turnstones
1 killdeer
1 song sparrow

There were no boats in the ecological reserve over the past two days.

 

March 24 and 25

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Wind: yesterday variable 1-11 knots, today mostly W 2-17 knots
Sea State: both days calm
Visibility: yesterday 5-15 NM, today 10-15 NM
Sky: yesterday overcast, rain then clearing in early afternoon, today partly cloudy then clear from mid morning onwards
Temperature: yesterday 5-6 °C, today 5-10 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.34 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

I heard back about more information on the recently arrived female juvenile elephant seal pup, with green tags E103 and E135. Dr Patrick Robinson, the Director of the Año Nuevo Reserve and Lecturer at University of California Santa Cruz, sent a report of the history of the seal’s sightings and said, “It’s always great to get these updates… we greatly appreciate it!” The seal was born in the 2018 winter season, which makes her just over two years old. She was seen a lot during the winter and spring of 2018 at Año Nuevo Reserve. Researchers took two blubber samples to study bioaccumulation. The seal wasn’t seen again until the fall of 2019, when she spent a month at Race Rocks between September 7 and October 11. Fast forward a few months, the seal came back to Race Rocks two days ago, on March 23. She appears to be in the early stages of her catastrophic moult of her fur and skin, judging by the patches on her sides.

The youngest elephant seal pup returned yesterday morning from her one day adventure in the sea. She spent the whole day sleeping by the wood pile. The oldest pup has been gone for the past two days. A new adult female elephant seal arrived yesterday. She is most likely one of the four mothers that was here in January and February. So far the three have come back a month and a half after they each weaned their pups, which happened on January 21, February 4 and February 9.

At today’s 16:31 high tide, after recording the salinity and temperature of the water, I hooked up the hoses and pump to top up the seawater in the cistern. The gas powered water pump sucks water through a hose with a strainer dropped off the end of the jetty. The water is pumped through 76 m (250′) of fire hose up to the cistern. Over a couple hours, tens of thousands of litres of water were pumped into the underground cistern, which should feed the desalinator for the next month and a bit.

Yesterday, there was one pleasure boat that zoomed through Middle Channel and stopped by the rocks to take photos of sea lions. This afternoon, the Canadian Coast Guard lifeboat Cape Calvert, appeared to be out for a cruise around Race Rocks from the base in Victoria. They came in for a closer look and a couple of the crew appeared to be snapping photos of Race Rocks with their phones. This is a very photogenic place. This afternoon, Guy, Corey and Christine from Pearson College delivered a new fridge and took away the old one that recently stopped working. They also brought some fresh food from the Pearson kitchen, which is closing down for a while.

Here are a few photos from the past two days: