Tag Archives: elephant seal

Hustle and Bustle / Pleasure Craft Violation / Census

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Weather: 

  • Sky overcast, hazy, steady rain this afternoon
  • Visibility 15 miles this morning, < 2 miles this afternoon
  • Wind 0-10 knots NE
  • Water calm

Boats/Visitors: 

    • A whole boat load of visitors this morning! VP of Pearson College Tyrone, Alum in residence Norbert and friends to advise on our solar panel system, a desalinator consultant (in preparation for the new desalinator!), and an insurance appraiser.
    • Fewer whale watching boats this week, but we have been concerned about the frequent use of flash photography and its possible effects on the wildlife.
    • Greg also made another trip to bring us some water this afternoon.
    • Yesterday we watched a pleasure craft approach the sea lions near our jetty and throw some kind of food at them (some of it hit the sea lions). We were able to capture them scaring the animals, who stampeded into the water. They hovered to take photos and unfortunately pose with their open alcohol. Even more unfortunate, the bait that we saw being thrown at the sea lions previously and perhaps this time as well is not suitable for consumption, as many times it has been treated with formaldehyde.

Ecological: 

  • Many sea lions now, and unfortunately a few that are injured. Aside from the two that we have mentioned previously, we have been finding more fishing hooks scattered around and a sea lion appearing to have a nasty wound possibly caused by an embedded fishing hook.
  • This afternoon we also noticed a sea lion with a propeller inflicted gash on his head. He seemed to be dazed or perhaps concussed due to the injury. Normally the sea lions are skittish and make a ruckus if we get too close, but this one didn’t react to our presence and seemed notably lethargic. We were concerned that he might fall victim to the injury, but approximately an hour later he seemed more alert, reacted to our presence, and seemed to be doing okay.
  • We reported the tagged sea lion to the researchers in California and were excited to hear that they have some information about him and his early life. We hope to be able to share more soon! This little guy has already swum almost 1500 km from his birth place, Ana Nuevo CA.
  • Yesterday there was quite a bit of smoke caused by controlled burning taking place on the nearby DND land. They burned 20 hectares of Gary Oak habitat to protect the species (from invading conifers) and and prevent spread of invasive plants.

Census:

  • 350 sea lions
  • 50 harbour seals
  • 1 elephant seal
  • 40 cormorants
  • 60 adult gulls, and some chicks (they are too hard to see from the lighthouse)
  • 4 geese
  • 20 turnstones

 

More Sea Lion Injuries Due to Fishing

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Weather: 

  • Sky partly cloudy, some periods of fog
  • Visibility 1-15 miles intermittently
  • Wind 20-30 knots W – NW
  • Water rough, whitecaps, swells around 1m

Boats/Visitors: 

  • No visitors today, but on Sunday Corey drove us back to Race Rocks with some more water as we were having troubles getting our boat to start.
  • There have not been many whale watching boats but when they are here they often get quite close to the sea lions (within 10m). We can tell when there is a boat present in the reserve by the increase in “barking” and distressed sounds that the sea lions make.

Ecological: 

  • Over the weekend a sea lion was spotted with some fishing line wrapped around its neck. We believe that it could be the same one spotted last year. As it grows it will likely die due to slow suffocation caused by the line. Unfortunately it’s virtually impossible to have someone come to tranquilize and remove the line as the sea lions move on before they can get here. However, if we see it again we will report the injury.
  • Today we found a large fishing hook which must have come loose off of a sea lion. We’ve previously observed sea lions trying to remove fishing hooks from their skin by rubbing against the jetty.
  • There are quite a few sea lions all over the island now. We have been delaying our water sample that we normally take from the jetty to avoid having to chase them off, since when they are startled they climb over each other or rush off of the side of the jetty where the water isn’t very deep. The few that have come near the house don’t seem to be moving around much, just resting and getting away from the crowds.
  • With the return of the sea lions we’ve been getting bitten by little black fleas that we also saw in late spring. They were not a problem while the sea lions were not here, so we’re wondering if the two are connected.
  • Many of the young seagulls have left or are flying very well. A few of the latest hatched are still here, but the mothers are starting to leave them to fend for themselves.
  • We have been spotting the odd young elephant seal hauling out for a few hours before continuing on.
  • We’ve been noticing eagle feathers and dead adult seagulls around the island. Oddly, we haven’t seen the eagles hunting.

Maintenance: 

  • We’ve been needing to do daily fence repairs on the electric fence at the back of the island as the sea lions have been trampling it and breaking the wire and insulators that hold the wire on the posts. Hopefully with some persistence on our part they will learn to leave it alone.
  • Today we also set up the electric fence that runs between our house and the jetty/north island to prevent them from coming up around the infrastructure. They are stinky and destructive if you let them get too close!
  • We are still picking up sharp bits of tin and shingles/tar paper/ misc. litter from around the island. Some of it is from the roofs being redone recently, but a lot of it is older and becoming exposed now that the grasses are dormant for the summer.  Today we filled two buckets in an hour or two of scavenging.

Wacky Warm Weather

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Weather: 

  • Sky blue with some clouds. Thick fog early this morning.
  • Visibility 15+ miles
  • Wind 20-30 knots W
  • Over the past two days we had wind blowing less than 5 knots NE, which meant very warm, still conditions.

Boats/Visitors: 

  • On the 27th Guy and Corey delivered more water
  • Not too many eco-tourism boats despite the beautiful weather
  • One of our friends is visiting for a few days. Great to see a new face out here!

Maintenance: 

  • Corey and Guy also helped haul away an entire boat full of trash/recycling/unneeded items that we had gathered for removal earlier in the season.
  • We spent a handful of hours over the past few days collecting approx. 50 lbs of smaller bits of shingles and tar paper from the roofing project as well as other trash that has been exposed now that the tall grass is dry and pressed down from the animals.
  • Yesterday we washed the windows with a big brush and squeegee to get rid of all of the seagull poop that had blown onto them- much better!
  • We noticed some bricks protecting a cable by the crane shed were missing, but upon further investigation it turned out that they were simply knocked out of place and buried in the tall grass. We were able to unearth them and get everything back in place.

The Flag is Back

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Weather: 

  • Sky overcast, some clear patches (not much solar power generated today)
  • Visibility 15+ miles, no fog
  • Wind 10-20 knots W
  • Water calm. Some interesting standing wave patterns lately.

Boats/Visitors: 

  • On Thursday Greg came in the afternoon to top up our water supply. Pearson alum Norbert (currently alum in residence) also came along for the ride to check out our solar panels and provide suggestions for future improvements. Pearson maintenance volunteer Jimmy also stopped in for the night to visit race rocks before he goes home to Mexico. Safe travels!
  • We had many hands on deck, so we were able to successfully repair and raise the flagpole.
  • Yesterday Greg visited with a group of college guests who toured the island.

Ecological: 

  • The sea lions have started to haul out on the N + S/SW sides of Great Race Rock.
  • The oyster catcher chicks have grown to be nearly as big as their parents and are flying all over!
  • The seagull chicks are getting bigger and when rival adults attack they now fight back. On Thursday we spotted a chick with one eye pecked out and were concerned that it would not survive. Fortunately, when we checked later it was doing well.
  • There have been large numbers of black turnstones present this past week, 30+ at once

 

 

 

The Sea Lions Are Coming

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Weather:

  • Sky blue, partly cloudy
  • Visibility 13+ miles
  • Wind 10-20 knots SW
  • Water calm

Visitors/Boats: 

  • Not much boat traffic these past few days. It has been quite foggy and windy (40+ knots of wind)
  • Today Greg is bringing some water for the main tank. He is also bringing a volunteer from the college who will stay overnight.
  • Tomorrow morning we will have a group tour the island

Maintenance:

  • Yesterday Alex Fletcher came to take measurements from the batteries that supply the entire island. We have been having some problems with the technology but the batteries are looking good and healthy.
  • Our Canadian flag is still down, as the flag pole was too heavy for us to lower alone. We will try to enlist the help of Greg and the volunteer today and get things back in order!

Ecological: 

  • The sea lions are starting to haul out onto Great Race Rock more and more. We will need to put up the electric fence soon to prevent them from coming right up to our backdoor as their local population increases. We are waiting for the elephant seals to leave, as the fence would prevent them from moving freely onto the jetty.
  • There are now two younger elephant seals who arrived a couple of days ago. One of them went back to a favourite spot of one of this years spring pups, so we wonder if it is the same one.

Sunny Skies, Census

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Weather: 

  • Blue skies, no clouds
  • Visibility 15+ miles
  • Wind 10-20 knots W
  • Water calm

Boats/Visitors: 

  • Greg came by yesterday with some fresh water for our main tank.
  • Quite a few tour vessels
  • Greg and Pearson Alumni are touring the reserve over the next few days as part of their reunion, but they will not be coming on land.

Ecological: 

  • There are quite a few more sea lions this week than last. They have started to haul out on Great Race Rock in addition to West and Middle Rock.

Census:

  • 51 sea lions
  • 40 seals (including 3-5 pups)
  • 3 Cormorants
  • 2 families of geese (from the spring nesting season)
  • 2 elephant seals (moulting males)
  • 300 + seagulls

Census

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  • Weather: 
  • Sky blue, partly cloudy
  • Visibility 15+ miles
  • Wind 30-40 knots W (wind warning in effect)
  • Water white caps, waves to 1 m

 

  • Census Today:
  • 19 sea lions
  • 106 harbour seals (2 pups)
  • 3 elephant seals (moulting males)
  • 300 adult seagulls, many chicks
  • 8 known adult oyster catchers and  5-10 chicks
  • 5-10 pigeon guillemots
  • 1 ruddy turnstone
  • Throughout the week:
  • 5 western sandpipers
  • 1 short billed dowitcher
  • 2 bald eagles

Another Sticky Situation

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Weather: 

  • Sky: partially overcast
  • Wind: 10-20 knots
  • Water: lightly rippled
  • Visibility: 15+ miles

Boats/Visitors:

  • Yesterday a small boat came through the reserve and had mechanical problems. Its engine would not start, and it drifted onto the rocks a few times. We were able to throw them a rope and secure them at the jetty where they were able to restart their motor. They decided to immediately depart, and once they got into the current their motor died again. After being pushed back into the rocks, a passing fishing boat was able to tow them back to Pedder Bay.
  • We have been seeing the the usual volume of eco-tourism boats, 20-25 per day. They consistently come within 100m of marine mammals.

Ecological:

  • We noticed one seagull attacking another’s chick today, as well as another deceased chick nearby.

Census:

  • 10 sea lions
  • 5 elephant seals
  • 52 harbour seals
  • 300 seagulls, many seagull chicks
  • 8 oyster catchers
  • 2 families of geese, another adult pair

A Foggy Day

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Weather:

  • Wind: 5-15 knots NE
  • Sky: Foggy, some showers
  • Water: Rippled
  • Visibility: Up to one mile

Visitors/Boats:

  • We haven’t seen very many boats today as it has been very foggy. We spotted three whale watching vessels, and one unmarked zodiac.
  • Yesterday was a busy day for whale watching, with boats heading in many directions through the main passage. There has been a young elephant seal resting on the jetty for the past two days, and it appears very agitated when the boats come close (within 25 m).

Ecological: 

  • We have noticed that there are a handful of sandpipers on the island this week
  • There is a small elephant seal with a few minor flesh wounds on its abdomen resting on the jetty. It appears to be part way through the moulting process.
  • We spotted two deceased oyster catcher chicks on the paths this week. They were very small, so its possible that they were unhatched. They didn’t appear to be injured. The other chicks are thriving and growing incredibly quickly.
  • Another male stellar sea lion hauled out onto middle rock a couple of days ago.

Maintenance:

  • On Monday a plumber came to fix a leaky faucet part in the main residence.

A foggy view of the jetty and north rock.