Tag Archives: elephant seal

Snow and Coast guard

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 5-15 NE
  • Sky: Clear and Sunny
  • Water: A bit choppy, no big waves

Boats/Visitors

  • Guy came by today to deliver fuel and help me with the desalinator, I had some freezing issues with it
  • Coast Guard also dropped by in their helicopter to do some lighthouse maintenance

Maintenance

  • I ran the generator for awhile last night, will do so again tonight
  • tried to run desal but had a freezing issue so will try again when it warms up a bit

Ecological

  • The pup that is alone right now decided the front door was a good place to sleep so I’ve been using the side door
  • the elephants don’t seem too bothered by the snow
  • there are about 3 males around right now, the alpha chases the other two off when they get close

Storming

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 35-45 SW
  • Sky: Overcast
  • Water: Waves at least a metre

Boats/Visitors

  • I have been very busy with courses and training which is why there has been a lack of posts lately but I am finally caught up and will be posting regularly, will walk around and count the animals once it is not storming anymore

Maintenance

  • I have been trying to keep up with the desalinating, the desalinator itself is running very slowly so it has to be run regularly, so I hope it lasts a little longer
  • running the generator to full charge has also been difficult because it takes so long and I run it after sunset but I haven’t lost power lately so that’s good

Ecological

  • The first pups mother is not around anymore, she left a few days ago but the second pups mother is still here, I imagine she won’t be around for much longer either, the second pup is getting quite large
  • It’s nice when the moms are gone because the pups will start interacting with each other
  • As for the mom who lost her pup, she is still around and I have no idea how long she plans on being around for, she hasn’t really given any attention to the other pups but she is cuddly with the other mom, oddly the mom who killed her pup
  • still looks like there is quite a few sea lions around and a lot of cormorants

Pigeon Guillemot

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 5-15 SE
  • Sky: Overcast
  • Water: Calm for the most part

Boats/Visitors

  • Guy and Alex came by today along with a couple visitors to collect the body of the deceased pup

Maintenance

  • I have barely scratched the surface with pressure washing, so much still needs to be done

Ecological

  • The third did not make it, it just never figured out how to nurse
  • the other two pups are doing great and are getting quite large
  • the pigeon guillemots are back, some of them even still have a bit of their winter plumage
  • still plenty of eagles around
  • will update census tomorrow and hopefully, the pigeons will still be around, sometimes they are here one day and gone the next and back the day after that, I would like to get some better close up photos of them

48 eagles

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 5-15 SW
  • Sky: Partly Cloudy
  • Water: Calm for the most part

Boats/Visitors

  • A few ecotours going by today, some divers went by yesterday

Maintenance

  • Plan on stacking firewood today, and top up the water tank, I’m hoping to start pressure washing soon

Ecological

  • The third pup, is covered in bite marks and I really don’t know how long it’ll last but at the moment its still alive but one of the other mothers keeps attacking it
  • Chunk is here but hasn’t really come up past the jetty, which is good I think he is scared of Bernard

Census

  • California Sea Lions – 232
  • Steller Sea Lions – 106
  • Harbour Seal – 21
  • Elephant Seal – 2 male, 3 female plus 3 pups, 1 female, 1 male, and the third gender is undetermined
  • Cormorants – 417
  • Gulls – 507
  • Black Turnstones – 44
  • Eagle – 48
  • Oyster Catchers – 28
  • Harlequin Ducks – 8
  • Ravens – 2

The third pup

Posted on by

The thirds pup has arrived, the mother was hauled out for about 4 days on Great Race before giving birth yesterday morning. The other females immediately came to check out the new pup. Unfortunately one of the females attacked the pup, several times. I am surprised the pup at the moment is still alive because the female attacked her many times and the pup is covered in scratches and bite marks. The pup is still alive at the moment so we’ll see how it fares but I’m not getting my hopes up right now.

 

Still just two pups

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 5-15 SW
  • Sky: Overcast
  • Water: pretty calm today

Boats/Visitors

  • Guy delivered some fuel yesterday, other than that its been pretty windy so not a lot of ecotours going by but there is still a few out there

Maintenance

  • Haven’t had any power issues lately, waiting on one more little part for the pressure washer before I can start trying to make these buildings white again
  • I am slowly moving the woodpiles around, bringing more in and stacking the stuff under the stairs

Ecological

  • Both pups are still doing great, they are already getting pretty big, the first pup is going to much bigger than this third pup that I’m hoping will be here any day now, I check on the elephant seals regularly to see if the third mom has given birth yet.
  • Will update the census tomorrow, there definitely seems to be less sea lions and many, many more eagles

Hoping for pup number 3

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 15-25 SE
  • Sky: Partly cloudy
  • Water: A bit choppy, under a metre

Boats/Visitors

  • had some people from ocean networks working on the codar system yesterday, also an electrician to take a look at our system came with alex, guy and greg were also here, and fixed the pressure washer, so hopefully, I can get these buildings clean soon

Maintenance

  • Looks like guy was pressure washing the tank shed yesterday, I would like to continue pressure washing the buildings but the desalinator is not in the best shape, so I will probably just do a bit at a time

Ecological

  • Both pups are doing great, the alpha is keeping all the other males away and he is treating the pups very gently
  • a third female showed up today who looks like she’s about to have a pup of her own, she is quite large and it is still within the birthing season, so maybe we will have 3 live pups this year

Pups are doing well

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 10-20 SE
  • Sky: Sunny, partly cloudy
  • Water: A bit choppy

Boats/Visitors

  • I took the boat out today, went out for a little grocery run and came back

Maintenance

  • ran the generator while running the winch to put the boat in the water, and then just topping up the battery charge for the night

Ecological

  • Both pups are doing well, the alpha came to check out the little guy but mostly left the moms and pups alone
  • the first pup is definitely gaining weight

Pup number 2

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 10-20 NW
  • Sky: Sunny, partly cloudy
  • Water: A bit choppy but fairly calm

Boats/Visitors

  • a few ecotours went by today

Maintenance

  • transferred more fuel to the generator will need to refuel the big tank soon
  • a good amount of solar today, shouldn’t have to run the generator too much

Ecological

  • The untagged female who has been hauled out for 10 days finally had her pup today, the pup is a bit larger than the first one was, I still don’t know the gender but will update when I figure it out
  • the first pup who is now 8 days old is doing very well, she is definitely gaining weight
  • the first pups mother was very interested in the new pup and the two moms were scrapping for a bit but everyone is doing just fine now
  • the alpha was very disinterested in the new pup, hasn’t checked it out yet and is currently napping by the guest house

Census

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 5-15 NW
  • Sky: Partly Cloudy
  • Water: Calm for the most part

Boats/Visitors

  • A few ecotours going by today

Maintenance

  • Let the batteries too low today, lost power around 16:00 and started the generator

Ecological

  • I’m getting concerned about the other female, they usually give birth within a few days of hauling out but she hasn’t which leads me to believe either she isn’t pregnant even though she really looks like it or maybe something wrong, I’m not sure
  • the pup is doing well though, getting a bit bigger every day, the beta males have stayed away and the alpha always stays close by

Census

  • California Sea Lions – 112
  • Steller Sea Lions – 124
  • Harbour Seal – 59
  • Elephant Seal – 3 male, 4 female plus 1 pup who I suspect is female
  • Cormorants – 32
  • Gulls – 89
  • Canada Geese – 18
  • Black Turnstones – 38
  • Eagle – 2
  • Oyster Catchers – 4
  • Harlequin Ducks – 12