Tag Archives: elephant seal

Hoping for pup number 3

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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

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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

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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

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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

One Orca

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 2-38 SW
  • Sky: Cloudy
  • Water: Waves were 0-2 metres today

Boats/Visitors

  • There was on ecotour this morning when the wind wasn’t too bad but none this afternoon when the wind picked up

Maintenance

  • Moving the dry wood from the porch stairs to the basement, when the wind calms down again I’ll be moving the wood that Alex cut from the pile to under the stairs to dry out
  • Didn’t have to run the generator during the day but started it after sunset

Ecological

  • I forgot to mention I saw one killer whale swimming west in front of Peddar Bay on Monday
  • Still no second pup, this female has been hauled out for at least six days, starting to think she’s just a bit pudgy, but hopefully, she’ll have a pup soon

Still just one pup

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 10-20 SW
  • Sky: Sunny
  • Water: A bit choppy out there today, waves didn’t look more than a metre high

Boats/Visitors

  • Guy, Christine, and Alex came by today, and I have a visitor staying with me for a bit
  • They brought the whaler which is now working well and took the zodiac back to the college
  • Guy hauled out some junk that was piling up in the generator room and Alex checked the batteries after they had been charged for a few hours

Maintenance

  • Checking the batteries, also making sure the desalinator is running as well as it can be at the moment

Ecological

  • The pup belonging to pink tag T562 is doing very well still
  • The untagged female is looking very large, but still no pup from her, maybe tomorrow
  • looked to be another female swimming around the jetty today but she didn’t haul out, she looked too young to be reproducing just yet

Pup is doing well

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 10-25 SW
  • Sky: Cloudy
  • Water: A bit choppy out there today, waves didn’t look more than a metre high

Boats/Visitors

  • A few ecotours going by today, as well as a couple dive boats

Maintenance

  • Ran the generator for a bit longer today, was going to run the desalinator to top off the water tank but was having some problems with it, will try again tomorrow

Ecological

  • The pup belonging to pink tag T562 is doing very well, I took a closer look at it today and suspect its female but still not completely sure
  • Still just the one pup, sometimes it takes a few days for the females to give birth after they’ve hauled out
  • The alpha male is very friendly, gentle and protective with the pup so that’s great news, it’s keeping the beta males away

First pup of the year

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 10-25 NW
  • Sky: Mostly Sunny, some clouds
  • Water: A bit choppy out there today, waves didn’t look more than a metre high

Boats/Visitors

  • A few ecotours going by today, not many other vessels around

Maintenance

  • Just getting used to being more energy efficient and also using the woodstove more rather than the furnace

Ecological

  • The tagged female that showed up the had a pup at around 16:45 today, too early to tell the gender but I will get better photos tomorrow. I expect one more pup to be born soon, as the other large female on the island is looking quite large.
  • The tag on this female is pink and the numbers have rubbed off
  • The big guy who I think is chunk (need to get a closer look at the scars on his back) seems to be reacting well. He hasn’t shown aggression so far towards the pup.

Last post until the new year

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I am heading out tomorrow for winter break but both Jeff and Alex will be here.

Thought I would do one last count before I head out for a couple weeks, there seemed to be more Steller Sea Lions around today

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: From 0 – 15 NW but its supposed to blow pretty hard tomorrow
  • Sky: Overcast
  • Water: Pretty calm, can see some decently sized rollers out there

Boats/Visitors

  • A few ecotours going by today, it was relatively calm out

Maintenance

  • Getting the house ready for the next person, trying to fill up the fresh water tank as much as I can before I go as well

Ecological

  • Decided to do another count, seems to be the same amount of Californias but a few more stellers out there today
  • Another large male elephant seal showed up, the scars on his back resemble chunk which makes wonder if the one that has been here the past couple days is Bernard or Boss, will need more photos to compare
  • There are currently 3 female elephant seals, one of them is tagged, C887
  • a few surf scoters out there today
  • Noticed a neck banded sea lion on the jetty today, will let the next person know to keep an eye on him, if he sticks around maybe we can get some help for him

Census

  • California Sea Lions – 216
  • Steller Sea Lions – 265
  • Harbour Seal – 18
  • Elephant Seal – 5 male, 3 female
  • Cormorants – 120
  • Gulls – 224
  • Canada Geese – 18
  • Black Turnstones – 28
  • Eagle – 6
  • Raven – 1
  • Oyster Catchers – 8
  • Surf Scoter – 4

Census, eagles, storms and elephants

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Final exams are over so I will be posting more until I am out for winter break December 20th to January 3rd

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: From 0 – 40 SE over the last few days
  • Sky: Overcast
  • Water: from calm to huge waves during that last storm

Boats/Visitors

  • Not a lot of visitors lately
  • There were a couple of sailboats yesterday and a few ecotours, but not many

Maintenance

  • Running the generator more lately as is there is less sunlight
  • Still haven’t been able to pressure wash but the parts should be in when I get back from break and I can try to make the buildings white again

Ecological

  • Fewer sea lions than last week
  • Chunk is still the alpha but there are 3 other males on the island of varying sizes smaller than Chunk
  • There is currently 1 female elephant seal
  • a few green wing teal ducks took shelter here when it was storming
  • have spotted a neck banded sea lion, but no way to tell if he will still be here by the time I can people out here to help him

Census

  • California Sea Lions – 213
  • Steller Sea Lions – 192
  • Harbour Seal – 35
  • Elephant Seal – 4 male, 1 female
  • Cormorants – 207
  • Gulls – 233
  • Fox Sparrows – 12
  • Canada Geese – 21
  • Black Turnstones – 38
  • Eagle – 8
  • Raven – 1
  • Snow Bunting – 1
  • Oyster Catchers – 12
  • Harlequin Ducks – 10
  • Green Wing Teal – 6