Tag Archives: elephant seal

Sea Lion Corpse Removal

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Well well well, the tool bar on this blog post creator has disappeared. No more bullet points or photos. Maybe it’s just a Hallowe’en prank?

The weather this morning was overcast, with calm seas, a gentle breeze of 5-10 knots East, and a visibility of more than 15 miles. Later on the day was marked with periodic showers and winds gusting up to 30 knots West.

The sea lions continue to do their thing, clambering all over the rocky edges of the island, and generally making a nuisance of themselves around the jetty. They keep ramming into the finicky sliding door to the boathouse. There were five elephant seals on Great Race today.

Kyle and Guy came out in the afternoon to drop off some food supplies and help with the removal of the dead California sea lion. What an appropriate task for Hallowe’en. We hooked him up to a rope on the end of the derrick, and hauled him out to sea. Maybe I should have kept the skull for decoration tonight.

Only a couple of eco-tours today.

Well it’s fully dark outside now. I expect I’ll have my first trick or treaters any moment now. I hope they don’t mind bird poop instead of candy; it’s all I have in abundance out here!

Another Sunrise-to-Sunset

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 15-20 knots NE, later E
  • Sky: mix of sun and cloud
  • Water: 1′ chop

Ecological

  • 4 elephant seals on Great Race

Maintenance

  • Did some fence resetting
  • Had to reset the UPS in the tower at around 19:30
  • The wind speed display in the main house stopped working, it only shows 00.0
  • The one in the tower still works though so the problem is not with the tower instruments

Boats

  • A few eco-tours today

Swell, Sea Lion, Sooth

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 10-15 knots N, later down to 5-10 N
  • Sky: overcast, then a rather sunny afternoon.
  • Water: 1′ waves, 3′ swell on the rocks

Ecological

  • A rather large sea lion encroachment today.
  • I think the powerful swell against the rocks was driving them inland.
  • 5 elephant seals on Great Race.
  • One of them spent the day lying in the mud on the NE part of the island.

e-seal-29-10

Maintenance

  • The sea lion encroachment caused major fence discombobulation.
  • Spent 1 hour resetting the fence.
  • The usual chores as well.

Boats

  • A few eco-tours came by today.

Other

  • A float plane flew over Great Race just after 15:00.

Sunny Day

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Weather

  • 7:15
  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 10-15 knots NE
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: calm
  • 10:45
  • Visibility: 10 miles (fog to the South and West)
  • Wind: 10-15 knots NE
  • Sky: sunny
  • Water: 1′ chop
  • Nice sunset!

Ecological

  • Saw 6 Harlequin Ducks today!

Maintenance

  • Ran the desalinator during the afternoon.
  • Stacked some firewood.
  • Cleaned the solar panels.
  • The usual chores.

Boats

  • Didn’t see many boats today despite the nice weather.

The Dunlin!

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0-5 knots East
  • Sky: overcast with showers
  • Water: 1′ chop

Ecological

  • Saw one California Sea Lion with a nasty looking neck wound.
  • Conducted a census today.
  • Several bird species notably absent today.
  • No Harlequin Ducks, Savannah Sparrows, or Black Oystercatchers.
  • The Sparrows have been absent all week; I suspect gone for the winter.
  • I’m sure the Harlequins and Oystercatchers are still around.
  • Only saw two Heermann’s Gulls; I think last weeks group was just passing through.
  • I did see my first Dunlin of the season though!
  • And lots more Black Turnstones than in previous weeks.
  • They like to splash around in the rain puddles.
  1. California Sea Lions: 606
  2. Northern (Steller) Sea Lions: 181
  3. Harbour Seals: 12
  4. Elephant Seals: 7 (2 on Great Race, 5 on Middle Rock)
  5. Seagulls unspecified: 586
  6. Thayer’s Gulls: 114
  7. Glaucous-winged Gulls: 76
  8. Heermann’s Gulls: 2
  9. Cormorants unspecified: 356
  10. Black Turnstone: 33
  11. Canada Geese: 3
  12. Bald Eagles: 3 (2 adult, 1 immature)
  13. Dunlin: 1

Maintenance

  • The usual chores.
  • Reset the electric fence which has been faring unusually well.

Boats

  • A surprising number of eco-tours today, given the weather, day of the week, and month.
  • I counted at least 10.

Donor Visit

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Weather

  • Visibility: 10 miles, then down to 5, up to 15.
  • Wind: 5-10 knots NE, E, and NW.
  • Sky: overcast, then foggy, then sunny, then rain.
  • Water: calm
  • Beautiful evening.

as-evening-rolls-in-21-10

Ecological

  • The cackling goose was gone today.
  • 7 elephant seals on the grass near the students’ house.

Maintenance

  • Added one 55 gallon barrel of diesel to the tidy tank.

Boats

  • Kyle came out with a group of 4 donors.
  • We gave them a tour of the island and buildings.

Visitors

  • 4 donors from Toronto Ontario/London England came out with Kyle.

The Cackling Goose!

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Weather

  • The 7:00 weather report (plus developments).
  • Visibility: 10 miles (later 15)
  • Wind: 0-5 knots South (15-25 knots West noon onwards)
  • Sky: overcast and raining (sun in the afternoon)
  • Water: calm

Ecological

  • All the elephant seals except for the smallest guy were off island today.
  • I did see 6 of them playing in the water near the jetty.
  • Improved my seagull identification skills today.
  • This was the first day I noticed many Heermann’s Gulls.
  • Fun to watch the lone cackling goose wander with the larger Canadians.
  • Saw one branded California Sea Lion: U975
  • Saw one California Sea Lion with a plastic neck ring.
  • Conducted an all day animal census.
  1. California Sea Lions: 434
  2. Northern (Steller) Sea Lions: 219
  3. Harbour Seals: 59
  4. Elephant Seals: 7
  5. Seagulls: 1077 (Tentative 85% Thayer’s, 15% Glaucous-Winged)
  6. Cormorants: 375 (Tentative: 30 Pelagic, 25 Double Crested, 14 Brandt’s.)
  7. Heermann’s Gulls: 50
  8. Black Turnstone: 24
  9. Canada Geese: 11
  10. Black Oystercatchers: 10
  11. Harlequin Ducks: 3 (1 male, 2 female)
  12. Cackling Goose: 1
  13. Savannah Sparrow: 1
  14. Bald Eagle: 1 adult on South Rock

Maintenance

  • Extended my new fence set up.
  • Removed the fence in front of the students’ house.
  • It was never very effective, and is less needed now.
  • Ran the desalinator in the afternoon.

Boats

  • Several eco-tours came by today.
  • One small boat was observed speeding in the reserve.

Back Online

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Saturday evening as the storm was subsiding, the communication lines went dead out here at Race Rocks. After trying all the normal fixes on my side, I was informed via cellphone that the problem lay at Pearson College. The College had lost power from some internal breakdown, and so no internet or phone line was being sent my way over the air. Once things were up and running again this morning, I was able to reestablish connection to the internet and phone lines.

Rather than submitting a log entry for each missed day, I will simply provide a summary of each day’s main events. And pictures as always!

Saturday 15 October 2016-Fierce Storm

  • Day began at 7:00 with winds of 15-20 knots NE.
  • 9:45 30 knots East
  • 13:00 35 knots East
  • 13:30 45 knots East
  • 14:30 50~ knots East!
  • 15:20 45 knots East, communications down.
  • 16:50 communications returned.
  • 17:00 30 knots East
  • Around 18:30 communications down for good.
  • 19:00 15 knots West
  • 20:30 30 knots South-West
  • One month remaining in my shift.

Sunday 16 October 2016-Pelican

  • 7:00 Weather
  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 10-15 knots East
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: 1′ chop
  • Saw a single brown pelican today!
  • Failed to get a picture though.
  • Branded California sea lion 8465.
  • 8 elephant seals on Great Race today.
  • A small group of California sea lions began sleeping on top of the e-seals.
  • To my surprise the elephant seals don’t seem to mind.

Monday 17 October 2016-Peregrine Falcon!

  • 7:00 Weather
  • Visibility: 5 miles
  • Wind: 0-5 knots East
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: calm
  • In the early evening a pigeon flew into a window, presumably breaking its neck.
  • Immediately a Peregrine falcon swooped down to inspect its prey.
  • I assume the falcon was the reason the pigeon hit the window at such a speed.
  • The falcon then flew way up into the sky, before returning to make off with the meal.

Tuesday 18 October 2016-Bio-mimicry Visitors (and Alex!)

  • 7:00 Weather
  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0 knots
  • Sky: clear
  • Water: calm
  • A rainstorm appeared from about 10:00-12:00.
  • A rather sunny afternoon!
  • Kyle came out with Alex Fletcher and a biology group.
  • The 6 visitors were studying bio-mimicry.
  • How can humans improve our technology by copying successful animals?
  • The organization that they are involved with is one of our donors.
  • They were very interested in the sea lions, seals, and birds.
  • 11 elephant seals on Great Race.
  • Saw 3 brown pelicans; this time got a photo!

Delayed Storm

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Weather

  • Overnight: 20 knot winds and some rain.
  • The 7:00 weather report.
  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5 knots NE
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: 2′ chop
  • Some clear skies at noon.
  • Around 15:30 the wind picked up to 25 knots NE and the rain restarted.
  • About 20:15 the wind shot up to 35-40 knots NE.

Ecological

  • The elephant seals were very active today.
  • There is a dead California sea lion near the derrick shed.
  • Census day.
  • Large decrease in the number of sea lions and seagulls.
  1. California Sea Lion: 294
  2. Northern (Steller) Sea Lion: 96
  3. Harbour Seal: 28
  4. Elephant Seal: 9 (6 on Great Race, 3 on Middle Rock)
  5. Seagull: 365
  6. Cormorant: 145
  7. Black Turnstone: 12
  8. Harlequin Duck: 12 (9 males, 3 females)
  9. Canada Goose: 7
  10. Black Oystercatcher: 10
  11. Savannah Sparrow: 5
  12. Bald Eagle: 1 adult on North Rock

Maintenance

  • Emptied the gross water in the rain barrel.

Boats

  • Did not see any boats in the reserve today.

The Advancement Team

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 10-15 NE
  • Sky: clear
  • Water: rippled
  • The first of three storms is expected to arrive tonight, bringing rain and wind.
  • A rather calm day though, with exquisite views of Mt. Baker!

Ecological

  • The elephant seals were in a playful mood today.

Maintenance

  • Reset the electric fence.
  • Stacked firewood.
  • Ran the new sea water pump into the cistern with Kyle’s help.
  • Looked at probably a dozen different systems and areas of concern with Kyle.
  • As ready as possible for the storm.

Boats

  • Second Nature brought the Advancement Team out today.
  • The Ogden Point Dive boat was in Middle Channel.
  • A few fishing boats and eco-tours passed by.

Visitors

  • Kyle and the Advancement Team.
  • The A’ Team is in charge of raising funds for Pearson College and Race Rocks.