Tag Archives: elephant seal

Marine Mammals Small and Large

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Early fog crept over from the American side, obliterating visibility for a few hours this morning but then it was cleared by west winds of 10 – 20 knots. The wind was constant, as was the sunshine for the rest of the day. The barometer started rising last night and peaked at 1014 hPa before starting to drop again this afternoon. Tomorrow’s forecast includes strong wind warnings for afternoon westerlies of 15 – 25 knots, it is supposed to be mainly sunny while Friday has a 60% chance of showers.

There was a near-miss boating incident this morning just after the fog cleared. During the full ebb current, of close to six knots, a small rough looking commercial fishing vessel with lots of bumpers out and a ‘scotchman’ astern went flying through Middle Channel. Just as it arrived at the roughest section where the standing waves were standing high, it turned abruptly at right angles to the current. It rolled and seemed to take a long time to right itself. Then as I watched from the roof of the energy building, it lurched around,  finally straightening out like a drunken sailor making its way westward. Six whale watching vessels were noted, working in the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve today, all very professional, heeding sustainability methods and best practices except for one orange zodiac that was in a hurry to leave when the Navy arrived on scene just west of the reserve.

A Humpback Whale was feeding just to the west of the reserve all afternoon and the students were able to observe it through the spotting scope and time the dives. Some of them managed to sketch the blow shape in their field journals and a few even caught glimpses of the flukes. They also had a chance to observe the sea otter and that was a highlight amidst the roar and din of the ubiquitous sea lions and their stinky ways. Two young male Northern Elephant Seals took advantage of the chaos when the students were coming ashore to sneak up the ramp and they put on a good demonstration of elephant seal wrestling and jousting in between their sudden naps.

The field trip was the third marine science class to visit in a week and it was really a treat to work with such wonderful young people from all over the world.

Chores were routine in addition to end of the month routines.

Sumo-sized Sea Lions

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It was a copycat kind of day, weather wise, the same as yesterday and the day before. Calm, very light winds and clears skies. The barometer continued the drop started on Sunday and is now below 1012 hPa again. The forecast is calling for a switch to light winds west 10 -1 5 and a mix of sun and cloud until Friday when showers are expected..

Whale watching traffic in the Ecological Reserve was fairly light with only eight observed visits. All the operators did really well today. They slowed on entry, went with the current, drove in a responsible way that respected the protected area and saved speeding up until they were clear of the reserve. This is the sort of cooperative behavior that is the norm for sustainable operations in reserve. Observations were made of “sports” fishers hauling in lingcod and rockfish in the Race Rocks Rockfish Conservation area.

Although there may have been more elsewhere, there was no lack of whale action around Race Rocks today. Three Biggs Killer Whales were spotted travelling from east to west through Race Passage in the morning and a Humpback Whale went the other way, in the afternoon, spending some time feeding close to North Rocks. There large multi-species feeding flocks in the same area. Perhaps there are balls of forage fish there.

I saw a large kelp raft, first of the season, sweeping out to sea with the ebbing tide today. This annual kelp becomes more and more prevalent in the tidelines as autumn progresses and the winter storms will remove most of it before spring. It is a great carbon sink that fixes large amounts of carbon, which will eventually become entombed on the bottom. Not all of it goes out to sea and sinks though. Kelp that lands on shore is a key part of near shore food webs relying on this large volume of rotting biomass to fuel new generations of shore spawners and out going young salmon.

Chores were routine again and the sunshine is allowing for recovery of freshwater lost earlier in the month. The level is almost back up to where it was on September 5th. There were no visitors.

 

Traffic Congestion at Race Rocks?

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Clear skies and light winds made for a beautiful day. The wind switched around in direction going from east northeast to southeast to west and back to easterlies. Solar radiation was high at 400 Langleys and barometric pressure rose for most of the day going over 1021 hPa mid-day before dropping in the late afternoon and evening. The forecast is for more of the same; sunshine and light easterly winds until Wednesday.

There were a lot of whale watching vessels in the area today and 16 visits by commercial operators were noted in the protected area. Except for a hectic time when killer whales were passing by, most operators were careful and slow. Again a couple of the largest vessels were travelling through shallow areas , close to haul-outs and lacking room for maneuverability: areas where they should not be travelling both for conservation and for safety. Two other whale-watching vessels were speeding in reserve, apparently anxious to get back out with the killer whales or back to base. The big noisy vessel that usually speeds in and out of the protected area was very well behaved today, nice change not speeding. Five ‘pleasure’ craft were observed in the protected area. Except for a fast entry by one boat, they were all travelling slowly and respectfully, including a Pedder Bay rental boat that did a nice drift through Middle Channel while the whale watching zoo was happening in the protected area.

I continue to spot the same branded California Sea Lions, left side brands 5477, 8101, 8228, 6153, 650U and rump brands U391, U105, U601, U321, U255, U148, U118, U174, U894, U239, U223 and more. There are others as well, all photo-documented, as are the Stellers Sea Lion brands. The Northern Elephant Seals left Great Race either early this morning or last night so just the sea lions were here today in the pinniped department. There was one Humpback Whale to the south of the protected area today and a Minke Whale about two miles west. Three Transient (Biggs) Killer Whales (one male, one female and one young) passed close to Rosedale Reef, just to the south of Race Rocks, heading west.

Routine chores were much more satisfactory today with a feeling of progress being made. There were no visitors.

 

Sisyphian Struggles with Sea Lions

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It was another beautiful day at Race Rocks with light north-westerlies turning to west and the barometer climbing considerably higher than it has in a week. The forecast is for more of the same with light winds – easterly in the morning then switching to west.

A few commercial operators were working in the Ecological Reserve today including one boat that calls itself a party boat. It came in fast and then went back and forth through Middle Channel seven or eight times before leaving. They also sat right in the middle of the current running against it but staying stationary for long periods of time. Strange but true.

The usual Saturday morning dive charter was here with divers in the water right in front of the sea lion haul-out on north Great Race, also as usual. Total, there were five tourism vessels working in the protected area, including three whale watching vessels. Only a few pleasure craft went through today. Most of them slowed and followed the rules. The exception was a rental boat that went through the reserve at high speed, stopped, changed direction and then roared off at full throttle right through an area with lots of animals in the water.

The ecological trends described in the Log during the last week continue as do the difficulties of identifying gulls, especially large numbers of multiple species, with different ages and stages of plumage all stirred up with hybridization and lots of exceptions to the rules. Yes folks, gull is officially a four-letter word and the jury is still out on some identifications.

The sea lions continue to haul out and it seems that there are more Stellers Sea Lions hauling in the last few days, especially on Middle Rocks. Perhaps they are relaxed enough to haul out, after a day or two without explosions across the way. The extra sea lions on Middle Rocks may be why four young Northern Elephant Seals showed up at Great Race today; #5850 and three companions, all about the same size or smaller, two males and a female (the smallest).

Chores consisted of fighting entropy, not unlike Sisyphus, with similar results. There were no visitors.

 

 

Killdeer Calling in Daylight

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The sun set behind Makah and Clallam territory on the American side of the Strait tonight meaning that autumn is the new reality. What a glorious end to a day that just kept improving. Serious clouds followed earlier heavy fog and the threat of rain was kept at bay by light and variable winds, most of the day. The wind finally turned to west 15 – 20 and the sky cleared. The barometer stayed above 1015 all day and the tendency now is rising, which bodes well for tomorrow. The forecast is calling for some clouds and a 30% chance of showers tomorrow followed by a mix of sun and cloud.

There wasn’t much vessel traffic in reserve today, just a couple of well behaved pleasure boats passing through and three whale watching vessels.

The young male Northern Elephant Seal #5850 returned to haul out up on the grass at Great Race Island today. He was tagged in Ana Nuevo Island as a weaner in 2012 and has now lost all but one of his tags. Today he had a male companion about the same size and they spent a little time sparring before falling into deep sleeps. The little female he was with last time spent most of the afternoon asleep underwater, on the bottom, just off the jetty.

Every night at Race Rocks just after dark I hear Killdeer calling and today I had a chance to see them in daylight, which is a rarity; beautiful birds with very large eyes.

I would love to know where they usually go during the day and why they fly out to Great Race for the night.

The number and diversity of gulls here right now is a little staggering and there are a few that I am having trouble identifying. There is one with yellow eyes like a Herring Gull but smaller in stature with a smaller less fierce looking head. Do Thayers and Herring Gulls hybridize now?

Other than re-stringing the jetty fence, chores were routine today and there were no visitors.

 

Count Day

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The sky was partially overcast early but cleared a bit in late morning. Then it clouded over and finally started to rain as it socked in just before dark. The wind started out east-northeast then turned to west late morning before backing all the way around to southwest. The barometric pressure is rising as I write this log and the forecast calls for clearing in the morning and sunshine. Winds will turn to westerly 10 – 15 knots Friday afternoon.

Commercial whale watching vessels made fifteen observed visits to the Ecological Reserve today. One vessel regularly comes in fast and not slowing until well inside the go slow boundary and then consistently speeds up early. The same vessel can be seen hop-scotching ahead of endangered southern resident killer whales as the pass by and in the reserve, sitting almost on top of the sea otter. It is a large, noisy vessel that reliably pushes the limits of respectful whale watching and will end up by hitting an animal or worse. Most of the operators realize that this sort of behaviour is not sustainable.

Biggs Killer Whales were already being followed by the whale-watching fleet before they came into the Ecological Reserve from the east and milled in and around South Seal Rocks and the breaking rock just off the energy building. There were many sea lions in the water, some craning their necks to see better and others just trying to maintain as much time as possible in the air, by repeatedly leaping airborne. I am not sure if the killer whales made a kill or not but sense that they did. There was some fancy criss-cross swimming by the first three whales, then a little one accompanied by a bigger one arrived on scene. This was followed by a few minutes with all the whales underwater and gull action above, which made me think food leftovers. After that they left, heading south and then southeast, dogged by the fleet. Two vessels came into the reserve while the whales were already inside. It is possible that they were not aware on entering but they did not leave once they were aware of the whales’ presence.

Ecologically, the transition from summer into fall continues. Salmon migration is still strong and birds, pinnipeds and cetaceans abundant. The size of the multi-species feeding flocks on the water, is increasing daily with some aggregations (outside the protected area) appearing to have thousands of gulls.

Thursday is animal census day so here are the numbers for charismatic mega-fauna.

Steller Sea Lion 303

California Sea Lion 578

Harbour Seal 187

Northern Elephant Seal 11

Sea Otter 1

Southern Resident Killer Whale (2 in ER during count week, additional 18 in Race Passage during count week)

Biggs Killer Whale (Transients) 6 today (3 more during count week)

Humpback Whale (3 during count week)

Canada Goose 0 full time (flock of ~25 chased off almost daily)

Harlequin Duck 0

Double-crested Cormorant 25

Brandt’s Cormorants 22

Pelagic Cormorant 6

Unidentified cormorants 17

Black Oystercatcher 5

Black Turnstone 11

Kildeer 3

Glaucous-winged Gull total 453 (325 – adults; 128 – juveniles)

California Gull 847

Thayer’s Gull 180

Mew Gull 24

Herring Gull 0

Ring-billed Gull 2

Western Gull 2

Heerman’s Gull 36

Adult Gull spp (Unidentified) 242

Juvenile Gull spp (Unidentified) 223

Savannah Sparrow 9

Fox Sparrow 1

Unidentified Sparrow 1

Junco 3

Horned Lark (2 in count week)

Pacific Wren 1

Routine chores continue. There were six visitors today. Two very self contained Environment Canada technical service officers came out to do annual maintenance on their weather station up on the tower. If you were looking on camera # 1 you may have had a close-up view of them at work, calibrating, replacing and maintaining their instruments in full climbing gear. Thanks go out to them as well for the help they gave us before leaving the island. Two national geographic photographers came out to get a sense of the diversity of wildlife and of course take photos. Two young people who may potentially become eco-guardians also visited. Thanks go out to Don for helping move fuel, a heavy job. Well done. Courtney drove Second Nature to get them all out here and back safely and she was accompanied by Jasper, volunteer extraordinaire.

 

 

After the Autumnal Equinox.

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The day started clear with clouds distant, to the east. A steady north by northeast wind of between 5 and 10 knots seemed to gradually bring the clouds around but Race Rocks remained in the donut hole as it often does, with sun dominating until late afternoon. The barometer is holding steady, if averaged over the last two days at ~ 1014 hPA, but the tendency now, is falling again, at the end of the day. There was no colour for sunset as the clouds built and the forecast calls for showers for the next few days, with easterly winds turning to westerly and fog patches dissipating near noon tomorrow.

It was a quiet day on the whale-watching front with only four visits to Race Rocks Ecological Reserve by commercial operators. There was an equal number of “pleasure” craft but they were not all as well behaved, with one of the Pedder Bay Marina rentals fishing in reserve. The marina is now able to track their rentals using GPS. They are really good about contacting their renters, when called and persuading them to move out of the Rockfish Conservation Area which is closed to sports fishing, for finfish in the Ecological Reserve.

There were repeated explosions across the way. A good ending for explosives I suppose, if you consider the alternatives. It seems to make the sea lions jittery and by that I mean more likely to stampede and go into the water. The Stellers seem more sensitive to disturbance in general.

Ecologically, the sea lion moult continues, elephant seals are trying to get up onto Great Race but there are a lot of sea lions in the way. Northern Elephant Seal # 5850 was back again this morning but didn’t make it up the ramp due to sea lion congestion. Later I saw him doing the ‘wave’ up the rocks in front of the Science House. Another individual seal joined the sea lion mosh pit east of the Eco-guardian’s House and others still hold their own on the top of Middle Rocks completely surrounded and outnumbered by Stellers Sea Lions but not bothered. The Sea Otter has been absent for a couple of days.

Bull kelp stipes are becoming more and more covered with epiphytes and their blades are loaded with spore patches increasing chances of a good settlement for the next generation. Cross jellies and barnacle moults continue to dominate the large zooplankton visible to the naked eye and the phytoplankton bloom has cleared which probably means either a crash or more likely lots of grazers like copepods and euphausids (aka krill). What ever cleared the phytoplankton certainly improved visibility into the water considerably. It is pretty cool to watch the big Steller’s Sea Lions ghosting through the kelp forest.

Black Oystercatchers are back, congregating on Great Race after an absence. More gulls and cormorants arrive in the area daily. There continues to be large, mixed-species feeding flocks including gulls and divers and multi-species gull feeding flocks associated with sea lion salmon kills. Salmon and halibut continue to swim past and around Race Rocks as evidence by the predators in the area, including human fishers talking about their catches on the radio. The Canada Geese are attempting a come back and it is difficult to keep them off as they just sit on the water waiting for the coast to clear. Every night the Killdeer return to Great Race as night falls.

Sea Lion brand and entanglement photography continues as do the daily chores to keep this place running sustainably. There were no visitors today.

 

 

 

Killer Whales Late for Class

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It was a clear day from glorious sunrise to subdued sunset. The wind was 5 to 15 knots in the west – southwest quadrant and solar radiation was high, though not quite as high as yesterday; 400 Langleys today and just over that on Monday. As I write the  Log blog, clouds are creeping in and blanketing the mountains on the American side and the barometer is falling again. Forecasts call for a switch to southeast winds, which usually brings wet weather. Wednesday is supposed to be increasingly cloudy and rain is supposed to follow.

Only eight commercial whale watching vessels were noted in the Ecological Reserve boundaries today and five of those were in the afternoon associated with Biggs (Transient) Killer Whales on the other side of Race Passage. The Killer Whales were on the Vancouver Island side of the passage and spent several hours in and around Bentick Island and Emdyck Passage and William Head. Several pleasure craft passed through the reserve today, all without speeding or fishing in reserve. There was one overflight during the first class field trip: a small fixed-wing aircraft that passed over west to east and then returned passing over a second time. Although one red flag was up all day at the military site there were no obvious explosions.

Pearson College students spent part of the day here today. Two of Laura Vehegge’s classes of marine science students came for their first field trip of the year to Great Race Island. I was hoping they would have a chance to see the Sea Otter, at least one pod of Killer Whales and maybe a couple of Humpback Whales, but no. After all they have just started a species list that they will be adding to for the next two years, so they will have other opportunities.

Today the students were also working on journal entries about their marine animal observations. They were lucky enough to see California and Stellers Sea Lions, Northern Elephant and Harbour Seals and lots of Glaucous-winged Gulls. There were also Mew Gulls, California Gulls and if they were sharp-eyed, Heerman’s Gulls. Those were the ubiquitous species, but for me, the more interesting and unusual species were two new, avian visitors that showed up today; a male and female Horned Lark. I send a shout out to Victoria Natural History Society on Twitter for helping with the identification. A flock of 24 Canada Geese landed and were on the island for a very short visit.

Laura’s classes witnessed the down-side of plastic in the ocean today. Is there an up-side? They had the ‘opportunity’ to observe three neck-laced sea lions. Those two California Sea Lions and one Steller Sea Lion with plastic straps around their necks will likely not survive long unless they get the specialized attention of Vancouver Aquarium veterinarian, Dr. Martin Haulena. Dr. Haulena has worked extensively with sea lions and is one of the few people able to do this sort of animal welfare work. This is another good reminder for all of us to avoid plastic if possible, recycle it and just in case it “gets away” cut all possible entanglers before disposing of it. There are a lot of really good efforts towards reducing plastic in our seas and there is a real need.

The Killer Whales mentioned above showed up late in the afternoon and missed both classes.

It was good to see Courtney with Year 20 volunteer Jasper, as a deck-hand on Second Nature. He had quickly graduated to skipper in training by the third run to Race Rocks.

 

 

 

 

Troglodytes Return to the Rock

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The mostly overcast sky of early morning gave way to sunshine and clear skies for a beautiful transition day from summer to fall. The wind didn’t do much all day. The barometer rose to over 1016 hPa continuing yesterday’s rise but has now faltered and is starting to drop again. Forecasters are calling for winds to continue from the west tomorrow and then switch to east with increasing cloudiness, showers and dropping temperatures as the week progresses.

There were Humpback Whales just south and then east of Race Rocks most of the day. Some of the whale watching fleet visited them and the Ecological Reserve. A total of 15 visits were observed by commercial operators today and there may have been more mid-day when I went ashore briefly. By evening, there were four Humpbacks in the same area.

Ecologically, a change of season continues to be in the air. Flocks of Surf Scoters are passing through Race Rocks heading east. Cormorants are amassing in roosting areas on North Rocks, South Islands and Great Race and all three species are using the reserve to roost. More gulls arrive daily and huge multi-species feeding flocks are forming in conjunction with forage fish being driven up by diving birds like cormorants, Rhinoceros Auklets and Common Murres. These two species of alcids are often diving just outside Race Rocks but this morning on slack tide I saw a string of Common Murres in reserve, on the water. The adult males still have chicks with them.

There are also multi-species gull feeding flocks associated with sea lions’ salmon kills as observed earlier in the season. This morning I watched a California Sea Lion thrash what looked like a coho at the surface and then swallow it, head first, using a little air-born, porpoise-like action to get the tail down the gullet.

The bull kelp seems to still be growing and the beds are much more extensive than I remember them being this time last year. There is always lots of inter-annual variability in kelp cover as many factors affect its productivity and biomass including seawater temperature and salinity, light levels, nutrients like nitrogen, storm action and of course grazing. In the reserve, sea urchins and abalone are important grazers of kelp and they are also on the top of the menu when it comes to favorite food items for Sea Otters.

On land, Dark Eyed Juncos are flitting about with Fox Sparrows and Savannah Sparrows. There is a also a visitor back, that I haven’t seen here since last year. A small, but powerful presence in the form of one of my favourite little birds, a Pacific Wren has taken up cave-like residence in the old stone wall under the tower and can be seen going from cave to cave in the wall.

Other than the constantly changing and incredible natural scene outside, work was routine and there were no visitors today.

 

Friday-Saturday Combo Log Blog

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Friday, a northeast wind blew 5 – 10 knots, most of the day. It turned to west in the evening and was stalled several times. It was first (for us), seeing the light tower wind gauge read 0.00 knots. By Saturday morning it was coming in from the north at 5 – 10 knots. Saturday afternoon, the direction swung through southwest to south and by evening it was back to west. The barometric pressure started falling in the wee hours of Friday morning, a drop that continued on the same trajectory Friday and Saturday, going from a little above 1016 hPA to 1010 hPA. Although the forecasts change considerably from time to time during the period of a couple of days, a gale warning continues to be in effect and it is expected to turn to west and blow 30 – 40 knots Sunday afternoon. The rain continues to threaten and is supposed to end Sunday evening, that is, if it really gets started.

Friday there were only two commercial visits observed in the Ecological Reserve. Saturday morning, 30 – 40 Southern Resident Killer Whales were sighted by whale watching operators, off Beechey Head to the west of Race Rocks. There was also a Humpback Whale diving between there and Race Rocks. Once the sightings were reported by VHF radio, the fleet was alerted and commercial whale watching vessels started heading to the locations. Commercial traffic became fairly heavy with 28 tour boat visits inside the Ecological Reserve, observed Saturday.

Observing vessels that operate in the reserve daily, and making reports to BC Parks and Fisheries and Oceans Canada are routine Eco-guardian tasks. This gives me some insight into how sustainable different commercial operators are, in their use of Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. Distributing a sustainability rubric based on the agreement with the whale watching industry, Fisheries Act, Marine Mammal Regulations and BC Parks regulations might be a good way for vessel operators to grade themselves and their colleagues. Of course the same vessels don’t always have the same operator, but one gets a sense of company culture, as reflected in the way the vessels are run.

Most of the operators work carefully, respectfully and sustainably; they slow right down on entering the reserve and go even slower when there are seals and sea lions in the water. If there are whales in the Protected Area they do not enter into the Ecological Reserve and if a whale enters while they are inside they carefully and slowly leave using extreme caution to avoid interacting with the animals. They stay in the centre of Middle Channel going with the current and never try to wedge themselves between Great Race and South Islands (their insurance companies probably like this too). They are respectful, keeping their distance to the animals and acting as role models for other companies and vessels on the water. In the long run, this is good for business and good for the animals. It means that this kind of commercial activity might sustainably continue to use the Ecological Reserve.

If you are reading this and don’t know what an Ecological Reserve is – it is a protected area that offers the highest protection available within the BC Parks system. There is a lot of good information on the BC Parks Ecological Reserves website, on this website and in general on the Friends of Ecological Reserves website.

The sea lions were very well behaved Saturday after wreaking a bit of havoc yesterday. The two elephant seals had a good 36 hour sleep before going for a swim. As night fell, they were waiting for a chance to get back up the ramp amidst a crowd of California Sea Lions.

Alex and I accomplished a lot today, finishing some of the bigger, monthly chores and fighting entropy at every turn. There were no visitors.