Tag Archives: elephant seal

California gull

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Northwest winds dropping from over 30 knots this morning to 3 knots and them picking back up to 20 knots by early evening. Barometric pressure dropping since mid-morning. Strong wind warning in effect and fog expected for tomorrow.

7 whale watching boats

6 recreational boats

1 personal watercraft (aka Jet ski, Sea-Doo)

Another elephant made its way onto the island yesterday, bringing the total number to 6. In the past week, I have noticed a number of California Gulls (Larus californicus) on the south side of the main island. They are distinguishable from the Glaucous-winged gulls by their black plumage and yellow feet. (Click here to view a photo from the Race Rocks taxonomy page:

https://racerocks.ca/racerock/taxalab2/2010/laruscal/laruscal.htm.) A bald eagle visited today and yesterday. It plucked out a gull chick yesterday but I did not see it make a catch today.

 

High number of whale watchers

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West winds below 20 knots all day. Clear skies. Barometric pressure dropping since yesterday. Fifteen to 20 knot winds expected for tomorrow afternoon.

34 whale watching boats in the reserve… no whales, sadly.

1 recreational boat

About 5 blasts went off this morning from DND. Normally during blasting periods there are red flags but there haven’t been any today or yesterday.

Was off the island in the evening and dropped off a visitor.

Humpbacks

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Overcast this morning with some rain, clearing up in the afternoon. Strong winds from 0800h onwards. Barometric pressure on the rise since Wednesday morning. Fifteen to 25 knot winds are predicted for tomorrow.

19 whale watching boats

There were two humpbacks on the southern border of the reserve this afternoon heading west. Several whale watchers surrounded them. Eagle Winged Tours was particularly persistent in chasing them. We now have 5 elephant seals on the reserve. Chunk, the big male, and the other four about half of his size or smaller. Chunk is looking very slim.

Two bombs sounded this morning off of Bentinck Island around 1015h.

Went into campus today from 1330h to 1530h to pick up a visitor for the night. Took a load of garbage/junk with me off the island.

Another juvenile elephant seal

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Winds decreasing all day to almost zero. Forecast calling for showers after midnight tonight. Barometric pressure still on the rise since Saturday night.

5 whale watching boats

3 recreational fishing boats

Another juvenile elephant seal arrived on the island today, bringing the total number to three. All three made their way down to the jetty this afternoon and the two juveniles were sparring for an hour or so. The adult river otter also made its way from Camera 5 to the winch deck again today. Great bioluminescence tonight!

Continued cleaning the boat shed.

Animal Census and more…

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Winds have been on a downward trend since Monday but since noon today have picked up to 35-40 knots. Barometric power dipped to a low of 1010 hPa Wednesday evening. We’ve had heavy fog until yesterday and today.

Few boats in the reserve this week (I suspect due to fog).

Two whale watchers today and 2 recreational fishing boats passed through the reserve today.

Animal Census (for Wednesday, 16 July):

256 Gulls
9 Pigeon guillemots*
2 Elephant seals
13 Steller sea lions
1 Double-breasted cormorant
9 Black oystercatchers
6 Canada geese
38 Black turnstones (Arenaria melanocephala)
2 Ruddy turnstones (Arenaria interpres)

*I only saw nine guillemots on Wednesday, 5 of which were flying away from the island. I don’t know the reason for the low number but Thursday I counted over 80 again.

I have not seen Cheeky since Tuesday, however, a new (very plump) female elephant seal arrived Wednesday afternoon. After female was on the jetty at ~1800h but seems to have swam away again. Chunk is still here. The river otters made another appearance tonight. Running in the same direction the adult led the two young otters with a gull chick in its mouth. Before going under the diesel holding tank the two juveniles started away at the chick. the Canada geese arrived Monday afternoon. Until today, there was a group of 5 that moved around together and an additional single goose that was seemed on its own. Today I counted seven and they were all together.

Monday morning I lost ethernet connection in the main residence. Jonathan came out Tuesday to have a look and he returned with two electricians on Thursday to fix the issue. Filled the batteries yesterday while they were here and got a tutorial on the Nikon camera.

Animal Census

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Low winds all morning that rose quickly to 30 knots after noon but is now descending again. Barometric pressure still decreasing since Sunday. Winds forecasted to stay between 10-20 knots for tomorrow.

10 whale watchers

Animal Census
380 Gulls (Glaucous-winged + Heermann’s)

59 Pigeon guillemots
1 Elephant seal
2 Stellar sea lions
2 Bald eagles
140 Harbour seals
18 Black oystercatchers + 2 chicks
1 Spotted sandpipers (Actitis macularius) 
I conducted the census when the tide was rather high which may account for the fewer number of harbour seals, which appear in larger numbers at low tides when they rest on the outer rocks.
One float plane passed over the reserve this afternoon.
No sight of Cheeky today, our second largest male elephant seal.

 

Elephant seal shots

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Chunk and Cheeky sparring near the jetty

Chunk and Cheeky sparring near the jetty

Cheeky hurrying up the boat ramp away from Chunk

Cheeky hurrying up the boat ramp away from Chunk

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Chunk and Cheeky sparring in the water near the jetty

Chunk snoozing next to a gull's nest

Chunk snoozing next to a gull’s nest

Cheeky showing his flexibility

Cheeky showing his flexibility

Winds between 10-20 knots all day. Barometric pressure has been decreasing since Sunday. Forecast calls for same winds as today. 2 whale watching boats, 1 sailboat, 1 float plane flew over around 1400h.
Business as usual in the reserve today. Gulls are becoming evermore aggressive as eggs continue to hatch and chicks begin to wander away from the nests. The oystercatcher eggs next to the jetty finally hatched today! Like the gulls, the red-beaked parents are also very aggressive. Ran the fire pump today to fill the cistern.

Animal census

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Overcast today. Some rain in the afternoon. West winds starting low and increasing during the day and then dropping off again in the evening. Barometric pressure staying just under 1016 hPa all day. A few showers and 15-20 knot winds forecasted for tomorrow. Yesterday there were over a dozen whale watching boats in the reserve. Today only 3 whale watchers. Yesterday there were 4 blasts from DND in the morning around 1000 and 1100h.

Animal Census (for today)

Elephant Seal: 2                                                                                                           Harbour Seal: 220                                                                                                               Bald Eagle (immature): 2                                                                                                         Gull: 302 Glaucous-winged + 21 Heermann’s                                                               Pigeon Guillemot: 65                                                                                                       Oyster Catcher: 9                                                                                                           Double-crested cormorant: 7                                                                                         Turkey vulture: 1

Today the two elephant seal males were sparring ALL day. They started fighting in the water near the jetty at 1100h and continued back and forth into the afternoon (around 1400h). When they eventually returned to land they continued sparring, mainly the larger pursuing the younger one. Even now, they are moving around each other cautiously.

Tried to hook up the VHF radio in the guest house today but had some difficulties with the wiring and the weather. Will try again tomorrow. Some continuing internet issues last night and this morning but hopefully they stay fixed for a while this time.

Blasting on DND

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Clear skies. Strong westerlies started last night and continued all day today, hovering around 40 knots. Barometric pressure increasing all day. Gale warning for tomorrow.

No boats in the reserve today except for one whale watcher braving the winds. (Looked like the passengers were getting quite soaked!)

Four blasts went off today from 1145h to 1340h on DND (Department of National Defence) land on Bentinck Island.

The gulls are getting a lot more feisty as more eggs hatch.

Filled the batteries today and ran the desalinator.

 

Post for Canada Day

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Low southerly winds under 15 knots for most of the day. Sky partly cloudy with sun. Barometric pressure dropped steadily all day.

Tour boats: 6                                                                                                                            No whale watchers.

I found another oyster catcher nest on the south side of the island. There are two chicks that look like they’ve hatched in the last two days, and one egg that hadn’t hatched as of yesterday evening. There are only two elephant seals (the big males) on the island right now. They both swam and were sparring in the water on the south side of the main island. For the last two nights, the younger male has stayed in the water until well after dark.

Left the island from 1630h-1930h yesterday evening to pick up a visitor.