Tag Archives: elephant seal

Orcas, Weaner

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Weather has continued to be cold, dipping below zero degrees. Wind has persisted all week NE-E generally over 20 NMPH. Clouds have settled in over the past couple days so it is feeling a bit warmer, forecast for flurries today/this evening.

We were able to get off the island Friday morning for a quick run for provisions. By the time we came back out around noon there were already 3 foot Easterly swells picking up.

Yesterday a pod of around 10 orcas passed by on the West side of Race Rocks heading NE towards Victoria. A group of Pearson divers got to see them from Second Nature on their way for a dive at Swordfish Island.

Bertha left Friday night or early morning Saturday. The young male from middle rock was in the jetty Saturday morning, first time i have seen him on the main island. Chunk has seemed a bit restless. He made his way around the south side of the Science house yesterday and over to main house. He saw the young male in the jetty and chased him into the rocks on the W side of jetty. Chunk went into the water and waited around the jetty, a bit of a standoff. Eventually young fellow made it into the water and I saw Chunk coming back up the ramp around dusk. He seems very uninterested in the pup which is quite different from two years ago when Misery chased and bit Squall all the time. The pup hasn’t moved much and is sleeping a lot.

Feb 8: 2 ecotour vessels in reserve. One vessel caused a disturbance of sea lions on East rocks.
Feb 9: float plane flew over. Sports fishing boat entered reserve in afternoon and was fishing in reserve. I tried contacting them on the VHF radio but they did not respond, I waved at them but they kept on fishing. They didn’t stay long and left for Pedder Bay so I called the marina and reported the incident. The staff person on duty at the marina spoke with the 3 individuals who were apparently not aware of the fishing ban. We have photos and their ID info on record and will report them to DFO if they repeat their offence. Thanks once again to Pedder Bay Marina and their staff for their cooperation and support!

-picked up parts for plumbing drain in main house, bar oil for chainsaw
-cut, chopped, stacked wood
-worked on wiring in station boat, attaching new running light
-shore-master for Pearson divers Sat afternoon
-worked on drain plumbing in main house

Elephant Seal Pup up to the Third week.

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Pictures taken from birth on January 14 to February 1 from the Remote Camera 1

Elephant Seal Pup …putting on weight !

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It has been very foggy yesterday so missed seeing the elephant seal pup. I was surprised to see this morning the size he has attained. At 13 days old, gaining  4.5 kg or 10 lbs per day , the pup would have gained  58.5kg or 130 lbs since birth.

At birth pups weigh 75 pounds (35 kg) or more and are about four feet (1.25 m) in length.  This figure comes from research done in California. No one has yet done research for recording  the growth rates for elephant seal pups at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve.

The pups nurse for about 28 days, generally gaining about 10 lbs (4.5 kg) a day.

elephant seal pup2014-01-26 at 10.28.40 AM

Every morning they are in a different location because the pursues the female the previous night.

I took the following pictures from the Remote Camera 1:

elephant seal pup 2014-01-26 at 10.41.50 AM

Note the dark patches on Berthas breast are the locations on nipples.

jan262014pup1

Both mother and pup still sleeping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good source of scientific data on Elephant seal growth rates and survivorship  can be found in a 1994 publication : Le Boeuf, Burney J., and Richard M. Laws, editors Elephant Seals: Population Ecology, Behavior, and Physiology. Berkeley:  University of California Press,  c1994 1994. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft7b69p131/

Birds Cleaning up Afterbirth of the Elephant Seal.

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Nothing goes wasted in an ecological system. A few hours after the birth of the baby elephant seal, Thayer’s Gulls, Ravens and Black Turnstones came by to get a bit of rich protein for the placenta.

Early morning of the Birth of the Elephant Seal

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In the early morning just after the birth of the Elephant seal pup, Alex was able to record behaviours of the mother and Pup. Gulls started to go after the placenta, opposed by the mother.
This video was made from clips taken between 0814 hours and 0830 hours.

e-seals, blasting

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Sky cleared up yesterday, mostly cloudy today. NE wind less than 15 NMPH becoming W this afternoon.

Counted 16 bald eagles in reserve today, they have started feeding on the deceased sea lion.

Chunk has started spending more time off the main island, he was away all day today and back this evening.  I was able to get a better view of Middle Rock yesterday. In the picture below you can see Chunk on the left and a good sized female on the right with a young male behind her.

middle rock 2 male-7306

Middle rock: Chunk, younger male and female ( i think the one that had a pup out there earlier this month)

The number of moulting female elephant seals on the main island has increased to a total of 4: 3 in south bay (including one with green tag) and 1 in South East beach (pink tag). They all look pretty rough, as usual.

3 moulting females in South bay

3 moulting females in South bay

DND blasting: 1 blast yesterday, 3 blasts today. Looked like some small military vessels doing exercises near the reserve midday today and yesterday.

1 eco tour vessel, 1 charter rental from Pedder Bay (I called the marina as they were in the reserve and it was chartered by Shaw to get footage of race rocks).

-following up on wood stove
-cut, chopped, stacked wood
-topped up fresh water
-did some training/refreshing with relief guardian
-checked on battery water levels

Shooting the Elephant seal Images

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Alex uses a Pro-cam video camera at Race Rocks to take video and some still images  of the Elephant seals close up. In this sequence, taken on the day after the birth of the elephant seal. He places the camera and then leaves, capturing an interesting sequence as the pup tries to find milk and the Male “Chunk” starts to get aggressive. Click on the small icon in the lower right for a full screen image

Family has relocated on Great Race Rocks

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Bertha has certainly been cooperating this year in remaining in view on at least one of the cameras at Race Rocks. On this bright sunny day she is on the rocks over behind the boathouse with the Pup.

sunshine! 2014-01-20 at 1.24PM

Pup and Bertha from Remote camera 1 on the top of the Lighthouse.

Chunk2014-01-20 PM

Today its the first day that Chunk has stayed out on the middle islands with another female.

 

Vocalization of Elephant Seal Mother and Pup

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Vocalization of mother and pup are essential shortly after the birth of an elephant seal to  establish a bond and for recognition of each other if separated in the pupping colony. The first video was taken on the afternoon of January 14, day 1 the pup can be seen looking for food, but she had not started to nurse yet., The second  video was taken on the evening of January 14,  2014 the day the elephant seal was born at  Race Rocks.

Videos by the Ecoguardian, Alex Fletcher.