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.
Tag Archives: elephant seal pup
Shooting the Elephant seal Images
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
An assertive little elephant seal pup video
A short sequence showing the pup is certainly assertive!
Family has relocated on Great Race Rocks
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.
 Pup and Bertha from Remote camera 1 on the top of the Lighthouse. |
 Today its the first day that Chunk has stayed out on the middle islands with another female. |
Vocalization of Elephant Seal Mother and Pup
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.
kayak disturbance, tagged e-seals, pup, etc
Wind has varied between W and NE less than 20 NMPH over the past few days. We have had some patches of fog during the week and partly clear skies today and yesterday.
On the 15th a group of 20 kayakers passed through the reserve on the East side heading West. They passed on both sides of East rock and caused one of the largest sea lion disturbances I have seen here, several hundred sealions scrambled into the water. I was able to talk to one of the kayakers as they passed by the south side and told him that they are not allowed to cause this kind of disturbance to marine mammals at race rocks. Though I love kayaking and prefer kayaks to motorized vessels, kayakers need to realize that because they are so nice and silent they can also easily surprise wildlife. Once startled sealions stampede and can easily trample younger sealions or injure themselves rushing over the jagged rocks.
1 dive boat in the reserve today, 1 eco tour in the afternoon, 1 sports fishing boat in the morning which traveled too close to sealions on the East rocks. I called Pedder Bay Marina and gave them the ID number and a description and asked them to talk to the operator about regulations at Race Rocks (thanks Pedder Bay Marina!).
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- go pro camera anchored on a 9lb maul head got a bit run over
The elephant seal pup seems to be in good shape and is drinking milk regularly. Chunk seems fairly well behaved, a few times a day he we will arise from his slumber and chase after Bertha. Sometimes it seems he is trying to separate her from the pup and restrain her. I have seen him with his mouth around the pup’s head as well as with the pup partly underneath him though on all occasions I have observed he has clearly not harmed the pup when he easily could have. Chunk went off the island last night, I assume to middle rock and was back in the morning. There are two elephant seals on middle rock, both fairly large, one possibly a young male. I have been hearing what sounds like a male’s call coming from middle rock today. There were also two smaller scruffy, moulting female elephant seals in the shoreline of the main island today one tagged green 7502 the other tagged pink N93_ the last number is not visible. That brings the current e-seal population to 7.
Past week maintenance:
-cleaned solar panels daily
-flushed media filter on desal
-changed pre-filters on desal
-troubleshooting cam 5 with help from Jonathan, replaced POE unit. took measurements to replace leaky cable housing at base of cam stand
-ran desal x2
-ran fire pump
-replaced leaky hydraulic line on crane, pressure tested line
-cut, chopped, stacked fire wood
-replaced fire extinguishers which had been sent in for annual servicing
-brought temporary fire extinguishers off island for servicing
-troubleshooting of failed internet system with help from Jonathan
-swapped out 1 propane tank on main house
Visitors this week:
-on the 15th Erik came with a guest to drop off supplies
-on the 16th Erik brought Jonathan out to replace switch in the tower as well as the Marine sciences class for a field trip (12 students and Ann)
Elephant Seal Pup Losing the Wrinkles
Comparison of screen captures from the remote camera over the past 2 days shows that the pup must be nursing well as his wrinkled skin is gradually becoming filled in. The mother will lose up to 40% of her weight while nursing. She will stay with the pup, not returning to the water for several weeks. At that time the pup will have increased in weight and have the adequate fat storage to last it several weeks before it goes to the water on its own and starts to feed.
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- 9:45 AM Jan14 a few hours after birth not slim
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- 9:45 AM Jan 14
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- Jan 16-1:27 PM note loss of wrinkes
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- 2:26 PM Jan 16 note increase in size and loss of wrinles.
Bertha the Elephant Seal’s Rear Flippers
When reviewing the videos taken by Alex Fletcher during the first few days after the pup’s birth, I was surprized to see this clip of Bertha’s rear flippers as she moved around.
Video: Elephant seal pup born on Vancouver island is an online star : Global TV
(Global TV toured the waters of Race Rocks and did an Interview with the Ecological Reserve Warden Garry Fletcher on January15: Click on the image to see the article .
An elephant seal pup is getting used to the watchful eye of the Internet.
Its every move is being broadcast by a webcam to people watching around the world.
It was born in the early morning hours of January 14 at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve in the Strait of Juan de Fuca just off the southern tip of Vancouver island.
The reserve says this is the fifth pup born to a female called Bertha since January 2009.
Race Rocks is the only place in Canada where elephant seals breed and while other baby seals have been born on the reserve’s other islands, they’ve been washed out to sea by the waves.
Elephant seals were hunted to near-extinction in the 19th century, but are now protected under the Fisheries Act.
Elephant seals more durable than internet networks
I checked on the pup briefly this morning (so far unnamed as we will wait for a while to make sure he has a good chance of survival.) I said “he” because Alex thinks it is probably a male because of a tell-tale opening midway from umbilical to tail.
This picture taken at 11:15 AM from camera 1 shows all is well and the male Chunk (top) is not bothering the pup or the female.
Hopefully you can take advantage of the documentation we have on the website of our observations of elephant seals at Race Rocks Ecological reserve.……more tomorrow…..