Tag Archives: elephant seal

he gulls were regurgitating good amounts of nice fresh silvery fish 7-9 cm long,

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Tuesday, July 09, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 19.0 C  Min. 9.9 C  Reset 16.5 C
MARINE LIFE: The main activity in the reserve continues to be the feeding of the young birds, today the gulls were regurgitating good amounts of nice fresh silvery fish 7-9 cm long, to the eager chicks which are now spending most of the time out of the nest but in the same general area.There are still 3 large elephant seals on middle rock but no sealions, still hear elephant seal snorting near the dock after dark most nights while they are out on their feeding trips.The dead pup is still the focus of it’s mother, she lays near it all day until the tide floats it and then she pushes it around in the water near the dock. There were three other females with pups swimming in the same area, one pup, obviously newly born but a very active swimmer approached the floating dead pup and was quickly warned off by the protective female. Anytime now the floating pup will get caught up in the current and will be taken further off shore.Will watch to see if the female remains in the dock area once the pup is gone.
HUMAN INTERACTION: There were 11 ecotour boats and 9 pleasure craft in the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:45 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis. 15 Miles Wind North East 9 Know  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:21 AM

fishers reporting a lot of bait fish

Posted on by
Tuesday, June 25, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 19.1 C  Min. 9.1 C  Reset 14.9 C
THE DAY: Cloudy till 9:45 then Part Cloudy  Vis 15 Miles  Wind Light All Day  Sea Rippled  In all a great Day
MARINE LIFE: Mature bald eagle made one flight just after 6 this morning but was driven out by the gulls and all was quiet until a juvenile eagle arrived approx. 16:00. The gulls were quickly in the air and the young eagle gave up rather easily and headed off towards Bentinck Island.Just at suset a lone adult bald eagle flew low over the water by West Race but the gulls spotted the big bird and headed it off before reaching Gr. Race. It really is amazing how the gulls work together to chase pedators away. One of the large Elephant Seals spent several hours floating with his head just above the water near the east tip of Middle Rock.In the late afternoon there was a fair size fish ball near the kelp bed south of Gr. Race, the birds had a good feed.The sports fishers talking on the VHF radios are reporting a lot of bait fish so hope it’s a good supply for the nesters and their young this year.
HUMAN INTERACTION: There were 9 ecotour boats and 3 pleasure craft through the reserve.The Hyaku was in this morning with Garry, Angus and guest to film the boats in the Victoria to Maui race, unfortunately no wind and in fact it was about 16:00 before the first boat reached Race Passage! The Hyaku did a couple of tours in the reserve this afternoon but did not come ashore.
posted by at 6:01 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis. 15 Miles  Wind North East 5 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by at 5:27 AM

Gulls drive off eagle

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‘Mature bald eagle made one flight just after 6 this morning but was driven out by the gulls and all was quiet until a juvenile eagle arrived approx. 16:00. The gulls were quickly in the air and the young eagle gave up rather easily and headed off towards Bentinck Island.Just at sunset a lone adult bald eagle flew low over the water by West Race but the gulls spotted the big bird and headed it off before reaching Gr. Race. It really is amazing how the gulls work together to chase predators away. One of the large Elephant Seals spent several hours floating with his head just above the water near the east tip of Middle Rock.In the late afternoon there was a fair size fish ball near the kelp bed south of Gr. Race, the birds had a good feed.The sports fishers talking on the VHF radios are reporting a lot of bait fish so hope it”s a good supply for the nesters and their young this year.’, ‘Carol or Mike S’, ’16:19:41 ,

It takes a lot of energy to feed three chicks with both adults taking turns.

Posted on by
Friday, June 21, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 18.0 C Min. 9.9 C  Reset 13.3 C
THE DAY: Clear Vis. 15 Miles  Wind North West Light 15:35 West 27 Knots Sea Rippled 16:00 2′ to 3 foot Chop
MARINE LIFE: Another good weather day! although the wind did pick up in the late afternoon. The Oyster Catchers are busy gathering food for the chicks some of which are as big as the adults but not very nimble just yet and do a lot more falling off rocks than hopping from one to another. The oldest chicks from the nest in the east bay area are starting to pick at snails etc. at the low tides but most of their success is mostly good luck – problem with attention span and anyway the mainstay of their diet is still being provided by the parents.Chicks beaks are still dark coloured at the tips and much paler orange on the rest so are easily distinguished from the adults.It takes a lot of energy to feed three chicks with both adults taking turns.When the tide is low the food is relatively close by but as the tide rises the adults have to fly farther to find chitons, mussels, snails and the like.Watched for 1 hour after the tide had covered the accessible food areas near the chicks and the adult was foraging several hundred metres away on the southeast rocks -in that hour the adult made 13 return trips –sometimes it took only 30-40 seconds to find food and return but often it took over a minute to come up with the appropriate food item.That’s a lot of trips a day one limpet, snail,mussel, etc. at a time and also a lot of energy prying the aforesaid creatures off the rocks!
HUMAN INTERACTION: Second Nature out with group for tour and dropped Ryan off to relieve while we did some errands in town.Ryan reported that a group in a rental boat breached the guildlines by landing 2 people on middle rock and they were harassing the elephant seals that were hauled out. There is a policy of no landing on the islands except by obtaining a permit from B.C. Parks – fortunately most people would not think of disturbing the marine animals like this but there is always 1( in this case 2) in every crowd!!
posted by at 7:42 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear Vis. 15 Miles  Wind North West 4 Knots Sea Rippled
posted by at 5:19 AM

young Northern Sealions hauled out on the southwestern slope

Posted on by
Tuesday, June 18, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 13.5 C Min. 9.5 C Reset 12.5 C  Rain 0.8 mm
THE DAY: Part Cloudy  Vis 15 miles  Wind West 15 Till 9:00 then 20 Gusting 33 Knots Sea 1 – 2 Foot Chop until 10:15 Then 3 to 5 Foot Moderate
MARINE LIFE: The birds continue to sit on nests and when alerted take to the air to ward off the one mature Bald Eagle that made several unsuccessful hunting flights over Gr. Race. The Eagle left the area just after noon,then again just after sunset a lone mature eagle made one last flight along the shoreline before heading across Race Passage towards Bentinck Island.3 young Northern Sealions hauled out on the southwestern slope of the southeast rocks along with approx. 13 Harbour seals.Counted 7 small to medium size elephant seals on middle rock,did hear loud bellows and snorting near the dock last night that could be the larger bull elephant seals but have not seen them hauled out for a few days.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Chris and Ryan delivered 2 loads of diesel fuel with the Second Nature in the morning and 1 tour boat was through the reserve today.
posted by at 6:06 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy Vis. 15 Miles Wind West 17 Knots  Sea 1 – 2 Foot Chop
posted by at 6:03 AM

Black Oystercatchers hatch

Posted on by
Friday, May 24, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 13.9 C  Min. 7.0 C Reset 11.0 C
MARINE LIFE: 1 mature Bald Eagle today which spent most of the time on North Rocks but did manage to circle over-head just before dark,the gulls and oyster catchers took flight as usual and drove the big bird out to sea. The eagle continued towards Bentinck island the ‘triumphant’ gulls returned to the usual noisy reception of the other birds.I can’t say things really quieted down as like the past few nights the birds are quite active. At times it sounds like we have neighbours living in the attic,noisy neighbours with heavy boots! Such small birds but they can make quite a racket especially when a bunch of them land at one time when all else is quiet! We have Oyster Catcher chicks! I saw one but know there are others. As I walked around to check out the nests the adult birds went into a frenzy of warning ‘chirps’ so I knew it wasn’t just eggs they were protecting. Did a boat tour this afternoon,counted 14 California Sealions, 6 Northern Sealions and 5 Elephant Seals hauled out on Middle Rock, also 5 California Sealions hauled out on the south slope of the SE rocks. A couple of Elephant seals are off the north shore of Gr. Race tonight, can hear them snorting so must be just off the dock.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 5 Ecotour boats, 2 pleasure craft. Station boat to Pedder Bay and back-had to get the flat tire on the truck repaired-was a great day to be on the water. Hope the wind picks up a little for the Swiftsure tomorrow -can’t believe I said that after all the complaining I’ve done over the last while about the wind! But really what is a sailing race without wind!
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:19 PM

 

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear  Vis 15 Miles  Wind West 8 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:51 AM

BC Parks out

Posted on by
Friday, May 10, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 11.9 C Min. 6.1 C Reset 10.5 C
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature Bald Eagles -kept away from Gr. Race by the ever vigilant gulls and Oyster Catchers.Have found 6 Oyster Catcher nests with eggs. This morning there was a lone female Mallard in the garden but did not stay long -flew over towards Bentinck Island.Garry reports that there are 10 or more Elephant Seals on Middle Rock, mostly females.About 10:40 a small group of Transient Orca came into the reserve from the west. Looked like 5 plus 1 calf.They are very stealthy and did not spend much time on the surface so cannot be positive in indentification.The whales did not seem to be hunting or in any hurry and spent about 45 minutes in the small bay area off the east side of Gr. Race.There was only one boat in the area but as the whales moved east, there were quite a number of tour boats reporting the whales and even a kill of a porpoise.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 ectour boats,1 pleasure craft. The Second Nature in with Garry and Don from Parks B.C. –
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:39 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear  Vis. 15 Miles  Wind West 9 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:55 AM

Elephant seals spent 45 minutes or so ‘surfing’ in the cresting waves

Posted on by
Monday, April 15, 2002
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.3 ºC »» Min. 5.0 ºC »» Reset 7.3 ºC »» Rain 1.0 mm
MARINE LIFE: No Bald Eagles today but still 2 pair geese. The weather started out promising but by 9 am there was a fair swell in front of the dock.2 of the smaller elephant seals spent 45 minutes or so ‘surfing’ in the cresting waves. They then moved over to the east bay, floated about for awhile then hauled out for the rest of the day. They have moved about 7metres up from the water so expect they will stay there over night.The sea really started to build when the wind got up to 34knts.Great thundering 4-5 metre swells all around and great salty bursts of spray, especially in the area of the Rosedale reefs and the west side of Gr.Race. Everything is covered in salt -first order of the day for tomorrow will be window washing so hope the wind lets up.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 1 pleasure craft through the reserve. The 2nd Nature came out but with the low tide and sea swell, conditions made a landing at the dock impossible.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:25 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind Calm »» Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:33 AM

watching the gage it was over 62 knts.

Posted on by
Sunday, April 14, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.7 ºC »» Min. 3.9 ºC »» Reset 7.5 ºC »» Rain 23.6 mm
MARINE LIFE: 1 immature Bald Eagle and just 2 pair of geese. Just after midnight the wind roared through here sounding like a freight train,I’m surprised any of the birds are still around! I don’t know what the official top wind speed was but while I was watching the gage it was over 62 knts. we don’t usually have such high winds in april but never take weather for granted.1 of the Elephant seals was hauled out in east bay. He must have moved over from Middle Rock during the night when the sea got up as he was there at first light and stayed all day.I always feel sorry for the birds when the weather is so windy and wet.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 tour boats through the MPA today, a wild, wet trip!
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:12 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy »» Vis 12 Miles »» Wind South West 30 Knots »» Sea 5 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:40 AM

elephant seals have both left the boat ramp

Posted on by
Wednesday, April 03, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 11.9 ºC »» Min. 3.3 ºC »» Reset 9.3 ºC
MARINE LIFE: 2 mature Bald Eagles today, 1 arrived first light, the other after noon. The elephant seals have both left the boat ramp- very good timing as we needed to use the boat today. If today was an example of the weather for the rest of spring the cold and snow of a couple weeks ago was not so bad.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 2 ecotour boats and 3 pleasure craft. The 2nd Nature was in with 2 loads of fuel this morning; station boat made a return trip to Pedder Bay -mail and supplies- Garry was out this afternoon with some students(college boat)
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:14 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind North East 8 Knots »» Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:19 AM