Coast Guard visitors, entangled sea lion and Sam

Posted on Thursday,August 16, 2018 by Aziz Sonawalla

Weather

Visibility: 15 miles
Wind: 20-25 knts W
Sky: Clear
Water: Ripply

Boats/Visitors/Sightings

A coast guard helicopter brought technicians this morning to work on the lighthouse electronics
Guy, Jeff, Travis and my friend/Pearson alum Sam Unger came to the island later in the afternoon. Travis was getting trained on docking the boat at Race Rocks, while Jeff and Guy came to have a look at the broken laundry machine. Sam came to visit me and he’ll be staying here until Monday.

Marine mammals

The last elephant seal left the island yesterday, leaving harbour seals and sea lions as the only mammals on the main island.
I received a report from Vancouver Aquarium about an entangled steller in the area. I’ve informed the various whale watching companies, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for it myself.

Human Impact on Sealions: Fishing Flashers, Entanglement, Boat strikes

Posted on Sunday,May 15, 2016 by Garry Fletcher

In this post we have put together many of our references to the impacts that humans have inflicted on our California and Steller or northern sea lion population which hauls out at Race Rocks. It includes images of fishing flashers and entanglement in commercial fishing gear, especially plastic net-binding hoops, as well as examples of strikes by boats which have injured sealions, often resulting in limb amputations. It is our hope that the fisher community can be more aware of how harmful their actions or negligence can be on marine mammal populations.

FISHING FLASHERS:

We see this event all too often at Race Rocks. Fishers must take responsibility for removing fishing gear from the water when marine mammals are nearby. Not only is it expensive to loose equipment, the impact on these sea lions is uncertain. If the animal succeeds in breaking the leader for the flasher, then the animal only has to contend with the hook down in the stomach. It is not known how this effects sea lion mortality.

Dec. 13 2006	Feb. 2006	Feb. 2006
This Northern sea lion was photographed on August 15, 2007 by Roth Wehrell. UVIc	A flasher on one of the sealions at the docks

Entanglement in Commercial Fishing Plastic bindings on Nets.

This section shows plastic neck rings from commercial fishing nets around the neck of a sea lion.
Please write your Fisheries governing departments to request that all plastic bands used in the fishing industry for binding fish nets by made of biodegradable material.

Neck rings on middle island	Oct26 2015	Sept. 9,2009-
This northern (steller’s) sea lion showed up on Middle Rock in February of 2009 . Note the ridge formed by the ring toward the head end. Photo by Ryan	two neck rings and three brands appear in the same photo from the tower. GF
Aug 31, 2009	Sept. 2, 2009- Ryan Murphy photo	Sept. 1999 Carol Slater took this picture of a California beside the docks.

These two tags will bring up the other posts on Marine mammal Injuries and Entanglement.

See other photos from the excellent collection of Ryan Murphy on Flickr

See this reference: Entanglement of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in marine debris: Identifying causes and finding solutions

Kimberly L. Raum-Suryana, , , Lauri A. Jemisonb, Kenneth W. Pitcherc
Elsevier: Volume 58, Issue 10, October 2009, Pages 1487–1495
Abstract
Entanglement in marine debris is a contributing factor in Steller sea lion (SSL; Eumetopias jubatus) injury and mortality. We quantified SSL entanglement by debris type, sex and age class, entanglement incidence, and estimated population level effects. Surveys of SSL haul-outs were conducted from 2000–2007 in Southeast Alaska and northern British Columbia. We recorded 386 individuals of all age classes as being either entangled in marine debris or having ingested fishing gear. Packing bands were the most common neck entangling material (54%), followed by rubber bands (30%), net (7%), rope (7%), and monofilament line (2%). Ingested fishing gear included salmon fishery flashers (lures: 80%), longline gear (12%), hook and line (4%), spinners/spoons (2%), and bait hooks (2%). Entanglement incidence was 0.26% (SD = 0.0064, n = 69 sites). “Lose the Loop!” Simple procedures such as cutting entangling loops of synthetic material and eliminating the use of packing bands can prevent entanglements.

BOAT STRIKES:

As the Northern (Steller) and California sea lions started to return to Race Rocks in the fall of 2009, Ecoguardian Ryan Murphy noticed what may be a significant increase in the number of encounters they have had with humans. Ryan took these pictures at the time.

: ” I cannot say for certain that it was one of the boats in the reserve that mangled this animal’s hind flipper,

: however, boat traffic in the reserve consistently gets too close to marine mammals both in and out of the water.” RM Aug 23,2009

: A gash on the chest

: The origin of this is difficult to say, perhaps a whale, shark or boat prop

: Boat prop scars on the back of this individual.

: Close up of the wound.

: Sept 26,2009 This california sea lion has a bad wound to the flipper.

: A decapitated harbour seal.

Elephant Seal Pup

Posted on Monday,October 26, 2015 by Don + Nina

Ecological Happenings

After last nights’ strong winds, many of the regular Sea Lions on the North East of the island were not there, but returned towards the afternoon.
Four Elephant Seals were on the dock (where the California Sea lions usually lay), including one pup. The pup was tagged (B228). It had a hard time getting off the dock to return to its mother (see photographs below)
Great Blue Heron, spotted today by Camera 5 on the high coastal rocks
One more tangled Sea Lion was spotted in preparation for the Vancouver Aquarium rescue on the 28th of October. The two that were previously sighted, could not be found today.

Marine Vessels

Four tour boats, no fishing/pleasure vessels seen today.

Maintenance

Davis weather station was offline – this has been resolved.
Troubleshooting the pressure hose, in preparation of some cleaning on the island.

No visitors today

: Elephant Seal pup B228

: Great Blue Heron

: Tangled Sea Lion at the south of the island

Jan 8-10, census

Posted on Saturday,January 10, 2015 by Alex Fletcher

Wind has been fairly steadily N-NE 10-15 knots for past days with overcast sky and intermittent light rain.

The “Orca Spirit”, large and loud.

Jan 9: 2 ecotour vessels including the very large Orca Spirit which passed through the reserve twice, I dont usually see this vessel this time of year here. It is quite a loud boat when it puts its engine(s) in gear.

Jan 9,leg-banded cormorant, red KJ8

Census, Jan 9:
Continue reading →

Jan 5-7

Posted on Wednesday,January 7, 2015 by Alex Fletcher

Jan 5: Cloudy, rain, 10 knots E. Had a lot of rain water in a short time, there was a lot of standing water. Some water leaked under the doors into the engine building, down the roof vent in the battery room and the drain on the roof got plugged up. I worked on the roof drainage and mopped up in the engine building. Finalized month end report. Foghorn was going off throughout the night. One sports fishing/recreation vessel.

Chunk was on the island in the morning but left mid day.

Jan 6, in the centre a ring necked sealion is visible, hauled out on South Islands.

Continue reading →

Whistling House

Posted on Wednesday,October 22, 2014 by Anne Stewart

There was a big blow last night and I learned that this house can whistle; with three distinct tones, synchronously, very musical. This morning there was a swell from the southeaster and an even bigger groundswell coming in from open sea to the west. Add the tidal race to the mix and you can imagine that the wave patterns created were mesmerizing.

It seemed like the day was in recovery from the storm, with gentle winds from the north-northeast, light rain and overcast. The pattern of barometric pressure change was not so reassuring, falling since noon it is now back below 998 hPa. That is where it was for last night’s big blow. It looks like the forecast is for more of the same.

There were six whale-watching boats observed in the Ecological Reserve today; five Canadian and the almost daily visitor from Port Angeles, called Island Explorer. The big draw, other than Race Rocks itself, were abundant Humpback Whales in the area. It certainly wasn’t the weather. At least two of the Humpback Whales were in the Ecological Reserve .

There were four Elephant Seals on the marine railway today, Gat (#5850-6967) , Flake and two larger animals. They ‘played’ together and then slept together for most of the day. More sealions than have hauled out since about a week ago, were also sleeping soundly throughout the day today, perhaps recovering from last night.

The three entangled Stellers sealions that are proposed candidates for disentanglement were all attending, two of them hauling out close to the living-room window of the science house.

When I was doing the seawater sample I noticed a couple of Harlequin Ducks foraging on the north side of the island. I would like to see them on the underwater camera.

More shorebirds were observed foraging on the abandoned sealion haul-out today; Dunlin, Western Sandpipers and Sanderlings were foraging with the Black Turnstones. The smaller birds were kneading the substrate with their feet and probing. That area is completely covered in a mat of sealion hair from their moult.

Even though it was a dark and gloomy day, the solar panels managed to keep up with operational, electrical use. The generator is just cooling now after topping up the batteries for the night.

Cut and Recycle Plastic Straps

Posted on Tuesday,September 9, 2014 by Anne Stewart

Beautiful weather continues and today’s lack of fog and strong winds made it a really perfect summer day. The barometer rose steadily all day and the outlook is for more of the same.

Thirty-five whale-watching boats were noted in the reserve today and some may have been missed as I made a mad dash to “civilization” during the late afternoon slack tide. It is quite a process getting the boat launched and then back up into the boat shed but the good coffee I picked up made it all worthwhile. Back on the rock now with 600 sea lions and one Elephant Seal.

Killer Whales were within sight today, out in Juan de Fuca Strait, but not in the reserve and that was why there was high traffic by the boats, stopping by to see the sea lions.

I spent an hour this morning in the tower, photographing the tagged/branded animals that I have been recording. It is really nice to have a birds’ eye view of the rookery. Speaking of rooks, there were two ravens this morning. Until today I have only seen solo ravens. The evening bird continues to be a mystery to me, I can only describe the call as being high pitched and saying something like chee bedee be dee be dee. From the few glimpses I have had of it in the dark (not very good glimpses) I would say that it flew like a shorebird. (turned out to be a killdeer)

Common Murres and Rhinoceros Auklets are feeding in deeper water around the reserve now and today saw an influx of California Gulls into the reserve. The Heerman’s Gulls continue to join mixed-species, feeding flocks and forage on their own but I have not seen any landing on Great Race. There are more and more Canada Geese landing every day and they are eating every new little green thing that is not a thistle. Can they be classified as pest-like?

Another reason to both cut and recycle plastic straps. Three ring-necks observed today.

I photo-documented more entangled sea lions today to follow up on work being done by Wendy Szaniszlo, the Vancouver Aquarium and others. I observed two California Sea Lions ring necked, one is doing very poorly with an open wound and liquid coming out of it. It looks like a white plastic strap. The other may have already been treated as it looks and acts healthy. As I was coming into to land at the jetty in the tidal race, I noticed a Steller’s Sea Lion that was ring-necked. I did not get a chance to photograph it as landing here is already exciting enough by myself. I will look for it after chores in the morning.

Chores were basic today, cleaning and organizing, sharpening tools and almost completing the new fence.

Bigg’s Killer Whales Kill in Reserve.

Posted on Monday,September 8, 2014 by Anne Stewart

The barometer rose all day and so did the westerly winds, so by the time the tide started to ebb, the opposing forces made spectacular waves. Tonight is the last full moon of the summer and it is in perigee, closest to the Earth, so it appears to be a big one, marking the third of a trilogy of super-moons we have been enjoying. It also means bigger than usual tides, making things seem even more dramatic. It was clear all day, no fog, but there are low clouds sneaking in along the Olympic Mountains and the look of fog out to sea. The westerly is supposed to be a little tamer on Tuesday.

Twenty-one tour boats were noted in the reserve today as well as one dive charter boat. A couple of the whale watchers looked like they were pushing the speed limit in the reserve and pushing the marine mammal viewing regulations outside the reserve. No illegal fishing was observed.

I am adding photos to the sea lion branding/tagging observations and that will make the data much more rigorous. Another entangled, aka ring-necked California Sea Lion was photographed. This time it looked like plastic strapping cutting a deep and infected wound.

Bigg’s Killer Whales visited again today. It appeared that they chased Steller Sea Lions all the way here from at least Albert Head. It was very dramatic here as they wove in and out of the kelp and through the tidal rips and standing waves, going with the tide and at great speed. One exhausted male Steller’s hauled out just as the chase was passing and he looked as though he may have been part of it all. He collapsed in a heap and immediately went to sleep. He was the lucky one. The kill happened in the reserve, just southwest of Great Race. There appeared to be a fairly small baby in the family of whales. The group was purportedly the T-61s (not sure of the source however). I tried to take photos so will report back with verified identification information once that comes in.

I finished some more of the set up to protect the ‘Science House’ today and started to clean out the northwest entrance to the generator room. There is a lot of very satisfying cleaning here, when you sweep you really get results, today it was many, many, generations of Ligia pallasii exoskeletons. Wow it’s a moult room instead of a cloak room.

Northern Sea lions predominate

Posted on Sunday,January 17, 2010 by Garry Fletcher

California Sea Lion’, 4, ‘Two adult males and 2 juvenile males are hauled out on the intertidal island on the SE corner of Great Race Island today. At least one adult male has been around this week.’, ‘Ryan’, ’12:19:52 ,
Northern Sea Lion’, 50, ‘Northern or Steller sea lion population has remained relatively constant this past month, with no major storms dispersing them for any amount of time. Interestingly, only 1 or 2 animals have ventured back to the largest of the Middle Rocks where the entangled sea lion was rescued. Instead, they have chosen to stay crowded on the smaller adjacent rock to the East.’, ‘Ryan’, ’12:21:57 ,

Entangled Sea Lion gets rescued at Race Rocks

Posted on Sunday,December 13, 2009 by Garry Fletcher

The rope had his right flipper ensnared, and it was caught on a rock leaving him tethered on the island

On December 13, 2009, Ecoguardian Ryan Murphy reported to DFO that a sea lion on Middle Island was entangled in ropes. (See Ryan’s comments below) The ropes were snagged so it could not leave the rock. A rescue was mounted by DFO and the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre of the Vancouver Aquarium on December 16. This was the first time a sea lion had been successfully released from such an entanglement.


On December 14 he was still there	Location of the animal (top of picture) on Middle Island	A tangle of ropes had him snared so that he could go in and out of the water but not very far.


The DFO vessel approaches middle island on December 16. They are accompanied by members of the marine Mammal rescue group from the Vancouver Aquarium.	Approaching from the north side of the island.	A dart is shot into the flank of the animal to immobilize it.

The open wound on the sealion

Photo by Richard Christianson, DFO	DFO and marine mammal personnel on the island after the animal has been anesthetized	Removing the ropes. Photos by Ryan Murphy.

See these other images by Ryan of injured marine mammals that haul out at Race Rocks .

Further comments from resident marine scientist and ecoguardian at Race Rocks Ryan Murphy
: December 21 2009Ryan was interviewed for this article in the Goldstream Gazette: Daring Sealion Rescue at Race Rocks“Normally, neither DFO or the Vancouver Aquarium will intervene with entangled pinnipeds (seals and sea lions), but this case was special for a number of reasons.
1. The sea lion was actually tethered to the rocks. These animals are really tough and can often survive for years with their entanglements. If tranquilized, these animals would take to the water and most likely drown before a rescue team could get to it. This wasn’t the case here and so a rescue operation was a viable option.
2. Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) like this one are listed as a species of special concern under SARA and as such are afforded a higher priority than other more abundant species like harbour seals and california sea lions.
3. This animal was most likely spotted within 24 hours of its entanglement and was still in relatively good health. Mike Demarchi of LGL who was on the island monitoring DND activity on nearby Bentinck Island and Rocky Point first spotted it on the morning of the 13th and his team and I were able to keep a very close eye on it during the daylight hours. It was reported to DFO’s Observe, Record, Report (ORR) line (1-800-465-4336) and the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Centre (at 604-258-SEAL (7325) or via the emergency phone at 604-862-1647). A case like this on an offshore haul out would most likely have resulted in death by starvation, hypothermia, or drowning long before it was sighted. In the 3 days between the first sighting (first photograph) and its successful rescue, this animal had further tangled its tether from about 10m to 3m and exacerbated the wound to its flipper. The gale yesterday would have drowned it had it not been rescued.”

Race Rocks Ecological Reserve-

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