Tag Archives: gumboot chiton

Saturday Update

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Nothing too wild to report today! I find myself tripping over more and more gull nests as each day passes but thankfully none have shown any aggression so far.

Our YSI unit that measures the salinity and temperature for sea water data has decided to stop working so today I learned how to use the old sampling method. I ended up with the same numbers as I’ve been getting all month so I think I managed to do it somewhat successfully! While I was collecting the water sample at the end of the jetty I had a curious little helper who was very intrigued by my bucket. She gave it an inspection and a boop with her nose before disappearing under the water and leaving me to my work.

No other creatures paid me a visit today but I did come across the unfortunate demise of a gumboot chiton that a gull dropped on the jetty. Very neat to see up close!

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Neat Intertidal Finds

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Weather:

  • Visibility 6 NM
  • Sky overcast
  • Wind 5-10 knots W
  • Sea state: Calm

Marine Traffic/Island Visitors:

  • Greg visited with supplies on Friday
  • There have been a steady trickle of eco-tourism boats, 5-10 per day.
  • On Thursday DFO and Marine Mammal rescue visited the reserve (more on this below).

Ecological Observations: 

  • There has been a young sea lion in the reserve that appeared to be very underweight and weak. It was first spotted in the reserve on July 1st, and a few more times following. Marine mammal rescue notified us of the sightings earlier this week, and we were able to find the animal where it had originally been reported by a local eco-tourism company. With the assistance of DFO, they were able to make the journey from Vancouver to RR on Thursday July 9th, but unfortunately they weren’t able to spot the sea lion, and we have not seen it in the reserve since July 8th.
  • The seagull hatching is in full swing! There are now many chicks in various stages of development.
  • The goslings and their parents left for their first swim on the ocean yesterday at slack tide, but we haven’t seen them return. We wonder if they got caught in the stronger currents or perhaps made the journey to shore.
  • There are a few more sea lions in the reserve this week, roughly ten stellar sea lions on middle rocks.
  • We have had some low tides this week in the middle of the day, making for a great opportunity to explore the intertidal- photos below!

Biodiversity Aplenty + Sunday Census

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Weather:

  • Sky overcast
  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Wind 20-25 knots W
  • Sea state: chop, whitecaps breaking at .5 m

Visitors/Marine Traffic:

  • On Thursday an electrician came to work and Greg brought us some supplies- Thanks Greg!
  • Also on Thursday, Daniel came to do a bird count and take recordings of bird calls. He was able to spot and identify many more species than we are able to, and it was fantastic to learn more about what is here! He also found owl pellets near where we heard an owl in April, and we are excited to see what information can be concluded from them.
  • On Friday Greg delivered water
  • Also on Friday, there were many RCMP boats just outside of the reserve.
  • There have been a few pleasure crafts, some fishing within the reserve boundaries.
  • One whale watching vessel today, which approached the animals and the jetty very closely

Ecological: 

  • Daniel also spotted two new observations: a fern growing out of a crack on the lighthouse, and some beautiful harvest brodiaea.
  • There is now only one elephant seal, the large male.
  • There is one goose still sitting on a nest underneath camera 5. She’s been there for a long time and we are wondering if the eggs will still hatch since it is so late in the season. There are no goslings currently, but still a constant 16 adult geese total.
  • In the past two weeks we have been observing many jellyfish in the water, including sea nettles, fried egg jellyfish, and the occasional water jelly still.
  • On Thursday morning we watched as two eagles chased one seagull into the water and continuously took turns diving at it. They dove at it until it was completely wet and unable to fly away. At this point, one of the eagles swooped down and carried the seagull away by its neck.

Census: 

  • 280 Seagulls
  • 12 Adult oystercatchers
  • 2 Oystercatcher chicks
  • 157 Harbor seals
  • 1 Adult male elephant seal
  • 16 Adult Canada geese
  • 11 California sealions
  • 3 Stellar sealions
  • 9 Pigeon Guillemots
  • 2 Adult bald eagles
  • 1 Barn swallow

Gentle Winds and Plentiful Wildlife

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Weather:

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky partly cloudy
  • Wind 5-10 knots N
  • Sea state: Calm

Visitors/Boats:

  • Yesterday Laura and Greg came at low tide to deliver fuel and for Laura to teach her online class.
  • Greg came this morning to deliver a load of fresh water which we pumped into our storage tank with the fire pump and hoses.
  • Today we saw a dive vessel in the reserve but no divers. They were fairly close to the wildlife but the sea lions did not seem particularly bothered.
  • One small pleasure craft hovered just outside of the reserve for the majority of the day. They were too far away to see what they were doing, but usually boats like this are fishing.

Ecological:

  • The small seal pup is still here, but she has become more adventurous over the past week. We have seen her napping on the east side of the island, and beside the decommissioned diesel tank on the west side.
  • The sea lion population continues to grow, and so does the smell! We will need to set up more fencing soon before they begin to take over the island completely.
  • The pair of crows that we have been seeing returned today and spent most of their day at Race Rocks.
  • We have continued to observe bald eagles in the reserve. We enjoy watching them swoop overhead and cause a stir amongst the seagulls.
  • One of the seals that we have been joined by over the past weeks was also spotted here in December (juvenile female V173). We are still waiting to hear from the researchers who tagged her to see if there is anything interesting to learn.
  • The elephant seals activity has been uneventful as they continue to moult. They spend their days napping and lounging on our “lawn” or wiggling down to the jetty to soak in the shallow water (and perhaps relieve the itchiness of all that peeling fur!).
  • At low tide yesterday we spotted many neat creatures in the exposed pool on the east side of Great Race Rock: urchins, anemones, crabs, fishes, chitons, barnacles, and tubeworms!

 

The Flag is Back

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Weather: 

  • Sky overcast, some clear patches (not much solar power generated today)
  • Visibility 15+ miles, no fog
  • Wind 10-20 knots W
  • Water calm. Some interesting standing wave patterns lately.

Boats/Visitors: 

  • On Thursday Greg came in the afternoon to top up our water supply. Pearson alum Norbert (currently alum in residence) also came along for the ride to check out our solar panels and provide suggestions for future improvements. Pearson maintenance volunteer Jimmy also stopped in for the night to visit race rocks before he goes home to Mexico. Safe travels!
  • We had many hands on deck, so we were able to successfully repair and raise the flagpole.
  • Yesterday Greg visited with a group of college guests who toured the island.

Ecological: 

  • The sea lions have started to haul out on the N + S/SW sides of Great Race Rock.
  • The oyster catcher chicks have grown to be nearly as big as their parents and are flying all over!
  • The seagull chicks are getting bigger and when rival adults attack they now fight back. On Thursday we spotted a chick with one eye pecked out and were concerned that it would not survive. Fortunately, when we checked later it was doing well.
  • There have been large numbers of black turnstones present this past week, 30+ at once

 

 

 

Extreme Tides & Extraordinary Critters

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Weather: 

  • Visibility: 10-14 miles
  • Wind: 10-20 knots
  • Sky: Slightly cloudy clearing to sunny and clear
  • Water: rippled

Boats/Visitors: 

  • Yesterday there were 20+ whale watching vessels in the reserve.
  • Today we had a group of 9 from Pearson College visit and tour the island.

Ecological:

  • Lately we have been having very low tides, and today we spotted two gumboot chitons on the jetty track in an area that would not normally be exposed.
  • The younger goslings are learning to swim!
  • The two large male elephant seals appear to be beginning to moult. Today we noticed that one of them has some cracking skin in his chin area.
  • Over the past few days we have noticed more bald eagles, and notably a few young ones.