Tag Archives: harbour seal

Sept. 19, 2025 – Animal Census Day

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Luckily for me it was a clear morning for the day of my first animal census. With coffee and binos in hand I headed up to the top of the lighthouse tower and began the count of every seal, sea lion, whale, and bird in sight… needless to say it took me much longer than expected! The sun was quickly heating up the tower and by the time I was finished counting the hundreds of sea lions, beads of sweat were dripping down my brow. Despite the heat, it was plenty worth the effort as I spotted some interesting animals – most notably, a Northern Fur seal! This little fellow was hiding in amongst the Cali’s and Stellers on the East corner of the island, not making many friends as it was crawling overtop the sea lion’s bodies and getting consistently yelled and snapped at.

Animal Census Report:

* Note the animal census was time limited to the morning only. Due to bright sun & shadows, cormorants were not distinguished by species.

Mammals:

  • Steller sea lion: 371
  • California sea lion: 906
  • Harbour seal: 89
  • Northern Fur seal: 1
  • Humpback Whales: 6

Birds:

  • Glaucus-winged Gull: 201
  • California Gull: 1
  • Western Gull: 6
  • Cormorant Spp: 701
  • Black Turnstones: 8
  • Surfbird: 14
  • Savanah’s Sparrow: 1
  • Western Sandpiper: 1

Facility work:

It was a busy day trying to fit in all my tasks on top of the animal census, as I was leaving the island for the weekend. Thankfully Richard was patient with me trying to get packed to go last minute.

  • Electric fence repairs – corner post on jetty snapped and got replaced.
  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Water sampled – just in time!
  • Batteries filled (early as I would be away on Saturday)
  • Animal census
  • Compost and tidying of house

Weather:

  • Sky: Mainly clear and sunny
  • Wind: 5-10kts
  • Sea state: calm
  • Air temp: 23C

I was sad to be leaving for any time at all, given the excitement of the animal census. Thankfully, Bella and the students were incoming to keep an eye on the place in my absence. I’ll be back to it Monday morning!

 

August 18

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Wildlife Notes:

  • This morning, I enjoyed watching from the top of the lighthouse as a Steller sea lion feasted on a salmon. See the photos below.
  • I caught a glimpse of four brown pelicans flying through the ecological reserve and stopping in the kelp bed near Turbine Rock. I did see one close up this afternoon. They are my favourite bird I get to see here due to their size and rarity in these waters.
  • With the permission of DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans), the dead Steller sea lion was towed away. The Race Rocks team did not want the carcass to rot in the jetty bay where it hauled out and died on Thursday. The plan was for the dead sea lion to be towed back to Pearson College, so it could be dissected by the Marine Science students. Due to the decomposition, the tow did not work and the carcass was cut loose in deeper water on the east side of the ecological reserve. Now that it has sunk, it is part of the food web.

Facility work:

  • Due to rust, the jetty railing at the top of the built in ladder was removed. A new one will be manufactured and brought out soon. I reconfigured the electric fence at the end of the jetty to ward off the sea lions. After all, they do have so many rocks they can use.
  • This afternoon, I took the Race Rocks station boat out for a leisurely tour around the ecological reserve. The boat ran well. I tested everything a couple weeks ago and was waiting for a good tide and current combination to take it out beyond the jetty. My attempt on Thursday was thwarted when the dead sea lion was blocking the boat ramp. Today, I enjoyed seeing the various smaller islands around the ecological reserve and vantages that I do not often see from Great Race Rocks.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 18
  •  Private: 8

Weather:

  • Sky: partly cloudy
  • Wind: west and southwest 5-15 knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 12 °C, high 19 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.7°C

Photos from today:

Photos from this afternoon’s trip in the Race Rocks station boat:

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

August 16 Weekly Census

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Weekly Census
Observed today because of yesterday’s poor visibility from heavy fog.

Mammals:

  • Steller sea lion: 229 (way up from 41 on August 9)
  • California sea lion: 211 (way up from 35 on August 9)
  • Harbour seal: 125

Birds:

  • Bald eagle: 2
  • Canada goose: 2
  • Cormorant: 37
  • Gull: 464
  • Black oystercatcher: 6 (including 2 chicks)
  • Pigeon guillemot: 92
  • Surfbird: 25
  • Ruddy Turnstone: 2
  • Black turnstone: 99

Facility work:

  • Checked the water levels in the batteries and topped up.
  • Fixed parts of the electric fence to deter the sea lions from plopping themselves onto the paths and other human built areas of Race Rocks.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 10
  •  Private: 6

Weather:

  • Sky: Partly cloudy
  • Wind: west 3-25 knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 14 °C, high 17 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.6°C

Photos from today:

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

August 12

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Wildlife Notes:

  • I don’t need an alarm clock here because my neighbours get excited when the sun rises. Eagles do a few passes of the island and freak out the gulls. The growing concentration by the jetty of sea lions bark and bellow ever so slightly louder in the daylight.
  • This afternoon, I got word from an ecotour boat that a northern fur seal was spotted several nautical miles west of the ecological reserve. Hopefully the seal stops by here like one did in December and April. Before that, a fur seal had not been spotted at Race Rocks in over four decades!

Facility work:

  • Clean the 44 solar panels first thing this morning before the guano got baked on by the sun
  • Clean the windows of the main house
  • Laundry load of sheets and towels used before I got here in July. There was plenty of solar power to accommodate the extra power load of the washer and dryer. While the dryer is heated with propane, the motor still draws a few hundred watts of power.
  • Remade some of the depth sounding charts around the island that are getting hard to read. We used these charts to see how many litres of diesel are in the tanks by dipping a ruler into the tank to measure the level.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 22
  •  Private: 3

Weather:

  • Sky: Partly cloudy
  • Wind: variable directions 3-25 knots
  • Sea: rippled in morning, up to 2′ chop in the afternoon
  • Air temperature: low 18 °C, high 26 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.6°C

Photos from today:

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

August 6

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Wildlife Notes:

  • A scoop of brown pelicans stopped by the ecological reserve this afternoon. They rested and preened on the South Islands before taking off a couple hours later. A group of pelicans can go by many names: brief, fleet, pod, pouch, scoop, and squadron.
  • Many of the gull chicks are practicing their take offs and landings. Some are getting about 30 cm or higher off the ground during their wing strengthening exercises. Soon they will all take flight! Then I can stop walking around with a broom over my head to prevent the gull parents from attacking me.

Facility work:

  • The generator ran automatically this morning when the battery voltage dipped down to 47.8V just before 07:00am. The batteries did not fully charge from solar power yesterday due to the clouds. The generator ran for almost seven hours today, using about 30 L of diesel. The battery state of charge went from 65% to 100%, with only some assistance from solar energy since it was cloudy this morning.
  • Changed the relatively much smaller 12V battery in station boat after charging it for a couple days.

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 17
  •  Private: 3

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy this morning, partly cloudy this afternoon, fog patches in the evening
  • Wind: variable early this morning, west 4-30 knots from mid morning onwards
  • Sea: rippled for most of the day, then up to 3′ chop in the evening
  • Air temperature: low 13 °C, high 18 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.7°C

Photos from today:

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

August 5

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Wildlife Notes:

  • A brown pelican flew by the ecological reserve this afternoon, stopping off briefly in the water on the east side, just past the large kelp bed. The pelican did not stay long before flying back through the south channel, which allowed me to snap photos (see below) of the big bird in flight.
  • After five days off looking from afar, I finally was able to see some of this year’s black oystercatcher chicks. Christine’s map of oystercatcher nests from June 1 has helped me find where the oystercatcher pairs are located, but the chicks are either too well camouflaged or are no longer around.
    This afternoon, two chicks and their parents were between the ecoguardian’s house and the edge of the east beach. The chicks are looking more like adults with their orange bills, pink legs, and black feathers. Like other chicks born on Race Rocks, they begin their lives blending into the rocks as grey fluff balls.
  • This afternoon, there was a flock of ecotour boats gathering to the northwest of the ecological reserve. A pod of orcas in Race Passage (directly to the north) were travelling near the shore of Bentinck Island.

Facility work:

  • Top up the water in the batteries
  • General tidying
  • Take measurements for an instrument installation

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 18

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy
  • Wind: variable 0-18 knots
  • Sea: rippled
  • Air temperature: low 13 °C, high 16 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.4°C

Photos from today:

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

August 3

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Wildlife Notes:

There were many humpback whales seen throughout the day to the south of the ecological reserve. They did not come close enough to this rock for any great photos. Although that did not stop me from trying. Many ecotourism boats spent time out there observing and must have got excellent photos from their vantage.

Three California sea lions have landed on the main island. This advanced team marks the beginning of the takeover that will last into the fall and winter, when several hundred of them will sleep, bark, and attempt to occupy any surface. The Californians have not always been the best neighbours at Race Rocks when it comes to the human built infrastructure. So far these three have been respectful and keeping to the perimeter.

A few times today, I saw a very small and fast bird flying around the middle of the tower. I wonder if it is living in the currently malfunctioning foghorn sensor nearby where I caught glimpses of the quick bird. Coast Guard technicians are planning to visit next week to do maintenance on their equipment like the foghorn. I will keep looking out with binoculars for the fast flyer. Hopefully the bird is actually living in the recently installed nesting boxes attached to a post above the ecoguardian’s back porch.

Facility work:

  • Run generator in the evening to top up the batteries after not getting enough solar energy on the mostly cloudy day
  • Clean windows in the lantern room so I can better spy on marine mammals
  • Clean ecoguardian’s house windows so I do not have to look out through guano

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 20
  •  Private: 1

Weather:

  • Sky: Cloudy in morning with some sunny patches in the afternoon and evening
  • Wind: west 16-29 knots
  • Sea: 1′ to 2′ chop
  • Air temperature: low 12 °C, high 16 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.5 °C

Photos from today:

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

August 2

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Wildlife Notes:

  • The loud barks of a few California sea lions echoed across the island this afternoon. Perhaps they are calling out for other pals to stop off here or just being loud California sea lions.

Facility work:

  • Clean windows
  • Tidy boat ramp of weeds and accumulated small pieces of wood
  • Top up water in the 24 batteries in the Energy Building

Vessels:

  • 14 ecotourism boats passed through the reserve today. Many more motored through the channel to the north on their way to see humpback whales and other sites further to the west. 

Weather:

  • Sky: partly cloudy, fog throughout the morning with a distant fog bank to the south persisting into the evening
  • Wind: west 23-35 knots
  • Sea: 2-3′ chop
  • Air temperature: low 11 °C, 16 high  °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 11.3 °C

Photos from today:

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

August 1 Census

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Weekly Census:

Mammals:

  • Steller sea lion: 36
  • California sea lion: 4
  • Harbour seal: 129

Birds:

  • Canada goose: 9
  • Cormorant: 19
  • Gull: 556
  • Black oystercatcher: 10
  • Pigeon guillemot: 102
  • Short-billed dowitcher: 1
  • Surfbird: 22
  • Black turnstone: 52

Facility work:

  • Clean solar panels and windows
  • Tidy up the boat house

Vessels:

  •  Ecotourism: 21

Weather:

  • Sky: Partly cloudy, fog in evening
  • Wind: west 22-41 knots
  • Sea: 3-4′ chop
  • Air temperature: low 12 °C, high 17 °C
  • Seawater temperature at max flood: 10.3°C

Photos from today:

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

Shift Change

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I am excited to be back on the Rock for three weeks. I arrived early this afternoon taking over from James. He was here for the last ten days since Christine finished her shift.

I never get tired of seeing the view of the Race Rocks Lighthouse as the boat leaves the mouth of Pedder Bay. I first saw that view in 2012 and have been hooked ever since.

Approaching Race Rocks in the Pedder Explorer

Most recently, I was here at the beginning of August last summer for a few days before I left abruptly after falling and breaking my ankle. In all of the years I have been coming here I have never so much as cut my finger, so it came as a big surprise to me when I slipped on my way up to clean the solar panels. I am grateful as always to Greg for his seafront support, especially on the day of my accident when he plucked me off the island and took me to the hospital.

Fast forward 12 months, after a surgery and a lot of physiotherapy, I am glad to be back here moving around freely, climbing up the 117 stairs to the top of the lighthouse, and reacquainting myself with this wonderful island’s marine mammal and bird neighbours.

The weather this afternoon was clear sky with a distant fog bank to the south which obscured most of view of the sea level of Washington State, but not the Olympic Mountains towering above. The wind picked up from 19 to 39 knots from the west, with gusts reaching 44 knots. The air temperature ranged between 12 to 19 °C. The sea temperature was 11.6 °C during the max flood at 19:30.

The Pearson College boat Pedder Explorer made two more visits out here this afternoon to show alumni the ecological reserve. Several other ecotour boats passed through.

As I reacquainted myself with the various buildings, I collected the water and fuel tank levels to add to the month end report.

Here are some photos of sights from around the island.