The early seagull chicks have grown a lot, and are currently 2/3 the size of the adults.
Today was the first day the seagulls seemed to be (relatively) less aggressive – not sure if it was because of the strong wind or the fact that the chicks can now move themselves to safety.
Marine mammals
The californian sea lion that was earlier seen near the guest house, has returned there.
Saw a female elephant seal on the island after a while. That makes 3 males and 1 female on the island
I think there are more than 2 harbour seal pups near the island, although I haven’t been able to confirm yet. Attached is a picture.
The 2 geese that had a nest near the crane have now abandoned their nest – haven’t seen them in a couple of days and one single egg remains unhatched.
Marine mammals
Lots of seal news!
After reports of an injured harbour seal in the area, I finally spotted one on the boat ramp today. While this seal has several scars and some bloody wounds, it doesn’t however match the description of the injured seal we received, so maybe it’s a different one. This one I spotted doesn’t seem to have any serious injures, just several small ones.
Spotted an adult and baby seal just behind the crane today! They were originally spotted the other day by Nikola from the top of the lighthouse when the Communications team came for a visit, but I couldn’t get a photo earlier. They are extremely adorable!
River otters
I caught a glimpse of a pair of river otters for the first time today, running down the jetty with what seemed to be either a seagull chick or an egg. There were two of them, but they were too fast for me to get a picture.
Technical
10 days now without having to start up the generator! We are 100% solar!
An average number of ecotour boats today – the tourists were treated with quite a spectacular sunset!
Marine Mammals
Saw a single California Sea Lion on the jetty early this afternoon – the only sea lion to be visible in the last 3 days.
Spotted a molting harbour seal near the jetty that seemed to be in a lot of pain. It’s unusual for harbour seals to come to the main island, but this one seemed to be trying to stay out of the water, possibly due to sensitive skin. I kept an eye on it for the evening, and went to check on it this morning but it was gone.
