String Westerlies. Clear skies. Force 6-7. The barometer has been fairly steady all day. The forecast is for the strong westerlies to continue. Big tides this week, down to 0.3m and up to 2.3m. The current running around +/- 5 knots each day. 6 tour boats 2 halibut boats Animal Census Elephant seal: 20 Harbour Seal: 152 Steller Sea lion: 14 California Sea lion: 12 Eagle: 3 Canada Goose: 36 + 7 goslings Oyster Catcher: 8 Pigeon Guillemot: 161 Gull: 303 Continue reading
Tag Archives: harbour seal
Animal Census
Light variable winds. Overcast to cloudy skies.
Tour boats: 8
Kayakers: 4
Animal Census
Elephant seal: 24
Harbour seal: 205
Steller Sea lion: 77
California Sea lion: 20
Eagle: 3
Oystercatcher: 11
Canada Goose: 26
Cackling goose: 1
Gull: 262
Swallow: 4
Sparrow: 2
Spring Equinox
Clear skies. Variable North-East to South-East winds.
Waning gibbous moon, only one low day-time tide (~1m), and 4 to 5 kt currents.
I’m a day late, but Spring has officially arrived as determined by the sun crossing over the celestial equator.
There was a lot of Harbour seals out on Middle and Turbine rocks today. The Elephant seals are on the West Rocks. The Sea lions are still out on South Rocks. There was a large group of Harlequin ducks (14) in the water off the East beach. Cormorants were arriving in the reserve all day so assume my count dramatically under-estimates their numbers. The Canada geese with the nest next to the Keeper’s house have two eggs now. None of the other pairs of Geese seem to have settled enough to have eggs. The gulls are starting to pair up and settle into nesting spots. Amazingly, there were 7 Bald Eagles in the Reserve this morning. Most of them were sitting in pairs on the tops of various rocks. They were a fairly even mix of juveniles and adults. I saw a few sandpiper-like birds, but they were too fast for me to photograph or properly identify. Judging by the smell coming from the tank shed walkway, there is still a River otter living out here. And I saw some Scoters in the mouth of Pedder Bay on my way into the college this morning.
2 Tour boats
First Day of Spring Animal Census
Steller Sea lion: 31
California Sea lion: 6
Elephant seal: 3
Harbour seal: 144
Cormorant: 54
Gull: 133
Canada Goose: 15
Harlequin duck: 17
Black turnstone: 5
Unidentified sandpiper: 3
Oyster catcher: 6
Bald eagle: 7
Savannah sparrow:4
Pigeon Guillemots: 25
River otter: 1
Off station today from 0830 to 1030 to get keys and dive gear.
-fixed sagging corner on crane deck/walkway
-checked/cleaned Science House propane cleanout
eagle
Moderate NE winds all day. 3 ft wind chop. Cloudy but no rain.
The students left yesterday, and some volunteers from the college made a brief photo stop when Chris came to pick them up.
There was a boat fishing illegally in the reserve this morning. It left before I could try to make radio contact.
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- Students from the College
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- Harbour Seals
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- Harlequin Ducks
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- Mount Baker
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- Eagle
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- Eagle chased by gull
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- Eagle chased by gull
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- Looking south: Eagle, gull, and sea lions
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- Branded California #8586
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- Branded Stellar #882R
September 8/13
Morning Weather: winds West 6kts, seas Rppl, Fog all around
Chris off station between 1100-1730hrs
marine traffic: eco-tour boats: 3
marina mammal count: west rock: 4 sealions , 3 seals, middle rocks: 142 sealions, 52 seals, north rock: 42 seals, Great Race Rocks (including east islets): 350 sealions, 65 seals
solar panels cleaned.
Ahhh June in BC
Typical June day in BC
It always surprises me how long it takes for “summer” weather to arrive in BC. Today it is overcast, blowing 30 with driving rain, and 11 degrees (which feels like 7 with the wind chill). Â For Race Rocks weather records see this link.
A very buoyant Harbour Seal
3 male elephant seals and I are the only mammals on Great Race Island but this big female Harbour Seal calmly shared a lovely sunset with me at the sea side…
Yoga E-seal
On a nice afternoon a few days ago Chunk was showing his flexibility by doing backbends and chewing on his hind-flippers.
Seal Salutation
Yesterday I spotted 2 Bald Eagles raiding gull nests. I had never seen this before.
Wary Allies
And finally this interesting shot! Nesting Gull and Tower.
Wildlife
Bertha left the main island the night of the 16 and I have not seen her since. Â She was on the island and mating with Misery for just over a week. Â Zeke stayed around for the first few days and was very interested in the new arrival and activity but after being chased off by Misery a few times he left, I have not seen him in about a week. Â Misery seems to still be looking for her sometimes. Â He has been on the main island every day since Bertha arrived and seems to go off the island most nights.
The Pigeon Guillemots are becoming more frequent with a recent count of over 200, they stay mostly just offshore or in the intertidal zone and make their shrill calls. Â A couple pairs of Black Brant Geese have also been showing up just offshore of the main rock. Â Most days there are over half a dozen bald eagles in the reserve perched on the crane, the generator exhaust pipe, camera 5, on rocks, on the smaller islands, gliding in the air on the west winds, or chasing each other around.
Census, Monday Feb 18, 2013 Continue reading
Animal Notes and Census
A few days ago we had two unusual visitors to our waters. Two Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) spent several days on Great Race and North Rocks. Brown Pelicans, though the smalles of pelicans, are enormous birds weighing up to 6 kilos and measuring up to 135 cms with a wingspan of up to 2.5 meters.
A visitor from warmer climes….
Northern vacation to Race Rocks….
We have had two other unusual visitors in the last week. I discovered a Barred Owl in the boathouse attacking a Starling (another recent arrival), and Pam our avid photographer friend from England got several pictures of Peregrine Falcons that came through hunting sparrows and starlings. Pam’s pictures can be seen at:Â http://www.flickr.com/photos/
Another tagged e-seal showed up in the boathouse yesterday.
Might as well hang out somewhere cozy…
Tagged 7225
 Animal Census Nov 8 2012
| Species | Current Population (Est) |
| Stellar/Northern Sea Lion | Â 30 |
| Elephant Seal | Â 7 |
| Harbour Seal | Â 200 |
| California Sea Lion | Â 50 |
| Glaucous-winged Gull | Â 150 |
| Herring Gull | Â 300 |
| California Gull | Â 30 |
| Heerman’s Gull |  80 |
| Black Turnstones | Â 100 |
| Surfbird | Â 6 |
| Pelagic Cormorants | Â 40 |
| Brandt’s Cormorant |  30 |
| Killdeer | Â Â 6 |
| Dunlin | Â 16 |
| Harlequin Ducks | Â 20 |
| Canada Goose | Â 14 |
| Bald Eagle | Â 3 |
| Black Oyster-catcher | Â 40 |
| Sanderlings | Â 8 |
| Starlings | Â 8 |
| Race Rocks Eco-Guardian | Â 1 |
| Rhinoceros Auklet |  100 |
| Common Murre | Â 100 |
| Sparrows | Â 20 |
| Brown Pelican | Â 2 |
| Barred Owl | Â 1 |
| Peregrine Falcon | Â 2 |
Animal Census
| Species | Current Population (Est) |
| Stellar/Northern Sea Lion | 175 |
| Elephant Seal | 8 |
| Harbour Seal | 200 |
| California Sea Lion | 200 |
| Glaucous-winged Gull | 150 |
| Herring Gull | 30 |
| California Gull | 6 |
| Surfbirds | 1 |
| Black Turnstones | 40 |
| Western Grebe | 2 |
| Brandt’s Cormorant | 30 |
| Sparrows | 12 |
| Horned Lark | 5 |
| Harlequin Ducks | 1 |
| Canada Goose | 8 |
| Bald Eagle | 1 |
| Black Oyster-catcher | 10 |
| River Otter | Â 1 |
| Pearson Students/Staff | Â 16 |
| Race Rocks Eco-Guardian | Â 1 |
| Rhinoceros Auklet |  100 |
| Common Murre | Â 100 |
Seal Pups and traffic
Harbour seals are frequenting the kelp beds regularly with their new pups. I have spotted a half dozen pups so far. Harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) are most often found in estuaries and shallow bays but here in the reserve there are approximately 35 right now. They feed at hide tide and rest during low tide usually somewhere within the south-eastern part of the reserve.
Habour seal with pup
Marine traffic has increased significantly this week. Today, whale watching boats alone exceeded 40 in the reserve and there were around a dozen private boaters as well. In the last post I mentioned the whale tour boats are well mannered though unfortunately speeding between North Race Rocks and Great Race Rocks has become much more common in the past week.
There is a count of 9 elephant seals at the moment, which dropped from 11 earlier in the week. Some, like Misery (our largest male), seem to spend equal time in water and on shore now.
Also, 3 groups of student visitors came out on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for tours to learn about the reserve, its importance, and to get a peek at the elephant seals. The tours were kept brief as to not disturb the gulls who are still rather anxious to protect their young.