Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.0 ºC »» Min. 4.9 ºC »» Reset 7.1 ºC
MARINE LIFE: Still large numbers of sea birds but the fish balls are fewer and less frequent. Did see a Harbour seal catch a fairly large salmon along the dock on the west side. The activity attracted a hundred or more gulls,some we lucky and flew off with nice pink chunks of fish. The seal made short work of the salmon then hauled out on one of the flat rocks to rest and digest it’s meal.The number of Sea lions hauled out is down dramatically although the conditions are very good, lots of food and calm weather. The one major problem is the effect of the blasting.These animals were getting used to the boat and people traffic but are now very stressed and spook very easily. So much for referring to this MPA as a wildlife refuge where the animals can expect to hunt, feed, communicate, socialize, rest etc. without disturbanceand interference.
HUMAN INTERACTION: There were 6 Ecotour boats and 4 pleasurecraft. The station boat made a trip to Pedder Bay and back
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:34 PM
Tag Archives: harbour seal
DND Blasting Disturbs Sealions
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.7 ºC »» Min. 8.3 ºC »» Reset 9.7 ºC »» Rain 0.6 mm
MARINE LIFE: Another unsettled day for the wildlife with another day of blasts at DND. The fog rolled in very thick last night and until just after noon we were only able to observe the sea lions and Harbour seals along the north shore of Great Race.The first blast at about 10:12 alerted the sea lions, the second blast about 1 minute later sent 35 of the 79 sea lions hauled out prior to the blasting into the water, of the 13 Harbour seals hauled out in the dock area 2 took to the water on the first blast,9 on the 2nd blast, the birds that we could see took flight ‘en masse’ and most settled back down fairly quickly. The second series of 2 blasts was approx 1 hour later and 9 more sea lions went into the water from those hauled out along the north of Gr. Race. The sea lions were unsettled the rest of the afternoon. Most of the Northern S.Lions stayed in the water swiming about in groups of 5 to 12. The ones still hauled stayed close to the water, they were very agitated, there was a lot of noisey head butting.Most days, left undisturbed the sea lions are fairly quiet. Just around 17:00 a small group of Orca appeared along the northeast boundry of the reserve, looked to be T10 and T11 group. There were a lot of seals and sea lions in the water, several groups of Northern S.L very close to the whales but did not see any hunting action. The Orca disappeared as quickly and quietly as they had appeared. There were 9 Ecotour boats and 3 pleasurecraft in the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:03 PM
Branded sealion #169
TEMPERATURE: Max. 15.3 ºC »» Min. 10.1 ºC »» Reset 11.8 ºC
MARINE LIFE: The small east bay is the favoured haul out spot these past few days for about 90 Harbour seals with the rest scattered about the other rocks. The Sea Lions are spread out also, a few preferring spots quite far inland.One California sealion by the dock has a semi-circle wound on the tip of his left front flipper and another is branded on his back #169. HUMAN INTERACTION: Even with the fallish weather there were 24 Ecotour boats, 4 pleasure craft and 3 Charter Dive boats in the reserve today. posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:09 PM
15 harbour seals and their pups
TEMPERATURE: Max. 17.0 C Min.11.1 C Reset 14.0 C
MARINE LIFE: The elephant seal hauled out on the boat ramp early this morning for a couple of hours then returned to the area near Middle Rock.The east bay was a favourite today with about 15 harbour seals and their pups. The mothers and pups that frequent the dock area did not show up until around noon, I think they avoid the elephant seals especially with the pups still quite small.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Ryan and Alex were out in the Hyaku. There were also 6 ecotour boats and 7 pleasure craft through the reserve.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:59 PM
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy , Vis 15 Miles ,Wind West 17 Knots , Sea 1 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:51 AM
The purpose for his visit was to sample the hydrocoral Allopora
TEMPERATURE: Max. 16.0 C Min. 10.9 Reset 14.3 C
MARINE LIFE: 6 harbour seals haul out with pups at the boat ramp. Canadian geese still around.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 1 dive charter in the morning. Second Nature was out with Garry , Dr. Anita Voss and Alberto. Alberto is from Brazil and is currently doing a doctorate at Duke University. His area of expertise is DNA profiling and Taxonomy of inverterbrates . The purpose for his visit was to sample the hydrocoral Allopora. There are two color varieties of this species out here and he will be attempting through DNA analysis to establish if they are separate species. ( turns out they are not)
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:57 PM
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy Vis. 10 Miles Wind West 33 Knots Sea 3 – 4 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:43 AM
TEMPERATURE: Max. 18.5 �C �� Min. 10.1 �C �� Reset 18.5 �C
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:23 PM
WEATHER: Sky Clear �� Vis. 15 Miles �� Wind South 3 Knots �� Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:11 AM
TEMPERATURE: Max. 16.0 �C �� Min. 10.3 �C �� Reset 13.8 �C
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:45 PM
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy �� Vis. 15 Miles �� Wind West 30 Knots �� Sea 4 Foot Moderate With Low West Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:16 AM
fixed the fog horn
TEMPERATURE: Max. 16.3 C Min. 10.3 C Reset 12.3 C
MARINE LIFE:Well what a change in the weather, the fog and moderate westerlies is a nice relief from the heat.The Coast Guard came out in the sea truck with someone to fix the fog horn which failed last night – it was strange to be in the fog and no horn sounding! Well the geese spent the afternoon perfecting their landing skills, with the 25+ knt wind getting airborne was the easy part, we will miss them but in a way glad to see them spread their wings and move on to greener pastures.There are 6 harbour seals with pups that haul out each night, some on the boat ramp and others on various rocks on either side of the dock. The past couple of nights we can hear pups calling out for their mothers which are most likely out feeding, it’s a rather mournful sound but in most cases the pups are not left all that long.
HUMAN INTERACTION: The Coast Guard sea truck made 2 trips from Victoria to service the fog horn. There were 3 pleasure craft through the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:43 PM
Good MorningWEATHER: Sky Obscured Vis 3 – 5 Miles Fog Wind West 27 Knots Sea 4 Foot Moderate With Low South West Swell
heard snorting and bellowing coming from the dock area
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy Vis. 15 Miles Wind West 25 Gust 33 Knots Sea 4 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:09 AM
TEMPERATURE: Max. 16.5 C Min. 10.7 C Reset 14.5 C
MARINE LIFE: One mature bald eagle flew overhead late evening and as usual the gulls drove it off but the birds took 30 minutes or so to settle back down.The Pigeon Guillemots take off to sea when the eagles are around and are quick to dive if the big bird flies near. This morning one of the Elephant seals hauled out on the boat ramp next to the boat house door,it took him a while to find just the right spot, but once he found it he settled in for the rest of the day. The last couple of nights we have heard snorting and bellowing coming from the dock area and it sounds like more than one elephant seal but even with a fairly strong flashlight can’t see well enough to tell for sure.This evening there were 4 female harbour seals with pups in the water by the dock, at high tide it is a fairly sheltered area,away from the swells coming in from the west.
HUMAN INTERACTION: There were 6 pleasure craft, 3 Ecotour boats and 1 boat with 7 or 8 divers.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:07 PM
two Northern Sealions hauled out
TEMPERATURE: Max. 18.9 C Min. 11.3 C Reset 13.5 C
MARINE LIFE: Two mature bald eagles made several attempts to hunt Gr. Race first thing this morning and as always the gulls drove them off towards Whirl Bay everything soon settled back to the routine of feeding and sheltering the chicks.It would appear that there is a healthy supply of fish as the gulls continue to return from sea with full gullets.With any luck at all we will see some chicks fledge this year although the otter is making it’s rounds usually between 2 and 3 a.m. Most of the nests along the shore have been decimated but there are many nests farther inshore that have at least two surviving chicks.The dead seal pup has finally floated away however the female has remained in the dock area and has been joined by three other females with their pups. The geese are still here but with the vegetation so dry I wonder when they will leave for ‘greener pastures’. This afternoon two Northern Sealions hauled out on the western slope of the largest southeastern rocks to soak up some sun but were gone by 19:00.
HUMAN INTERACTION: There were 5 pleasure craft and 6 Ecotour boats in the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:41 PM
WEATHER: Sky Clear Vis 15 MilesWind North East 3 Knots Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:19 AM
he gulls were regurgitating good amounts of nice fresh silvery fish 7-9 cm long,
TEMPERATURE: Max. 19.0 C Min. 9.9 C Reset 16.5 C
MARINE LIFE: The main activity in the reserve continues to be the feeding of the young birds, today the gulls were regurgitating good amounts of nice fresh silvery fish 7-9 cm long, to the eager chicks which are now spending most of the time out of the nest but in the same general area.There are still 3 large elephant seals on middle rock but no sealions, still hear elephant seal snorting near the dock after dark most nights while they are out on their feeding trips.The dead pup is still the focus of it’s mother, she lays near it all day until the tide floats it and then she pushes it around in the water near the dock. There were three other females with pups swimming in the same area, one pup, obviously newly born but a very active swimmer approached the floating dead pup and was quickly warned off by the protective female. Anytime now the floating pup will get caught up in the current and will be taken further off shore.Will watch to see if the female remains in the dock area once the pup is gone.
HUMAN INTERACTION: There were 11 ecotour boats and 9 pleasure craft in the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:45 PM
Have seen 8 seal pups,
TEMPERATURE: Max. 16.0 C Min. 10.8 C Reset 12.5 C Rain 3.9 mm
MARINE LIFE: A cool and breezy start to the day, remnants of a very active weather system that roared in about 12:20 a.m. The rain was very heavy for about 25 mins, almost 4 mm, at least it cleaned the roofs somewhat and the air is much fresher. I watched very carefully for the gulls bringing food to the chicks and it’s not too encouraging- no abundance of silvery fresh fish so far. A few nests are empty of chicks and eggs -I suspect the otter. Have seen 8 seal pups,the females tend to stay fairly close to shore for the first week or so then when not hauled out to sleep and nurse the pups, they spend a lot of time in the kelp beds. The female is still with the dead pup and tonight as it floated in the rising tide she pushed it along with her in the water by the boat dock. Earlier this morning I went down to see and she was hauled out about 1metre from the pup, as I approached closer she moved up to the pup, patted it a couple of times with her front flipper then nuzzled it’s face with her nose.While she was doing this she periodically looked up at me with those big, sad, dark eyes.I’m sure even seals feel loss and grieve, It affects me at any rate. The Orca were through the reserve on their way east.Saw about 7 pass by between Gr. Race and North Rocks. They moved along at a fair pace but saw some breaching and tail slapping. The tour boats were quite spread out and except for the 2 boats that were in the reserve ahead of the whales none followed them through.
HUMAN INTERACTION: there were 17 tour boats and 3 pleasure craft through the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:23 PM
Good MorningWEATHER: Sky Cloudy Vis. 15 Miles Wind West 30 Knots Sea 4 Foot Moderate