Ecological Happenings
Marine Vessels
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Ecological Happenings
Marine Vessels
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No visitors.
Sea lions visit Pearson College Divers Photo by Jasper Rea.
It was a beautiful day at Race Rocks, with light southeast winds and a mostly clear sky. The barometer fell a little today to ~1013hPA and the forecast for tomorrow is for sunny skies. There is a strong wind warning in effect for overnight with diminishing southeast winds Friday. Rain is forecast for Saturday.
Only four whale-watching vessels were noted in the protected area today and three pleasure craft passed through going slowly. The people on one of those vessels, the Kaos were observed feeding rockfish to sea lions in the Ecological Reserve. It is illegal to feed wildlife and if it happens they will be reported.
Today was animal census day and here are the results.
Animal Census
Steller Sea Lion 321
California Sea Lion 637
Harbour Seal 77
Northern Elephant Seal 9
Sea Otter 0
Humpback Whale (1 observed within one mile of ER southeast of
Great Race)
Canada Goose 23
Harlequin Duck 5
Surf Scoters 11 (flying through to east)
Common Murre 5
Rhinoceros Auklet 4
Double-crested Cormorant 73
Brandt’s Cormorants 25
Pelagic Cormorant 9
Unidentified Cormorants 20
Bald Eagle 1 adult
Black Oystercatcher 11
Black Turnstone 7
Kildeer 2
Glaucous-winged Gull 248
California Gull 3
Thayer’s Gulls 707
Herring Gull 0
Ring-billed Gull 1
Western Gull 2
Heerman’s Gull 14
Mew Gull 0
Unidentified gulls 53
Total gull count 1028
Common Raven 2
Red-winged Blackbird 7 (during count week)
Savannah Sparrow 12
Song Sparrow 2
American Goldfinch 1
American Pipet 1
Don and Nina, the new eco-guardians in-training arrived today. They worked hard all day, after getting up very early to catch the morning slack and are progressing really well in learning some of the idiosyncrasies of Race Rocks operations.
Friday started with fog again and light southeast winds, from 5 to 10 knots. By late morning there were glimmers of clearing and by mid-day the sun was shining. The wind stayed calm and it stayed fairly clear, with clouds rolling by as the wind turned to west, in the late afternoon. By evening it was still and the sky mostly clear but that must have changed as the was fresh rainwater in the morning. The barometer bottomed out Friday morning at 1007 hPA before rising briefly. It started to drop again mid-day falling until mid-Saturday. The gale warning for Saturday, came true after another very foggy morning and light easterly winds. The turn to westerly was rapid, the fog was blown off and ominous clouds with a black line on the water to the west, foretold of what was to come. It blew up fast, reaching 40 knots and then settled back down to the up and down of 20 – 35 knots. There is gale warning is still in effect and the wind is forecast to lighten overnight, then become easterly 5 to 15 near noon Sunday. (I am collecting rainwater for laundry, bonus.)
Only two whale watching vessels were observed in the protected area Friday. Two sports fishing vessels also passed through. Saturday was a little busier with five whale watching vessels noted in reserve but there were no pleasure craft, they were probably seeking shelter. It is quite possible that I missed traffic both days due to thick fog reducing visibility.
Thursday was too foggy to do the animal census so it is cobbled together from the brief time slots when visibility permitted on Friday. It is interesting to note that the gull population plummeted after the arrival of the first Bald Eagle to be seen here, since I arrived at the end of August. Not sure if that is coincidental or not.
I only noticed the eagle because of the hundreds and hundreds of gulls moving en masse, from North Rock over to Great Race. When I peeked through the spotting scope, all the cormorants were in the water, the gulls were gone and there sat an adult Bald Eagle. Only the Harbour Seals seemed to ignore its presence.
There was no sign of the eagle today and the gull numbers are perhaps even lower. Glaucous-winged juveniles and adults continue to mill around summer territories. Some young ones are still practising picking things up, flying up and dropping them. Most of the adults are fully into their alternate plumage now. Their faces recovering from the physical aspects of feeding young.
The sea lions are spending more time in the water now that their favourite haul-out spots are worse than pig pens. Some of them have turned to rock climbing and I saw the first scouts up on the heli-pad today.
Animal Census
Steller Sea Lion 317
California Sea Lion 428
Harbour Seal 156
Northern Elephant Seal 6
Sea Otter 1
Southern Resident Killer Whale ( observed within one mile of ER during count week, (Race Passage, east, west and south of RR)
Biggs Killer Whale (Transients) ( during count week Race Passage & southwest)
Humpback Whale 2 (1 observed within ER west side during count week)
Minke Whale 1 ( observed within one mile of ER during count week just east of North Rock)
Canada Goose 4
Harlequin Duck 7
Surf Scoters 73 (flying through to east)
Double-crested Cormorant 35
Brandt’s Cormorants 29
Pelagic Cormorant 9
Bald Eagle 1 adult
Black Oystercatcher 23
Black Turnstone 6
Kildeer 2
Glaucous-winged Gull 258
California Gull 41
Thayer’s Gulls 874
Herring Gull 0
Ring-billed Gull 0
Western Gull 2
Heerman’s Gull 20
Mew Gull 18
Unidentified gulls 361
Total gull count 1574
Common Raven 2
Savannah Sparrow 19
Fox Sparrow 1
Junco 1
Golden-crown Kinglet 1
American Pipet 1
Starting the countdown on my last week on the rock for this shift. I may be back for a bit at the end of October, if extra training is needed for the new folks.
Two more, lovely, sunny days squeezed in with the barometer down at ~ 1010 hPA and dropping. Light southeast wind today and yesterday will switch to variable and east on Thursday and the forecast looks like a change towards showers and southeasters towards the end of the week.
Ten visits by whale-watching vessels were observed in the Ecological Reserve each of the two days being reported. A handful of pleasure craft came through as well and everyone except the same guys who are always in a hurry and one boatful of lucky fishermen, were well behaved. The fishermen were lucky as they must have lost power and were swept over the little reef by Turbine Rock. One was ready with a paddle and the youngest one got the kicker going which got them out of there (eventually). That was exciting, especially for them. Eight kayaks came through the reserve yesterday. The paddlers at the front came through without disturbing any of the animals hauled out. The weakest paddler came by on her own, last. The tide pushed her a bit too close the Middle Rock and the sea lions stampeded. Sometimes it doesn’t take much.
Humpback Whales are feeding close if not in the reserve just about every day now. The individual spotted by the Marine Science students is feeding downstream just to the west of Middle Channel, during ebbing currents. I am curious if it goes down and just orients itself into the flow and filters away. There is a lot of food in the area and large multi-species feeding flocks driven by diving birds such as Common Murres and all three species of cormorants. The gulls, and there are a lot of them, roost on Race Rocks and then rush out to the feeding frenzies which I am assume are either small schooling fish like herring, sand lance or anchovies and/or large zooplankton like krill. These crustaceans are also known as Euphasiids and they look a bit like tiny shrimp with really big eyes. Those are the same sort of treats that Humpback whales like to feed on with their baleen and they use their really big fore flippers that are white on the underside, to herd krill and forage fish.
I have come to realize that the Glaucous-winged Gulls are still sitting around on the territories. Something I didn’t notice or understand last year until the spring shift and then I thought that they had just come back from somewhere. The juveniles that were raised here are mostly out foraging but also sometimes ‘hang-out’ where they were raised and also do a fait bit of begging from their parents. This week a lot of them have been practicing picking objects in their bills, flying with them and dropping them. Not sure if they are working on their aim but have noticed rocks, chunks of wood and bark and clumps of vegetation on the walkways. Yesterday morning I found a rock on the roof of the energy building and when I looked around saw the damage done to one of the solar panels.
Other birds seem a lot more refined. It is so nice to see the Harlequin Ducks back again, they are a favourite of mine. More and more Surf Scoters are flying through from west to east and it seems that fall is in the air.
Chores were routine both days and there were no visitors.
Today started fairly clear, then clouded over. In the afternoon it was sunny for a few hours and eventually the sky darkened and at dusk the rain started. The barometer rose to almost 1019 hPA mid-day and then fell. The forecast is for clearing and light east winds with sunshine on the horizon.
Twelve commercial whale-watching vessels were observed working in the Ecological Reserve. They were in the area watching a Humpback feeding very close to the western reserve boundary, transient orcas to the southwest and southern resident killer whales to the northeast.
Today was census day due to thick fog yesterday.
Animal Census
Steller Sea Lion 338
California Sea Lion 908
Harbour Seal 178
Northern Elephant Seal 5
Sea Otter 1
Southern Resident Killer Whale (26 observed within one mile of ER during count week, (Race Passage, east, west and south of RR)
Biggs Killer Whale (Transients) (9 during count week Race Passage & southwest)
Humpback Whale (3 observed within one mile of ER during count week)
Minke Whale (1 observed within one mile of ER during count week just east of North Rock)
Canada Goose 20 attempting to be full time
Harlequin Duck 5
Surf Scoters 30 (flying through to east)
Double-crested Cormorant 12
Brandt’s Cormorants 27
Pelagic Cormorant 5
Black Oystercatcher 5
Black Turnstone 7
Surfbirds 13
Kildeer 2
Total gull count 2469
Estimated numbers
Glaucous-winged Gull 350
California Gull 50
Thayer’s Gulls 1500
Herring Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 1
Western Gull 1
Heerman’s Gull 15
Mew Gull 20
~531 unidentified gulls
Common Raven 2
Savannah Sparrow 10
Fox Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 2
Junco 3
Pacific Wren 1
Other chores were routine. There were no visitors.
The overcast morning sky cleared by noon, clouds pushed out by light northeast winds. In the afternoon, the wind turned to west and then in the evening to southwest. The barometer rose to 1013 hPA today. The forecast continues to call for rain along with variable winds at 5 – 15 knots.
There were only six whale watching visits observed in the Ecological Reserve today and no sports fishers. The large military explosions punctuating yesterday’s alternate sea lion swims and haul-outs continued today.
Today was census day at Race Rocks.
Steller Sea Lion 313
California Sea Lion 649
Harbour Seal 155
Northern Elephant Seal 14 (Two on Great Race -#5850 + female; 12 on Middle Rock)
Sea Otter 2
Southern Resident Killer Whale 16 (during count week)
Humpback Whale 3 (during count week)
Canada Goose 4 full time (2 adults 2 goslings) (flock of 25 chased off twice)
Harlequin Duck 1
Double-crested Cormorant 83
Pelagic Cormorant 9
Cormorants spp 18
Black Oystercatcher 6
Black Turnstone 12
Kildeer 2
Mew Gull 134
California Gull 11
Herring Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull total ( 277- adults; 74 – juveniles)
Ring-billed Gull 1
Gull spp 62
Song Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 22
Fox Sparrow 1
Junco 3
Barn Swallows 2
American Pipet 1
A crew from operations at Pearson College, visited today and were very helpful in getting freshwater flowing again in the Eco-guardian’s House, amongst other things. Courtney was at the helm of Second Nature, Jeff brought all the plumbing gear and know-how to replace the pump and Jasper (PC Alumnus year 20) a curious, environmental engineer figured out a few of diesel pumping mysteries. A big shout out to all three. Thanks for the support.
The day started with partially overcast skies and a south wind of 5 – 10 knots. Late morning, the wind picked up from the northeast and brought fog. There was a bit of sunshine mid afternoon and then clouds gradually filled. By evening the wind was from the west 5 knots. Barometric pressure ended up a little higher than yesterday, but not by much and it was dropping again as evening progressed. The forecast is calling for showers and light to variable east to northeast winds.
There were was whale watching activity to the south today and 12 whale watching vessel visits were observed in the Ecological Reserve. They were mostly well behaved but a couple operators need to mind their speed in reserve and everyone gets very close to the sea otters, although the sea otters do not seem disturbed. Three sports fishing vessels were noted in reserve. They all slowed and proceeded carefully, using Middle Channel.
As the weather changes and summer draws to a close, more migratory birds are noted at Race Rocks. Some are just passing through on their way south, maybe some of the same ones I saw going in the other direction last spring such as Barn Swallows, Fox Sparrow and American Pipets. Other birds are arriving back from their breeding grounds to spend the fall winter and spring, like the Harlequin Ducks. Harlequin Ducks were seen this morning around Turbine Rock. Others are at the northern end of their post-breeding migration like the Heerman’s Gulls and California Gulls and will head south again before long. Pelagic Cormorants are spotted roosting near Camera 5 daily. This is a species that used to nest here and it would be nice to see them nesting here again.
On the Pinniped front there were nine Northern Elephant Seals holding their ground on the top of Middle Rock today. As I know from personal experience they are good at that.
Chores were routine today and there were no visitors.
The sun shone through a bit more today even as clouds and much needed rain continued. West winds blew at about 10 knots most of the day as the clouds were pushed steadily inland. The barometer is now back up to where it was last Friday before the big nose-dive into Saturday’s storm. The forecast looks a little brighter for Friday and Saturday before a return to wet and cool.
Whale watching activity in the Ecological Reserve was very subdued today as the black and whites moved north and east yesterday. Only four visits by commercial whale watching boats were observed in the Ecological Reserve. One sports fishing vessel and a couple of rental boats also came through obviously oblivious to the speed reduction zone within the reserve boundaries .
Thursday is census day and here are the results of this week’s animal census.
Steller Sea Lion 497
California Sea Lion 522
Harbour Seal 81
Northern Elephant Seal 2
Sea Otter 1
River Otter 1 seen (probably more)
Southern Resident Killer Whale 7 (during count week)
Biggs (Transient) Killer Whale 5 (during count week)
Humpback Whale 1 just outside of reserve but may have transited border
Canada Goose 4 full time (2 adults 2 goslings) (24 visited once during count week)
Harlequin Duck 1
Double-crested Cormorant 11
Pelagic Cormorant 12
Brandt’s Cormorant 1
Black Oystercatcher 29
Black Turnstone 95
Ruddy Turnstone 1
Western Sandpiper 3
Kildeer 1
Dunlin 1
Glaucous-winged Gull 276 (193 – adults; 83 juveniles)
California Gull 61
Western Gull 1
Heerman’s Gull 26
Peregrine Falcon 1
Common Raven 2
Savannah Sparrow 3
It is of note that there have been no Pigeon Guillemots seen since I arrived. Last year there were chicks, still being fed by their parents, on the nests in the rubble area just west of the jetty at this time of year and later. I am hoping that the river otters have not been visiting these ground-breeding birds and will look for evidence of what has been going on there.
Maintenance work was routine and the only other visitors to the reserve were the Pearson College students having their orientation by vessel. Courtney kindly delivered paper, which was appreciated as there was none.
Pearson College students doing orientation week activity at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve.
Thursday was a howler. The wind started early and blew ferociously all day. Although it developed into a classic westerly, it actually started out from the west-northwest, which is closer to the direction running down the outside coast of Vancouver Island (NW). Most of the day, it was westerly from 30 – 40 knots and late in the afternoon there gusts over 40 knots. The fog that formed early on the Port Angeles side of the Strait was blown away early and the sky stayed clear until just after sunset when clouds became visible in the west. The barometer has been rising since Wednesday and the forecast is for continued gale warnings and mix of sun and cloud.
It really calmed down on Friday. The westerlies with a touch of southwest, continued but at moderate speeds of 15 -25 knots. Although there were clouds to the west early in the morning, they evaporated quickly and it was full on sunshine all day. The barometer is dropping from a high of 1020 hPa and the forecast is for strong winds and mostly clear skies.
There were no whale-watching boats, or sport fishers on Thursday, as the weather and sea conditions were just too wild. Friday was a totally different story with 16 whale-watching vessels observed, visiting the Ecological Reserve. Some vessels made multiple visits.
There was a lot of whale activity within and around the Ecological Reserve. Both a Minke Whale and a large Humpback were feeding just to the southeast and south respectively and three different pods of Killer Whales moved through the area in the afternoon and evening, including small group of Bigg’s Killer Whales (Transients), two pods of southern residents ( J-pod and L-pod according to the whale-watching boats). One of the SRKW pods came right into the Reserve within fifty meters of South Rock, heading east. There were two large adult males, one small calf and about 15 individuals all together. Another ~ 20 individuals were travelling in the same direction about one mile to south, at the same time. It appeared as though the two groups met up and mingled to the east of Race Rocks. Time for the sockeye to be running.
Other ecological happenings are progressing as has been reported on for the past few weeks. I started a Glaucous-winged Gull nest survey Thursday and finished surveying about one third of the island. On Friday the female Northern Elephant Seal # 5866’s tags were noted. Chunk and Floyd have been peacefully moulting, sleeping and travelling up and down the ramp for several swims a day (more like lolly-gagging in the water).
Thursdays are animal census day. It is worth noting that the winter resident bird species such as Black Turnstone, Harlequin Duck and many species of gulls that nest elsewhere are gone now and so are the transitory migrant shorebirds and other migrants that stop off briefly or for a while. The sealions are at their lowest number which is expected since they too should be on or heading towards their breeding grounds. Census results follow.
Northern Elephant Seals 10 (including 5 on Great Race)
Harbour Seals 218
California Sealions 5
Northern or Stellers Sealions 2
River Otter 1
Sea Otter 1
Canada Geese 24 (= 10 goslings + 14 adults) (many appear to have swum away)
Pelagic Cormorants 3
Double Crested Cormorants 5
Bald Eagles 2 (1 adult, 1 sub-adult)
Black Oystercatchers 10 (5 nesting pairs all incubating)
Kildeer 2
Pigeon Guillemots 110
Caspian Terns 2
Glaucous-winged Gulls total 424 (402 adults in nesting areas; 22 sub-adults in roosting/resting area). Most gulls are incubating now, although some are still getting started.
There were no visitors on Thursday and two visitors Friday, who did a retreat in the science house. They came and went in Second Nature with Chris.
Chores and maintenance were routine today and I am glad to report that I am able to wash windows again.