Pelican and new male elephant seal

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knts NW
  • Sky: Overcast
  • Water: Ripply

Boats/Visitors/Sightings

  • Garry Fletcher (ER Warden) and the IT team from Pearson College came ashore this morning. The IT team worked on replacing some of the wiring at the top of the lighthouse while I gave Garry a brief rundown of the happenings on the island.
  • A group of 9 visitors from the Kule Foundation came for a tour later in the afternoon. They spent close to an hour exploring every part of the island, including the top of the lighthouse, as Guy and I provided information, facts and stories.
  • After a Seaking Adventures boat violated the rules of the reserve day before yesterday and went into the eastern channel, I called the company this evening to give a warning. They explained that they have a new driver who is new to the area, but assured me that there would be no more boating violations on their part.
  • HMCS Edmonton was headed towards Pedder Bay this evening, along with a tail of two hard-hulled inflatables.

Bird Notes

  • A Pelican spent a good part of the afternoon on the island, just north of the student house. I haven’t seen this Pelican here before in the last 10 days that I have been at Race Rocks.
  • More seagull eggs. None hatched yet. Seagulls are relatively less aggressive than usual for this time of the year.

Marine Mammals

  • Garry spotted a new male Elephant Seal on the island today. It’s a fairly young one with remarkably unmarked/scarred skin. We believe that’s because it may have recently finished molting.