Tag Archives: injured sea lion

Fog Horn not repaired..

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Friday September 13

So… the fog horn went all night… when it was not foggy….

We let Coast Guard know and they told us  how to disable it. So they will be back here in the next couple weeks to try again to get it fixed.

Today, did some organisation/cleaning of the main house.

We also saw the injured sea lion James and Christine noted in August, when we were doing our water sample. He isn’t putting weight on it at all.. but the wound itself looks a little better. Reported to DFO.

  • Ran Generator
  • Ran Desalinator
  • Chopped Wood
  • Water Sample

Whale Watching Vessels: 10

Private Vessels: 2

Weather: Clear Day (Visibility about 12 NM), Winds SW ~5Knts all day, Overcast, Rain in the afternoon

 

 

 

Drizzle

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Wildlife:

Today was a quiet, moist, calm day. I found a few more wet dead gull chicks, some quite decayed and a recently killed gull about 6 weeks old. I also discovered another wounded CA sea lion by the Jetty. He is known as Friar Tuck and was disentangled by the Marine Mammal Rescue folks in 2023.  I hope his wounds heal better than the one who hurt its flipper. This is the fourth sea lion I have seen with a past or present entanglement.

Facility work:

  • For the first time I did not clean the solar panels. The rain did it!
  • Worked on tasks to help the next Ecoguardian – started on month end report, data entry for seawater data, washed floors, tallied supplies etc.
  • Operation walkway–work in progress

Vessels:

  • 19 Ecotourism, 1 private

Weather:

Winds moderate NE in the morning, gradually veering throughout the day to light W by early evening. Periods of light rain or drizzle throughout the day. Daytime temperatures: low 13, high 15.

Happy Birthday

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There are likely many birthdays on the island today but the two I know about is the seven-week birthday of the chicks that hatched on the NE corner of the house on June 28th and mine. The chicks have lost their speckled down, are approaching the size of their parents and can stay in the air for 16 seconds!

I have never had so many in attendance for my birthday party. Thousands were cheering and barking all day with the island nicely covered in white icing to celebrate my >400 weeks.

7 week-old sea gull chicks

Wildlife notes:

On a less cheery note, the California sea lion that injured its flipper around the beginning of July is not doing so well. It can not weight bear on that flipper and the wound appears to be infected. It is staying on the Jetty or nearby very close to the shore.

Aug 16, 2024

July 5, 2024

July 5, 2024

Facility work:

  • Clean solar panels
  • Topped up battery fluid
  • Ran the generator and desalinator
  • The Jetty is now fully electrified – there is still a path open so the elephant seal can come up the boat ramp and access the interior of the island.

Vessels:

  • 15 Ecotourism, 3 private, 1 kayak

Weather:

Skies overcast in the morning, scattered clouds by evening. Moderate to fresh westerlies. Daytime temperatures: low 12, high 17.

Entangled California sea lion

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Wildlife notes:

A third entanglement was sighted this morning on the shore near the Energy Building. Unlike the other two, it was a California sea lion. From yesterday’s Census, 293 sea lions were counted, for an entanglement rate of 1%. Studying Stellar sea lions in Alaska and northern BC, Kimberly et al 2009 reported a 0.67% entanglement rate and in some parts of the world this percentage is much higher. Despite education campaigns like Loose the Loop, this problem doesn’t seem to be getting better, at least here. It is not just sea lions that are affected. Over 100 different species of marine wildlife get entangled in debris. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada, have been busy lately rescuing entangled whales in BC (CBC article) and the number of entangled whale is increasing (CBC article).

This graphic from the Pinniped Entanglement Group (PEG) illustrates the common causes of entanglement. Source: https://pinnipedentanglementgroup.org/sources-of-entaglement/

It is hard to see these entangled animals and know that for some, it will be a slow, painful death.

California sea lion sighted Aug 15 near the Energy Building. Since the area around the neck is dry and there is no discharge from an open wound, this is considered a non-active entanglement. It may be a scar from a previous entanglement.  Hopefully this animal stays around here so it be checked by the Marine Mammal Rescue staff.

Facility work:

  • Clean solar panels
  • Cleaned windows on Keeper’s House
  • Scrubbed side deck on Keeper’s House

Vessels:

  • 18 Ecotourism, 1 private 

Weather:

Skies partly cloudy. Fresh westerly breeze until 15:00, increasing to near gale in the evening.  Daytime temperatures: low 13, high 17.

Entanglement

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Wildlife notes:

A Stellar sea lion entangled in fishing gear has been sighted several times since Aug 10 in the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve on Middle Rock and Great Race Rock. For a middle age female, which will grow very little after the age of 6, the outcome of entanglement may not be as bleak as for a young male which will continue to grow until the age of 11 (Kimberly et al 2009).  Rescues are extremely challenging and costly. Successful rescues have been carried out at Race Rocks in 2020, 2019, 2017 and 2009. Hopefully this sea lion stays here in a place where it can be accessed and helped.

To learn more and watch a disentanglement operation see

  • Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society video
  • SeaDoc Society, a program of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine video

 

Facility work:

  • Cleaned solar panels
  • Operation walkway – work in progress
  • Ran generator and desalinator

Vessels:

  • 20 Ecotourism, 3 private

Weather:

  • Overcast all day. Winds SW varying from gentle, moderate to fresh breeze. Daytime temperatures: low 12, high 17.

Sea lions are returning

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Greg and Cedric came to work on the desalinator. They made progress and we are closer to being able to produce fresh water on site again. Work began on filling the cistern with sea water.

Water pump at the end of the jetty. Pumping sea water up to the concrete cistern on west side of the Keeper’s house. The smoke in the background is from the Sooke fire.

Wildlife notes:

The number of Stellar sealions in the area is increasing. About 18 of them hauled out on Middle Rocks this morning. Their roars sound so much more lion like than the yelping of the California sealions. The injured CA sealion was also around today. It is hard to say how much his wound has healed since the photo posted on July 5.

Stellar sea lions on Middle Rock.

Injured California sea lion.

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • cleaning Energy Building roof
  • repairs on the desalinator and filling the cistern

Vessels:

15 ecotourism

Weather:

Sunny day. Moderate to fresh, westerly breeze most of the day, with a strong breeze in the evening. Daytime temperatures: minimum 12, maximum 14 degrees.

July 5 Census

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Mammals

sea otter: 1
California sea lion: 1 (injured)
elephant seal: 2 (male and female)
harbour seal: 123 (26 South Islands, 64 South Seal rocks, 8 Middle, 16 Turbine, 9 North Island)

Birds

bald eagle: 4
cormorant: 28
gulls: 496
oyster catcher: 11 adults, 3 chicks
pigeon guillemot: 24
great blue heron: 1
surfbird: 5
black turnstone: 1
harlequin duck: 1

Wildlife notes:

To the census I have to add 12 small flashes of white, travelling in a tight group – did some impressive high speed acrobatics on the north shore.  The pigeon guillemots are under represented. They have been travelling in and out all day with few remaining on the island at any one time. Their nesting locations are easier to spot now. The birds land near the nesting area with their prize and stall for a while, seeming to look about cautiously before they approach their nests, but perhaps they are just showing off their catch. The California sealion has a wound (one large and central, one smaller near the tip) on his left flipper and has dipped in and out of water many times today.  The black oyster catcher chicks on the bolder beach near the house, first photographed June 12, are now about half the size of their parents. A new black oyster catcher chick hatched today on the western shore, in the open without any sort of nest. Not many new gull chicks today. The elephant seals continue to tumble and grumble, then separate and ignore each other.

Heading to the nest

Black oyster catcher with the 3+ week old chicks.

Newly hatched black oyster catcher chick.

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • cleaned Keeper’s House windows

Vessels:

14 ecotourism, 5 private, 1 highly skilled outrigger canoe paddler

Weather:

ENE 6 -10 knots most of the day, switching W 15 in the early evening. High of 26 degrees.

Clouds

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Since June 11 this is the first time I have run the generator. It was only at 80% capacity by 2:30pm. On a sunny day it would be close to 90% by this time. The generator ran for 4 hours and brought the batter from 80% to 99% – shame, something the sun could do without the use of fuel.

Wildlife notes: 

The black oyster catchers near the house have moved their two chicks closer to the water on the north east shore. The chicks appear to have almost doubled in size in a week. They are exploring the rocks but quickly respond to their parents peeps and take cover when instructed.

A California and a Stellar sealion were spotted in the early evening on the south east shore. The Stellar has an injury at the base of its flippers.

Injured Stellar sealion

Facility work:

  • cleaned solar panels
  • thistles
  • split rounds of wood

Vessels:

17 Ecotourism boats, 1 private vessel

Weather:

Cloudy for parts of the day. Winds steady ranging from 11-22 knots and WSW to WNW.