Tag Archives: injury

wounded elephant seal

Posted on by
Wednesday, February 27, 2002
[2/27/2002 20:13:23 PM | Chris Blondeau
Good evening
Weather: Partly cloudy with sunny breaks>> >>Vis 15 miles>> >> Wind West 5-10 Knots this morning and 15-25 this afternoon>> >> Sea 2 foot chop.
MARINE LIFE: Another parade of Bald Eagles this morning. 3 immature and about 6 adults scattered on the various rocks around the reserve. 4 Canada geese spent the better part of the day on Great Race island. I spotted the young male Elephant Seal with wounds on his back laying with a female on top of middle rock. The blood stains he left on the docks on Monday are still visible. He seems to be doing alright. Another adult male spent a good portion of the afternoon floating around and vocalizing by the docks in front of the boat ramp. It looked for a while like he was going to haul ashore for the night but it was not to be.
HUMAN INTERACTION: One rental boat from Pedder Bay Marina spent about an hour in the area sightseeing and taking pictures of the wildlife. A Coast Guard helicopter landed a crew this afternoon to perform some maintenance on the solar panels, storage batteries, fog horn and beacon on top of the tower.
This afternoon I undertook to clean our specimen tank. A lot of the sediments carried by the water we pump in never gets a chance to make the return trip to the ocean. As a result it settles in the tank and needs to be removed periodically. So all the specimens were transferred to another tank; the main tank emptied, cleaned and restocked.
Have a look on camera 1.
More tomorrow
Chris
posted by Chris Blondeau at 11:42 AM

Student group to Race Rocks

Posted on by
Tuesday, February 26, 2002
Good Afternoon
Weather: Sunny and clear >> >> Vis 17 miles >> >> Wind East 5 Knots >> >> Sea Rippled
MARINELIFE: The good news is the Elephant Seal appears to have freed himself from the grip of the rope we reported yesterday. He has a scar but let’s hope he is OK. Calm winds this morning and lots of Eagle action with 1 immature and 5 mature.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Garry and the racerocks.com activity students ashore to shoot some archive video this afternoon. Pearson divers aboard Second Nature diving off West Rocks in ideal conditions. One eco-tour boat so far today.
Chris Blondeau takes over from me later today. I am sorry to leave!!!
[02/26/2002 2300hrs | Chris Blondeau
Change of watch
Started my tour of duty at 1630hrs
HUMAN INTERACTION: Late afternoon we were visited by one eco-tour boat and two Zodiacs. One from the department of Fisheries and the other belonging to the Victoria Police, both patrolling together.
Great sunset again tonight. “Red skies at night are a sailors delight” Later-on a bright moon came up and created some stunning visuals. The lighthouse was backlit by the moon and casting a long shadow on the ground, while the beacon rotating above sent rays of light all around. If you are a movie buff and are familiar with the CASTLEROCK ENTERTAINMENT logo; you get the picture. Took some video of the scene using both normal and night vision exposure settings. I hope the footage is good enough to be useable.
Everything around was quiet and still. Only the familiar Humm of the generator in the background. A reminder that unlike the other inhabitants of Race Rocks humans are fragile and high maintenance creatures.
More tomorrow
posted by Angus Matthews at 4:16 PM

Good Morning
Weather: Sunny and clear >> >> Vis 17 miles >> >> Wind NNE 2-3 Knots >> >> Sea calm
posted by Angus Matthews at 9:31 AM

Tangled Elephant seal

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Sunday, February 24, 2002

 Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 6.0c >> >> Min. 1.5c >> >> Reset 4.5c >> >> Rain 0.4mm
MARINELIFE: Took some great still photos today of a very cooperative and photogenic Elephant Seal that hauled out on the South West Rocks about noon today. (we will post them soon) Some very sad Elephant Seal news from the Centre Rock however. There was some activity out there yesterday as a large animal hauled out. Today, through the spotting scope it became clear this animal has a rope around his neck just ahead of the flippers. It would appear this is quite serious as the line is very tight. Our total Elephant Seal count is four right now so it looks like this is one of our regulars. Chris Blondeau had a closer look from Second Nature this afternoon so he may have more information. I regret there is nothing we can do despite the fact this is the result of human disregard for the oceans and the critters that call it home. We would never get close enough to administer a sedative or catch the big guy before he took to the water. We will keep a close watch on him and hope he can free himself. Two mature Bald Eagles were around most of the day sometimes on the high rock here on Great Race and often on the East Rock. Our three pairs of Canada Geese are getting along much better today.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Only two ecotour boats in the MPA today. My wife Sandy and our friends Cathy Denny and David Anderson returned to the “mainland” (Vancouver Island) at 15:40 so now I am the sort of lonely eco-guardian. Great sunset and now a near full moon in a clear sky. It’s Race Rocks and there is no place like it!
WORLD EVENTS: Today Canada won Olympic Gold in men’s hockey. We caught it on CBC Radio the old fashioned way and cheered them on from Race Rocks.
posted by Angus Matthews at 7:18 PM
Good Morning
Weather: Cloudy with clearing from the East >> >> Vis 17 Miles >> >> Wind NNE 12 Knots >> >> Sea 1 foot chop.
posted by Angus Matthews at 7:57 AM

Birds feeding in Strait

Posted on by
Monday, January 14, 2002
 Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max 8.1C  Min 3.7C Reset 5.0C
MARINE LIFE: The calendar does say January but it was like spring on the ‘rock’ today with the very light winds and bright sunshine.Another good day for the birds,from 1/2 km off the island as far as we could see thousands of feeding sea birds.Only 9 ( 5 mature) Bald Eagles came into the reserve today,spent a little time eating, resting then back out to sea. Just after noon noticed a California Sea Lion haul out on North Rocks with a fresh wound on the top side of the left flipper.Looking with the telescope could see a bigger area of raw flesh under the flipper -like the armpit area – Orca nibble maybe??? About 15:30 a Heron landed on the railing of the boat dock,sat there almost half an hour then flew over the little bay on the east shore of Gr.Race, was still there as the sun was setting.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 1 pleasure craft through the M.P.A. today
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:09 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis. 15 Miles  Wind North East 4 Knots Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 8:21 AM

Orcas out

Posted on by
Sunday, December 16, 2001
MARINE LIFE: 4 Bald Eagles visited the Reserve today,3 immatures and one mature.The first one(mature) arrived just after 9:30 this morning with it’s breakfast-an unidentified fish -grasped in it’s talons. The big bird set down on the NW bluff just above the boat house to eat. As the eagle tore off pieces of fish the 5 crows danced around it, wary, but anxious to get any bits that scattered.After only 5 or 6 minutes the eagle flew off leaving the crows to scour the rocks for any scraps however tiny! I did not see anything that would have scared the eagle,certainly not the crows!
Just after 10 a.m. a lone California Sea Lion came ashore just east of the boat dock and proceeded to lumber across the island stopping every 3 metres or so to roll and rub on the grass.The reason we took note of the poor fellow is that he has a terrible scar around his neck -garbage in the sea or maybe some type of discarded fishing gear.Sea Lions with this type of wound, unfortunately are not that rare.We could not get close enough to see if it was just a scar or whether something was still in the wound.About noon 3 immature Bald Eagles landed on the ridge of West Race.They sat there for about 10 minutes until a boat approached (divers) and they flew over to N Rocks.After 1/2 hour or so they flew over to SE rocks where they stayed except for a couple of flights around the islands, unsuccessful attempts at getting a bird dinner.Two of these birds looked somewhat bedraggled with the mottled appearance of the head and tail feathers.The distinctive white plumage gradually appears with each molt over 4 or 5 years.
Just before 1:30 I noticed two Orcas northeast of North Rks. They were being followed by several groups of Sea Lions at about 100 metres. The whales surfaced 4 or 5 times as they made their way south just at the edge of the east side kelp bed.The last we saw they were in front of the engine room 200-300 metres off shore.As we watched for the whales to come back a 3-4 metre bull Elephant Seal drifted by and came into the small east bay. I did get some video as he floated around with just his head and unmistakable nose above the surface.He stayed in the bay only 12-15 minutes,arched his back,flared his great nostrils,dove into a wave and was gone! We often hear the elephant Seals vocalizing at night, it sounds like a calf bellowing in a tin can, but not lately, and from the sound of the roaring 45+ knt. not tonight either!
HUMAN INTERACTION: 12:10am -1:45pm Boat with 6 divers -West Race
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.1C — 6.3C — Reset 8.7C — Rain 26.2 mm — Total rain fall for December 109.9 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 10:11 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast — Vis. 15 Miles — Wind West 13 Knots — Sea 1 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:32 AM

Rosedale Breakers!

Posted on by

Tuesday, December 04, 2001

 Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 6.9C — Min 2.9C — Reset 4.8C — Rain 5.6 mm no Snow
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:19 PM
HUMAN IMPACT: The racerocks.com group went to the island today to drop off a Sony camera with Carol and Mike. Carol and Mike have been requested by Fisheries (DFO) to record the ecological impact of the DND blasting that is to occur tomorrow at Rocky Point. Often, by the third blast, the sealions are scared off the rocks, possibly resulting in injury. Many of the sealions on Race Rocks have quite large scars on their undersides. Sealions are also scared by boats passing too close to the rocks.
ENVIRONMENT: We were treated to the rare sight of two Rosedale breakers. These breaking waves are the result of long, high energy waves, generated in the Pacific Ocean. When the waves reach Rosedale Reef, the most shallow point in the area, the pent up energy causes the wave to break. Refer to http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/data/data.htmto get a link to NOAA/NCEP Wavewatch for more information.We can see that the snow is building up on the Olympic Mountains with the snow line moving down almost daily. At this time of year the clearcuts are quite visible.
posted by Damien Guihen at 5:19 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast — Vis 15 Miles — Wind West South West 15 Knots — Sea 2 – 3 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:22 AM

swells

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Wednesday, November 21, 2001
Good evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.0ºC — Min. 8.1ºC — Reset 8.3ºC — Rain 6.4 mm getting close to the 100mm for the month
MARINE LIFE:Although the wind was fairly light most of the day (E 06),there was a low easterly swell until just before dark when the wind picked up to 28-31 knts.Another noisy night as the swells have now also begun to build high enough to roll the logs around on the shore. We counted 87 Northern,and 44 California Sea Lions hauled out on Middle Rock with another 30 Northern on Gr.Race.One of the Northern Sea Lions,a very large fellow hauled out in the small east bay,has an open wound approximately 30cmX40cm on his lower chest.Looks like a raw red patch with the fur completely gone. The edges of the wound are quite smooth. One of the 5 California Sea Lions that spent most of the day on the dock has a yellow tag on his right flipper with the #791.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:15 PM
Good morning
WEATHER: Sky overcast — Vis. 15 mils — Light rain — Wind south 3 knots — Sea rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:21 AM

Harbour Seal Boat Impacts

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rmsept2009decapsealThis dead harbour seal pup was the first of two found in a single week in Sept 2009 in the waters near Race Rocks. A boat traveling at great speed decapitated this animal and left another slice on the neck in the tell-tale pattern of propeller wounds.

 

 

 

CASE STUDY: CONTROL OF SPEED OF BOATS
IN THE RACE ROCKS PILOT MARINE PROTECTED AREA

With the increase of marine ecotourism in the Southern part of Vancouver Island, the incidence of boats coming in contact with marine animals has become an issue. Commercial Whale-watching companies operating out of Victoria have contributed to a significant increase in boat traffic in the Race Rocks area, and although some respect the speed limits of the reserve, others have been slow to catch on. We recommend that boats proceed very slowly (no noticeable wake) and avoid coming too close to marine mammals or feeding and nesting marine birds. In the 1998 summer, at least three baby seals were struck and killed by boat motors. Baby Seals lie near the surface of the water and have no innate fear of rapidly moving boats. Adult seals and sea lions also occasionally get hit.

One example of a marine mammal collision is documented below from the Bamfield area. We present it here as a reminder to those in motor boats that speed must be controlled especially near marine mammal colonies. Our thanks to Sue Sanders and Nathan Webb of Bamfield Marine Station for the following information:

cutsealDate: Wed, 09 Jun 1999:

The seal in the picture was found by the driver of the School Boat, as he was dropping kids off on their way home, he was in the middle of Grappler Inlet, in Port Desire. (not sure if you are familiar with Bamfield- West side- Vancouver Island). This is a relatively sheltered area, but boats do go speeding through there. The driver contacted me at the station, as he thought perhaps I would be able to help the seal ( I am a small animal veterinarian as well as a PhD grad student). I went back to the site where the seal was with the driver, and using a large fish net we were able to get him out of the water and onto the boat. By the time we got to him he was barely able to maintain himself at the surface. Once in the boat he initially thrashed around a little, but then calmed down as soon as I placed my hands on him. As you can see from the picture, there was a large facial injury to the right side of his head, with a lot of musculature missing. Based on the amount of bleeding at the time of our recovery of the seal I would say he had lost a lot of blood, there was also frothy blood from his nostrils and mouth. I listened to his lungs and felt that there was significant fluid within the chest cavity also. Given the extreme nature of his injury and his poor condition I elected to euthanize him to alleviate further pain and suffering. In my opinion, I do not believe he could have survived even with major medical intervention, if such facilities had been available. I think this poor seal was on the verge of drowning, in addition to his severe injury, that appears to have been from a propeller. Good luck with your pilot study, emphasizing safe boating practices, and speed reduction is essential. I think people generally expect that marine animals will get out of the way of boats, but as we know this is not always the case.”

cutsealBy Sue Sanders
Bamfield