Tag Archives: migration

Wildlife Changing with the Seasons

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Weather: 

  • Sky: clear and blue
  • Visibility 10-15 NM
  • Wind 20-25 knots W
  • Sea state: .5 m chop

Visitors: 

  • No island visitors
  • A small number of eco-tourism vessels (only one today).
  • We were saddened to hear this week that a fishing boat we have often seen pass by, Arctic Fox II, sank in rough seas on Tuesday, claiming 2 lives. An article Here.

Ecological Observations: 

  • The seagull chicks continue to practice using their wings, hopping and flapping in the wind. It can be quite comical to hear them “peeping” as they did when they were just hatched- they are nearly the size of their parents now!
  • The harbour seal pups get cuter by the day. We were lucky to catch one nursing this week from the lighthouse (photo below).
  • The sea lions population continues to grow, with a notable increase this week on Main Race Rock. We will need to put the electric fence back soon to prevent them damaging infrastructure.
  • We have been enjoying bird watching this week as migrations continue and the pigeon guillemots are raising their young. There have continued to be very large numbers of black turnstones on the E shore.
  • This week we have also been visited by a handful of ruddy turnstones, and one whimbrel (thank you Daniel for the ID help!)
  • The one male elephant seal is still here. He doesn’t seem to be actively moulting anymore, aside from a tiny bit of remaining skin around his neck. He spent the entire day yesterday drifting and napping in the peaceful and sheltered jetty waters. We have not seen V173 in quite some time.
  • We find a lot of joy in watching the elephant seals move from higher ground down the jetty ramp and into the water. If you are not familiar with their undulating movements, this video is an excellent example. It’s a lot of blubber to get off the ground!
  • We spotted one sea lion with a fishing flasher hooked onto his face a few days ago. We haven’t seen him since but we are hoping that we will, so a rescue attempt can be made to remove it.
  • We also saw a sea lion with what we thought could be an infected brand. We sent a photo to a wildlife officer in Oregon who tracks these branded sea lions and he shared with us that it is likely a shark bite!

 

Census and a Beautiful Day

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Weather: 

  • Visibility 0-10 NM (some intermittent morning/evening fog)
  • Sky clear
  • wind 25-30 knots W
  • Sea state: rippled, whitecaps
  • A steep decline in humidity today helped dry out the island after a bit of rainfall

Neat Fact: The body temperature of seals is very similar to our own! Endothermic like us, they maintain an internal temperature of 36.5-37.5 degrees Celsius.

Marine Traffic/Visitors: 

  • Greg visited today to top up island supplies before the college vessel goes for regular maintenance
  • Not many boats today- around 5 eco-tourism vessels.

Ecological Observations:

  • Elephant seal V173 was not here today. We wonder if she was just stopping for a rest or if she will be back soon.
  • There have been very large groups gulls and also black turnstones migrating through, intermingled with a few surfbirds. There were so many today that we took a photo from the lighthouse in order to count them!
  • The pigeon guillemots seem to be nesting in full force. We have spotted many carrying fish into crevices on the west side of the island near camera five and also the rock walls on the east side.
  • The seagull takeover has seemingly started to ease and moving around the island is becoming easier day by day. The chicks are beginning to be able to escape the attacks of the rival adult gulls by flapping their wings and flying/hopping away.
  • On a slightly…mushier note (stop reading if you get queasy!): Yesterday we removed the gull that was eviscerated on our back porch. We let it sit for a few days to see if an otter would come back for it or if the gulls might take a nibble (neither occurred). We were surprised by the amount of maggots that had grown in only a couple of days, presumably due to the warm and humid weather recently.
  • The sea lion population is increasing every day and they are started to climb onto the main rock. It’s almost time to put up the electric fence or we will have unwelcome house guests!
  • The geese have suddenly left this week (all but 4). Interestingly, earlier in the week we saw a flock of 17.

Census: 

  • 4 Canada geese
  • 985 Seagulls (does not include chicks)
  • 84 Harbour seals
  • 1 Male elephant seal
  • 25 Stellar sea lions
  • 19 California sea lions
  • 88 Pigeon guillemots
  • 2 Bald eagles
  • 1 Humpback whale (in the straight)
  • 1 Brandt’s cormorant
  • 12 Black oystercatchers
  • 143 Black Turnstones
  • 1 Sandpiper ((?) will update with confirmed id!)

 

 

 

Sunny Monday, Census

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Today’s Weather:

  • Sky clear, blue
  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Wind 15-20 knots W
  • Sea state: rippled, whitecaps

Marine Traffic/Visitors:

  • Today Greg visited for maintenance tasks
  • Quite a few pleasure crafts out today, but only a few passing through the reserve with no issues.
  • A steady trickle of whale watching boats today, especially just outside of the reserve where we spotted a humpback whale midday. We have been observing quite a few vessels cutting the paths of whales moving through the area, or driving over the location where the whales last surfaced.

Ecological Observations: 

  • Many shorebirds migrating this week. Today we counted 150 black turnstones! There are a handful of surfbirds mixed into the flock, which has been resting on the rocky beach area on the east side of the island.
  • The seagull chicks are growing quickly! They are starting to develop flight feathers and strengthening their wings by flapping them as if they are trying to fly. The last of the eggs seem to have hatched now. We noticed that one egg did not hatch in a nest where the eggs were stolen and the seagull had to re-lay later than usual. As the little ones become more adventurous their parents become more protective, diving at our heads and sometimes attacking each other if another gull gets too close.
  • We have been observing the pigeon guillemots pairing behaviors and wondering if they will nest here this year. We have spotted them carrying fish into crevices in the rocks, but we haven’t seen any nests inside the rocky areas (yet!).

Census:

  • 150 Black turnstones
  • 50 Pigeon guillemots
  • 10 surfbirds
  • 1 Bald eagle
  • 1 Cormorant
  • 11 Stellar sea lions
  • 760 Adult gulls
  • 56 Harbour seals
  • 2 Male elephant seals
  • 12 Canadian geese

The Abiotic Effects of Solar Energy at Race Rocks

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Cormorant thermo-regulating while drying wings and Sea lions rafting while exposing fins or tail for heat exchange and thermoregulation. below , Glaucous-winged gulls panting on a hot July day

9. C4 and CAM adaptation for xerophytic conditions eg stone crop, plantain

10. Microniches and temperature availability – eg sea slater isopod video

 


Aldridge Point (Figure 1) is a rocky outcrop with a small cove on the north side. The cove has a gravel beach and is bounded by the terrestial vegetation, comprised of arbutus, Douglas fir, salal and pine. The rocky area is composed of bedrock with many smooth vertical faces, dissected by numerous cracks and crevices. There are also large boulders piled one on top of the other down to the low tide level. Many of these boulders are up to 4 feet in diameter. A detailed species list for this area is presented in Appendix 2. In summary, the intertidal area shows the species that are characteristic of moderately wave exposed areas of southern Vancouver Island. The flat rock faces of the upper intertidal are sparsely populated by barnacles, lichens and algae (Porphyra and Fucus distichus).The numerous cracks and crevices harbour snails’, crabs and limpets, while tidepools are inhabited by anemones, mussels, limpets, snails, hermit crabs and coralline algae.

The rocky shores throughout the proposed park area are generally smooth, steeply sloping and dissected by numerous cracks and crevices. The topography and substratum of a shore influences the gradient of conditions on the shore by variations in the water-retaining capacity. As the tide recedes, the intertidal areas start to dry out. The rate of drying depends, firstly, upon the slope of the shore, with steeply sloping rock faces draining more rapidly than undulating platforms or shallow slopes. Cracks and crevices provide micro-environments in which the rate of drainage, and the drying effects of sun and wind are greatly reduced, and permit colonization to higher levels on the shore than occurs on the open rock faces in the same location. This “uplift” of the intertidal zonation may be noted in cracks and crevices throughout the proposed park area.

11. Adaptations of marine animals to low light intensities

For example, the female elephant seal has very big eyes

See the elephant seal file in the Taxonomy.

 

12. Temperature regulation – flippers being held by sea lions and the wings being held out by cormorants and gulls.( see photograph s at the beginning of this file.)

13. Fog as a product of solar energy and the resulting effect on visibility for organisms.
eg: .feeding,mating, migration.

14.  The sun contributes to tides which have a big effect on organisms

15. The illumination of the earth changes with the tilt of the planet . The result is seasons.

Seasons have a great impact on organisms. At the ecological reserve the animal census posts reflect the presence of migratory birds, and of course nesting birds , all determined by seasonal influence.

On Dec 22nd it can be noted that it was still sunlight in the Western part of Alaska and in California when it was already dark here at Race Rocks. From the GOES Satellite we can see the limit of the sunlight in Northern Canada on the 22 of December 2005. These images are taken from satellite images from the Satellite file

 

The SOLAR ENERGY component of the Integrated Energy Project at Race Rocks

 

–—Effects of Ultraviolet energy on organisms at Race Rocks: