-109, ‘2010-06-14’, ‘Elephant Seal’, 1, ‘Misery is hauled up between the path and the desalinator bunker, a change from the grassy area west of the boathouse. He is now almost finished his moult and seems to be much more docile these days. He was observed vocalizing loudly this afternoon -perhaps at a seagull that decided to stare him down on the path). The young female #4252 -soon to be named) has been observed hauled up on the island lately -didn ”t see her today). She ”s been making almost daily trips to the water from the grassy area near the boathouse -compared to Misery who decides to haul his girth down to the water only when the temperature becomes unbearable for his copious amounts of body mass). #4252 seems much more nervous than other elephant seals, perhaps because she is younger and is not as acquainted with our human presence on the island as compared to the other Mirounga. I have not seen Bertha around for a number of days now, and I ”ve not seen Slash since my return to the island two weeks ago. ‘, ‘adam’, ’22:20:14 ,
Tag Archives: Misery
Elephant seal behaviour
-106, ‘2010-06-03’, ‘Elephant Seal’, 3, ‘An eventful day for the elephant seals. More sunlight and less wind than we ”ve been used to this spring brought all three Elephant Seals on Great Race down to the water… but not before Misery had a go at mounting Bertha. She escaped up the “steep ” path to the grass on top of the foundation left from the original keeper’s house. Bertha then slipped past the sleeping Misery and lay on the ramp right at the water line in the shade but not in the water. Misery woke and detected the deception and came barreling down the path and boat ramp. Bertha took off through the water like a startled harbour seal, moving closer to the hauled-out California sea lions. She did not come back on land until dark. After all his effort, Misery followed just until he was in the water and took to splashing water back across his body which both trickled and steamed off his late winter coat. Once refreshed, he moved further into the water, floating and steaming in the warm sunshine. Seeing/smelling Bertha in deeper waters, he followed her only to have her swim even further away. 4252 was already in the water and Misery soon sensed her and tried to pin her against the rocks in the shallow sea lion haul-out, but she snapped at him and also swam to deeper waters. Just before sunset, Misery returned to land, trumpeting in the shallows. Looking at records -and noting how much girth Misery has put on lately), the habitat use of our two adult bull elephant seals is very different. Misery: showed up for the ”season ” first in October, was back before Slash showed up for the pupping season, stayed longer through the breeding season, and is now here moulting -as he did this time last year). His moult is delayed 1-2 weeks compared to last year. That all said, Misery has grown significantly this season after spending much of the last 6 months here at Race Rocks, while our dominant bull spends much greater times away before returning with added mass.’, ‘ryan’, ’23:56:01 ,
NewPup on Middle Rocks
‘2010-01-31’, ‘New pup heard over the sound of the boat at 100m… “Sounds like a frog ” -Jayesh -Year 35). Recognized the squawk as the pup vocalizing. Came through the West-Middle Rock channel -that is a popular and protected spot for local boat-based diving) and spotted the pup facing the three females -Scarlet and at least one of the two adults that landed on Great Race earlier in the year) but resting alongside Slash on the N side of the middle Middle Rock -out of sight of Camera 5). Beautiful day here, very nice and dry. Adult Bald eagle landed on the roof of the Science Centre, something I haven”t observed until now… probably Pam has lots of pics over the years; definitely a different season this time last year. Most of the ~40 Black oystercatchers -that had been on the south side of Great race in two large parcels around the Energy Centre this past week) have dispersed around the this part of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. They were the earliest of the bird activity this morning, sneaking around the exposed intertidal well before dawn. Looking South from the Main Keeper ”s residence is a flat calm with scattered driftwood armadas of Mew Gulls. Prince of Whales came through on an always-pleasant late day flood from the West as well. The ever-colourful character Misery is slouched across the concrete pathway to the Science Centre. The safest route now is across the exposed bedrock from the Energy Centre to the foundation of the old satellite dish and the steps on the SE corner of the building. Geese and gulls on the island are beginning to establish strutting and flutter room, pairs of Geese are acting territorially.’, ‘Ryan’, ’09:47:25 ,
Slash and Misery conflicts
‘2010-01-17’, ‘Elephant Seal’, 4, ‘Both Slash and Misery have been hauled out on Great Race Island this past week. Misery prefers to take the higher ground to keep a strategic advantage against any of Slash ”s aggression. Misery has new bite wounds on his flank, though nothing like what Slash inflicted on him in the spring. Slash has a small cut on his nare and a small puncture wound on his hood/trunk. Pam Birley has captured and shared some photos on her flickr site which depict one of their territorial disputes in action! Both males trumpet -gurgle-burp) throughout the day, but most often at night. Neither male visibly responds to the other ”s calls. A small female has been seen frequently hauled out in the small cove formed by the gut on the South side of the island. She is much too small to mate or to climb from there up onto the rest of the island. Misery has been spending a lot of his time lounging around the Energy Centre, about 10m from the small female. Slash left here last night to join a large adult female on Middle Rock. I do not know if she is one of the three identifiable adult females who have visited Great Race Island this year, though she is the best candidate for another baby so far this season.’, ‘Ryan’, ’12:34:44 ,
First Elephant Seal born at Race Rocks: January, 2009
 First baby Elephant seal born on Race Rocks |
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 Misery, probably not the father, Bertha and Ninene in the first days Ryan has observed a lot of aggression on the part of the young male which had previously been named Misery by Mike Slater. |
 Initially a healthy female baby and mother. The baby was born beside the helicopter pad, and has spent the first day there, trying to nurse. The interference by the aggressive male has made this difficult. |
January 30, 2009: This is what we believe is the first elephant seal pup to be born at Race Rocks. It arrived last night or early this morning. See the daily log also for updates. Ryan and Adam have dubbed the pup NINENE, after the WSANEC (Saanich people) moon that it was born under, meaning, child or offspring
Adam Harding took this video at close range from the top of the helipad.The second one was taken on the morning of February 1 from inside of the Marine Centre on Great Race Rocks
In the weeks that followed, Nine went through a In the month following the birth, the pup Ninene, which Ryan observed was a female , went through an incredible amount of trauma while being attacked viciously by the young male Misery. Here we document the process. It is not a pleasant site and at the time of writing, it is still not certain whether this pup will survive. After 4 weeks, weaning took place and the mother left permanently. On the California pupping beaches, the pups normally stay on the pupping grounds often guarded by a male for 5 to 8 weeks longer, without feeding. Then they get hungry and go to the water to feed on their own in shallow protected water . If Ninene makes it that far it will be quite exceptional. Caution: may not be suitable for children.
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| Bruises showing on the pup. | Male grasping the pup |
Elephant Seal Male Aggression Videos
The trauma of her first four weeks when she was nursing were minor compared to what happened when her mother left and she was weaned. The young male we have called “Misery” turned on Ninene and beat up on her severely, so much that we considered she was very close to death. Ultimately she was saved by Slash, our old elephant seal, possibly her father, who took on the young male. The following images are not the worst of what we had to watch while this drama unfolded.
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| This photo was taken on March 3, a few days later the mother had left the island leaving Ninene alone to be weaned. | Ninene had moved to the other side of the engine room. |
She was looking fairly good, with evident weight gain from 4 weeks of nursing. (photos by Garry Fletcher) |
 Misery on the lawn |
 After the female left, Misery was relentless in his attacks on Ninene. His throat red with Ninene’s blood the next morning. |
 Ninene the next day in critical condition. |
 After the second night after the female left, Misery returned to the island with three large sets of puncture wounds. |
 He laid low for a few days on the lawn below the flagpole. |
 Presumably the wounds were from the only other male around, Slash. When he returned to the island Misery soon left for good |
 Ninene retreats to the rocks on the south west corner of the island. |
 March — shortly after the beating, Ninene was coated in dried blood |
 Recuperation took place out on the south west shore, well away from the centre of the island. |
 March 5. Ninene is spending her time with her serious injuries out on the South west corner |
 March 5, 2009. Its hard to imagine how she can recover from these injuries |
 By the tidepools on the south west corner |
 March 9, Her condition is improving. |
 Injuries near the base of Nine’s tail from Misery’s rough treatment. |
 March 5 2009, Slash has driven off Misery and is now lounging on the lawn |
 March 5, Slash has taken over the place on the lawn where Misery was located |
 Battle scars on Slash. While on the island with Ninene, he never paid any attention to her. |
 The bottom of Slash! We have a feeling that Slash was the father of Ninene, as he is the only one we have seen breeding there over the past few years. |
 cluster behind her deep neck wound was a large boil, possibly from infection or a parasite, that burst after a few days |
 In the last week of March, she made her first trip down to the docks and then went back across the island to stay a few days near the tower. |
 March 25, 2009 the scar on her back is gradually returning to normal. |
 down on the boat ramp. She is spending more time in the water now as she tests out the environment, having to learn everything on her own. |
 On April 2, 2009, Ryan sent the following e-mail: “I haven’t seen the elephant seal pup for a couple of days, and I suspect she got into the water on the east side of the island the night of March 30. If she’s seen again I’m sure her neck scar will be a good identifier. |
 A total of 8 weeks had passed since her birth, and 4 weeks since weening. She had a rough start but hopefully will now be able to survive in her own.” |
Ninene in the USA
The photos above weer taken by Garry Fletcher, Ryan Murphy and Raisa Mirza
On April 7 we were forwarded an e-mail from Dyanna Lambourn, a Marine Mammal Research Biologist, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in Lakewood, WA with this picture by Duane Benedict of the Port Angeles Police Department of a Northern Elephant Seal pup that showed up in Port Angeles on April 2nd. She indicates “I suspect it is probably the pup from Race Rocks… I went to the Race Rocks website and it appears that “NINENE” left around that same time. The pup is hauled out in downtown Port Angeles and the plan is to relocate her to the tip of Edis Hook on US Coast Guard Property today. Hopefully the pup will also be tagged.”
Ninene turns up in down-town Port Angeles in the next few weeks.
She is tagged with red tags and then released back at the waterfront
Seal pup likely “Canadian born” now she’s missing in the Penninsula Daily News, Port Angeles.
A Biography of Misery
I believe it was Mike Slater who named Misery, since he was a juvenile male elphant seal with an attitude. After being at the lightstation for many years Mike got to know which elephant seals gave him a rough time when he was trying to move about on the pathways. Misery turned up in about 2007. He was known to growl and advance toward one if they got too close, and this happened often since the elephant seals usually come onto the main island via the boat ramp. One has to take a light at night as they are often sprawled across the pathways, Going down to take seawater samples for salinity and temperature when the sample time is at night can prove to be a bit of a hazard. Misery’s behaviour was in stark contrast to that of Slash ,who was very docile after spending a year on the island recuperating from his collision with a boat in January of 2003. 
The story of Misery took a strange twist in the spring of 2009. At the end of January he was seen by Ryan to be hanging around the helicopter pad with an unknown female ( later named Bertha!).
When Bertha had a birth (Ninene) , Misery swung into action. He
was relentless in his pursuit of the baby as he was being rejected in mating by the female Bertha. We believe that Bertha had been impregnated previously by Slash. This part of the story is told in the file on NInene. It shows video and images of the difficult beating she took from Misery. We are quite sure he was not the father, since in previous years it was Slash who seemed to be the male interacting with the females in January. When Ninene’s mother left the island, he kept attacking her relentlessly for several days andNinene was close to death. 
We believe she was saved only by Slash encountering Misery one night and giving him three sets of deep wounds on his back. From then on Misery stopped attacking the pup and when Slash moved back onto the island again, Misery departed.. Slash had been staying during the time of Ninene’s birth out on Middle Island with three other females. We believe that at least two of these had pups, one was photographed but probably because of the small space and exposed location, neither survived.
On February 7 of 2010, Ollie was born and in the second week he too became the object of aggression by Misery. Eventually, after three weeks, Ollie was dead and the bite marks on the back and the loud cries heard at night suggested that Misery was to blame.
It turns out that the same behaviour was repeated in March of 2010 and Misery again sustained some more serious wounds.
In February 2013, Bertha returned to the island but did not have a pup, the first time in four years. Misery however was there to mate with her, This post by Alex ipresents the images!
January 2014: we were expecting Misery back to harass the female elephant seals again as we come into breeding season. However, we have not seen Misery since he was seen sparring with Chunk back earlier in July 2013. His role has now been taken over by Chunk.
See all the postings on Misery in the Race Rocks log