Tag Archives: Orca

Watching the Watchers

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Morning broke revealing thick fog at Race Rocks. Pushed around by light east by southeast winds along the Vancouver Island shore, the fog came and went. Across the strait in Washington it cleared first and stayed bright. The fog was gone by mid-morning and change was in the air. Over the course of the morning and early afternoon, the wind backed through northeast all the way to west. A dark line on the western horizon told of a storm coming and it hit quickly rising from 10 knots to 35 with higher gusts, in short order. Rain followed and there was a good wet blow autumn-like blow until it cleared with spectacular quadruple rainbows just before sunset. The barometer started to rise an hour before it started to clear in the early evening and the forecast is for winds to diminish to light overnight and 10 -15 west Monday afternoon. The clear skies are supposed to hold.

While the fog was receding and there was just a thin strip left along the north side of Race Passage, we were able to witness the moving sight of Southern Resident Killer Whales heading eastward. There were at least twenty animals and possibly more and they were moving at about four knots. There were a couple of really large bulls, lots of mid-size animals, one fairly small and one tiny one swimming with another little one. Several of the big bulls passed close to North Rocks and there was some tail slapping just to the east of the reserve. These animals are very endangered and yet very resilient. These are the surviving members of family groups that were hunted for live capture and sale to aquariums where they were (are) shown for the price of admission. Now that they are listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act as Endangered animals, they are accompanied daily by a great parade of commercial whale watching vessels. The first vessel to spot them alerts the others and they hopscotch them, lay in wait for them and pass them off to others so they won’t be “lost”.

The parade came to Race Rocks again today with 28 visits observed in the Ecological Reserve by commercial whale watching vessels. At one point there were six vessels right in front of the jetty. Most of the vessels paid a close visit to the Sea Otter. Sea otters are one species we can celebrate as a conservation success story, in some places maybe even too much of a success. This is a species that was extirpated, reintroduced, listed successively as endangered, threatened and now is down-listed to special concern. People and policies do make a difference when it comes to recovery of species at risk and there are simple things we can all do to help make a positive difference.

Chores today were routine and we had no visitors.

Friday-Saturday Combo Log Blog

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Friday, a northeast wind blew 5 – 10 knots, most of the day. It turned to west in the evening and was stalled several times. It was first (for us), seeing the light tower wind gauge read 0.00 knots. By Saturday morning it was coming in from the north at 5 – 10 knots. Saturday afternoon, the direction swung through southwest to south and by evening it was back to west. The barometric pressure started falling in the wee hours of Friday morning, a drop that continued on the same trajectory Friday and Saturday, going from a little above 1016 hPA to 1010 hPA. Although the forecasts change considerably from time to time during the period of a couple of days, a gale warning continues to be in effect and it is expected to turn to west and blow 30 – 40 knots Sunday afternoon. The rain continues to threaten and is supposed to end Sunday evening, that is, if it really gets started.

Friday there were only two commercial visits observed in the Ecological Reserve. Saturday morning, 30 – 40 Southern Resident Killer Whales were sighted by whale watching operators, off Beechey Head to the west of Race Rocks. There was also a Humpback Whale diving between there and Race Rocks. Once the sightings were reported by VHF radio, the fleet was alerted and commercial whale watching vessels started heading to the locations. Commercial traffic became fairly heavy with 28 tour boat visits inside the Ecological Reserve, observed Saturday.

Observing vessels that operate in the reserve daily, and making reports to BC Parks and Fisheries and Oceans Canada are routine Eco-guardian tasks. This gives me some insight into how sustainable different commercial operators are, in their use of Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. Distributing a sustainability rubric based on the agreement with the whale watching industry, Fisheries Act, Marine Mammal Regulations and BC Parks regulations might be a good way for vessel operators to grade themselves and their colleagues. Of course the same vessels don’t always have the same operator, but one gets a sense of company culture, as reflected in the way the vessels are run.

Most of the operators work carefully, respectfully and sustainably; they slow right down on entering the reserve and go even slower when there are seals and sea lions in the water. If there are whales in the Protected Area they do not enter into the Ecological Reserve and if a whale enters while they are inside they carefully and slowly leave using extreme caution to avoid interacting with the animals. They stay in the centre of Middle Channel going with the current and never try to wedge themselves between Great Race and South Islands (their insurance companies probably like this too). They are respectful, keeping their distance to the animals and acting as role models for other companies and vessels on the water. In the long run, this is good for business and good for the animals. It means that this kind of commercial activity might sustainably continue to use the Ecological Reserve.

If you are reading this and don’t know what an Ecological Reserve is – it is a protected area that offers the highest protection available within the BC Parks system. There is a lot of good information on the BC Parks Ecological Reserves website, on this website and in general on the Friends of Ecological Reserves website.

The sea lions were very well behaved Saturday after wreaking a bit of havoc yesterday. The two elephant seals had a good 36 hour sleep before going for a swim. As night fell, they were waiting for a chance to get back up the ramp amidst a crowd of California Sea Lions.

Alex and I accomplished a lot today, finishing some of the bigger, monthly chores and fighting entropy at every turn. There were no visitors.

Elephant Seals Hang On.

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The overcast morning sky cleared by noon, clouds pushed out by light northeast winds. In the afternoon, the wind turned to west and then in the evening to southwest. The barometer rose to 1013 hPA today. The forecast continues to call for rain along with variable winds at 5 – 15 knots.

There were only six whale watching visits observed in the Ecological Reserve today and no sports fishers. The large military explosions punctuating yesterday’s alternate sea lion swims and haul-outs continued today.

Today was census day at Race Rocks.

Steller Sea Lion 313

California Sea Lion 649

Harbour Seal 155

Northern Elephant Seal 14 (Two on Great Race -#5850 + female; 12 on Middle Rock)

Sea Otter 2

Southern Resident Killer Whale 16 (during count week)

Humpback Whale 3 (during count week)

Canada Goose 4 full time (2 adults 2 goslings) (flock of 25 chased off twice)

Harlequin Duck 1

Double-crested Cormorant 83

Pelagic Cormorant    9

Cormorants spp 18

Black Oystercatcher  6

Black Turnstone 12

Kildeer 2

Mew Gull 134

California Gull 11

Herring Gull

Glaucous-winged Gull total ( 277- adults; 74 – juveniles)

Ring-billed Gull 1

Gull spp 62

Song Sparrow 1

Savannah Sparrow 22

Fox Sparrow 1

Junco 3

Barn Swallows 2

American Pipet 1

A crew from operations at Pearson College, visited today and were very helpful in getting freshwater flowing again in the Eco-guardian’s House, amongst other things. Courtney was at the helm of Second Nature, Jeff brought all the plumbing gear and know-how to replace the pump and Jasper (PC Alumnus year 20) a curious, environmental engineer figured out a few of diesel pumping mysteries. A big shout out to all three. Thanks for the support.

 

Strong Westerlies

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It was a westerly kind of a day, gusting 25 – 30 knots all morning under partially clear skies. In the afternoon gusts were stronger, churning the sea into a white froth. The wind speed dropped to 20 knots in the evening and was closer to 15 by the time the sun went down. Although the fog was threatening early, it stayed off to the west and the haze that has hanging around was cleared by the wind and replaced with building clouds. The strong wind warning continues and the forecast for Monday is mainly cloudy. The barometer continues its step-wise descent.

In spite of blustery conditions and because of all the marine mammal action there were 18 visits observed by commercial tour operators today. Whale watching was good in the area today and the sea lost some salt to exhilarated looking tourists who had their hoods on and exposure suits battened down in the smaller open boats. No other vessels were observed in reserve.

It was another exciting day on the mammal front with Humpbacks all around, Killer Whales in Race Passage, an increased number of sea lions and return of at least one elephant seal to Great Race Island. Salmon continue to be an important part of gull diet in the area and that is mostly due to scavenging off kills by sea lions.

One of the California sea lions that hauled out with a big new flasher last week, has managed to get rid of it. I am not sure if the hook is inside but today he just had a little broken piece of the flasher hanging out of his mouth when I went to do the seawater sampling and when I came back it was lying on the walkway with its bead chain still looking shiny. There are several ‘necklaced’ sea lions here right now. They all seem to have white plastic strapping around their necks and it looks deadly.

There are only a few Glaucous-winged Gulls left on Great Race and not many more that are still being fed by parents. I photographed one juvenile eat salmon caviar brought back and deposited with special serving and plating effects by its parent. Lots of people think that gull is just a four- letter word associated with human garbage and super abundant. Glaucous-winged Gulls are the only species (of ten species seen here) that actually nest in the Salish Sea and their numbers have been declining for a few years now. Known in birder code as GwGu this four letter word represents an important species in the local ecosystem that is a risk due to human activity. In many areas plastic pollution poses a serious threat to young gulls that do not know better than to eat it. From the evidence so far far at Race Rocks, GwGu have been fairly plastics-free. Lets keep it that way.

Although most of the bull kelp is still very strong and beautiful, many of the stipes have epiphytic green or red algae growing on them now as they start to senesce. Bull kelp is an annual species and it grows very fast during the spring and summer. Soon the storms will be dispersing these incredible carbon sinks and some will end up on the bottom entombed in mud. Sinking plankton takes the most carbon to the bottom, helping make the ocean the world’s biggest carbon sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide. Thank you ocean, for being such a complex regulator of climate.

Ashore, the Calendula is still blooming giving new meaning to the term perennial. This plant flowers all year round here, looking as fresh in September as it does in March. It closes up when it is cold and wilts in frost but survives as a remnant of a long-gone lighthouse keeper’s garden. Native to the Mediterranean, Calendula’s bright, cheery blooms are incredibly resilient and it is one of the few plants the Canada Geese don’t eat. Although it probably shouldn’t be flourishing in an Ecological Reserve here, I am glad it is here and it reminds me that people are part of the ecosystem.

Again chores were routine and there were no visitors.

Killer Whales at Dawn

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Although the wind didn’t do much during the day, it came up strong from the west in the early evening with cold fog in its wake. By nighttime it was blowing 25 – 30 knots. The strong wind warning remains in effect and the forecast expects fog to dissipate in the late morning. The barometer made another step down in its week long descent and ended at 1011 hPa. Tomorrow is supposed to cloud over and showers will follow next week.

There were relatively few commercial operators noted in reserve today, only eleven vessels including a dive boat, and two tour boats who are not part of the ‘regular’ whale watching fleet. There were almost as many sporty boats with several speeders noted, including a Pedder Bay rental.

The sea lion numbers seem to be at their greatest early in the morning so I went up the tower first thing to photograph them and while up there noticed three small killer whales in the southwest corner of the reserve and a group of about six milling around in the middle of the Ecological Reserve. The larger animals seemed to be feeding in a back eddy just off Middle Channel between Middle Rocks and West Rocks. Gulls were attracted to where they were which I assumed meant there was food. They slowly traversed the reserve on the same general track as the Humpbacks and L-pod did on Thursday, heading off towards the southeast. The two groups rejoined on the outside of South Islands. It was a pleasure to watch these animals unaccompanied and unimpeded by the usual parade of boats.

Work was routine (interspersed with incredible nature observations) and there were no bipedal visitors.

September Summer

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The wind didn’t do much more than puff occasionally from the east southeast and the fog stayed away all day. It was a beautiful September, summer day and another one is forecast for tomorrow, (with fog patches). The barometer has been stepping down since Monday and took another step today, landing at 1014 hPA. The forecast calls for strong winds from the west.

It was an extremely busy day on the water in the Ecological Reserve today. There were 32 observed visits by commercial whale watching vessels and at times it looked like a marine Grand Central Station than a protected area. Twelve sports boats were also noted transiting the reserve and one stayed all day taking photos of the wildlife from as close as about 10 meters. Several of the sports fishing boats were speeding in reserve. Most of the commercial operators were being respectful and careful in their operations but one zodiac did go through the gap between Great Race and South Islands against the current and a couple of vessels (always the same ones…hmmm) sped inside the reserve. The commercial operators did well to not have any incidents considering the congestion compounded by the current.

There was a lot of cetacean action today with two Humpback Whales just outside the reserve to the south and two pods of Killer Whales (one Southern Resident, one Biggs (Transient) travelling past through Race Passage from west to east. Unlike the tug that was trying to tow a houseboat past and going backwards today, the Killer Whales are smart enough to use the tide to give them extra speed. At least two individuals from the Biggs group entered the reserve near North Rocks and then continued on without slowing down.

The sea lions dominate Great Race right now and their massive nitrogen contribution to the ecology of the islet and surrounding water is more than just a whiff on the air. It is pungent and obvious.

I had planned on doing some intertidal work on the low tide but had to spend the time repairing things and doing routine work that couldn’t be put off. There were no visitors.

 

Census Time Again

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The fog rolled in last night after dark and it was gone but not far away by mid-morning. Very light winds of 5 to 10 knots came from the south, southeast, southwest and west finally settling into a west southwest pattern.

The barometer spiked mid-day at 1018 hPA and then settled to 1016. The forecast is for light a variable winds, patches of fog dissipating late morning Friday in sunshine.

Only four whale watching boats were observed visiting the Ecological Reserve today. Two of the vessels were zodiacs and two were larger vessels packed with passengers. The same vessel that has been observed and photographed speeding in reserve before, was at it again today as well as almost sitting on top of the sea otter so the clients would get a good view. The owners and insurers of that vessel might be concerned if they knew about this operator’s risky manner. Three sports fishing vessels were also spotted and recorded, speeding through the go-slow zone. There are hundreds of animals in the water inside the reserve right now and reckless vessel operation puts them at risk as well as the people in the boats.

There were explosions at Rocky Point today with minimal impact on animal behaviour here.

Today was census day and here are the results.

Steller Sea Lion 313

California Sea Lion 726

Harbour Seal 157

Northern Elephant Seal 6

Sea Otter 1

River Otter at least one (assumed, not seen but evidence of it seen)

Southern Resident Killer Whale ~15 (Part of L-pod – during count week)

Humpback Whale 3 (during count week)

Canada Goose 4 full time (2 adults 2 goslings) (no other flocks visited)

Harlequin Duck 0

Double-crested Cormorant 7

Pelagic Cormorant 5

Brandt’s Cormorant 0

Black Oystercatcher

Black Turnstone 11

Ruddy Turnstone 0

Western Sandpiper 5

Kildeer 2

Glaucous-winged Gull 303 total (221- adults; – 82 juveniles)

California Gull 73

Herring Gull 1

Ring-billed Gull 1

Western Gull 0

Heerman’s Gull 7

Peregrine Falcon 1

Common Raven 1

Savannah Sparrow 12

 

A Whale of a Day.

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The weather on Race Rocks was variable today. We started with drizzle, overcast and fog. The fog came and went until early afternoon when it cleared. The wind, which was westerly, picked up a bit in the afternoon and was still blowing 15 – 20 west, as I finished up the log after sunset. The barometer started a descent yesterday that continued today ending at 1016 hPA. This matches the forecast which is calling for showers tonight. There is also a strong wind warning in effect and overall it looks like more good weather coming.

There were 18 observed visits by whale watching boats to the Ecological Reserve today. Most of the operators work carefully, respectfully and sustainably, they slow right down on entering the reserve and go even slower when there are seals and sea lions in the water. If there are whales in the Protected Area they do not enter into the Ecological Reserve and if whale enter while they are inside they carefully and slowly leave using extreme caution to avoid interacting with the animals. They stay in the centre of Middle Channel going with the current and never try to wedge themselves between Great Race and South Islands (their insurance companies probably like this too). They are respectful of their distance to the animals and a role model for other companies and vessels on the water. In the long run, this is good for business and good for the animals. It means that this kind of commercial activity might be able to sustainably continue to use the Ecological Reserve for profit making.

Today was a day with lots promise for Southern Resident Killer Whale recovery. L-pod has another brand new calf, born sometime on or before September 5th. The significance to Race Rocks is its’ central location to this babies’ first few days of observed activities. This is the fifth Southern Resident calf born since last December and it renews hope for recovery of this very endangered population. To give you an idea of how significant this is: 1977 was the highest ever recorded year for Southern Resident calf production with nine calves born. According to the Center for Whale Research no calves survived in 2013 and 2014, so 2015 is a boon.

Killer whales and salmon are both almost iconic to our identity in this part of the world and of course they are completely linked together, especially here at Race Rocks, which is an oceanic salmon funnel, a condensed part of one of the planet’s largest salmon runs.

While celebrating this success, let’s also do more to continue their recovery by modelling more fundamentally sustainable behaviours, like using less water, eating sustainable seafood, recycling, using fewer harmful chemicals, electricity, fuel and plastic, doing shore cleanups and working for positive change through democracy. I have digressed, so back to biology: this new calf was seen with L91 (probably the mother) and has been officially named L122.

At this stage of writing the log, I looked up to see several Humpback Whales going through the Ecological Reserve from west to southeast. It looked like three animals; a very large one, (probably “Big Mama” a name used by whale watchers) and two others, one much smaller, which may have been a calf. I headed out to photograph the whales and witnessed some whale watching vessels making a bee-line for them, even though the whales were inside the Ecological Reserve. Speaking of sustainable behavior, the agreement states that if there are whales inside the reserve, the whale watching boats stay outside. Two vessels came up tight behind them and a third came in around the front of their path, the other vessels following the whales dropped off staying outside as per agreement.

The whales were in fairly shallow water between South Islands and Rosedale Reef, next to a kelp bed, so didn’t have a lot of maneuvering room with two boats behind and one in front. I went up the tower and took more photos.  I totally commend the vessels that left the whales and turned to travel outside of the reserve instead of following the whales and other vessels into the Ecological Reserve.

I did a few chores and went back to writing. This time when I looked up there was a pod of Killer Whales heading into the reserve on basically the same track as the Humpbacks but a little closer to Great Race. I went back out for more photos and saw a group of about fifteen Southern Resident Killer Whales, members of L-pod according to the whale watchers. There was a little calf travelling at the back of the pack with a small adult animal, probably a female (?). Not sure if it was the newest one.

I took a lot of photos today and will share them over the next while. It was a busy day with regular chores, spotting and phtotographing the 10 Elephant Seals that have recaptured the top of Middle Rocks and are scaring off sea lions, photographing sea lion tags and brands, gulls and of course the whale shows. With all that going on it seems odd to say, there were no visitors.

Making Sense of the Census.

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The sun shone through a bit more today even as clouds and much needed rain continued. West winds blew at about 10 knots most of the day as the clouds were pushed steadily inland. The barometer is now back up to where it was last Friday before the big nose-dive into Saturday’s storm. The forecast looks a little brighter for Friday and Saturday before a return to wet and cool.

Whale watching activity in the Ecological Reserve was very subdued today as the black and whites moved north and east yesterday. Only four visits by commercial whale watching boats were observed in the Ecological Reserve. One sports fishing vessel and a couple of rental boats also came through obviously oblivious to the speed reduction zone within the reserve boundaries .

Thursday is census day and here are the results of this week’s animal census.

Steller Sea Lion 497

California Sea Lion 522

Harbour Seal 81

Northern Elephant Seal 2

Sea Otter 1

River Otter 1 seen (probably more)

Southern Resident Killer Whale 7 (during count week)

Biggs (Transient) Killer Whale 5 (during count week)

Humpback Whale 1 just outside of reserve but may have transited border

Canada Goose 4 full time (2 adults 2 goslings) (24 visited once during count week)

Harlequin Duck 1

Double-crested Cormorant 11

Pelagic Cormorant 12

Brandt’s Cormorant 1

Black Oystercatcher 29

Black Turnstone 95

Ruddy Turnstone 1

Western Sandpiper 3

Kildeer 1

Dunlin 1

Glaucous-winged Gull 276 (193 – adults; 83 juveniles)

California Gull 61

Western Gull 1

Heerman’s Gull 26

Peregrine Falcon 1

Common Raven 2

Savannah Sparrow 3

It is of note that there have been no Pigeon Guillemots seen since I arrived. Last year there were chicks, still  being fed by their parents, on the nests in the rubble area just west of the jetty at this time of year and later. I am hoping that the river otters have not been visiting these ground-breeding birds and will look for evidence of what has been going on there.

Maintenance work was routine and the only other visitors to the reserve were the Pearson College students having their orientation by vessel. Courtney kindly delivered paper, which was appreciated as there was none.

Pearson College students doing orientation week activity at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve.

Pearson College students doing orientation week activity at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve.

super friendly philosophy teacher

 

 

 

 

Cool and Wet

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The cool, wet weather these last couple of days at Race Rocks was a long time coming and the ceiling is still thick enough so that peak solar radiation levels are about half the norm for this month. The little bit of soil is sucking up the moisture and there is already some visible return of green, a colour almost defeated by the drought. The wind didn’t do much until late afternoon today and there was no wind most of the morning. By early afternoon it was up to 10 knots southeast, only to fall off again as it swung to a feeble southwest in the evening. The barometer continues to crawl out of the hole created by Saturday’s storm and it is almost back up to 1010hPa. From the forecast, it looks like periods of rain will continue as the cold front moves southward over the next few days and then we will be back into the summer pattern of westerly winds and possibly sunshine, if not fog.

There was quite a bit of whale watching activity in the area today. There were 18 visits made by commercial boats operating inside the Ecological Reserve and more outside. All but two vessels abided by the rules, taking it slow, being respectful and courteous to each other and mindful of the large concentration of animals in this protected area. From the radio chat and observations, I was able to ascertain that there were both Biggs’ and Southern Resident Killer Whales in the vicinity. Both pods passed just outside the reserve heading west about a half mile to the south. There was also a humpback feeding just east towards Victoria.

One, large, whale watching speeder may have taken his cue from the only “sports”-fishing boat that came into the reserve today. A Grady-White-type boat with halibut gear, came inside behind a line-up of whale watchers and then roared off from inside Middle Channel as if his urgency trumped the wildlife values in this congested area. Later one of the well respected companies had a large vessel observed taking off at speed after a visit to the sea lions, closer than 100m. I hope the animals in the water were able to get out of his way.

There were a number of sea lions with major wounds noted today and I will try to photo-document them on a drier day. Of note were fresh, severe gashes on at least three Steller Sea Lions and what appeared to be propeller marks on two Californians. Most of the sea lions spend their time sleeping when they are not off foraging or tussling with each other. The Californians that are awake though, are always barking.

I tried to document three branded California Sea Lions today but only succeeded in recording one full number without question, # 8228 on the left side. I got one partial # U_05 on the rump and another partial #U14__. I didn’t see any branded Steller’s yet.

The pre-summer cast of avian characters, is back and it is really a privilege to be here again to witness Race Rocks as the change to autumn happens. I saw at least 95 Black Turnstones busy foraging all over the island today. They roost together on the south shore in the evening, making it easier to get a good count . They are back from a summer away at nesting sites along the western Alaskan shores of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. Cormorants probably didn’t go far but the Double-Crested Cormorants I saw today definitely do not nest in the reserve.

Most of the Glaucous-winged Gull chicks have fledged and left the island but there are still a few slow pokes who are busy begging from worn-out looking parents for food. Amazingly some adults are feeding three big chicks that appear larger than the adult. There is evidence of fresh predation on these young gulls and River Otter is the prime suspect as it seems to be nocturnal or crepuscular activity and one of the remains was dragged right in to the otter den entranceway. As was noted last year, it appears that the head of the gull is enveloped in its neck skin as if the skin was torn and pulled up like a turtle-necked sweater coming off inside out.

A newly fledged Glaucous-winged Gull with handsome new feathers.

A newly fledged Glaucous-winged Gull still not confident enough to fly away on a new adventure.

The Northern Elephant Seals surprised me. I knew there was one here on the marine railway ramp on Great Race because Guy and Christine had mentioned it and it hauled out just before they left yesterday. It is a really well fed young one, completely plumped out since I last saw them after their horrendous moulting fasts of the late spring. Another five Northern Elephant Seals are visible with the scope from the top of the tower, on Middle Rocks amidst the sea lions. Of the five, one appeared to be very small, perhaps young of the year and the other four were larger juveniles perhaps including a small adult female. I will try to get a better handle on this in the days to come.

There were no visitors today as I got back into routine chores and was constantly reminded of the incredible natural setting that makes this place so special.