Tag Archives: Orca

The was a lot of boat traffic, mostly recreational fishers, in the area all day

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Sunday, July 21, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 23.0 C  Min. 10.3 C  Reset 14.5 C
MARINE LIFE:The Orca were in the area again today and with the boat from Marine Mammal monitoring the whale watchers, things seemed well under control. Did hear some boat operators report sightings of a couple of Minke Whales but did not see anything in or near the reserve. A couple of transient Orcas passed through just on the southern boundary in the afternoon, they seemed to be moving fairly steady pace. The was a lot of boat traffic, mostly recreational fishers, in the area all day. One California and one Northern sealion hauled out on the south tip of the southeast rocks, unfortunately a rental boat from a marina moved in too close and sent them into the water. Ryan who had a group out for a tour in the Hyaku went along side and informed the sightseers of the guidelines. Feel sorry for the birds in this hot weather,they all sit around with their beaks open, panting – didn’t even get the evening westerly we look forward to cool things down.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 23 ecotour boats and 11 pleasure craft through today,also the Hyaku, M3 and station boat to Pedder Bay and Back
posted by Carol or Mike S at 8:17 PM

Good Morning

WEATHER: Sky Clear �� Vis. 15 Miles �� Wind North East 8 Knots �� Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 4:59 AM

37 ecotour boats through the reserve

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Friday, July 19, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 17.1 C  Min. 11.2 C  Reset 13.5
MARINE LIFE: There are a fair number of gull chicks surviving inspite of the relentless attempts to hunt by the eagles during the day and the otter which continues to make the nightly tour of the island.The young geese are doing a lot of wing flapping, building the muscles they will need to fly off, soon we hope, as the food situation is not the best for them now.The Orcas were in the area again today but did not come through the reserve, they were heading west and spent some time in the mouth of Pedder Bay, feeding in the kelp beds there although it was hard to tell as the wind was blowing 20-25 knts. and the sea quite choppy. There was the usual flotilla following along, included in the group was the inflatable from the Marine Mammal Monitoring program which had to stop one pleasure craft and advise them of the whale watching guidelines.The pleasure craft was traveling in the path of the whales either unaware or in spite of the presence of the mammals.
HUMAN INTERACTION: there were 37 ecotour boats through the reserve and 5 pleasure craft. The station boat made a trip to Pedder Bay and back.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 10:02 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy Vis. 15 Miles  Wind West 19 Knots  Sea 2 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:25 AM

fog rolled in this morning

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Saturday, July 20, 2002 Good Evening

TEMPERATURE: Max. 14.1 C  Min. 10.2 C  Reset 12.3 C
MARINE LIFE: The fog rolled in this morning and really didn’t disperse until after 17:00 when the afternoon westerly got the air moving, so mostly only able to hear what was going on around us.There were no eagles today, the birds were fairly quiet. The chatter on the VHF radio alerted us to the Orca passing by again but they were traveling outside the reserve and because of the fog didn’t even see any of the whale watching boats- did hear a few – there were a few times that the fog lifted a bit, counted 5 Ecotour boats and later in the day there were 2 pleasure craft through the reserve.The past few nights the moon has been especially beautiful, because it is so low in the sky this time of year it looks unusually large.It is also very orange, I wonder if the smoke from all the forrest fires has anything to do with the colouring.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:15 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Clear  Vis 8 Miles Wind West 13 Knots  Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:20 AM

Have seen 8 seal pups,

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Monday, July 08, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 16.0 C Min. 10.8 C  Reset 12.5 C  Rain 3.9 mm
MARINE LIFE: A cool and breezy start to the day, remnants of a very active weather system that roared in about 12:20 a.m. The rain was very heavy for about 25 mins, almost 4 mm, at least it cleaned the roofs somewhat and the air is much fresher. I watched very carefully for the gulls bringing food to the chicks and it’s not too encouraging- no abundance of silvery fresh fish so far. A few nests are empty of chicks and eggs -I suspect the otter. Have seen 8 seal pups,the females tend to stay fairly close to shore for the first week or so then when not hauled out to sleep and nurse the pups, they spend a lot of time in the kelp beds. The female is still with the dead pup and tonight as it floated in the rising tide she pushed it along with her in the water by the boat dock. Earlier this morning I went down to see and she was hauled out about 1metre from the pup, as I approached closer she moved up to the pup, patted it a couple of times with her front flipper then nuzzled it’s face with her nose.While she was doing this she periodically looked up at me with those big, sad, dark eyes.I’m sure even seals feel loss and grieve, It affects me at any rate. The Orca were through the reserve on their way east.Saw about 7 pass by between Gr. Race and North Rocks. They moved along at a fair pace but saw some breaching and tail slapping. The tour boats were quite spread out and except for the 2 boats that were in the reserve ahead of the whales none followed them through.
HUMAN INTERACTION: there were 17 tour boats and 3 pleasure craft through the reserve today.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:23 PM

Good MorningWEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis. 15 Miles  Wind West 30 Knots Sea 4 Foot Moderate

posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:13 AM

The otter’s nocturnal work.

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Thursday, July 04, 2002
MARINE LIFE: 7 orcas (one calf) passed north of the MPA this morning at 9:30, several breached repeatedly sending huge waves into the air on their way west. Two whale watchers came speeding west from Victoria, though skirted the reserve and mostly obeyed the no-wake zone. As a pleasant change, the boats stayed away from the whales and went south to open waters. The whales themselves turned south at Church Point and disappeared west of Great Race.
The otter left a bloody gull sacrum in front of the tank room as the small touch tank was being cleaned. A bloody mass near the high tide mark near the docks is more evidence of the otter’s nocturnal work.
HUMAN INTERACTION:24 tour boats and two pleasure craft through the reserve today. Second Nature dropped off relief for Mike and Carol today before 9 this morning.
posted by Ryan Murphy at 2:49 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy  Vis. 15 Miles Wind North West 7 Knots Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:32 AM

Several gulls nests have chicks since yesterday

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Wednesday, July 03, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max 14.0 C  Min 9.9 C  Reset 12.0 C  Rain tr
MARINE LIFE: Don’t mind the clouds and cool temperatures but really the constant westerly tends to wear on the nerves, the birds don’t seem to mind it – they just tuck their bills under a wing and nap. Several gulls nests have chicks since yesterday, watched, from the front porch, the first chick hatch from the group of nests closest to the house. It’s a fairly slow process, first a tiny, dark beak breaks through the egg and over a couple of hours the chick pushes it’s way out. The adult is on and off the nest checking the progress and when finally the chick is free of the egg the shell is taken about 3 m away and discarded.In an hour or so the chick is dry with yellowy-brown down-totally unlike the adult.The Oyster Catcher chicks on the other hand look very much like the adults except for bill colour and slightly lighter plumage. The Gulls are usually 2-3 years before they take on all the characteristics of the adults.The dark cloud lurking over this wonderful new life arrives between 1and 2 a.m. creating havoc, devouring some eggs and crushing others, some chicks are crushed and some eaten all the while the adult gulls are in the air screeching piteously diving at the intruder to no avail- the otter is on the hunt again! Haven’t seen the otter for several weeks, not even any signs of it like scat in the usual places- was really hoping it had moved on, maybe to Bentinck Island.Some resident Orcas were in the reserve this afternoon moving quite slowly along the south side of Gr. Race they did a lot of tail slapping,rolling and fishing in the kelp.There was the usual flotilla of whale watcher boats which for the most part abided by the guidelines – however after the Orcas had moved east away from the reserve at about 15:30, 2 ecotour boats went by too fast with respect to the no -wake policy and 3 others were too close to shore just west of the dock where there were feeding Pigeon Guillemots. 1 ecotour operator stopped in the kelp just off the northwest bluffs of Gr Race and pulled kelp into the boat for the passengers.Since this is a protected area such activities are not within the guidelines.
HUMAN INTERACTION: there were 5 pleasure craft through the reserve and 23 ecotour boats.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:07 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy  Vis 15 Miles  Wind West 25 Gust 30 knots  Sea 3 – 4 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:25 AM

The whales were ‘accompanied’ by a flotilla of 17-23 tour boats

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Monday, June 17, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 15.1 C  Min. 9.3 C  Reset 13.2 C  Rain 2.8 mm
THE DAY: Overcast  Vis 15 Miles  Winds Light South West  Sea Rippled  Rain Showers through-out the Day.
MARINE LIFE: Most of the Gulls are incubating eggs now although there are the ‘late bloomers’ still gathering nesting material and engaging in the usual turf wars. The 5 goslings are looking more like geese every day,all have the distinctive tail markings but their wings are still very small their down is rapidly giving way to feathers.With the Eagles hunting every day, I’m surprised all the chicks have survived. Three gulls were not so lucky,the first one was taken by a juvenile Bald Eagle just after 11:00 in front of the Science centre. Two mature Eagles hunted the area most of the afternoon and had successful kills at 13:55 and 16:20.The highlight of the day — a group of 12-15 Orca came through the reserve, five of them were in the kelp just off the end of the dock.One orca looked to be a fairly small calf traveling close to 4 or 5 larger animals. We knew they were headed this way from the west by the ‘chatter’ on the VHF radios about 10:30.The whales were ‘accompanied’ by a flotilla of 17-23 tour boats until they were too far east to see with the telescope -7 hours at least. As the orcas approached the MPA one of the boat operators reminded the other boats about not following the whales through the reserve as per the guidelines. No one did, however the Flotilla was waiting on the other side of Gr. Race! The whales put on a great show, breaching, spy hopping, and rolling in the kelp just off the east shore.They spent about 40 minutes in the reserve.
HUMAN INTERACTION: Chris in with Second Nature this morning to pick up tank for fueling tomorrow, also Ryan returned to civilization? in the zodiac- strange to see no lights in the science centre -just the two of us again! 2 pleasure craft and 17 tour boats through the reserve today.
posted by at 6:34 PM

A pod of 6 to 8 Orcas moved towards Victoria

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Sunday, June 09, 2002 Good Evening

TEMPERATURE: A beautiful day, Max. 14.2C  Min. 9C  11.5C
MARINE LIFE: Today’s animal pace was quite busy. Some of the Gulls are still collecting for their nests, while others are already incubating 2 or 3 eggs. The goslings are becoming very independent, frequenting the waters with their parents and exploring the little mysteries of Race Rocks. Some fly-overs by the resident Bald Eagle this morning, however it didn’t stay very long. A pod of 6 to 8 Orcas moved towards Victoria late this afternoon, one pair had a calf with them. The Sea Lion that has frequented the docks for the last couple of days did not return today, perhaps a sign of improving health.
HUMAN IMPACT: A total of 12 ecotourism vessels in and around the reserve today. Three fishing vessels on the reserves boarder for several hours. A group of canoes and kayaks paddled around the island today, unfortunately disregarding the 100m restrictions about approaching the seals. The group’s close proximity scared the seals into the water. We often have problems with kayakers. They think they are being so environmentally responsible but in this reserve they scare more marine mammals into the water than many other user groups. At approximately 10am a Victoria Coast Guard Auxillary boat, ( rigid hull inflatable, similar to the whale watchers vessels, sped straight through the reserve at excessive speed. They came within 20m. of the divers off the docks, the two groups of divers complaining of wake, despite a dive flag being in place and the no wake policy within the MPA.
posted by at 8:52 PM
Good Morning:
WEATHER: Sky Clear  Vis. 8 miles Wind 8 Knots from West Sea 1 Foot Chop
posted by at 5:43 AM

the whales look even more beautiful in the straits without an entourage of power boats.

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Wednesday, June 05, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.4 C  Min. 9.8 C  Reset 11.1
MARINE LIFE: We have been gifted over the last few days with many Orca visits. Again, early this morning, a large pod of 9 or 10 Orcas moved past south Race Rocks. It was nice to see them without the whale watching boats for once, the whales look even more beautiful in the straits without an entourage of power boats. We have sited several Gull eggs over the last couple of days, hopefully we get some chics soon. The Bald Eagle was back again this afternoon, sending the Gulls up in a cloud of wings and deafening squawks It appears that the eagle only attempts to make a surprise kill and if unsuccessful leaves the harrassement of the other birds quickly.
Human Impact: The whale watching boats appeared quickly after the Orca sitings, probably from radio information of their presence. There was a total of 12 whale watching boats today, the majority arriving between 9am-11am. One fishing vessel was filmed during our live web cast speeding well within the reserve. The name and number of the boat was taken for further action. Second Nature was docked from 9am-Midday, it provided support for the live webcast to World Wildlife Fund Canada. The divers again entered the water around the docks, spending just over half an hour in the water.
posted by at 9:39 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast  Vis. 12miles Wind South East 5knots  Sea 1 foot chop
posted by at 5:19 AM

A large pod of Orcas passed straight through the reserve

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Monday, June 03, 2002
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 12.0 C Min. 8.8 C Reset 11.0
MARINE LIFE: Some fabulous marine events today, despite an early fog that reduced visibility to less than a quarter of a mile. A large pod of Orcas passed straight through the reserve late this afternoon, perhaps 6 in total. The whales seemed to be on the hunt however no Seals or Sea lions were taken. A Bald Eagle was also seen flying across west Race this afternoon, taking either a Oystercatcher, Crow or Pigeon Guillemot with it.
HUMAN IMPACT: A total of twelve eco-tourism boats were about the reserve today, most adhering to the reserve guidleines. However, one boat in particular was wthin the reserve directly following the Orcas. Despite an agreement to stay out of the reserve when whales are present in order to allow the whales some space. Hyaku and Zodiac also docked bringing equipment and supplies.
posted by at 10:22 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy  Vis 8 Miles  Wind West 15 Knots  Sea 1 Foot Chop
posted by at 7:25 AM