Tag Archives: pigeon guillemot

Windy Week and Sea Lion Update!

Posted on by

Weather:

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky clear
  • Wind 15-20 knots W
  • Sea state: calm, rippled
  • It has been very windy this week. Most days the wind has hovered around 30 knots, sometimes as much as 35+ knots! It has been overcast intermittently, and we did receive some rainfall.

Visitors/Marine Traffic: 

  • Greg visited today with some supplies. Thanks Greg!
  • Since it has been so windy, there has been very little boat traffic. Yesterday we saw one small pleasure craft playing in the waves near Pedder Bay, and one coastguard ship passed by earlier today. A few small vessels and fishing boats passed by but no vessels entered the reserve.

Ecological:

  • Animal activity has been very quiet due to our stormy weather
  • The geese seem to be moving on now- there are fewer every day.
  • There are not many more seagull nests beginning but the seagulls have chosen their nesting locations and are defending them from other breeding pairs.
  • There is one sea lion who has been coming onto the jetty and does not move away from us as the others do. We believe this is the same one that we observed last year who seemed to have a propeller injury on his head. It’s interesting that he has been able to survive with seemingly quite a bit of behavioral impact due to the head trauma.

 

Blooming Biodiversity

Posted on by

Weather:

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky clear
  • Wind 15-20 NE diminishing to 5-10 SE
  • Sea state: calm
  • Temperature 22.5°C

Visitors/Marine Traffic: 

  • A trickle of pleasure crafts outside of the reserve, 4 inside of the reserve
  • Yesterday a very small vessel came to the reserve with 3 people aboard. They approached each outcropping very closely, scaring the animals into the water.
  • This evening a boat with 6 passengers sped through the reserve. They passed the resting sea lions very closely, and sped through the passage where many were swimming and fishing.
  • On Friday Greg visited to work on the generator, and Nick came too
  • There have been large commercial barges steadily passing through the straight. Since the weather has been so calm we can hear them inside the house, even though they are nearly 8 km away.

Ecological:

  • The elephant seals have been taking daily soaks in the shallow water surrounding the jetty in this warm weather.
  • In the shallow and warm waters this week we have been spotting schools of small fish. The larger animals in the water seem to ignore them completely.
  • There have been blooms of jellyfish passing by in the currents, mostly water jellies and the small “sea gooseberries” which seem to glitter in the light due to the the tiny hairs (cilia) that pulsate to move them through the water.
  • A few harlequin ducks spent the evening in the reserve on Friday

Census: 

  • 16 Canada Geese
  • 8 Oyster Catchers
  • 4 Crows
  • 8 Elephant Seals
  • 300 Seagulls
  • 2 Cormorants
  • 2 Bald Eagles
  • 48 Sea Lions
  • 9 Harbour Seals

Lovely Weather + Plenty To Observe

Posted on by

Weather:

  • Visibility
  • Sky clear, a few fluffy clouds
  • Wind 5-10 knots SW
  • Sea state: calm

Marine Traffic/Visitors:

  • Yesterday we saw the HMCS Calgary and HMCS Regina (both Halifax-Class frigate vessels). They passed by in the early evening.
  • One or two fishing vessels hanging around the border of the reserve

Ecological: 

  • Today we found three newly established goose nests. So far they each have 2-3 eggs.
  • The young seal pup has officially flown the coop! We haven’t seen her in a few days.
  • There are quite a few seagull nests beginning to take form. They are becoming more defensive of their established areas and make quite a ruckus when we walk through.

Bustling Wildlife

Posted on by

Weather:

  • Visibility 10 NM this morning, 15+ NM this afternoon
  • Sky overcast in morning but clear this afternoon
  • Wind 20-30 knots NW-NE
  • Sea state: white caps (.25m), fast moving ripples

Visitors/Boats:

  • Greg and Nick on Monday
  • Greg and Nick on Tuesday
  • Greg and a technician for generator maintenance on Wednesday
  • Greg and Nick this afternoon (Thursday) 

Aside from this there have been very few vessels aside from commercial/shipping traffic. Today a couple of sailboats passed by despite the astounding wind gusts (all a fair distance away).

Ecological:

  • There have been 4 eagles in the reserve daily on average, both juvenile and adult. They typically perch on Rosedale Rock to our SE, but we have been spotting them on the webcam tower, crane, and diesel tank near the power building. The juvenile eagles seem to be more interested in Great Race Rock, while the adults tend to stick to the outcroppings. Occasionally they swoop over the reserve, prompting the seagulls to rise into the air to avoid becoming lunch!
  • The geese continue to protect their nests but no new eggs have been observed.
  • The elephant seals have settled to complete their moult, all in various stages. The remaining pup is still here, and spends most of its time on the jetty away from the others.
  • There is a sea lion with a significant head/neck wound that we have been seeing daily. It looks like it has been tagged by the Vancouver Aquarium, so we are wondering if it has been disentangled and tagged at the same time.
  • Yesterday we spotted a killdeer, a type of plover. We’ve never seen one here before!

Repairs/Maintenance:

  • We filled the underground cistern with sea water to be desalinated (pumped using the fire pump and fire hoses).
  • To maximize our solar intake we have been keeping the solar panels as clean as possible (when they are covered in bird waste they create much less power). 
  • Juvenile eagle on diesel tank
  • Juvenile eagle on power building
  • The gang
  • Moulting elephant seal skin and fur
  • The gulls continue to arrive for nesting…
  • … and defend their territory fiercely!
  • a breeding pair of geese resting
  • This one has a sore leg from a fight!
  • The youngest nest
  • Tag of the latest arrived elephant seal
  • Pigeon Guillemot
  • Sea lion with healing entanglement wound
  • Killdeer (adorable!)
  • Juvenile bald eagle perched on the crane

April 11 and 12 – Weekly Census

Posted on by

Wind: yesterday W-S 0-32 knots, today W-SE 2-17 knots
Sea State: both days calm
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy then clear from mid morning, today clear
Temperature: yesterday 8-14 °C, today 7-14 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 416.33 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The lawn in front of the house got busier this morning with nine elephant seals, two more than yesterday. A tenth seal, the pup, was near the jetty. The two new arrivals have green tags on their tail flippers. One is a male tagged C887. The other is a juvenile tagged G512 on the right flipper and E779 on the right. I will update the information on age and past sightings when I hear back from the researchers. The green tags signify the elephant seals were tagged at Año Nuevo, south of San Francisco.

[UPDATED April 13: I heard back from Dr. Patrick Robinson, the researcher from Año Nuevo Reserve. The elephant seal with green tags E779 and G512 was tagged as a pup in February 2019, where he was born at Año Nuevo. This is the first time the male juvenile has been spotted outside of Año Nuevo, where he was last seen as a weaner in March, 2019. The elephant seal with the green tag C887 is a juvenile male that was born at Año Nuevo in February 2017. He has been seen at Race Rocks in the month of December in 2017, 2018 and 2019.]

There was one boat seen in the ecological reserve on each of the past two days, a pleasure boat yesterday and a sailboat today.

Census results observed this afternoon at low tide:
10 elephant seals (1 female pup, 1 female juvenile, 1 juvenile, 2 sub adult males, 5 female adults)
16 steller sea lions
91 california sea lions
1 sea otter
72 harbour seals
5 bald eagles (2 juveniles, 3 adults)
16 Canada geese
1 black brant goose
99 gulls (mostly thayer’s)
17 pelagic cormorants
4 brandt’s cormorants
5 double-crested cormorants
6 black oystercatchers
24 pigeon guillemots
7 harlequin ducks
2 surfbirds
5 black turnstones

  • Two eagles on Turbine Rock and a colourful sailboat passing through Race Passage.
  • Newly arrived juvenile elephant seal tagged G512 and E779
  • Green tags G512 and E779 on the juvenile elephant seal.
  • Newly arrived sub adult male elephant seal tagged C887
  • Green tag C887 on the sub adult male elephant seal
  • Black brant goose
  • Four elephant seals waiting for the water to come to them
  • Newly arrived juvenile seal exploring the boardwalk
  • A view from the top of the lighthouse this afternoon of the clear water of the east bay. A group of sea lions can be seen on the rocks.
  • These lucky gulls won of the goose egg hunt

April 3 and 4 – Weekly Census

Gallery

Posted on by

This gallery contains 6 photos.

Wind: yesterday W 15-40 knots, today variable 2-17 knotsSea State: yesterday up to 0.5m chop, today up to 1 m chopVisibility: both days 10-15 NMSky: both days partly cloudyTemperature: both days 4-7 °CAtmospheric CO2: 415.60 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii) … Continue reading →

Census Friday

Posted on by

Wind: yesterday mostly from W 4-22 knots, today N-NE 2-9 knots
Sea State: yesterday calm in morning 0.5m chop in afternoon, today calm
Visibility: both days 5-15 NM
Sky: yesterday overcast with patches of rain and sun, today partly cloudy
Temperature: both days 6-8 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 415.43 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Census results from today:
6 elephant seals (2 female pups, 1 female juvenile, 3 female adults)
21 steller sea lions
62 california sea lions
1 sea otter
91 harbour seals
3 bald eagles (1 juvenile, 2 adults)
12 Canada geese
6 brandt’s cormorants
4 double-crested cormorants
10 pelagic cormorants
59 thayer’s gulls
12 black oystercatchers
14 harlequin ducks
108 pigeon guillemots
56 surfbirds
26 black turnstones
1 killdeer
1 song sparrow

There were no boats in the ecological reserve over the past two days.

 

Spring Census and Swimming Seal Pups

Posted on by

Wind: yesterday W 0-30 knots, today mostly W, SE in early afternoon 1-28 knots
Sea State: both days calm in morning, rippled in afternoon
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: both days clear
Temperature: yesterday 6-8 °C, today 6-11 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.34 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

All three elephant seal pups were swimming near the boat ramp both yesterday and this morning. The middle aged pup has taken to a napping spot on the concrete between the boat ramp and the rocks.

When I did the census observations today, I was surprised there were only 84 pigeon guillemots. I counted twice to make sure. The little black and white birds with bright red feet appear to be everywhere around the shoreline and in the water around the main island. They are constantly moving about and making their high-pitched whistling call.

I had a great view of a sea otter this afternoon. While out in the boat taking a photo of the main island, I heard what sounded like a slapping sound on the water. I turned around to see the sea otter about 20 m from the boat crack open clamshells on its chest. The otter had a few clams lined up. I turned off the engine and watched the otter quickly eat a few clams, then repeatedly dive down and eat more.

Today, there were nine pleasure crafts, one sailboat and the Race Rocks station boat in the ecological reserve, the most boats of any day this year. A pleasure boat with five people stopped at the jetty this evening. Three people walked along the jetty to get a closer look at the elephant seal pup napping beside the boat ramp. I approached and drew their attention to the large sign that explains the purpose of the ecological reserve and that permission is needed to come ashore. They were very nice and asked a few questions about the marine mammals before they left. No boats were in the ecological reserve yesterday.

Census results from today:
4 elephant seals (1 adult female, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
10 steller sea lions
82 california sea lions
1 sea otter
50 harbour seals
8 bald eagles (3 adults, 5 juveniles)
11 brandt’s cormorants
6 double-crested cormorants
19 pelagic cormorants
9 Canada geese
251 gulls (mostly thayer’s gulls)
8 black oystercatchers
1 whimbrel
26 harlequin ducks
84 pigeon guillemots
4 surfbirds
12 black turnstones

Here are some photos from the past two days:

Two short videos of the youngest elephant seal pup learning to swim in the shallow water. In the first clip, she appears to be playing with a little bull kelp. In the second clip, she is blowing bubbles. The sounds of many species can be heard: california sea lions, thayer’s gulls, black turnstones and pigeon guillemots.

March 16 and 17

Posted on by

Wind: yesterday variable 3-13 knots, today mostly E 0-13 knots
Sea State: both days calm
Visibility: both days 15 NM
Sky: both days clear
Temperature: yesterday 3-11 °C, today 4-9 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.35 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

It’s still officially winter, although it’s looking a lot more springlike. The ground is drying out, after lots of sun and little moisture lately. The elephant seal pups are now fending for themselves, as there are no signs of adults around. The female, tagged T563, hasn’t been seen for three days.

Today marked the first day this winter with more than 12 hours of daylight. The sunrise was at 7:21. The sunset was at 19:23. Each day adds three and a half minutes of light.

The pressure washing continues, in an effort to clean algae off the exterior walls of the buildings. Other maintenance tasks are happening like cleaning the solar panels, chopping wood, keeping the paths clear and running the desalinator. There is still lots of time leftover for watching the seal pups, eagles, pigeon guillemots and learning about this amazing place.

Yesterday, there were two tour boats in the ecological reserve. Today, Pearson College’s boat Second Nature and captain Greg came to deliver fuel for the generator. This afternoon, there was a pleasure craft touring, quite quickly at times,  around the islands. With lots of marine mammals in the water and along the shore, it’s important for people to drive at a slow speed in the ecological reserve.

Weekly Census

Posted on by

Wind: yesterday 0-19 knots from W then E, today 2-19 knots from N then W
Sea State: yesterday calm, today calm in am and rippled in pm
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: both days clear with cloudy patches throughout day
Temperature: yesterday 5-8 °C, today 4-6 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.23 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Six visitors briefly came to the island yesterday morning. Lawrence installed the new deck hatch he made for the station boat. Everyone helped transport and load eight of the old batteries onto the college boat to be taken back to the shore for recycling.

I ran the water pump for five hours to fill up the cistern with cleaner seawater.

Three tour boats were in the ecological reserve yesterday. Today, a dive boat had several divers in the water just north of North Rocks at slack tide in the mid morning.

There was a lot biodiversity in the ecological reserve today. Here are the results from the weekly census:
6 elephant seals (1 adult female, 2 adult males, 2 female pups, 1 male pup)
57 steller sea lions (all on Middle Rock)
50 california sea lions (19 on Great Race, 31 on Middle Rock)
52 harbour seals
1 sea otter
6 bald eagles (4 juveniles, 2 adults)
8 Canada geese
18 brandt’s cormorants
16 double-crested cormorants
35 pelagic cormorants
2 ravens
141 gulls (mostly thayer’s gulls)
14 black oystercatchers
1 whimbrel
86 pigeon guillemots
16 harlequin ducks
10 surfbirds
28 black turnstones
1 snow bunting
1 song sparrow
1 fox sparrow