This photograph taken at Race Rocks by Alex Fletcher in January 2012 was featured in the British Columbia Magazine Winter 2014. This female elephant seal (Squall) was born at Race Rocks and was successful in leaving theisland without injury.
Tag Archives: pup
The Long Weekend.
Fog followed an overcast dawn and was repetitively beaten back by sunshine throughout the day. While the sun was out, it was intense (900 Watts/meter2), but fog lingered just to the west and Beechey Head was repeatedly obscured as the fog came and went. Eventually in early evening, pushed by the west-southwest wind, the fog rolled back in and enveloped Race Rocks. For most of the day day the wind blew west a fairly steady, 10 – 15 knots. The fog wind was more intense though, pushing 25 – 30 knots. The barometer went up a bit in the morning and then, after noon it dropped by a little more than it had gone up, ending up at ~1014 hPa and falling. The forecast is for a strong wind warning, (more westerlies), mainly sunny, with a few clouds.
No whale watching vessels were observed in the Ecological Reserve today. Several private, sportsfishing boats went through at a respectful speed and they were not fishing in reserve. One rental boat from Pedder Bay Marina was fishing in the Rockfish Conservation Area on both the east and on the west side of the houses. The people seemed to know that they were not supposed to be there and were playing a bit of hide and seek. Two couples were all fishing for and keeping rockfish in the Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA). Whether or not they exceeded the limit for outside RCA (1 rockfish per day) is open for speculation.
Two large male Killer Whales were spotted travelling east, along the north edge of the Ecological Reserve in Race Passage. As is often the case with Bigg’s Killer Whales, they seemed to be evasive, perhaps exhaling underwater. They were spotted again near nNorth Rocks and then skirted around to the south. From their behavious, it is likely that these were Bigg’s Killer Whales.
It takes a lot less energy to play when suspended in water.
The Northern Elephant Seals have been sticking very close to shore during their swims, preferring the shallow sub-tidal in the bull kelp fringes. The young males who love to play fight when they are hauled out continue their sparring activity in the water. I wonder if the Bigg’s Killer Whales could hear them?
A small seal with new tags.
Another new (to me) Northern Elephant Seals showed up today, well tagged with #9836 on the right and #9807 on the left. All four tags looked really new as did the seal. The smallest one ashore since I arrived in March, it had almost completed its’ moult and the skin was looking too big for it, so I venture to guees that it has been hauling out on Middle Rock moulting for a while and came over to Great Race because of all the bustling seal activity here.
This small animal is starting to look like her skin is a bit too big for her.
Both routine chores and seasonal maintenance were accomplished today. The grated, aluminum ramp on the jetty was repaired and trouble-shooting completed on the Whaler’s electrical system. There were no new visitors today.
Feb 27-March 1
Feb 27: wind 10-20 knots N to NE, cloudy and some rain. 2 whale watching boats.
Chunk was back on the island again. As he came up from the boat ramp the female left the pup to get away from Chunk. Chunk spent a while sniffing the pup and then stayed with it for a while. Eventually he continued up the path but didnt pursue the female.
Feb 28: Sunny, wind 5-10 NE.
Working on cleaning, packing, finishing up a few projects for the upcoming end of my shift. Finally got around to finishing with the shoreline garbage sorting/inventory. This is all the garbage that washed up around the jetty during the past 3 months. The majority of it came in during the heavier NE wind storms. It includes: 82 lids, 9 lighters, 16 plastic straws, 6 pens, 106 shotgun shells of wadding, 5 shoes/sandals/soles, 12 plastic cigarette/cigar butts, 2 party balloons, as well as countless random plastic pieces, soft plastic and various size chunks of styrofoam.
March 1: Partly sunny, wind variable 10-20 knots, light rain in late afternoon/evening. The female elephant seal has now been away from the dead pup for a couple days, resting on the lawn in front of the main house. The ravens and eagles have begun eating the softer tissue on the pup’s face. Chunk has been very docile lying next to path on the way to the guest house, we have been passing back and forth past him for various tasks and he barely moves. The female has stayed by the main house, also very passive and resting.
Packing, cleaning and finishing up: cleaned tank room, did month end records, switched out empty propane, sealed compass on whaler, firewood stacking, topped up battery bank. Preparing for end of shift tomorrow and switch with Nick.
Virginie working on the woodpile
Feb 26, derrick, Yellow tag 5086
Wind E 10 increasing to 20 N. Cloudy, rain in evening. DND blasting continued.
Courtney came out in the morning and brought Kim. We worked most of the day on setting up the rest of the scaffolding, fixing the derrick cable, and taking down the scaffolding. Had the new wire rope installed and working by afternoon. Worked on fire wood and replaced (new) leaky pvc valve in desal with a brass one.
I was finally able to get a clear view of the female elephant seals yellow flipper tag, # 5086. Yellow tags indicate that this elephant seal comes from San Miguel Island or Santa Rosa Island. We have had several previous sightings of an eseal with a 5086 tag, including this sighting by Julie https://www.racerocks.ca/2012/07/07/new-and-old-faces/ but they were always green tags and this one is clearly yellow. At some point the pup’s body got flipped over and it is now possible to determine that it is male.
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- Yellow 5086
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- Male
Feb 22
Sunny, 5-10 knot East wind.
2 Personal Watercraft and 2 whale watchers in the reserve. There were several sports fishing boats around the reserve, counted over 25 in the area. I called and left a message with one whale watching company regarding one of their boats in the reserve and its proximity to marine mammals
Chris came out in the afternoon with Laura and Simon, Alison and 3 guests.
I worked on a few projects including: pvc cementing vent pipe on guest house toilet, re-caulking chute on the toilet with silicone, changed pre-filters on diesal, replaced a leaky ball valve on diesal, untangled snapped derrick cable, and cut and chopped firewood.
The female elephant seal has stayed by the pup’s body most of the day.
Feb 21, stillborn
Sunny, wind east 10 knots.
In the morning the shape of a dark elephant seal pup was visible from the house, next to the female elephant seal. The mother was very sleepy next to the pup which was not moving. The placenta looked very fresh. There were no signs of trauma to the pup, it seemed to have been dead at birth. The mother stayed close to the pup throughout the day, resting next to or along side it, and would occasionally smell and nudge it with her nose.
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- 730 am
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- placenta early morning
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- wounds along her back presumably from Chunk
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- she moved away after a few hours but returned to the pup later
Around noon there was a sea otter visible swimming, floating on its back and diving off the South West side of great race. I was able to get some photos which are the best I have been able to take of a sea otter here so far.
I went off island in the afternoon to bring back guests. We passed by West rock and there was one other female visible there quite a ways off the main area where they usually lie, out of reach of Chunk who lay alone in the usual e-seal area. I have not been seeing any females out there all week.
Our guests helped move and stack firewood. After returning to island I went to haul in a log on the derrick. The cable was getting stuck part way up, after lowering it and trying again it snapped. The log came crashing down into the water and I watched helplessly as the cable, which we had just fixed the week before, unraveled and dropped. On closer inspection the cable was quite frayed and crimped, seems like it had gotten slacked, twisted and then reversed on itself at some point creating a weakness. I had noticed previously that the up and down controls were reversed but couldnt figure out why.
There were 4 whale watching boats in the reserve
, some of them appeared to be getting closer than 100 meters from marine mammals.
Feb 9-10, off island and pup
Feb 9: Cloudy, wind light. Went off island in the morning to run errands and get groceries. Since it was a holiday and I didnt know it several of the stores I intended to go to were closed. Passed by West rock en route and was able to see elephant seal pup. Besides Chunk there were 4 good sized females and a pup bellow them on a rock ledge. The pup was calling for its mother, it looked like it was unable to get back up to where she was.
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- Elephant seals on West rock
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- 4 females, Chunk and pup
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- pup bellow females
Feb 10: Cloudy, wind west 30 knots in the morning dropping to 20 knots in the afternoon. Went off island in the afternoon. Took one chainsaw chain in for mechanical sharpening. Went to plumbing store to get replacement valve for desalinator and to get parts for adding a bypass drain in the vent pipe on the toilet in the guest house.
Feb 1-5
Feb 1: Cloudy with rain, wind N 10-15 knots. 1 dive boat and 2 kayaks in the reserve. The dive boat was observed with an anchor in use in the reserve which is not allowed except for in emergencies. Cut and chopped fire wood.
Feb 2: Rain, wind NE 10-15 knots in morning switching to West in afternoon, up to 30 knots. I went off island in the morning and attended the Pearson College staff meeting. Picked up Virginie at airport and groceries along the way back. Returned to island late afternoon as wind was starting to pick up.
Feb 3: Wind light, low visibility in the morning. Worked on month end report and DFO seawater data entry.
Feb 4: Cloudy, wind NE 15-20 knots. A coast guard helicopter landed on the pad before noon to do maintenance on the tower light. The pilot, Mike, and technician, Derrick, were on their way back from the Carmanah station. While waiting on the maintenance work I invited the pilot in for tea and heard some stories from his nearly 40 years of service including his experience piloting a helicopter out to the drilling rig the Ocean Ranger the night it sank in 1982 on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. They flew out knowing they didnt have enough fuel to make the return trip and would have to land on another drilling rig, in the storm, in order to re-fuel. By the time they arrived there were only bodies floating in the sea, all 84 crew members on the rig died.
Feb 5: Rain, wind NE becoming variable, 4 foot swells coming in from the NE in the morning, low visibility. Worked on finishing month end report and preparing guest house for visitors. At night, on my way to check the generator, I could hear elephant seal pup vocalizations coming from West rock. I hadn’t seen or heard any sign of the pup for several days, since last reported in the log.
Jan 27-29
Jan 27: NE wind 5-15 knots switching to west in the afternoon, 20 to 30 knots. Courtney brought Max out in the morning to check on connections for camera 5 and the underwater camera. I went off island in the afternoon to pick up Jeff and bring him out for a visit.
Jan 28: Cloudy in morning, cleared up in the afternoon. Wind East 10 to 15 knots. Brought Jeff back to college in the morning. On the way we went by West rock to look for the elephant seal pup but couldn’t see or hear it. Picked up deionized water, a UPS for the underwater camera, laser measurer for measuring crane height. Cleared a large piece of red cedar out of the jetty bay and roped a long piece of hemlock. Cut and chopped firewood in the sun. Latter that afternoon I could hear and see the pup again.
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- elephant seals on West Rock, from the boat.
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- female elephant seals on West Rock from, pup and mother on far right.
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- Chunk going after a female
Jan 29: mostly clear sky, wind NE 10 to 15 knots. Two pleasure craft in reserve. Worked on guest house toilet renovation: shortening platform, adding insulation, fitting, fastening and sealing poop chute.
Jan 22-26: fog, eagles, orcas
juvenile bald eagle on the tope of the crane boom
Jan 22: Misty, low visibility. Wind N 10-15 knots. 1 private pleasure craft in the reserve. Cut and chopped firewood.
Jan 23: Rain, wind N 10-15 knots. 1 ecotour vessel in the reserve. Followed up with eco tour company I spoke to a couple days ago about one of their boats, distance to mammals and avoiding disturbance. Also called a different eco tour charter company, that I hadn’t seen here before, about distance from mammals and speed in the vicinity of the rocks. Cut and chopped firewood. Could hear elephant seal pup again today.
juvenile bald eagle on one of the anemometers on top of the tower
Jan 24: A blanket of fog rolled in from the North in the morning reducing visibility and triggering fog horn including in the middle of the night. Periods of rain too. Two ecotour vessels in the reserve. Went off island around noon in the fog, navigated by GPS on boat with cell phone as back up. Picked up supplies in Colwood including extra chains, files and lube for the station chainsaw. Brought three guests back out with me in the afternoon to stay overnight. Sea was very calm on the way over and the fog had lifted enough to see to Port Angeles. The fog came back before dusk but lifted overnight.
Jan 25: Cloudy, light rain, light wind. 10-15 orcas passed through race passage going with the current, heading SW. I brought guests back to college around noon. On the way over we passed by elephant seal rock and were able to see the pup with its mother. It was on the West side of the mother, out of sight from the main island or tower cam. Came back out before dark.
Jan 26: Foggy in the morning, fog horn went off during the night. Cloudy throughout day, wind light. 1 ecotour vessel. Cut and chopped wood. Foggy again in the evening.