February 3rd

Weather

  • Visibility:15 Miles
  • Wind: 0-15 NW
  • Sky: Cloudy
  • Water: Calm

Boats/Visitors

  • a couple ecotours went by today

Ecological

  • Some photos included of a possibly wounded female juvenile elephant seal that showed up yesterday that I haven’t seen since

Notes

  • finally replaced the flag, because the old one was getting pretty worn out, one of the red stripes was gone
  • ran the diesel and topped up the fresh water tank

Feb 2nd

Weather

  • Visibility:15 Miles
  • Wind: 10-30 NW
  • Sky: Cloudy
  • Water: Choppy, under a metre

Boats/Visitors

  • Kyle stopped by to give some Pearson College students a quick tour

Ecological

  • The first pups mom left last night, the pup seems to be doing well, no other elephant seals have really bothered her

Notes

  • DND was blasting today, shook the house pretty good

Census and Visitors

Weather

  • Visibility:15 Miles
  • Wind: 0-10 NE
  • Sky: Cloudy
  • Water: Calm

Boats/Visitors

  • a few ecotours went by today
  • I  had a couple visitors come from the college to take a little tour around the island

Ecological

  • Another mature female elephant seal showed up this morning, I am unsure if she is pregnant but I guess we will find out in a couple days

Census

  • Stellar Sea Lions – 92
  • California Sea Lions – 117
  • Harbour Seals – 22
  • Elephant Seals – 11 – 5 males, 4 female and 2 pups
  • Cormorants – 97
  • Gulls – 204
  • Eagles –12
  • Black Turnstones – 33
  • Black Oystercatchers – 34
  • Geese – 4
  • Harlequin Duck – 14

Jan 31st

Weather

  • Visibility:15 Miles
  • Wind: 0-10 NE
  • Sky: Cloudy
  • Water: Calm

Boats/Visitors

  • quite a few fishing boats went by

Ecological

  • Got a photo of the juvenile female on the east side of the island, her tail was tagged D-018, she seemed to be doing alright, no clear injuries
  • The younger pup seems to be cuddling up to both moms quite a bit, she tried to nurse off the other mom again, I didn’t catch her actually nursing off the other mom but included a photo of her trying
  • I suspect the new pup is female as well but I am not completely sure

Notes

  • quite a bit of the roofing came off the tank shed in the last big storm a couple days, I collected it and managed to get most of it in one spot

Surf Scoter

Weather

  • Visibility:10-15 Miles a fog bank came in for a bit this afternoon
  • Wind: 0-30 SW
  • Sky: Cloudy, foggy a bit of sun late afternoon
  • Water: Calm

Boats/Visitors

  • saw a helicopter go by, not many boats

Ecological

  • there is another female on the island, she looks very small, maybe a year old
  • the pups are interacting and the new pup is cozy with the other mom and thats fine with her but the moms get aggressive with each other sometimes
  • also there were some Surf Scoters in front of the jetty

Notes

  • DND was blasting  abit today, the fog horn was going for a bit, it was a sort of eventful day here

Another New Pup

Weather

  • Visibility:15 Miles
  • Wind: 10-40 SW
  • Sky: Cloudy, some sun today
  • Water: Choppy, about 1 metre

Boats/Visitors

  • didn’t see anyone out there

Ecological

  • Another female showed up this morning, I noticed her around 8 am and she gave birth at about 2 pm

Guillemots are back

I just received this email from Pam Birley ” The Pigeon Guillemots are back !   They are even earlier this year.   It is usually February when I first see them.”     Thanks Pam for the observation from Leiscester England! Laas has also been out getting pictures of them.

 

It is also interesting to note that the elephant seal pup is doing very well this year. As Ecoguardian Laas Parnell has noted the one large male tends to keep the others on the island at bay. Hopefully this year the pup can survive once the mother leaves and it becomes a weaner. In most of the past years since pups first started being born on the island, aggressive males have led to a tragic end. I have requested BC Parks and DFO to produce a policy on what support can be offered in the event a pup is injured in the crucial period before it goes to the ocean after its month long weaning period. So far this has not been acted upon, so again this year it will be left up to chance, and hopefully the so-far protective bull will remain that way. The following pictures are from Camera1 at the top of the tower on Race Rocks.

Jan 23rd, 2018

Weather

  • Visibility:15 Miles
  • Wind: 10-20 NE
  • Sky: Cloudy
  • Water: Waves are 1-2 metres

Boats/Visitors

  • haven’t seen any ecotours today

Ecological

  • the elephant seals are all doing well
  • as are the sea lion

Notes

  • Spent some time in the lighthouse last night due to the tsunami warning
  • everything is all good here today though
  • this large log did wash up onto the jetty a couple days ago, not sure how we are going to move that