Tag Archives: river otter

Angry birds

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Clear skies. Moderate to strong West wind. Force 5.
The barometer has levelled out around 1007.0 hPa. The forecast is for the moderate to strong West winds to continue.
Big tides and currents these past few days: Low tide is 0.3m and high tide is 2.3m today, and the current is running -6.1kn and +5.6kn.

17 tour boats
6 recreational boats
3 boats fishing on the edge of the reserve

There could be two Cackling geese on the island, or it might just be two small, scruffy Canada Geese, it’s pretty hard to tell. I saw a Canada goose attack a Gull today and break the Gulls wing. I also saw a Gull chase a Canada Goose away from its nest. Lots of antagonistic birds with all this nesting. Judging by the disaster that I have to wash off the solar panels every day, the Gulls are capitalizing on these low tides and catching lots of small fish. I find entire fish skeletons and lots of scales among all the poop on the solar panels. The Elephant seals spent most of the day in the water by the jetty. There are 5 super fat and healthy-looking California Sea lions hanging out on/making a mess of the jetty. I saw the river otter sneak up from the water by the crane and hang out under the crane deck. I think it has a hole/home somewhere under the walkway between the crane deck and the tank shed. I have only ever seen a single otter, but I wonder if it is two and I just never see them together.

I will go as far to say that two recreational fishing boats almost wrecked on the South seal rocks today, but they probably don’t even know how close they came to doom. Two rental boats from Pedder Bay marina came ripping East to West between Great Race and the South seal rocks (which is about a 30m gap). It was pretty close to max flood with the water moving at about 5kn. By sheer luck, they both made it past the rock slab of the South Seal rocks, but I heard one of the boats bottom out on a rock turning around the South-West corner of great race. Thankfully that made him turn away from Great Race because he was headed straight for a very shallow, very sold rock that sits just below the surface. I reported it to the Pedder Bay Marina since they have asked that we contact them when their rental boats are in the reserve. Boating tip from Race Rocks: if there is a patch of ocean that looks like a river, with standing waves and whirlpools, go around it not through it.

-started spring cleaning the Keeper’s house
-pulled nails and tacks from walls, puttied, and did some paint touch ups in the Keeper’s house
-painted upstairs door frames in Keeper’s house

Spring Equinox

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Clear skies. Variable North-East to South-East winds.
Waning gibbous moon, only one low day-time tide (~1m), and 4 to 5 kt currents.

I’m a day late, but Spring has officially arrived as determined by the sun crossing over the celestial equator.
There was a lot of Harbour seals out on Middle and Turbine rocks today. The Elephant seals are on the West Rocks. The Sea lions are still out on South Rocks. There was a large group of Harlequin ducks (14) in the water off the East beach. Cormorants were arriving in the reserve all day so assume my count dramatically under-estimates their numbers. The Canada geese with the nest next to the Keeper’s house have two eggs now. None of the other pairs of Geese seem to have settled enough to have eggs. The gulls are starting to pair up and settle into nesting spots. Amazingly, there were 7 Bald Eagles in the Reserve this morning. Most of them were sitting in pairs on the tops of various rocks. They were a fairly even mix of juveniles and adults. I saw a few sandpiper-like birds, but they were too fast for me to photograph or properly identify. Judging by the smell coming from the tank shed walkway, there is still a River otter living out here. And I saw some Scoters in the mouth of Pedder Bay on my way into the college this morning.

2 Tour boats

First Day of Spring Animal Census

Steller Sea lion: 31
California Sea lion: 6
Elephant seal: 3
Harbour seal: 144
Cormorant: 54
Gull: 133
Canada Goose: 15
Harlequin duck: 17
Black turnstone: 5
Unidentified sandpiper: 3
Oyster catcher: 6
Bald eagle: 7
Savannah sparrow:4
Pigeon Guillemots: 25
River otter: 1

Off station today from 0830 to 1030 to get keys and dive gear.
-fixed sagging corner on crane deck/walkway
-checked/cleaned Science House propane cleanout

Photos from the past of couple weeks

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Elephant seal!!

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Clear skies. Strong NE winds. 4-5ft wind waves this morning. The wind and the waves eased by the evening.

This weather is making my departure day a bit unsure, but it is totally worth it because it made the HUGE male elephant seal that’s been lounging on Middle Rock come over to Great Race. He spent the day on the grass next to the energy building. Whoa! He is way bigger than I thought. Despite his size, it is impossible to take him seriously with that massive nose. Since I have never been formally introduced to the Elephant seal I am assuming that this is the one that previous Eco-guardians named Chunk  because of the scars from Misery on his back.

See sparring in previous post https://www.racerocks.ca/2013/06/10/les-miserables/

At lunch time today the River otter was rolling around in the sun on the wood platform by the crane. I think it lives under the walkway.

-worked on SOPs
-Did a final shift-change tidy

winter has arrived

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Mostly clear skies. Strong West wind. Cold.
Gusted up to 50 kts last night. At dawn it snowed and hailed briefly, and was sunny and raining at the same time.
On top of being chained to the house, I had to lash the propane tanks together with a block of wood between them to keep them from banging into each other in the wind.

There was nothing to count for the Recreational Fishing count today.

A bald eagle visited Great Race briefly and I saw a River otter next to the tank shed.
There are still quite a few Sea lions on the South and East sides of the island.

-sent in my month end report
-sent seawater data to IOS
-took down electric fences
-organized tank shed
-edited SOPs
-cleaned Keeper’s House
 

river otter

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Cloudy. Strong West wind.
2 Eco-tour boats.

I saw a river otter scurry down the rock bluff by the boat ramp. Earlier in the season there was one living under the pile of wood next to the tank shed, maybe it moved a little down the path and now lives under the crane platform. This could also be a critter that is leaving broken and emptied urchin shells on the end of the jetty.

Erik brought out David Hawley + adivsees in the late afternoon to spend the night.
The replacement solar panel arrived. And Erik took away fuel spill rags and the jugs to fill with deionized water for battery top up.

Busy Times

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A lot is going on in and around the reserve. I spotted 6 Caspian Terns in area over the last week. Twice orca have gone past, though at the northern boundary, well-observed by tourists on the excursion vessels that are now very frequent visitors. There is a River Otter now living under walkway in front. 

This morning 9 Elephant Seals were present, a new record! At least to me… They include Numbers 6355, 6360, 6397, 5086, Bertha, Noah – young male 3-4 yo est.), 2 untagged 2-3 yo juveniles, AND, happily the sad seal with the infected mouth that suffered for weeks on the end of the pier returned, and she is looking great! I had observed that after one of the sharp pieces of jaw bone that was protruding from her lower palate fell out she quickly returned to the water to find sustenance; she was very skinny and weak at the time.  Although her mouth is still repairing and healing itself it is clear she was able to feed well and she must have gained 40 kgs in fat in 5 weeks. I am astounded and impressed with the recuperative powers of these magnificent creatures.

 


Black Oystercatcher

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Our three newest black oystercatcher chicks are doing quite well. They’ve left the nest and are now in the rocky area just beside the jetty. There are several other families on this side of the island, notably one beside the winch house and one in the east bay. There’s also a family or two over in the west surge channel. Most gulls have now settled down into their nests with mating coming to a close. Pam reports a nest up near the fresh water pool is about to hatch; be sure to keep your eye on that one over the next few days! I’ve noticed on several occasions some broken eggs scattered on the grass around the island. Probable cause: the otter. I saw it scampering across the winch pad the other evening, much to the gulls’ discontentment. There’s also a dead gull up beside the base of the tower; it’s been there for a few days now considering the state of decomposition. I expect that it was killed in a territorial fight. Gulls are very territorial birds and will aggressively defend an area of about one metre in radius (with exceptions) around their nest. Any other gull who infringes upon this territory will be the subject of an intense attack (http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamharding/3858558278/in/set-72157622022028013/) by the owners of that piece of waterfront real estate. Territorial defence is actually one of the reasons why it is important to keep human traffic down in the reserve during gull season: once chicks hatch, any disturbances that cause them to stray from their native territory into another family’s territory will result in retaliation by the adults of that foreign territory. Chicks are usually helpless to the attacks and will be ruthlessly killed.

We have three elephant seals hauled up on Great Race: Misery is up near the engine room, Bertha is behind the tank room and #4252 is on the concrete area at the top of the jetty. 4252 seems to be a bit unwell these days; I’ve recently observed her breathing heavily and coughing, and her spittle is often flecked with blood. Garry suggests that she could be going through her moult; however, females typically moult in April and May, sub-adult males moult in May and June and adult males moult in July and August. Considering that Misery has now completed his moult and is a breeding male, I’d expect that 4252, a young female, certainly would have by now. I’ll be keeping my eye on her over the next bit. There is still an elephant seal out on Middle Rock. Bertha is now most likely approaching the beginning of her seven month gestation period. Female elephant seals come into heat 24 days after giving birth. However, after mating, the fertilized egg does not implant in the wall of the uterus for up to four months, a rare phenomenon called “delayed implantation”. The currently favoured theory is that the female is to weak after giving birth and nursing that she doesn’t have enough energy to nurture the egg. However, once implantation does occur, the actual gestation period is seven months. This gives a total of eleven months and explains the yearly cycle we see. So, if Bertha gave birth and mated in late February, her egg is most likely reaching the implantation stage right now, late June. I expect that in a few weeks gestation will be well underway. I saw a hummingbird pass by my window this morning. I’m not sure how common they are around here. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a picture as it only briefly flew by.
Sea lions are at a seasonal low right now as the California variety move south to breed for the summer while most of the northern variety move northwards for the summer.

More solar panels installed

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Orcas were spotted along the boundary of the reserve at several points throughout the day today.Our little friend the injured elephant seal has not been seen for several days now. However, the other young seal, possibly a male, was hauled up on the jetty last night.The number of sea lions continues to grow, as does the reach of their haul outs. A particularly stubborn and rather aggressive fellow was inhabiting the jetty this afternoon.Seagull chicks are beginning to lift off. Unfortunately, many are being found to have met their demise at the hands of the river otter which seems to frequent the island regularly these days.Two contractors from Home Energy Solutions in Victoria were here today to install new solar panels.  Adam, 22:41:06.

Lontra canadensis: River Otter–The Race Rocks Taxonomy

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raisanov410ottereat

This otter has just caught a female kelp greenling. I consider this one of the best ecological pictures of the year at Race Rocks–Photo by Raisa Mirza Nov 4 2010

 

Location of River Otters at Race Rocks:

rmmar09lontra

Ryan took these photos of a rover otter in March 2009. The otter was coming out of the water on the East side of great Race.

The river otter Lontra canadensis, formerly Lutra canadensis, does not really have a natural habitat at Race Rocks because they usually inhabit small bays and inlets around Vancouver Island. However they have in the past made homes in holes under man-made paths and buildings at Race Rocks. They currently have made a home under a pile of rocks formed when the Coast Guard blasted the island to make a helicopter pad in the late seventies. Most of the other man-made habitats have been eliminated. Interesting local ecology/behaviour/adaptations:
The river otter is the largest of the family Mustiladae. It is a metre or more  in length with around a third of its body taken up by its tail. It has webbed feet and claws which are useful for use in the marine and terrestrial environments in which they live.
They have thick fur with long hairs enabling them to survive low temperatures. Ryan took this image of otter tracks at Race Rocks in December 2008 when we had a few weeks of cold weather and the snow actually stayed for a few days.

rmmar09lontra2

See more photos of Ryan Murphy on his Flickr website:

When diving in murky waters through which they cannot see properly they use their whiskers to detect prey. River otters are able to communicate with each other using chirps, whistles, chatters, chuckles, screams and growls.They are one of the most playful species constantly sliding on the ground, chasing each other.

Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
Subfamily: Lutrinae
Genus: Lontra
Species: canadensis pacifica (Schreber, 1977)
Common Name: River Otter

ottertrackThey have thick fur with long hairs enabling them to survive low temperatures. Ryan took this image of otter tracks at Race Rocks in December 2008 when we had a few weeks of cold weather and the snow actually stayed for a few days.

When diving in murky waters through which they cannot see properly they use their whiskers to detect prey. River otters are able to communicate with each other using chirps, whistles, chatters, chuckles, screams and growls.They are one of the most playful species constantly sliding on the ground, chasing each other.
Distribution elsewhere:
They occur along the Coast of Vancouver Island, often frequenting bays and estuaries and coastal marshes. The closest area where they are regularly found is Pedder Bay. There, we frequently see them on the college docks and on the southern shoreline. . Along streams and rivers in most of midwest and southwest USA (except Hawaii) they are common. Their population and density however varies with location. They can become a pest when they move onshore under buildings near the water.Their dead food and droppings create a disagreeable odor. They also can be vicious when cornered by humans or dogs.
Feeding particulars:
The river otter usually feeds on quite a variety of organisms, fish (herring mostly), seagulls (baby ones and eggs), crabs and shrimp. At Race Rocks they revert to birds and their eggs when the supply of herring is low. In July,1998 they wiped out the nests of black oyster catchers. They were also a threat to guillemot nests and were seen  digging away rocks to get to the nests. Whether the pigeon guillemot escaped or not is not known. Glaucous winged gull chicks are also victims. Man made habitat such as space under walkways and under buildings were removed in 2000 resulting in fewer occurrences of them on the islands.

Reproduction:

River otters usually mature at 2 years of age. Females usually get pregnant after three years. Males breed at around 5 years. See this slide show. They have litters of 1-6 with the usual amount being two or three children (kits)per mother. Female river otters have the ability to delay implantation. The young usually stay a year in the womb with a 60 day gestation period. They are quite helpless at birth and are blind. They open their eyes at around 3 weeks. The kits can take care of themselves at 5 or 6 months. However the family usually sticks together for an extra 2 months or until another litter is born.

The river otter breeds in March-April and give birth in late winter/early spring.
otterThis photo was taken in February, 2008
on the remote camera 5 by Pam Birley. The otter is seen coming out of the rock pile and moving over to the water. Below is a series of images taken by PB on February 29, 2008.

Other Posts on River Otters at Race Rock

Other posts on the Class Mammalia at Race Rocks

taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams. Garry Fletcher2003