sea lion neck ring | Race Rocks Ecological Reserve-

Wind: W 16-37 knots
Sea State: calm in morning, up to 1m waves in afternoon and evening
Visibility: 0-15 NM
Sky: fog in morning and evening, clear in middle of day
Temperature: 11-16 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 411.60 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

There were two visitors mid afternoon from Pearson College to drop off supplies.

Here are some sights from around the island today:

: Bull kelp

: Black oystercatcher

: Harbour seal in the east bay

: A ring-necked california sea lion that was also spotted two days ago.

: A california sea lion on the western point of the ecological reserve. Beechey Head, in East Sooke Park, can be seen in the background.

: Part of a fishing lure that was brought up onto the rocks by a bird.

: Sea lions appear to be taking shelter from the strong west wind.

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).