Tag Archives: sea lion

A Strong Breeze

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles with occasional fog interludes
  • Wind: 20-25 knots NE, later down to 15
  • Sky: showers
  • Water: choppy, especially in Middle Channel where waves and current collided.
  • The foghorn went off for a minute or so in the afternoon.

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Ecological

  • Still lots of sea lions on and around the jetty.
  • Lots of Canada Geese on the island.

Maintenance

  • Yesterday at 21:30 the windspeed display showed 00.0 despite clear wind.
  • It started working again sometime in the early morning.
  • The usual chores.

Boats

  • A few eco-tours came by in the afternoon.
  • One of them was here when the foghorn went off.

hark-a-boat-26-10

Incredible Sunset

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 10-15 knots North
  • Sky: overcast, later some blue sky
  • Water: 2′ chop, later calm

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Ecological

  • Lots more sea lions on and around the jetty.

Maintenance

  • The usual chores.
  • Tried to move the dead sea lion for the 3rd time.
  • Too heavy for me no matter what I try.

Boats

  • Several eco-tours came by in the afternoon when the water calmed down.

Sea Lion house damage

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0-10 knots West, later NE
  • Sky: Mix of sun and clouds
  • Water: choppy in the morning, calm later on

 

Ecological

  • The sea lions are far less prevalent on the inner part of the island now.
  • Saw California Sea Lion U105.

Maintenance

  • Somehow the sea lions have managed to break a pipe attached to the students’ house.
  • I’m not sure what kind of wire was in the pipe, but it was ripped out and broken.
  • Whatever it is, it seems to run into the disused basement workshop.

Boats

  • Ogden Point Dive boat had divers down in Middle Channel this morning.
  • Saw a sailboat pass by, as well as a few eco-tours.

Fence Repositioning

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Weather

  • The 7:00 weather report.
  • Visibility: 15 miles (later all the way to Mt. Baker!)
  • Wind: 10-15 knots NE (later zero)
  • Sky: overcast (later some rain)
  • Water: calm with a 2′ surge

Ecological

  • I saw an American robin for the first time out here.

Maintenance

  • With the sea lions definitively gone from the east part of the inner island I saw fit to remove that electric fence.
  • I began reassembling said fence along the middle walkway to help combat the flood of sea lions who have recently begun to encroach upon the buildings.
  • Tried to haul away the dead California sea lion but he is too heavy for me.
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New fence working wonders!

Boats

  • Saw a handful of eco-tours.

 

A Real Gale

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Weather

  • 7:00 weather report.
  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knots N
  • Sky: overcast with showers and lightning!
  • Water: rippled
  • Larger waves by noon.
  • Wind and rain picked up in the afternoon.
  • By 17:00 wind up to 50 knots W. House shaking.
  • By 18:20 down to an average of 20 knots West.

Ecological

  • Birds mostly hunkered down on the ground today.
  • Some sea lions surfing in the large waves.

Maintenance

  • All basic daily chores completed.

Boats

  • No boats seen in the reserve.

The Advancement Team

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 10-15 NE
  • Sky: clear
  • Water: rippled
  • The first of three storms is expected to arrive tonight, bringing rain and wind.
  • A rather calm day though, with exquisite views of Mt. Baker!

Ecological

  • The elephant seals were in a playful mood today.

Maintenance

  • Reset the electric fence.
  • Stacked firewood.
  • Ran the new sea water pump into the cistern with Kyle’s help.
  • Looked at probably a dozen different systems and areas of concern with Kyle.
  • As ready as possible for the storm.

Boats

  • Second Nature brought the Advancement Team out today.
  • The Ogden Point Dive boat was in Middle Channel.
  • A few fishing boats and eco-tours passed by.

Visitors

  • Kyle and the Advancement Team.
  • The A’ Team is in charge of raising funds for Pearson College and Race Rocks.

The Chores before the Storm

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles (Mt. Baker clearly visible!)
  • Wind: 15-20 NW in the morning, then down to 5 SE.
  • Sky: clear
  • Water: 1′ chop
  • Storm warning for Wednesday night thru to Sunday.
  • Expecting winds of over 40 knots and as much as 8″ of rainfall.

Ecological

  • The sea lions have been mostly absent from the NE part of the island for a few days now.
  • This makes sleeping much easier.
  • The 6 elephant seals were in the middle of the island today.
  • Heard the Pacificr wren somewhere in the lantern room, but could not see it.

6-elephant-seals-11-10

Maintenance

  • Finally able to fix the electric fence near the generator with the elephant seals elsewhere.
  • Ran the desalinator in the afternoon.
  • Put the new end piece onto the salt water hose.
  • Took note of what needs to be dealt with before the storm.
  • Cleaned the student house windows as best I could.
  • Swept the main floor of said house in preparation for tomorrow’s Advancement Team meeting.

Boats

  • A few boats today.

Broken Bench

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0-5 knots NW, later SE
  • Sky: clear
  • Water: calm

Ecological

  • 6 elephant seals on Great Race today.
  • 2 of them prevented me from fully fixing the electric fence.
  • No sign of the winter wren in the lighthouse.

Maintenance

  • Reset the electric fence as best I could.
  • Discovered that the sea lions had completely destroyed the SW facing bench.
  • A metal bench with wooden seat, all the boards were snapped.
  • Hauled away the pieces.
  • Wood for future burning, metal for rebuilding with new wood.

Boats

  • Quite a few boats out today on a glorious Thanksgiving.
  • Several seemed to be too close to the sea lions near the jetty.

Rainbow!

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Weather

  • Visibility: 5 miles in the morning, 15 later on.
  • Wind: 10-15 knots NE
  • Sky: overcast, periods of sun, periods of rain.
  • Water: calm
  • Rainbow in the afternoon!

rainbow-4-10

Ecological

  • Saw several branded sea lions but they have already been reported recently.
  • X611, U400 etc.

Maintenance

  • Usual chores.
  • Ran the desalinator in the evening.

Boats

  • Several eco-tours came by today.
  • Noticed four leaving at once in the afternoon.

4-boats-leaving-reserve-4-10

FOG

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Weather

  • Visibility: At times down to 1/8 of a mile. Average of 5 miles today.
  • Wind: 5-10 knots N
  • Sky: lots of fog
  • Water: calm
  • The fog rolled in and out a few times. Often quite thick.

Ecological

  • One elephant seal was spied slumbering amongst the sea lions.
  • He didn’t seem too impressed by their antics whenever I walked by.

Maintenance

  • Had to reattach the electric fence again.
  • The usual chores.

Boats

  • A few boats about. Nothing major to report.

Other

  • Found some sort of a sign in the rocks by the ramp.

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