Tag Archives: sea lion

March 13 – Finding Nests and Making Water

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Cloudy with sunny breaks
Wind: 2-14 knots, NE in morning SE in afternoon
Air temperature: Low 8.7°C, High 11.3°C
Ocean temperature: 9.0°C

A bazaar of 27 pigeon guillemots spent the morning on the wharf, nearby rocks and occasionally gathering in the water to float through Middle Channel. They appeared to be checking out nesting sites on the rocks between the wharf and helicopter pad. They like nesting in the crevices and under the blasted rocks on the northwest side of Great Race.

The visiting students helped unroll the fire hoses to pump salt water into the cistern, which is underground between the lighthouse and the Ecoguardian’s house. The water from the cistern is pumped through the desalinator. This afternoon, the desalinator ran for eight hours, producing about 700 litres of fresh water.

There were three eco tour boats and two recreational boats in the ecological reserve today.

Shift Change?

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The wind blew from the northeast between 17 and 27 knots. At 15:00, the wind died down a bit, blowing between 12 and 14 knots for several hours. The barometer dropped from 1014 hPa to 1008 hPa. The sky was clear, with some clouds in the south. Whitecaps rolled in from the northeast, calming down in the early afternoon. The temperature reached a high of 6.7oC at 15:00.

There was one whale watching boat seen in the reserve.

The winds, swell and tides combined to allow me to stay another day on the Rock. Between my time mopping the floors and tidying up inside the buildings, I observed sea lions through the binoculars. There were no branded or entangled sea lions observed. They all appear healthy. Many have moved on from Race Rocks, probably to go further up the west coast of Vancouver Island.  It will be interesting to see how many are still here. We will have to wait until tomorrow’s census to find out.

End of Shift

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The wind blew from the northeast at 13-26 knots.  A small swell with whitecaps blew in from the northeast.  The barometer dropped from 1024 hPa to 1015 hPa.  The temperature reached a high of 5oC at 15:00.

There were no boats seen within the reserve today.

Everyday there appears to be fewer gulls and sea lions in the reserve.  An official count will happen on Thursday with the census.  There are still a lot of cormorants congregating on the shores of Great Race, as well as Turbine Rock and North Rocks.  The harbour seals are hauling out at low tides on various rocky ledges close to the shoreline.

Today was filled with cleaning and wrapping up some tasks that I’ve been doing while here for the past five weeks: construction in the basement of the Marine Science Centre, sorting out photos, and cutting up firewood that was collected at the shore and piled up by the tank house to get the salt rinsed off by the rain. Tomorrow is a shift change that will see Alex arrive for the winter shift.  I’ve had a great time as the Ecoguardian, learning lots from the species and history of this beautiful piece of land and sea.

Sun and Calm Seas

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The wind blew from the north between 13-15 knots, until 10:00 this morning.  Then the wind shifted towards to northeast and calmed down to between 2-9 knots.  The sea was very calm, with no swells or whitecaps.  The barometer rose from 1020 hPa to 1024 hPa. The temperature increased slowly throughout the day from 1-4oC.

There were no boats seen in the reserve today.

If solar panels could be happy, they would have been happy today.  The sun shone brightly, juicing up the photovoltaic cells.  It wasn’t enough to melt all of the snow and ice, which remains in patches around the islands.  Some of the plants have begun to wilt from the prolonged cold weather.

I made a trip into Pedder Bay this afternoon.  Having been solo for the past two weeks at Race Rocks, it was great to catch up with some students and staff at Pearson.  I also dropped off garbage and picked up gas.  The northern half of Pedder Bay was frozen over with ice that was 2-3cm thick.  It made boat travel tricky.  Luckily there was a lane of broken ice just wide enough for the Boston Whaler to travel from the Pearson dock to the Pedder Bay Marina, where the gas was filled.  Unlike driving a car on ice, a boat stops when you hit ice, so it’s much easier to handle.  On the return trip to Race Rocks, I saw a large group of surf scoters between the mouth of the Pedder Bay and Race Rocks.

Cold, Sea Lion Brands and Beautiful Sunset

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The wind blew from the northeast, between 15 and 25 knots.  The barometer rose in the morning from 1024 hPa and then dropped to 1020 hPa.  The visibility was unlimited, with great views of Mt. Baker and many other wonders of the Salish Sea.  The temperature reached a high of 2oC as I am writing this at 21:00.

The dive boat from Ogden Point visited at 11:00.  The group was diving around Middle Rock.

I was going to leave on the Race Rocks boat this morning for a short trip into Pedder Bay to drop off garbage and pick up gas.  A lot of garbage is being swept onto the shores of the ecological reserve.  I thought I had a good window to get away from the jetty. Although, the northeasterly swell started to pick up just as I was putting the boat in the water.  The waves were too high as they rolled into the jetty, so I changed my plans and raised the boat back into the boat house.

Two branded sea lions were spotted today.  See the photos and captions below for 359Y and 975Y.  In November there were 20 different brands spotted around Race Rocks. Many of those california and steller sea lions had never been spotted before at Race Rocks.

I collected depth soundings from all the tanks around campus for the month end report. 475L of diesel was used over the past month to power the generator and heat the houses. Last year in November, 737L of diesel was used.  The reduction of diesel use by a third  this year has come from increased power output from the solar array as well as the wood stove, which was installed last winter in the Ecoguardian’s House.  There are lots more changes being made to transition to more sustainable power sources.  Stay tuned to this blog to read about them as they are introduced.

Snow Day!

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The wind was howling up to 38 knots from the north northeast last night, bringing with it a low of -2oC and a couple centimetres of snow.  The temperature stayed just below 0oC for the rest of the day.  The barometer rose from 999 hPa to 1022 hPa throughout the day, making for a bluebird sky.  During the daylight hours, the wind continued to blow from the north northeast between 10 and 20 knots.

There was one whale watching boat seen in the reserve in the mid afternoon.  Six divers from Ogden Point were exploring the undersea world of the reserve in the late morning.

The snow didn’t seem to faze the animals.  The sea lions barked just as loud and the bald eagles tormented the gulls just as much.  Some of the snow melted from the sun.  There is still ice on some of the paths and rocks, as well as a light dusting of snow on the grass and in the places that were shaded by buildings and rocks.

Other than taking photos of snow, the tasks of the day included: running the desalinator, topping up the batteries with the generator, deconstructing the old washroom in the basement of the Marine Science Centre to accommodate the new composting toilet (it’s almost finished), fixing the wheelbarrow, testing the salinity and temperature of the water, and doing a load of laundry.

Peregrine, Eagles and Wind

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The wind gusts reached 39 knots from the west this morning.  The general wind trend throughout the day was between 11 and 32 knots from the west, with slight fluctuations to the north and south.  The barometer generally went down from 1001 hPa to 997 hPa, with a few dips upwards as the sun broke through the clouds.

The approaching Arctic blast of cold weather will bring a chance that the thermometer might drop from 7oC to below 0oC tonight for the first time in a while.  Heating coils and warm thoughts have been deployed around the buildings to prevent pipes from freezing.

There was one whale watching boat seen in the reserve at 12:30.  A couple boats gathered to view humpback whales to the east of the reserve in the mid afternoon.

There were a couple of bald eagles around for most of the day, one adult and one juvenile. At 10:00 in the morning, a peregrine falcon was chasing after the juvenile eagle over the north of Great Race and Middle Channel.  The size difference of the eagle and peregrine took me by surprise.  I had never seen the much smaller peregrine next to a bald eagle. This might be the same peregrine that Pam Birley has seen over the past week.  It had dark chest feathers, which indicates it is a juvenile peregrine falcon.

The desalinator worked hard today to make about 800 litres of fresh water.  With a maximum output of 1.5 litres per minute, the desalinator is a very energy intensive way to create water.  Although, when the water is heated and added to a mix of leaves, spices and herbs, it makes great tea.  A necessity for Race Rocks.

Weekly Census

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The wind varied in velocity and direction throughout the day.  Fog settled in overnight as the wind blew between 15-25 knots from the southwest.  In the daylight hours, the wind blew from the south and west between 7-32 knots.  The barometer dropped slightly from 1008 hPa to 1004 hPa.  It was overcast with patches of sun and rain throughout the day. The temperature reached a high of 12.8oC at noon.

There was one whale watching boat seen in the reserve, in the mid afternoon.

I saw humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) twice today, both times from the kitchen window.  The whales were surfacing just south of Great Race Rocks, within the boundaries of the Ecological Reserve.  At 9:30am, I saw two humpbacks blow, surface and dive westward.  At 3:20pm, I saw one humpback surface and dive eastward.  I am not positive if they were different whales, so I counted them as two in the census.

Two branded steller sea lions were seen seen today.  76Y was a pup in 2002 when it was branded in St. George Reef, California.  443Y was branded in 2013, when it was a pup at Rogue Reef, Oregon.

Here are the results of the weekly census:

Humpback Whale: 2
Steller Sea Lion: 244
California Sea Lion: 216
Harbour Seal: 39
Northern Elephant Seal: 4
Bald Eagle: 5 (2 adults, 3 juveniles)
Canada Goose: 18
Crow: 2
Harlequin Duck: 4
Double Crested Cormorant: 61
Pelagic Cormorant: 142
Black Oystercatcher: 25
Gull: 411
Black Turnstone: 8
Rock Sandpiper: 6
Surfbird: 11
Savannah Sparrow: 2
Fox Sparrow: 2

Birds and Sea Lion Brands

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The wind was calm, not rising above 10 knots.  It blew from the northeast, swinging around to the south in the middle of the day, and settling on the east at night.  The barometer dropped from 1020 hPa to 1009 hPa, with a few short rises throughout the day.  The temperature reached a high of 10.8oC, at the ground station.

There was one whale watching boat seen in the reserve, just before sunset.

Pam Birley, the dedicated webcam viewer from the UK, spotted a peregrine falcon again this morning.  She was able to capture a photo of the peregrine from Camera 1, see below.  Pam thinks it’s a young one, because it has dark brown chest feathers.

I wasn’t able to spot the peregrine, but I saw two branded steller sea lions.  See the photos below of brands 205Y and 405Y.  The steller sea lion branded 405Y was born in 2013, at Rogue Reef, Oregon.  The steller sea lion branded 205Y is a female born in 2004 at St. George’s Reef, California.   The sea lion is well known to Pat Gearin, from the NOAA. Pat emailed me with some details about the sea lion: “She is an unusual animal because she has not returned to CA to have her pups but instead has settled at Carroll Island, WA where she has had at least two pups over the last 4 years.  I think the animal next to her in your first photo may be her juvenile which is still nursing.  Steller’s sometimes nurse their pups for over 2 years.”

Fog Looks Loud from a Distance

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The wind gusted overnight up to 28 knots from the west.  It decreased in the early hours and switched around to the northeast, blowing between 6 and 17 knots.  The barometer rose slightly in the first half of the day, from 1019 hPa to 1024 hPa at 11:00, afterwards dropping to 1020 hPa.  There was a light rain for most of the daylight hours, with low cloud cover and fog looming around Race Rocks.  The visibility was between 1 and 2 nautical miles.  In the evening, the visibility increased between the periods of rain.

There were no boats seen in the reserve today.

The fire pump got a good nonemergency workout today, running for several hours to fill up the salt water cistern.  The cistern feeds the desalinator, which hydrates me and other humans on Race Rocks.  The ominous fog convinced me that it was a good idea to wear ear protection whenever I was on the south side of the island, where the fog horn is located.  I was worried about the sea lions being startled by the fog horn, that I was sure would go off at any moment.  Obviously, they knew better than me since the fog never reached Race Rocks.  There is an instrument half way up the tower that reads how light passes through air, switching on the high pitched fog horn when necessary.  The ear protection is quite comfortable, like earmuffs.  I caught myself wearing them when I was nowhere near the fog horn.  Ready for the fog horn and rain, I zigzagged all over the island doing work: getting rid of the algae on exterior walls, topping up the batteries with the generator, testing the salinity of the sea water, sweeping the goose poop off the paths, picking up garbage that washed ashore, moving things, and doing my best to fix broken things.