Tag Archives: sea lion

Marine-Mania!

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Elephant seal snoozing

Elephant seal snoozing, #6375 in the background

Another female elephant seal, significantly larger than the tagged #6375, has visited twice this week. It is not tagged. The tagged female has also stayed around. Yesterday, she was resting in the shallow water and blocking the boat ramp as I was returning from the mainland in the Whaler. I left the boat tied up so not to disturb the seal and returned in an hour. The seal had moved to a very crowded area that many of the sea lions use as their water entrance/exit and was snapping and chasing the sea lions. I assume this was playful behaviour although the elephant seal was quite aggressive.

This first image shows the seal waiting at the surface.

 

 

Then the seal approaches the sea lions on its back, provoking them.

 

 

And with a splash, the chase ensues!

 

 

A new project on-the-go is a daily count of the number of fishing boats. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans are wanting to monitor the impact of sport fishing in the area. We survey an area from Beechey Head to Albert Head. On some days, there more than 100 sport fishermen in the area.

 

A lady friend and illegal fishing

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Saturday evening when collecting the water sample, I noticed the familiar glow of Noctiluca scintillans, a type of dinoflagellate that when agitated by movement in the water, lights up; a process known as bioluminescence. A curious mammal approached me on the jetty when I realized it was a female elephant seal, which haven’t frequented the island for a number of weeks now. The female didn’t come onto the main island until the following afternoon, and I suspect she is the same one that came most recently about a month ago in early July. She has returned to her usual hangout spot next to the hose box.

Juvenile female elephant seal

Juvenile female elephant seal

Illegal fishing on the reserve is hard to moderate although remains an important role of the reserve. Today I came across two Glaucous-winged gull chicks picking at what seemed to be a worm, but turned out to be fishing tackle some adult gull had probably returned with from the kelp beds.

Fisherman in a kelp bed near West Race Rocks

Fisher in a kelp bed near West Race Rocks

 

 

These unexpected fisherman, above, claimed ignorance when I approached them about fishing poles in the water.

Sea lions at sunset

Sea lions at sunset

 

 

 

California sea lions have joined the Stellars on the southern rock.

Oystercatchers Hatched, Chunk and Misery still sparring!

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Mike left last week and I will be taking over for the next two months. My last shift was a year ago and it’s great to see how well Mike and Alex have taken care of the place.

Over the past number of days, Misery and Chunk have been pretty subdued with the exception of Thursday when both headed into the water and had a 6-hour long feud. There are no females on the island so my assumption is that Chunk is testing Misery’s role as alpha-male (which he’s proven to be in check). 

The two contenders

The two contenders: Misery and Chunk

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sea lion near the jetty during sunset

Sea lion near the jetty during sunset

 

The first sea lion of the summer has been hanging around on the main island and the southern rock.

 

 

 

Oyster catcher with 3 chicks

Oystercatcher with 3 chicks

Another first of the season are the newly hatched oystercatchers, pictured right. This nest is on the north side of the island and there is another on the south side that still has its 3 eggs intact.

 

 

For boat traffic, there averages 10-20 vessels per day in the reserve (weather depending). In the photo below, the gathered whale-watching boats to the west of Race Rocks implies a whale-sighting although it was too far for any good views from the island itself.

Whale watching vessels to the west of the island

Whale watching vessels to the west of the island

 

 

 

 

Another note on boat traffic, this morning four curious boaters from Pedder Bay Marina wanted to explore the island unaware it’s not for public use. I explained the rules of the reserve and sent the apologetic boaters on their way. Pam Birley took some snapshots on Camera 1.

 

 

 

Sensitive Oystercatchers

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June is half over and I have about 10 days before Julie comes out to take over for the summer. I am trying to get some painting done in the dry and relatively windless spells, but one of the issues I am facing is trying not to disturb the oystercatchers nesting near the top of the ramp by the majority of railings. They immediately leave the nest when I get anywhere near, and won’t return til I am well clear. I worry about the eggs cooling too much, so I scrape the rails for 10 minutes then depart for an hour… Fortunately I have lots of time on my hands! Meanwhile only a couple juvenile e-seals remain and just as well because Misery’s curiosity is quite terrifying to them. Here one scrambles up the rocks to escape.

Best keep a safe distance...

Best keep a safe distance…

Sunset on Olympics

Sunset on Olympics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Pigeon Guillemots are nesting in the larger cracks in the rocks; another reason to keep a low profile and limit my wandering around the island. They are adorable little birds!

Pigeon Guillemot

Pigeon Guillemot

Pigeon Guillemots and Oystercatcher

Pigeon Guillemots and Oystercatcher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pigeon Guillemots

Pigeon Guillemots on the Jetty

 

 

 

 

 

 

Branded California Sea Lion 1032

Branded California Sea Lion 1032

 

 

 

 

 

 

Branded California Sea Lion 1032 en flagrante

Branded California Sea Lion 1032 en flagrante

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset Flock of Glaucous-winged Gulls

Sunset Flock of Glaucous-winged Gulls

Misty April

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March ended beautifully but early April has been mostly cool and at times misty. The roofers are here today finishing off the Guest House roof, and I continue to putter away cleaning up and reorganizing everything.

Race Rocks in Fog

Race Rocks in Fog

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The surfbirds have left but several Mergansers have been making the island home.

Common Merganser

Common Merganser

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was lucky enough to see a Steller Sea Lion tearing apart an octopus and I caught a few pictures of a brief encounter between the sea lion and an eagle looking for scraps…

Eagle and Gull checking out a Steller's octopus lunch

Eagle and Gull checking out a Steller’s octopus lunch

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apex predators face to face

Apex predators face to face

 

 

Sea Lions

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Sea lions on West Rock

Sea lions on West Rock

The sea lions have been switching their haul-outs lately.  Some days there have been almost no sea lions visible on the rocks.  Recently i have been seeing them on West rock (above) which is not usual in my observations.

fishboat

Most fishing boats pass by on the outside of the reserve but this one took the scenic route.  Sea lions in the background on middle rock and one of the male elephant seals on the top of the rock.

CaliforniaLion

California sea lion

There is one California sea lion that I have been seeing occasionally, it seems to keep to itself.

 

Storm

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Westerly swells near middle rock, Northern sea lions surfing.

Storm damage to roof of Science Centre building.

On Dec 16th in the afternoon a low pressure system moved in right over southern vancouver island bringing Easterly winds that exceeded 50 knots (measured from tower) and then switched 180 degrees, within a few hours over midnight, to Westerly winds toping out also over 50 knots the morning of Dec 17th.  As shown above atmospheric pressure reached a low of below 980 hPa, one of the lowest readings i have seen out here.

Flying sea lion

The westerly winds brought several dumps of hail and rain and created good surf conditions for Northern sealions to catch a few waves. Several shingles were blown off the Science Centre building on both the  South and North sides of the roof.

Fresh snow on vancouver island behind sea lions, gulls and cormorants on West and Middle rocks.

Pelicans

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A couple of California sea lions (dark) and Northern sea lions with 3 pelicans and an elephant seal in the background on west rock Dec 13

Pelicans have been in the reserve again Dec 13 and 14th.  There were up to 5 individuals, I was not able to see tags on any of them.

It is impressive to watch these birds, especially in flight.  They apparently have a wingspan of 6 to 8.5 feet.  They glide within what looks like a couple of feet of the water so when they flap their wings the tips will often touch the surface. 

touching the surface while flying low

Animal Notes and Census

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A few days ago we had two unusual visitors to our waters. Two Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) spent several days on Great Race and North Rocks. Brown Pelicans, though the smalles of pelicans, are enormous birds weighing up to 6 kilos and measuring up to 135 cms with a wingspan of up to 2.5 meters.

A visitor from warmer climes….

Northern vacation to Race Rocks….

We have had two other unusual visitors in the last week. I discovered a Barred Owl in the boathouse attacking a Starling (another recent arrival), and Pam our avid photographer friend from England got several pictures of Peregrine Falcons that came through hunting sparrows and starlings. Pam’s pictures can be seen at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66339356@N00/sets/72157628747376295/

Another tagged e-seal showed up in the boathouse yesterday.

Might as well hang out somewhere cozy…

Tagged 7225

 Animal Census Nov 8 2012

Species Current Population (Est)
Stellar/Northern Sea Lion  30
Elephant Seal  7
Harbour Seal  200
California Sea Lion  50
Glaucous-winged Gull  150
Herring Gull  300
California Gull  30
Heerman’s Gull  80
Black Turnstones  100
Surfbird  6
Pelagic Cormorants  40
Brandt’s Cormorant  30
Killdeer   6
Dunlin  16
Harlequin Ducks  20
Canada Goose  14
Bald Eagle  3
Black Oyster-catcher  40
Sanderlings  8
Starlings  8
Race Rocks Eco-Guardian  1
Rhinoceros Auklet  100
Common Murre  100
Sparrows  20
Brown Pelican  2
Barred Owl  1
Peregrine Falcon  2

 

Students snorkelling with sea lions

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Student snorkelling with Sea Lions

This week I am lucky to have the company of some great students from Pearson College. Along with the privilege of living out here for a week, they are helping me with some of the maintenance duties and sharing some adventures. Unfortunately for them the sea lions have all moved to their side of the island and are surrounding their house, making for some noisy nights! But they have front row seats to a spectacle that is better than any TV show.

These days birds are showing up in winter plumage and look different from when they passed through in the spring.

A Dunlin in winter plumage.

We’ll have an animal census for you in just a couple of days… stay tuned.