Weather: New weather system moved in over night, giving rise, for the first time since arriving two weeks ago to rain. Gale force winds from the west began in the early morning, with gusts over 45 knots. The day cleared and with an ebbing tide whitecaps formed, again for the first time since arriving.
Wildlife: Observed the highest concentration of California and Steller sea lions on the north shore of Great race since arriving.
Facility Work: Fence work, especially on jetty. California sea lions have developed an affinity for the wharf area, and the fence is the worst for wear because of it. Inventory of fuels and water on island.
Vessels: 10 whale watching vessels in the morning. Very few in the afternoon with high winds.
Wildlife: Beautiful day. Black Turnstones and black oystercatchers seen on west rocks of island.
Another branded seal lion (U826?) at the jetty . Afternoon spent taking videos of life at Race Rocks.
Facility work: Fence inspection and repairs, solar panel cleaning, salinity and sea temperature readings.
Visitors: LBPC biology class out in the morning with Laura V. Race Rocks Ecological Reserve to be the focus for course this year. Exciting studies ahead.
Sea Lion numbers range up and down daily. Have notice more smaller sea lions this year, and can hear the higher squawks of younger ones. Unlike last year, I haven’t found any nursing pups yet.
Barred Owl is still here. For a couple days, there were zero other birds on the top area of the main island (Canada Geese, Turnstones, Gulls, or Dunlins)….. but they are gradually returning now. I suspect maybe the Owl hunted extensively one night and scared them all away(?)
Humpback whales still visible daily
On one day, in addition to the Humpbacks, Southern Resident Orca passed south of the reserve heading west, and Bigg’s (Transient) Orca passed heading East. While they were too far to get photographs, both groups were visible by eye (once I located them with binoculars)
Visitors:
Group of students and instructor from Pearson College visited for the weekend. They were primarily interested in mapping the kelp forests and how they are affected by Urchins and Sea Otters. They helped with other projects and used the ROV to view the underwater area off the jetty.
Siri, Finn, Maria, Annabelle, and Edgar
Always curious!
Sea Urchins
Young Bull Kelp
Contractors to work on the main house windows
Facility Work:
Now able to start bucking logs from the ramp area and moving to the full bucking area for firewood.
Cleaned and prepped the science house for the students visit
Did another full sweep of the main island to remove dead gull carcasses
Contractors continue the finishing work on the newly installed windows, moving primarily to the sills and finish on the inside.
Communicating with DFO in regards to the salinity measurements. They seem high, even though the meter was recently replaced. Tested with a meter owned by Pearson College and that meter showed numbers I would be expecting.
Ongoing spray down of walkways and decks to reduce slim and algae, but wondering if the cooler weather is reducing the effectiveness of the spray(?)
Noted Vessel Traffic:
Continued visits by Eco- Tourism vessels
Some private vessels transiting, some pausing to enjoy the nature in the reserve.
Noted Infractions:
No attempted fishing detected
Transit and departure speeds all good
Weather Events:
Winds pretty consistent NNE 10-15 Kts
Mixes of partial cloudy, and some fog at night
Temperatures ranging 4 to 7 degrees
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Derek is happy to return to fill the role as Ecoguardian here at Race Rocks, after spending the summer and fall season exploring the Salish Sea as an Ecotourism guide. A special thanks to Jill for leaving the reserve and facilities is such tip top shape!
(lack of photos due to no reliable internet, and running this through a phone hotspot)
Ecological Notes:
Dramatic mid week reduction of Sea Lions
Working to convince the Sea Lions to not use the ramp area, as pregnant Elephant Seals could be returning in the next month
Visitors:
During the Ecoguardian exchange and transfer, Greg delivered firewood and supplies
Greg brought out the IT manager to work on the internet and router system.
Facility Work:
Attempted repairs to the Desalinator system, realizing more parts were needed.
Ongoing troubleshooting of the Internet and wifi system.
Main official Weather Station on the tower has been not in operation for a week or so, awaiting outside support for repairs
troubleshooting the “local” station at ground level as it lost wind direction sensor during the high wind storm Friday Nov 04.
Although the were in good repair earlier in the week, the electric fences now need major repairs, but waiting for the wind to die down after the stormy weekend
DND events:
Many detonations on Wednesday Nov 02. Prior to them, I noted 10 to 15 Humpback whales between the reserve and the detonation area. During the blasting, most, if not all, moved west to just beyond Beechy Head. They returned to the area the next day.
Noted Vessel Traffic:
Canadian and American EcoTour vessels visiting the reserve, including regular visits from one company doing an educational program with elementary school children.
Weather Events:
Sunny and warm, with relatively calm seas, on November 1st for transfer day!
Yesterday (Friday, November 05):
Sky: Thunder Clouds throughout the day, mixed with high cloud cover
Wind: Variable, 15-30knts during the day, rising to 50knts in the evening, gusting to 65knts
Sea: 2′ – 3′ chop, larger swells developing as the wind rose in the evening
Temperature Low 7oC, High 10oC
Today (Saturday, November 05):
Sky: Shifting between clear skies to high overcast with heavy rains and the low pressure system rolls though. Large hail mid afternoon.
Wind: W/WSW 25-30 kts
Sea: 2-3 foot waves
Temperature Low 5oC, High 8o
** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **
Veterinarian Martin Haulena from the Vancouver Aquariums Marine Mammal Rescue Centre attends to the injured sea lion.
photo: MARA RADAWETZ
A sea lion with a plastic packing band cinched around its neck was rescued near Race Rocks on Sunday, thanks to the combined efforts of rescue teams from Victoria and Vancouver.
The struggling sea lion was first spotted by Mara Radawetz, who lives in the decommissioned lightkeepers’ residence at Race Rocks, just off the southern tip of Vancouver Island. Radawetz, who monitors the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve with partner Kai Westby on behalf Metchosin’s Pearson College, saw the sea lion several times during the week in nearby Juan de Fuca Strait, and said the marine mammal was clearly in distress.
“He was scratching constantly at his wounds, which were cutting into his skin,” Radawetz said.
She contacted Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Vancouver Aquarium’s Marine Mammal Rescue Centre, Canada’s only dedicated marine mammal rescue facility and one of the largest rescue facilities in the world, to help free the sea lion from the plastic packing band wrapped around its neck.
Two large Zodiac boats carrying the rescue team and several veterinarians arrived Sunday morning, and quickly found the sea lion, Westby said. After being given a tranquilizer injectionby veterinarian Martin Haulena from the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre, the sea lion was brought onto the shores of Race Rocks and treated.
The plastic band was removed and tracking tags were attached to the animal’s front flippers. A blood sample was also taken, to assist with future studies. After being given a drug to reverse the effects of the tranquilizer, the sea lion was back swimming within minutes, Westby said. “It was great to see them help out an animal that was in such great pain.”
Suffering caused by man-made material such as plastic is an increasingly common problem among sea lions, Westby said. As permanent residents on Race Rocks, he and Radawetz see their share of injuries to sea lions.
“It can be pretty sad to see. They live for 20 years or 30 years, and as the animal grows, the band cuts through its skin. It becomes a really painful-looking wound.”
I am back on Race Rocks, this is my third year but I’m only staying for 3 months this time. I am very happy to be back and look forward to a beautiful and productive autumn.
Today I plan to take a good look around the island and see if any of the sea lions have any injuries and just do a good once over.
I’ve spent the last 5 months with the whale watching community and here are some things I have learned. The whale watchers care about these animals as much as I do and our goal is education. We enjoy sharing this beautiful ocean and our knowledge of these animals with other people. The observations I’ve made during this summer are that many commercial boats do keep a respectful distance. The whale watching boats actually help me out as an ecoguardian. There are plenty of areas in the reserve that are out of my sight and if they see an injured animal they notify me and tell me where it is so I can monitor it and let marine mammal rescue know. If someone is doing activity within the reserve that shouldn’t be like fishing or snorkeling in a dangerous area they let that boat know that they can’t do that. I have a very difficult time trying to get a hold of pleasure crafts because they are always on different radio channels so this really helps me when others look out for the safety of the reserve and others within the reserve.
This island is a special place for many people and so much goes into protecting this ecological reserve and I just wanted to acknowledge a group of people who have helped in many ways to protect Race Rocks.
We received a response from the scientists who had tagged the elephant seal mentioned and pictured in this previous post. They were able to share some interesting information about GE103, whom we nicknamed Eric. GE103 was part of a mother and pup interaction study, as well as the subject of a blubber biopsy study.
“Eric”, GE103
Juliette Linossier, a researcher working under a Fyssen grant at UC Santa Cruz/Año Nuevo Reserve, was able to tell us more about the early life of this animal and others. She told us that shortly after the birth of another elephant seal (GE338), there was a huge storm at Año Nuevo and GE338 was separated from it’s mother. The pup was stuck on the beach, and his mother in an protected elevated area. They called to each other for a long while, but were never able to return to each other. GE338 did survive but was nursed by another female in the colony.
The now ’empty nest’ mother of GE338 became attached to GE103! She nursed him, and stayed close to him and his mother, G9474. Thus, GE103 (or as we call him, Eric) was able to take advantage of more than one milk source as a pup; the two mothers even fought over him from time to time.
According to her bio, Juliette wants to investigate the link between allonursing and maternal cognitive abilities using new approaches. Using time-lapse photography, chemical profiles and other techniques she plans to look at variables such as maternal age, pup similarity, genetic connection, spacial proximity and more to further understand what drives allonursing in these interesting creatures. Thanks for sharing, Juliette!
GE103’s blubber biopsies were taken for the purpose of furthering the understanding of pollutants bioaccumulating in marine mammals. Read more about this subject here.
Many thanks to Patrick Robinson, director of Año Nuevo Reserve and lecturer at UC Santa Cruz, for helping us learn more about this work.
We left Race Rocks last Monday (October 30th), and hours before leaving we were surprised by the landing of a Bell 412EPI Coast Guard helicopter. They came to Race Rocks in order to replace the solar battery bank beside the foghorn (near the base of the lighthouse). We were able to get great video of them landing as well as taking off!
Unfortunately, as one can see at the left of the video the landing scared many sea lions off of the rock in a rush. Without knowing that they were coming we had no chance to gently move any vulnerable animals away from the helicopter pad. We were able to speak with someone at the college about this, and the Coast Guard will hopefully be able to better work with Race Rocks in the future to ensure the safety and comfort of the animals.
The pilot was kind enough to take a moment to show us around and allow us to take some pictures. He explained that a smaller helicopter could have been landed near the house, but the 412EPI’s cargo capacity (over 6000lbs) was needed to transport the batteries. The helicopter is powered by a Pratt & Whitney PT6T-9 turboshaft engine that makes over 2000hp (about 1500kW), and it’s made in Canada!
Loading old batteries into the helicopter.
Fresh batteries getting installed.
That’s not your regular engine!
We enjoyed our time at Race Rocks (a big thanks to everyone who supported us during our term), and hope to return and continue this work protecting and observing the fragile ecosystems and the animals within. Until next time!
Corey, Guy, and a student with their visiting grandparents visited yesterday, and delivered water- the desalinator is on the horizon!
We are ending our term on Race Rocks tomorrow, so Greg and Guy will come for a debrief before the next eco-guardian takes over.
Yesterday we saw a pleasure craft enter the reserve and drop snorkelers into the water less than 100 m from our jetty, within 5 m of shore and the hauled out sea lions. The animals were distressed and swam around the snorkelers barking. The current was flooding very quickly (5 knots), which creates dangerous water currents, eddies, and upwellings. We as well as Corey in Second Nature motioned for the boat to move away, but they simply gathered the snorkelers and moved around the corner where they presumably thought we would not see them. An eco-tourism vessel in the reserve also noticed them and contacted us to let us know, out of concern for their safety given the animals present and the currents at the time.
In the past scuba divers and vessels have found themselves capsized or pulled away from their dive site and rescued by helicopter, and in 2015 a diver went missing and was found deceased days after they disappeared by a fisherman after rescue crews were not able to find them. We were especially concerned for this group’s safety due to lack of float marking their position and the frequent boating traffic through the reserve. In the past, seal pups have been decapitated by vessels passing through too quickly and unable to see them. If these snorkelers had been pulled away by the currents, there would have been a high chance of being struck by a vessel unable to see them in the rough water.
Snorkelers entering the water next in Race Passage.
A distressed sea lion very close to the snorkelers. Some of these animals weigh 500+ kg.
Ecological:
The sea lions population continues to grow! We are having to repair the fences sometimes twice per day. It seems like a more powerful electric fence energizer could be a good idea.
We spotted a little Greylag goose among the Canadian geese yesterday.
The sea lion that we spotted on Sept. 12th with an apparent propeller wound to his head is still here. He stays near the jetty and seems to have some behavioural anomalies, presumably due to the head injury. He is not afraid of us like the others, and does not move away into the water with the others when we clear the jetty. We haven’t had any problems but are weary that his behaviour could be unpredictable. Marty (the vet that came to aid in rescuing the entangled sea lion) mentioned that sometimes when this happens a shard of their skull can splinter and cause a brain infection. We hope this little guy is on the mend.
There have been many Canadian Geese passing through this week; A few days ago we counted over 20. The geese are not native to the island, but according to Gary Fletcher they arrived somewhere in the 80’s as the population of geese on Vancouver Island were introduced/grew. Addling the eggs began somewhere in the late 90’s. Unfortunately, this year two nests survived and hatched goslings, meaning that 20 geese left the island after 8 nested here in the spring.
We removed 6 large garbage bags full of invasive “Canada” thistles over the past few days. Considered a “noxious weed” under the BC Weed control act, these perennial (grow back every year) weeds can reproduce through seed and root regeneration. Thought to have been introduced to North America via contaminated crop seed in the 1700’s, this plant is actually native to southeast Europe and Asia. Presumably they were introduced to Race Rocks by a visitor on clothing or equipment, or perhaps by an animal.
A big patch of thistles
Seeds
Much better!
They can be a bit laborious to remove, due to their tap root and ability to regenerate through “cloning” (growing back if you leave the root in the ground). Incredibly, the seeds can remain viable for 3-6 years when buried at typical depth, and some up to 21 years (yikes!). Each plant produces an average of 1500 seeds, but can sometimes exceed 5000.
Because of this, we collected them into garbage bags to remove from the island instead of composting them where they would have the opportunity to reproduce. Unfortunately it appeared that these aggressively persistent weeds were whipper snipped in past seasons, allowing the seeds to disperse and roots to regenerate. Hopefully with some attentiveness, they can be eradicated from Race Rocks in the next few years. More information on other introduced plants available in this post from Garry Fletcher, 2006.
Weather:
Sky partly cloudy, some sunshine
Visibility 15+ miles (some fog last night)
Wind 20-30 knots W
Water choppy, whitecaps
Visitors:
Today Laura (Pearson’s marine science teacher), and her class came for a bit for their first trip to Race Rocks! Two more classes will visit in the next couple of days.
Less frequent eco-tourism traffic now that the summer tourism has slowed down. They have been getting quite close to the sea lions though, often causing them to climb over each other to get further away from the vessels. Since it has been overcast, we’ve been seeing the use of flash photography much more, which seems to audibly cause quite a stir.
Ecological:
There have been some birds passing through that we don’t often see: western sandpiper, savannah sparrow, song sparrow, and juvenile sandpiper (or possibly sanderling- we have a hard time with bird ID!) Also, we think we spotted a yellow warbler a while back, but it was too speedy for us to snap a photo.
The sea lions have continued to haul out- notably, there are typically over 100 animals on the jetty alone.
