Tag Archives: Sea Otter

Census Time Again

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The fog rolled in last night after dark and it was gone but not far away by mid-morning. Very light winds of 5 to 10 knots came from the south, southeast, southwest and west finally settling into a west southwest pattern.

The barometer spiked mid-day at 1018 hPA and then settled to 1016. The forecast is for light a variable winds, patches of fog dissipating late morning Friday in sunshine.

Only four whale watching boats were observed visiting the Ecological Reserve today. Two of the vessels were zodiacs and two were larger vessels packed with passengers. The same vessel that has been observed and photographed speeding in reserve before, was at it again today as well as almost sitting on top of the sea otter so the clients would get a good view. The owners and insurers of that vessel might be concerned if they knew about this operator’s risky manner. Three sports fishing vessels were also spotted and recorded, speeding through the go-slow zone. There are hundreds of animals in the water inside the reserve right now and reckless vessel operation puts them at risk as well as the people in the boats.

There were explosions at Rocky Point today with minimal impact on animal behaviour here.

Today was census day and here are the results.

Steller Sea Lion 313

California Sea Lion 726

Harbour Seal 157

Northern Elephant Seal 6

Sea Otter 1

River Otter at least one (assumed, not seen but evidence of it seen)

Southern Resident Killer Whale ~15 (Part of L-pod – during count week)

Humpback Whale 3 (during count week)

Canada Goose 4 full time (2 adults 2 goslings) (no other flocks visited)

Harlequin Duck 0

Double-crested Cormorant 7

Pelagic Cormorant 5

Brandt’s Cormorant 0

Black Oystercatcher

Black Turnstone 11

Ruddy Turnstone 0

Western Sandpiper 5

Kildeer 2

Glaucous-winged Gull 303 total (221- adults; – 82 juveniles)

California Gull 73

Herring Gull 1

Ring-billed Gull 1

Western Gull 0

Heerman’s Gull 7

Peregrine Falcon 1

Common Raven 1

Savannah Sparrow 12

 

Sea Otter Seen

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The morning weather went from still and overcast at dawn, to clear with a light west wind that brought the fog in for a few hours, then cleared to sunshine for midday. By sunset a high overcast had developed with high altitude clouds piling up on distant mountains and on the horizon at sea. The barometer continued to climb today and reached over 1016hPA.

Wind direction swung around a few times then settled on a blow from the west rising at times to 28 knots. A gale warning forecasts strengths up to 35 knots this evening. Sunday has a 70% chance of showers and the wind is expected to drop overnight to light winds by the afternoon.

Seven whale watching and one tour/party boat were observed working in the Ecological Reserve today. One vessel, Fantasea VI a party boat cum tour boat, according to the sign affixed to it, spent an hour in the Ecological Reserve feeding many, many loaves of bread to the gulls. They were still flinging bread out as they returned towards Victoria. BC Parks act as stewards of protected areas including BC’s Ecological Reserves and they note that feeding wildlife is illegal.

We found the killing ground for Pigeon Guillemots today with the remains of six adults in breeding plumage found near their nesting area. All of them had the neck skin inside out over the head and were the handy-work of the same predator that is feeding on juvenile gulls this week. This might explain the lack of nesting activity by Pigeon Guillemots. I will investigate further to see how many more corpses there are in the greater area.

Chores were routine maintenance and fighting entropy today.

Making Sense of the Census.

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The sun shone through a bit more today even as clouds and much needed rain continued. West winds blew at about 10 knots most of the day as the clouds were pushed steadily inland. The barometer is now back up to where it was last Friday before the big nose-dive into Saturday’s storm. The forecast looks a little brighter for Friday and Saturday before a return to wet and cool.

Whale watching activity in the Ecological Reserve was very subdued today as the black and whites moved north and east yesterday. Only four visits by commercial whale watching boats were observed in the Ecological Reserve. One sports fishing vessel and a couple of rental boats also came through obviously oblivious to the speed reduction zone within the reserve boundaries .

Thursday is census day and here are the results of this week’s animal census.

Steller Sea Lion 497

California Sea Lion 522

Harbour Seal 81

Northern Elephant Seal 2

Sea Otter 1

River Otter 1 seen (probably more)

Southern Resident Killer Whale 7 (during count week)

Biggs (Transient) Killer Whale 5 (during count week)

Humpback Whale 1 just outside of reserve but may have transited border

Canada Goose 4 full time (2 adults 2 goslings) (24 visited once during count week)

Harlequin Duck 1

Double-crested Cormorant 11

Pelagic Cormorant 12

Brandt’s Cormorant 1

Black Oystercatcher 29

Black Turnstone 95

Ruddy Turnstone 1

Western Sandpiper 3

Kildeer 1

Dunlin 1

Glaucous-winged Gull 276 (193 – adults; 83 juveniles)

California Gull 61

Western Gull 1

Heerman’s Gull 26

Peregrine Falcon 1

Common Raven 2

Savannah Sparrow 3

It is of note that there have been no Pigeon Guillemots seen since I arrived. Last year there were chicks, still  being fed by their parents, on the nests in the rubble area just west of the jetty at this time of year and later. I am hoping that the river otters have not been visiting these ground-breeding birds and will look for evidence of what has been going on there.

Maintenance work was routine and the only other visitors to the reserve were the Pearson College students having their orientation by vessel. Courtney kindly delivered paper, which was appreciated as there was none.

Pearson College students doing orientation week activity at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve.

Pearson College students doing orientation week activity at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve.

super friendly philosophy teacher

 

 

 

 

Ghosting through the Kelp Forest.

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I had trouble with a temprarily unavailable log-in page when I went to to post my log blog last night, so am posting the two days together now.

The westerly blew throughout both days and fog obstructed the views. Yesterday it cleared after 4 PM and by 6 PM, thick fog had moved back in and visibility was back down to several hundred meters. Today it cleared earlier and stayed clear until sunset (at least). Wind speed both days varied between 10 and 25 knots over the course of the day and in varied direction from west-southwest to west. Yesterday the barometer went up to 1015 hPa from 1014 and then started dropping. Today, it was steady until noon and then it started dropping going as far as 1010hPA by 8 PM. The forecast for today was correct: strong westerly wind warnings, fog “patches” and sunshine. Tomorrow the wind warning has been upgraded to a gales and the rest remains the same.

Six whale watching vessels were observed working in the Ecological Reserve yesterday and today I saw three. They all abided by the rules and regulations more or less. Some boats/skippers may be used to pushing the distance limits but I did not observe negative impacts.

 

I was lucky enough to see Chunk ghosting around the island from the top of the light tower and it was a surreal sight. He started out in the surge channel in front of the science house and swam around anti-clockwise. If it wasn’t for his white scar, I might have missed him, as it was a bit foggy. He only came up to look around and make a right angle turn to avoid a reef, once. He moved elegantly with hind flippers sweeping side to side, ever so slightly and propelling his huge mass along at a good speed. He seemed to purposefully seek out the kelp and sweep through it. The pale grey, submarine shape shifted in and out of the kelp, hugging the coastline, in shallow water. How different this must be from his normal habitat offshore and in the deep. If that is what our Canadian elephant actually does. It would be nice to know where they go when they are not here.

Floyd as water watchdog.

Floyd as water watchdog.

 

I was glad that I topped up the freshwater the day before yesterday as Floyd decided to sleep right up against the freshwater tank-house yesterday and today. It would have been a challenge to get in and out to check water-levels with his head jammed in between the Diefenbunker and the tank-house.

How to avoid Floyd

The two-year-old northern elephant seals that looked so bad before moulting are now starting to look much better as their moult progresses. This one still looks a bit scabby but no more oozing and bleeding sores.

scabby moult

According to my favorite vet, Marty Haulena of the Vancouver Aquarium (Who else knows about such things?), “when there are deep cracks, bleeding and large ulcers it becomes part of a syndrome known as northern elephant sealskin diseases (NESSD) and that syndrome is not well understood though it is likely a combination of secondary bacterial infection, immune-mediated disease, and endocrine problems. It is most likely to occur in yearlings during their first or second major moult. If minor they can survive” Thanks Marty for letting me know.

These two have been moulting, losing weight and sleeping more and more since they arrived a couple of months ago.

These two have been moulting, losing weight and sleeping more and more since they arrived a couple of months ago.

Thursday was census day and here are the results.

 

Northern Elephant Seals 22 (including 16 on Great Race)

Harbour Seals 110

California Sea lions 19

Northern or Stellers Sea lions 25 (One male with a neck ring, one female with a two year old, is branded but could not see brand.)

River Otter 1

Sea Otter 1

Canada Geese 23 (+ 26 goslings, one gosling missing) (note one adult (non-breeding) taken by eagles)

Harlequin Ducks 0 (left last week)

Pelagic Cormorants 16

Double Crested Cormorants 3

Bald Eagle 1 adults, 2 sub-adults

Black Oystercatchers 10

Kildeer 2

Pigeon Guillemots 211

Glaucous-winged Gulls total 444 (436 adults in nesting areas; 8 sub-adults in roosting/resting area) Some gulls starting laying and incubating.

 

There were no visitors either day and chores were routine. I leave for Portugal tomorrow Christine will be doing the blog. Back June 7th.

 

 

 

Dramatic Weather

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Strong west-southwest winds blew all day with a continuous cycle of showers and dramatic clouds scudding through. Wind velocities ranged from 10 to over 30 knots, up the tower. A low snowline could be seen in the Olympic Mountains from time to time and the air was chilly. The barometer has been climbing steadily since last night and the forecast is for more of the same with a risk of thunderstorms.

No tour boats or fishers were observed in the Ecological Reserve and Rockfish Conservation Area today.

A Sea Otter was spotted in the main channel in front of the eco-guardians’ house again today. As the tide turned, it swam over to Turbine Rock and on arrival was surrounded by six or seven small Harbour Seals. The adult seals remained uninterested, asleep on the rock. Through the spotting scope, it looked like interspecies play with lots of exaggerated diving and washing up onto the rock and back out. This is one of the first times I have looked at a sea otter for any length of time when it was not eating, grooming or sleeping.

Sleepy head.

Sleepy head Mirounga angustirostrus.

Three Northern Elephant Seals moved right up onto Great Race today. When I did the water sample at six there was one individual lolling around by the jetty. I looked up mid-morning and three of them were doing the wave along the walkway. One stopped at the intersection, one went back closer to the boat shed and the third went right around the science house onto the rocks on the west side.  None of these individuals were tagged. Once settled, they slept soundly for the rest of the day.

Rear view of Norther Elephant Seal. You can see why they are unable to rotate those flippers forward to support their weight.

Rear view of Norther Elephant Seal. You can see why they are unable to rotate those flippers forward to support their weight.

Most of the Canada Geese are sitting on eggs already and the ganders are fearless defenders. I am trying to discourage one insistent pair of geese that haven’t laid yet (I think) from nesting right beside the path to the Energy Building but it seems to be a losing battle.  The area near the stone burial cairns has been seriously overgrazed by the geese and the earth around the biggest one is eroding around the edges. In that area the goose exclusion cages show up a large difference between grazed and un-grazed (caged). In other areas where crab-grass dominates there is little difference inside and out of the cages.

There were no visitors today.

April 10

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Light airs from the southwest and a light overcast sky, dominated the first part of the day. At about 16:00, an abrupt directional switch to west by northwest saw winds rise to 20 to 30 knots within a few minutes. Those winds were accompanied by moderate rain and a darkened, overcast sky. The wind direction remained the same but velocity dropped to 5 – 10 knots after the storm passed through leaving sunshine and outrageous double rainbows in its wake. The barometer continued to fall slowly today and the forecast calls for west winds and a 40% chance of showers.

There were five whale-watching boats observed in the Ecological Reserve today all during the downpour. One sports fisher was observed speeding in the go-slow area.

A sea otter was spotted in the Ecological Reserve again today, after being either absent or well hidden for almost a month. Thanks go out to the operator of the Prince of Whales vessel in the area, for radioing the location and description to me.

On land, there are many flowers blooming on Great Race right now. Many of the flowers are heritage plants, part of the legacy left by light keepers from 155 years ago and on.

 

Flowers lined the original route to the tower and keeper's house.

Flowers lined the original route to the tower and keeper’s house.

More heritage flowers.

More heritage flowers.

An exception to the imported non-native plants, are the Mist Maidens blooming right now. There are several patches but the most vigorous one is in the scree above the Pigeon Guillemot nesting area, just uphill from the boat-house. Mist Maidens or Romanzoffia tracyi are considered to be a rare plant and I will take some photos to share with you tomorrow if the light is better.

A group of visitors were here today using the science house and Great Race for a retreat. Courtney brought them out on Second Nature and stayed to help trouble-shoot a few issues with the generator and aggressive geese. Alex left with Courtney in the afternoon.

 

 

March 24 – Sea Otter

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Sunny, patches of rain the afternoon
Wind: W 4-17 knots, calm in the late evening
Air Temperature: Low 7.7°C, High 10.7°C
Ocean Temperature: 8.9°C

This afternoon, a ring-necked california sea lion was observed on the South Islands. It had something tightly wrapped around its neck, which is digging into the flesh.

While observing the sea lions, a small creature appeared on the edge of the rock ten metres away from them. Much smaller than the sea lions, at about one metre long, it was eating the molluscs in the intertidal zone. To my great excitement, it was a sea otter (enhydra lutris). The sea otter ate, dove, rolled and swam around the South Islands for about two hours.

Feb 21, stillborn

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Sunny, wind east 10 knots.

In the morning the shape of a dark elephant seal pup was visible from the house, next to the female elephant seal.  The mother was very sleepy next to the pup which was not moving. The placenta looked very fresh. There were no signs of trauma to the pup, it seemed to have been dead at birth.  The mother stayed close to the pup throughout the day, resting next to or along side it, and would occasionally smell and nudge it with her nose.

Around noon there was a sea otter visible swimming, floating on its back and diving off the South West side of great race.  I was able to get some photos which are the best I have been able to take of a sea otter here so far.

I went off island in the afternoon to bring back guests.  We passed by West rock and there was one other female visible there quite a ways off the main area where they usually lie, out of reach of Chunk who lay alone in the usual e-seal area.  I have not been seeing any females out there all week.

Our guests helped move and stack firewood. After returning to island I went to haul in a log on the derrick.  The cable was getting stuck part way up, after lowering it and trying again it snapped.  The log came crashing down into the water and I watched helplessly as the cable, which we had just fixed the week before, unraveled and dropped.  On closer inspection the cable was quite frayed and crimped, seems like it had gotten slacked, twisted and then reversed on itself at some point creating a weakness.  I had noticed previously that the up and down controls were reversed but couldnt figure out why.

There were 4 whale watching boats in the reservePoWfeb21, some of them appeared to be getting closer than 100 meters from marine mammals.

Race Rocks Sea Otter pictures via England

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Our regular viewer on the remote cameras from England,  Pam Birley sent this set of images she had taken today on camera 1 of a Sea Otter at Race Rocks.

Click the sea otter tag below for other observations of sea otters here.

Orcas, Jan 11-13

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On the morning of Jan 11 a pod of at around 20 orcas passed by in the morning on both sides of the reserve heading NE.  Mid morning they returned passing by on the East side of the reserve.  The whales were spread out and some were breaching as well as lying on their back slapping the surface of the water with their tails.

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the sealions on the south islands seemed apprehensive as the orcas swam nearby

 

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beyond south island, Rosedale Reef buoy and bulk carrier in background

 

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off the south islands

 

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on its back tail slapping the water

 

 

 

Persistent NE wind 10 -20 knots with mostly overcast sky for the past days.

Jan 11: 1 private vessel, 1 dive boat, 2 ecotour

Jan 12: one sea otter seen circling the island and a female elephant seal came on the main island briefly.  There have been very few female elephant seals on the main island so far this winter.

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Jan 13: 2 ecotour

Jan 14: 3 ecotour

I haven’t seen or heard the elephant seal pup in several days, dont know if it still alive. Have been working on wood cutting and did some more work on the composting toilet install, levelling the chamber so it drains, plumbing the chute and fastening the seat.