Tag Archives: sea lion

Bye-bye Race Rocks

Posted on by

This is my last post as Ecoguardian for summer 2018 – I’m headed back later this afternoon and Laas will be returning to take over.

Weather

  • Visibility: 10 miles
  • Wind: 15-25 knts W
  • Sky: slightly hazy/partly cloudy
  • Water: Calm
  • Strong winds last night cleared part of the haze, and we have blue skies after a long period of grey.

Boats/Visitors/Sightings

  • Guy arrived yesterday to take away all the garbage and recycling from the island, so there would be less to take back today.
  • The increasing number of sea lions on the jetty have caused more and more boats to approach close to the dock – just a reminder that DFO guidelines set a 100m minimum for observing distance!
  • On Tuesday, a group of Pearson students from the SPELL group came for a short tour on the island.

Island maintenance

  • I raised a new Canadian flag yesterday after the old one was beginning to wear out.
  • The Ecoguardian house has been completely cleaned for the next Ecoguardian
  • Guy and I washed some of the pathways outside the science shed

Bird notes

  • The first of the juvenile seagulls have now taken full flight – they soar as high as the adults now and even fly above the ocean.
  • Saw one adult seagull with an injured leg and a juvenile with an injured leg as well. Not sure if this is just a coincidence or an attack tactic by other adult seagulls, but it immobilizes the injured bird almost completely.

Marine mammals

  • A tagged female elephant seal has arrived at the island. The tag number is C887. Apart from a few scratches on the back, the seal is in very good health.
  • The harbour seal pups seem to have grown quite a bit, gaining some weight and coming close to adult size
  • The sea lions have started settling around the helipad and the back of the guest house (near the tidal radar) – an electric fence will be needed soon to allow for movement space.

Census and haze

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 10 miles
  • Wind: 0-5 knts W
  • Sky: Hazy
  • Water: Ripply

Mammal Notes

  • More sea lions continue to arrive on the island – spotted a few branded ones, but could only make out one number (steller with brand 348R).

Bird Notes

  • The first of the juvenile seagulls have started to fly short distances (5-6 feet at a time). Most are still grounded though.

Census

  • Elephant Seals
    • Male = 1
    • Female = 0
  • Sea Lions
    • California = 32
    • Steller = 38
  • Seagulls = 305 adults + 128 juvenile
  • Pigeon Guillemot = 67
  • Eagles = 0
  • Oystercatchers = 4 adults
  • Harbour Seals = 16 adults, 2 (maybe more) babies
  • Geese = 9
  • Black turnstone = 85

Census and an odd sea lion

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 20-25 knts W
  • Sky: Partly cloudy/overcast
  • Water: Ripply

Boats/Visitors/Sightings

  • Quite a few ecotour boats in the area today, especially in Race Passage

Bird Notes

  • The first set of seagull chicks are growing fast – one of the first things to develop are long legs. I spotted some of them flapping their wings in imitation of the adults, but they are still a long way from flying.

Mammal Notes

  • A lone sea lion made it all the way up on the main island until the guest residence! It would get aggressive if I got even slightly close to it. I first thought it might be injured, but I saw no scars or bleeding anywhere.

Census

  • Elephant Seals
    • Male = 3
    • Female = 0
  • Sea Lions
    • California = 1
    • Steller = 0
  • Seagulls = 350 adults, ~70 babies (hard to estimate)
  • Pigeon Guillemot = 60
  • Eagles = 4
  • Oystercatchers = 8 adults, 4 babies (haven’t spotted any new chicks since last week)
  • Harbour Seals = 50
  • Geese = 3

Sunday

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 10-30 NW
  • Sky: Partly Cloudy
  • Water: Waves under a metre

Boats/Visitors

  • a few ecotours went by today, the weather was so nice, hardly any wind in the early afternoon but the wind has come up to 30 now
  • Guy came by with a group that were visiting the college for a symposium

Ecological

  • saw the first seagull eggs today, the gulls are starting to get more protective of their nests
  • about 9 elephant seals around today and hardly any sea lions

Census

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 20-35 NW
  • Sky: Partly Cloudy
  • Water: Waves 1-2 metres

Boats/Visitors

  • not much boat traffic today, its been pretty windy

Ecological

  • less elephant seals
  • also less sea lions

Census

  • stellar sea lions – 11
  • california sea lions – 15
  • elephant seals – 7 female, 1 male
  • gulls – 180
  • pigeon guillemots – 98
  • oyster catchers – 14
  • geese – 16
  • eagles – 2

Thursday

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 10-15 Miles
  • Wind: 20-30 NW
  • Sky: Partly Cloudy
  • Water: Waves 1-2 metres

Boats/Visitors

  • a few ecotours went by today
  • Guy and Dan came by this morning, Dan to work on the internet and Guy and I got a few chores done

Ecological

  • Not many sea lions around today, there seems to be less and less each week
  • a bit windy today the elephant seals stayed around the front yard and there new favourite spot by the shed that operates the crane
  • looks like there are more seagull nests around, will probably be seeing eggs very soon

Census and Visitors

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 15-25 NW
  • Sky: Partly Cloudy
  • Water: Waves under a metre

Boats/Visitors

  • a few ecotours went by today
  • Guy came by with some of the japan house students

Ecological

  • About a dozen elephants seals
  • not many sea lions around lately, some stellars on the south rocks and a few californias on the jetty

Census

  • stellar sea lions – 12
  • california sea lions – 15
  • harbour seals – 23
  • elephant seals – 11 female, 1 male
  • gulls – 180
  • cormorants – 12
  • pigeon guillemots – 124
  • harlequinn ducks – 12
  • oyster catchers – 14
  • fox sparrows – 8
  • geese – 16
  • eagles – 2

Beautiful Weather

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 0-10 W
  • Sky: Clear and sunny
  • Water: Flat calm

Boats/Visitors

  • many boats going by today, ecotours, sailboats, fishing boats
  • Guy also came by to pick up the students that stayed in the student house lastnight

Ecological

  • about a dozen elephants, one male and the rest female
  • not too many sea lions around though

Census, sailors and kayakers

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 0-20 NW
  • Sky: Partly Cloudy
  • Water: Calm

Boats/Visitors

  • a few ecotours went by today
  • along with two kayakers and a bunch of sailboats

Ecological

  • about a dozen elephants, quite a few different birds and not a lot of sea lions about today
  • a possible sea otter in the north kelp bed but I couldn’t see it, but there were boats circling around there
  • saw an oyster catcher nest as well

Census

  • stellar sea lions – 12
  • california sea lions – 25
  • harbour seals – 32
  • elephant seals – 11 female, 1 male
  • gulls – 180
  • cormorants – 18
  • pigeon guillemots – 220
  • harlequinn ducks – 12
  • oyster catchers – 14
  • fox sparrows – 10
  • geese – 16
  • eagles – 2
  • sea otter – maybe 1

Elephants vs Geese

Posted on by

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 10-20 NW
  • Sky: Partly Cloudy
  • Water: Waves under a metre

Boats/Visitors

  • a few ecotours went by today
  • as well as some sailboats and fishing boats

Ecological

  • a couple of the female elephants were blocking off a goose from her nest and the goose was pretty upset but the elephant seals could not be bothered and stayed napping there for a while