Race Rocks Ecological Reserve-

marine ecology educational resource, remote-control webcams,elephant seal colony,Sea lion haulout,sustainable energy, solar energy

Break from the rain

Posted on Monday,January 8, 2018 by Laas Parnell

Weather

Visibility: 15 miles
Wind: 5-10 NE
Sky: Cloudy
Water: mostly calm

Boats/Visitors

A few boats around, fisherman and ecotours
A coast guard helicopter flew over numerous times today

Ecological

The same 4 males and 1 female elephant seals
still about 100 sea lions I think, mostly stellar
A lot of eagles around

Also included photos I took of some oyster catchers I saw on Dec 1st the day I left for my winter break

Rain

Posted on Sunday,January 7, 2018 by Laas Parnell

Weather

Visibility: 10 miles in the morning, cleared up a bit
Wind: 5-15 N throughout the day
Sky: Cloudy all day
Water: mostly calm a bit choppy

Boats/Visitors

Didn’t notice much boat traffic today

Ecological

The same female and 4 male elephant seals scattered around, seemed like less sea lions but that could be because it was a bit stormier today

I’m Back

Posted on Saturday,January 6, 2018 by Laas Parnell

Weather

Visibility: 15 miles throughout the day
Wind: 10-20 W throughout the day
Sky: Cloudy with a bit of sun this morning
Water: mostly calm

Boats/Visitors

Just a couple tour boats today

Ecological

4 male elephant seals and 1 female
still about 100 sea lions
a couple eagles on the outer rocks

Rainbows & Battle Scars

Posted on Saturday,December 30, 2017 by Mikey Muscat

Weather

Visibility: clear, 15 miles throughout the day
Wind: 23-28 knots SW this morning, died down by noon
Sky: mostly sunny with some clouds
Water: rough this morning with 1 meter swells then calmed down throughout the day

Boats/Visitors

Lots of commercial vessels including a large logging barge
No visitors today

Ecological

The male elephant seals continue to fight for dominance. Didn’t notice the smallest of the original 5 around today after he lost a fight yesterday against another adolescent. The winner of that fight got into it with one of the two large males and is still around but has some fresh wounds.
Still one elephant seal pup here that has taken a liking to sleeping on the doorstep of my house!

A tug pulls a huge logging barge by Race Rocks Island

Family photo!

Huge logging barge being towed by a tug passing by Race Rocks.

Fresh battle wounds after facing a much larger male than himself.

Elephant Seal Duo

Posted on Sunday,December 24, 2017 by Mikey Muscat

Weather

Visibility: mostly clear in the day with fog and a bit of snow in the evening
Wind: Light gusts throughout the day
Sky: Cloudy with sunny periods
Water: a bit rough, 1 meter swells at times

Boats/Visitors

had the usual ‘4 ever wild’ whale watching boat go by
No visitors today

Ecological

Still a decent amount of sea lions on and around the island.
The two big male elephant seals have been mostly keeping their distance from each other but today Bernard, the larger of the two, asserted a bit of dominance by moving closer inland towards Big George, the smaller of the two.

Other

DND blasting has taken a break for the past few weeks which has been nice.

Windy Day

Posted on Saturday,December 23, 2017 by Mikey Muscat

Weather

Visibility: very clear throughout the day, 15 Miles
Wind: heavy winds all day reaching upwards of 33 knots
Sky: sunny with no clouds
Water: rough, 3 foot swells

Boats/Visitors

Boat traffic was pretty minimum today with the rough water
No visitors today

Ecological

Not much has changed in terms of wildlife on the island in the last few days. Consistent number of gulls, sea lions, eagles, black turnstones, canada geese and cormorants with one or two large male elephant seals.

A Break From the Blasts

Posted on Friday,December 22, 2017 by Mikey Muscat

Weather

Visibility: Clear throughout the day
Wind: Light breezes throughout the day with strong gusts up to 40 knots overnight
Sky: Cloudy with sunny break
Water: a bit choppy, one foot swells in the morning

Boats/Visitors

Boat traffic was pretty minimum today, whale watching boat cruised by
No visitors today

Ecological

Not much has changed in terms of wildlife on the island in the last few days. Consistent number of gulls, sea lions, eagles, black turnstones, canada geese and cormorants with one or large two male elephant seals.
Haven’t seen any whales of any kind yet unfortunately.

Other

DND blasting has taken a break for the past week which has been nice.

Mystery Raptor

Posted on Wednesday,December 13, 2017 by Mikey Muscat

Weather

Visibility: 15 miles
Wind: 6-10 NE throughout day
Sky: sunny with cloudy periods
Water: mostly calm

Boats/Visitors

had one whale watching boat cruise by
no visitors today

Ecological

saw a large brown raptor of some kind. I think it was a Red-tailed Hawk
lots of killdeer around
large elephant seal male is still on the island

Other

a lot of DND blasts today, very startling for the sea lions.

Less Sea Lions Today

Posted on Tuesday,December 12, 2017 by Mikey Muscat

Weather

Visibility: 15 miles
Wind: 5-13 NE throughout day
Sky: sunny with cloudy periods
Water: mostly calm

Boats/Visitors

didn’t see any eco tours today
lots of shipping vessels in the distance as usual
no visitors today

Ecological

number of sea lions hanging around seems to be going slightly down
consistent number of seagulls and cormorants

Other

lots of DND blasts today.

DND Blast and a Surprise Audience

Posted on Monday,December 11, 2017 by Mikey Muscat

Weather

Visibility: 15 Miles
Wind: 12-16 NE throughout the day
Sky: sunny, very few clouds
Water: mostly calm, a bit choppy

Boats/Visitors

Had one large eco tour boat full of passengers sneak up on me and yell “Hello” as a group. That was fun (:
lots of large shipping vessels passing by including two huge logging barges

Ecological

still a decent amount of sea lions around
there is another, smaller harbour seal pup hanging out now too
Bernard (the elephant seal) is back!
haven’t seen any canadian geese in a few days

Other

had more large DND blasts go off from Rocky Point that shook the house and startled birds today.