Tag Archives: sealion

Snow and high winds at Race Rocks today

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Snowy Race Rocks from the lighthouse.

Weather:

Well we got the same dump of snow on February 13th that hit Victoria, arriving with some 40-50 knot outflow winds blowing the crunchy snow all over the place. Estimated about 10cm of snow, but due to the high winds it was moving around lots.

Visitors/Traffic:

No visitors in the last week besides the future Eco-Guardians coming out to do some training. The weather has been consistently >30 knots from Febryary 10th onwards.

Ecological Notes:

With the heavy winds and snowfall the California Sea Lion numbers have been reduced, we thought just for a night or two but the numbers haven’t returned as the snow melts and winds die down. We had 1 California on the jetty looking very sick and emaciated; and one on the South side of the lighthouse with a neckband bleeding pretty heavily.

California Sea Lion with a nasty looking neck-band.

The Stellers have come back once the snowfall stopped, but weren’t around during the peak snowfall days.

On February 13th we spotted 4 Southern Resident Orca’s cruising their way around the South side of the lighthouse. Talking with local experts it sounds like it was members of J-pod due to local hydrophone recordings.

Elephant Seal update:

On February 11th another pup was weaned and his mom left. This is our 4th pup to be weaned this season, with one still nursing.

Snuggles got buried into his own little snow bank.

Our last female on the island, Jolene provided a wall to protect her pup from the blasting snowflakes.

Our oldest pup Cheermeister got bit on the head the night of February 7th, and retreated to the front door of the Eco-Guardian house. We thought his bite marks didn’t look that bad despite the amount of blood, but the wound never seemed to clot and may have been much deeper than it initially looked. Cheermeister died the morning of February 11th, and further inspection showed he had 2 deep bites from one of the adult male elephant seals; we assume Jafar the non-Beachmaster hanging out on the island.

Cheermeister post head wound.

The head wound turned out to be fatal. Pretty crazy to see how much damage they can handle, but the wrong bite in the wrong spot can be enough to kill them.

The photos of the seals make them look all cute and cuddly, but they’re actually all over 150kg (330lbs). If it weren’t for the slippery snow he would have been much harder to move.

It’s an interesting thing getting to live in such close proximity to wild animals. You don’t want to interfere in their lives, and sometimes that means watching things that make your stomach churn. Other times things happen and you don’t really know why, and are just left wondering. We are very grateful for our time on Race Rocks, getting to watch these pups be born, grow, and explore the island. Each birth is a celebration of the resiliency of these animals, making their comeback from near extinction.

I love seeing these fat pups slipping around in the snow!

Jellybean and Sebastian have officially ‘podded up’ and are exploring the island together. Too much cuteness.

To offset the sadness of Cheery’s death, here’s a Elephant Seal pup’s tail. They’re possibly the most adorable part of the seal.

February Sunsets lighting up the sky!

February 7th census

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Laura Verhegge celebrating her 50th birthday at Race Rocks, sharing her love of nature with students near and far.

Weather: Stormy weekend! Steady 30knots with bursts of 50knots.

Visitors/Traffic: We were visited by the Marine Biology class and Biodiversity classes last week, so cool!

Courtney Edwards regailing the Marine Biology students with tales of Lighthouse keepers past.

Ecological Notes:

Sebastion hasn’t moved since his mom left, his little flippers can’t reach the ground with that big fat belly.

We had another mom wean her pup and leave Race Rocks on February 4th 2021 (Rhi-Rhi). We’ve been hoping for the 3 pups to ‘pod-up’ but no luck yet, the newest weaned pup is still too fat to move. The students have been studying the Steller Sea Lion carcass on the NE side of Race Rocks, with 25-30 eagles feeding on the carcass early in the mornings. Some of the students spotted a new dead California Sea Lion just S of the Lighthouse, it’s a branded seal with a tag on it, no obvious sign of death.

After Jafar’s last beating he’s been giving the Beachmaster a wide berth, but still relying on the boat ramp sneaker move.

Eagles feasting on the Steller carcass.

Jafar got his nose shredded fighting the Beachmaster, but it hasn’t scared him off the island.

Census:

Gulls: 79

Cormorants: 300

Eagles: 4

California Sea Lions: 149

Steller Sea Lions: 89

Elephant Seals: 9

Harbour Seals: 6

Turnstones: 0

Killdeer: 18

 

The dead California Sea Lion.

Tag matches the brand on this dead California Sea Lion.

   

February 1st Census

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Looking South to the Elwa as the sun sets.

Weather: Storms brought in a ton of wood over the last few days to the jetty, but thankfully the Elephant Seals have been clearing it out.

Visitors/Traffic: A few whale watching boats on weekends. We started getting students coming out January 29th, and it’s been really great to see what they are interested in and what kind of questions they have about Race Rocks!

Ecological Notes:

We just had the 5th pup born on January 28th. We were wondering if it would survive, but seems to be healthy and growing. Our second female weaned her pup (Jellybean) and after mating with the Beachmaster tried to get back in the ocean. Unfortunately for her there was another new male hanging out on the boat ramp waiting for his opportunity to mate. What unfolded was a Machiavellian game of blubbery chess, video below.

We now have 2 weaned pups cruising around Race Rocks, with the next pup looking like he’s only a few days away from being weaned as well.

The Steller rock at the South end of Race Rocks.

Census:

Gulls: 156

Cormorants: 533

Eagles: 6

California Sea Lions: 85

Steller Sea Lions: 177

Elephant Seals: 10

Harbour Seals: 22

Turnstones: 22

Oystercatchers: 13

A Bald Eagle decided he wanted a fresh meal and nailed this gull right out of the air. Turns out there isn’t much meat on those gulls.

Cheermeister starting to moult.

Elephant Seal poop.

Lighthouse views of the Elephant Seals.

January 10th Census

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Weather: Overcast, but mostly sunny over the last few days. winds 15-20knots.

This feels like we got more sun in January 2021 all of 2020.

Visitors/Traffic: Pretty quiet week, a few fishing boats driving by.

Ecological Notes: Newest Elephant Seal pup was born today. This makes 3 pups total, with the oldest nearing the end of his nursing period. His mom is looking VERY depleted, with 3 more days estimated until the end of her nursing period. His mom has also had a large behavioural change: previously she would ‘fight’ with the Beachmaster when we attempted mating, but over the last 24 hours she’s now much more receptive to his advances. 13-14 times a day receptive.

Cheermeister at 19 days. Looking fat and healthy as his mom gets more and more depleted. In 2020 we saw the pups nurse for 23 days, so he’s getting close to the end of ‘free food’.

Census:

Gulls: 259

Cormorants: 719

Eagles: 6

Turnstones: 22

Elephant Seals: 8 [2 bulls, 3 females, 3 pups]

Steller Sea Lions: 160

California Sea Lions: 121

Harbour Seals: 10

Proof that I take photos of other animals than Elephant Seals. SE Steller Rookery going strong.

Mothers seem to have lots of aggression shortly after a pup is born. Every pup we’ve seen get born here coincides with a bought of mom-on-mom aggression. Although Courtney has pointed out that this is my interpretation of their behaviour, and this could just be a ‘welcome to the fraternity of motherhood’ moment.

Mating looks rough. In larger rookeries this often results in pups getting squished. Here, Cheermeister just needs to avoid getting pinned and he should be good. He’s repetitively gotten in the middle of that mating between his mom and the Beachmaster and hasn’t died…. yet.

Peace descends. As with all things Elephant Seal: the chaos doesn’t last long. After 30 min of excitement everyone rolls over and falls asleep until tomorrows moment of activity,

 

A Canada Goose Curiosity

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Weather Today: 

  • Visibility 10-15 NM
  • Sky overcast
  • Wind 20-30 knots NE
  • Large swells and some whitecaps

Visitors and traffic: 

  •  There has not been many boats coming through, probably due to the poor conditions.

Notes: 

  • The weather since our last post was very rough, we had winds of over 50 knots (about 100km/h) and some very rough surface conditions.
  • We have been having some equipment issues but we are back and have some great photos to share!
  • On Saturday we spotted an oddity – a Canada Goose with a mostly white neck. It really stood out from the rest of its feathered friends and it was a rush to the camera for us. We think it may be leucistic. Leucism is not one specific condition, and this ‘depigmentation’ probably has an underlying genetic cause.
  • We have seen a variety of eagle but most exciting was the bird about 20 feet in front of the house, perched on top of a freshly caught seagull!
  • On Sunday a seagull with a badly injured and nearly missing wing was around, perhaps the result of a predator attack gone badly for both parties. It was completely alert and walking around with the other seagulls but we haven’t seen it since and presumably it succumbed to its injuries or predation.
  • Canadian Coast Guard Ship John Cabot, an offshore fisheries science vessel, paid the area a visit. The vessel hung around for about an hour and looked to be doing something with a lifeboat, maybe training? CCGS John Cabot was just recently constructed at Seaspan Shipyards and was launched in July, champagne bottle and all, by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.
  • Visibility has been erratic – we will have a census posted when first possible.

Halloween Mystery Berries

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Weather Today: 

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky clear with lots of sun in the later afternoon
  • Wind 0-5 knots N
  • Calm seas

Visitors and traffic: 

  • No visitors over the last couple of days.
  • A handful (3-6) of whale watching boats come through daily as well as a couple of private vessels.

Ecological Notes: 

  • Mara spotted and photographed a small amount of orange/red berries on the ground near the jetty. It would appear a bird regurgitated them – we aren’t exactly sure what they are and haven’t seen anything like this before.
  • The amount of sea lions seems to have stabilized. There are many hauled out, but thankfully this seems to be it! They are very determined to rest near and right up to the south side of our house and all around the lighthouse down to the desalinator building. The worst they do is dislodge some of the rocks that form unused raised beds and low walls around those areas.
  • We have been spotting whales frequently over the last week or two, and saw another humpback today.
  • Last night and the night before it rained heavily and the puddles that remain are being enjoyed by the seagulls and geese.

Some photos from the last couple of days:

Additional Notes: 

    • We have begun clearing out the firewood that was stored under the front deck/stairs. With the work on the guest house stairs nearing completion, the stairs on the main residence could be up next.
    • While moving the firewood we took a closer look at the remainders of a very old looking wrought iron bench (stored with the firewood). This looks like an interesting artifact! The company Innova it still around and selling similar goods.

 

Saturday Census

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Weather Today: 

  • Visibility 10-15 NM
  • Sky partly cloudy, some blue sky and sun
  • Wind 25-30 Knots NE
  • Sea state: swells breaking up to 4-5 ft

Census:

  • 1 Bald eagle
  • 6 Black turnstones
  • 1 Savannah sparrow
  • 3 Harlequin ducks
  • 345 Brandt’s cormorants
  • 800 California seagulls (approximate)
  • 65 Harbour seals
  • 13 Canada geese
  • 1117 California sea lions
  • 234 Stellar sea lions
  • 1 Sea otter (Ollie!)

Blustery Fall Winds

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Today’s Weather: 

  • Sky overcast, rainy
  • Visibility less than 5 NM
  • Wind 25-30 knots NE
  • Sea state: Swells up to 3-4 ft, fast moving

Visitors: 

  • Greg and contractors have visited a few times this week to complete work on the island.
  • Not many eco-tourism boats at this point in the season. One or two per day on average travelling through the reserve. Yesterday a sizeable group of kayaks passed through, as well as a handful of pleasure crafts.

Ecological Notes: 

  • This week we have been seeing an incredible number of humpback whales in the strait; Yesterday we counted at least six visible at once! We have seen them most often breaching and fishing west/south west of the reserve, although we were surprised by one very close to our jetty just this week. We have observed whale watching boats approaching the whales, and when this occurs their behavior seems to change. Instead of surfacing frequently and in a more leisurely fashion, they dive for long periods of time and cover larger distances during their dives, surfacing further from the boats each time. Consistently observed, if the vessels follow the whales they seem to dive longer and swim further away still.
  • The sea lion population is stable now, with a steady 1000-1200 present in the reserve. They seem to have settled in for the season, each having their favorite spot to rest. We have noticed that the sea lions that we are able to distinguish individually indeed do return to the same spot to rest for typically at least a few consecutive days. Although sea lions ingest upwards of 5% of their mass in fish each day on average, we have noticed that often they do not leave their resting spots for days at a time if they are not disturbed.
  • The bald eagle presence in the reserve has also suddenly jumped over the past week to two weeks, presumably due to spawning salmon returning to estuary’s at this time of year. A few days ago we spotted 8 in the reserve as the sun rose over the horizon. Early mornings are the most active part of the day for wildlife fishing: no human/vessel activity disruptions, but it also seems to be part of their natural routine. As the sun rises each day, the air is filled with the sound of eagles, sea lions, seals, and seagulls all looking for breakfast!
  • No elephant seals in the reserve this week. We hope that we might be joined by more juveniles through this fall season- they are a highlight of our daily routine when they are here.

Heavy Wind and Rain

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Weather Today: 

  • Sky partially overcast
  • Heavy rain intermittently
  • Wind 30-53 knots NW
  • Visibility 5-10 nm
  • Swells up to 4-5m

Visitors/Traffic: Very few vessels on the water today with the conditions. We spotted a fishing boat passing by near Bentinck island and took a picture of waves breaking over its bow.

Fishing vessel breaking through waves.

Ecological: 

  • The animals seem to be taking shelter from the weather and moving around a little less than usual. The sea lions are staying hauled out in big ‘cuddle puddles’, the geese and seagulls have been looking for places to sit out of the wind.
  • The younger seagulls especially have been looking a little tired, it seems like something about their feathers means they don’t repel water as well as the mature birds – they look waterlogged!

Saturday Census, Storm Brewing

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Weather Today: 

  • Sky intermittently foggy, clear (dark clouds blowing in from W)
  • Visibility 10-15 NM
  • Wind 25-35 Knots NW
  • Sea state: white caps, 2-3 foot chop

No visitors today. A few eco-tourism boats , 1 pleasure craft, and a large group of kayakers in the mid afternoon passed through the reserve.

Yesterday we glanced a humpback whale outside the reserve in the early morning. We have seen far fewer whales inside of the reserve as compared to last year’s fall (none!).

Census: 

  • 1 Elephant seal (GE103)
  • 16 Canada geese
  • 127 Glaucous-winged gulls
  • 633 California gulls
  • 3 Savannah sparrows
  • 2 Black turnstones
  • 1 Black oystercatcher (spotted amongst a group of gulls!)
  • 49 Brandt’s cormorants
  • 1 Sea otter
  • 19 Harbour seals
  • 511 California sea lions
  • 128 Stellar Sea lions