clear all day, 1600 rain started
-photographed branded sea lions
-set up sea lion fence along jetty
Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) #6153 will be reported to our contact at NOAA in Washington
rain
Tag Archives: sealion
beautiful windy day
25-30 kt West wind since 1400 hrs
-6 elephant seals came ashore and napped behind the boat shed
-9 pelicans flew over, north to south. It seems like they pause over the islands and rest in the updrafts before crossing towards Port Angeles
-The sealions have occupied the whole area between the jetty and boat shed, the derrick shed, and the North-East flats
Off island from 1300 to 1500 hrs
New voltmeter courtesy of Erik
-ran desalinator
-washed solar panels
-found a couple small hose leaks
lightning!
!!!Thunder and lightning!!!
Both Environment Canada and the Washington Marine text forecasts were spot on for the weather today. Fog and W 15 kts in the morning, W 20 kts off-and-on rain by midday, and W 30 kts and raining by evening.
There were a few sport fisherman out at 1135 during my boat count (7), but most were heading back to port.
8 marine tour boats, all before noon
9 oyster catchers
8 Canada geese
Lot’s of porpoising by sealions in the currents
One sealion by the derrick shed with an injured flipper
The elephant seal showed up and spent a few hours next to the jetty
Maintenance:
-ran desalinator
-photographed branded sealions for our contact at NOAA
-washed outside windows of main house with telescoping pole
-drained and rough-scrubbed the rainwater tank
-used a broom and the rain to scrub the main house porches
-inventoried first aid kit
end of calm weather
No recreational fishing effort count this morning due to fog
Fog cleared mid-day, and is now blowing back in with the help of 30 kt winds
High tides in the evening mean that nearly all the reserve sealions are camped outside the main house and near the jetty
There are now 8 Canada geese on the island making a mess of things.
Maintenance:
- Ran desalinator and fixed leak on high pressure dial
- Cleaned solar panels
- Cleared debris and tidied up around buildings
- Wrote an SOP for water sampling
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Off island yesterday from 1200 to 1700 for Pearson College paperwork and orientation. Returned in time for evening water sampling. 3 marine mammal tour boats were watching sealions on the jetty when I returned. Perfect, glassy water all day.
September 8/13
Morning Weather: winds West 6kts, seas Rppl, Fog all around
Chris off station between 1100-1730hrs
marine traffic: eco-tour boats: 3
marina mammal count: west rock: 4 sealions , 3 seals, middle rocks: 142 sealions, 52 seals, north rock: 42 seals, Great Race Rocks (including east islets): 350 sealions, 65 seals
solar panels cleaned.
Sealion numbers building
Pam from the UK using the remote cameras has noted the increase of sealions on her Flickr site;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66339356@N00/sets/72157632533500094/page3/
Marine-Mania!
Elephant seal snoozing, #6375 in the background
Another female elephant seal, significantly larger than the tagged #6375, has visited twice this week. It is not tagged. The tagged female has also stayed around. Yesterday, she was resting in the shallow water and blocking the boat ramp as I was returning from the mainland in the Whaler. I left the boat tied up so not to disturb the seal and returned in an hour. The seal had moved to a very crowded area that many of the sea lions use as their water entrance/exit and was snapping and chasing the sea lions. I assume this was playful behaviour although the elephant seal was quite aggressive.
This first image shows the seal waiting at the surface.
Then the seal approaches the sea lions on its back, provoking them.
And with a splash, the chase ensues!
A new project on-the-go is a daily count of the number of fishing boats. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans are wanting to monitor the impact of sport fishing in the area. We survey an area from Beechey Head to Albert Head. On some days, there more than 100 sport fishermen in the area.
A week of visitors!
The group from Discover Channel and Ogden Point Dive Centre
On Thursday we had a visit from Discovery Channel who were working with the Ogden Point Dive Centre (based out of Victoria) to film and document sea lions and seals on the reserve. They asked questions about the sea lions’ migration patterns and the role of Race Rocks as a reserve among others. The footage will be used as part of The Blue Realm series, by Danny Mauro.
Stellar and California sea lions
The California sea lions moved onto the main Rock last week, and the Stellars have joined in the last few days. Currently, approximately 30 are resting on the rock and in the water. Misery, our largest resident male, left last week and has not returned or been spotted on the other rocks. The female in the last post has also left. However, on Saturday, a different young female was resting on the jetty. Unfortunately, I did not notice she had a tag on her back fin until she was swimming away and it was too late to mark down.
Female elephant seal on the jetty
A lady friend and illegal fishing
Saturday evening when collecting the water sample, I noticed the familiar glow of Noctiluca scintillans, a type of dinoflagellate that when agitated by movement in the water, lights up; a process known as bioluminescence. A curious mammal approached me on the jetty when I realized it was a female elephant seal, which haven’t frequented the island for a number of weeks now. The female didn’t come onto the main island until the following afternoon, and I suspect she is the same one that came most recently about a month ago in early July. She has returned to her usual hangout spot next to the hose box.
Juvenile female elephant seal
Illegal fishing on the reserve is hard to moderate although remains an important role of the reserve. Today I came across two Glaucous-winged gull chicks picking at what seemed to be a worm, but turned out to be fishing tackle some adult gull had probably returned with from the kelp beds.
Fisher in a kelp bed near West Race Rocks
These unexpected fisherman, above, claimed ignorance when I approached them about fishing poles in the water.
Sea lions at sunset
California sea lions have joined the Stellars on the southern rock.
Oystercatchers Hatched, Chunk and Misery still sparring!
Mike left last week and I will be taking over for the next two months. My last shift was a year ago and it’s great to see how well Mike and Alex have taken care of the place.
Over the past number of days, Misery and Chunk have been pretty subdued with the exception of Thursday when both headed into the water and had a 6-hour long feud. There are no females on the island so my assumption is that Chunk is testing Misery’s role as alpha-male (which he’s proven to be in check).
The two contenders: Misery and Chunk
Sea lion near the jetty during sunset
The first sea lion of the summer has been hanging around on the main island and the southern rock.
Oystercatcher with 3 chicks
Another first of the season are the newly hatched oystercatchers, pictured right. This nest is on the north side of the island and there is another on the south side that still has its 3 eggs intact.
For boat traffic, there averages 10-20 vessels per day in the reserve (weather depending). In the photo below, the gathered whale-watching boats to the west of Race Rocks implies a whale-sighting although it was too far for any good views from the island itself.
Whale watching vessels to the west of the island
Another note on boat traffic, this morning four curious boaters from Pedder Bay Marina wanted to explore the island unaware it’s not for public use. I explained the rules of the reserve and sent the apologetic boaters on their way. Pam Birley took some snapshots on Camera 1.
