Tag Archives: sealion

Over-Wintering birds arriving

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-237, ‘2011-09-15’, ‘Other’, 0, ‘Sea lion populations have stabilized in terms of numbers. With just ~250 California ”s and ~150 Steller ”s. Ever since the earthquake on 09/09/11 -which was not felt by me here), the sea lions have moved up from “the arena ” and East bay on Great Race to surround three sides of the Keeper ”s residence. They have blocked 2 of 3 entrances! They can be shooed away, but return during the night. The cool winds and overcast days permit them to sleep comfortably during the day only to be particularly raucous during the night. The transition between Glaucous winged gulls and their winter replacements the Thayer ”s gulls has begun. Some Heerman ”s gulls are present now as well. It appears at least one oystercatcher clutch was successful as an adult pair and their two fledged chicks are still present on Great Race.’, ‘Ryan’, ’10:03:54 ,

Branded sea lions

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>
>> I have three more brands to report today (I saw at least two more but couldn’t get a good visual on them unfortunately):
>>
>> #984, a California. At first glance, this one appears to be #934, but it’s definitely an 8 when you get a good look at it.
>>
>> #1052, a California.
>>
>> #1032, a California.
>>
>> All were spotted hauled up on the NE corner of Great Race. See attached photos. Again, any information you can provide about these individuals is greatly appreciated.
>> Thanks a lot!
>> Adam Harding
>>
>> —
>> Adam Harding
>> Relief Eco-Guardian & Resident Marine Scientist
>> Race Rocks Ecological Reserve
On 2010-08-16, at 13:04, Pat Gearin <Pat.Gearin@noaa.gov> wrote:

> Hello Adam and thank you for reporting these observations of California sea lions.  All three of these individuals were marked as part of my research program in Washington State at Shilshole Bay, Seattle, WA.  Below are further details of each.
>
> #984- marked on 5/16/06 weighed 355 pounds (6-7 years old).  This animal has 6 previous resights including 2 at Ano Nuevo Island, CA in 2007, one at San Miguel Island, CA in 2007, and 3 at Race Rocks in September 2009.
>
> #1032-marked on 5/8/07, weighed 350 pounds (6-7 years old).  Yours is the first and only resight of this animal since capture.
> #1052- marked on 9/13/07- weighed 575 pounds (8-10 years old).  This animal has 5 previous sightings including one from Seattle in 2007, one from San Miguel Island, CA in 2008, and 3 from Manchester, WA in 2009.  Thank you once again for these valuable observations.
>
> Pat Gearin.

 

Sealions return

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Hello all, I realise that it has been a little while since I last wrote in the daily log. Things have been busy. Ocean Educations, a three week summer diving program at Pearson College just finished this week and I’ve been busy with that, as well as keeping a German film crew of four from German public TV busy -you may have noticed Tom, Christian, Florian and Michael on the Island this week). They were busy shooting two documentaries at Race Rocks. They left this morning and I’m pleased to say that they acquired some stunning footage, above and below the water, during their stay. Things have quieted down a bit now though, so I hope to be a bit more regular in my entries for these last few weeks of my stationing at Race. Many of you will be pleased to hear that camera 5 has been repaired. Apparently there was a problem in the electrical board inside. I have it on the Island and am planning on re-installing on its mount tomorrow. If all goes to plan, it should be up and running by tomorrow afternoon. Over the last week or so, the sea lions have made quite a return. I ‘d estimate that there are probably around 100 individuals in the Reserve right now, with an equal split between northern sea lions and California sea lions. Their numbers will continue to grow as the summer draws slowly to a close. Slash is still hauled up on Great Race these days, as always. I’ve not seen Misery for a while now, although it ”s possible he’s out on Middle Rock as I saw a couple of elephant seals out there a few days ago. I suspect that Misery got a bit sick of Slash and decided to seek out some peace and quiet. There was also a mature female here for a few days late last week and early this week, but she has since left. The gull chicks are now getting quite large. Many have started to fledge and are beginning to ”test their wings ”. I ‘ve not seen any in the air yet, although I ”ve seen many flapping their limbs energetically as they try to see how their wings work! This week I also found quite a large number of dead and/or injured chicks. I think they are often attacked by other adults from outside their territory. There is actually a chick right outside my basement door that has been there for four days now; my best guess is that it wandered or ran off far from the nest then couldn ‘t find its way back. On the third day -yesterday), I woke up to find it with a broken wing. It ”s quite sad to see it huddling in the damp grass with a broken wing, while a couple of metres away, a mother feeds her three healthy chicks. Quite a stark division. I expect this chick will soon die from starvation or predation. I saw the otter several times this week. I haven ”t seen as many eagles around this week as I have in previous weeks. I ”ll keep you updated to this poor little gull over the next few days. That ”s all for now. Adam’, ’21:20:54 ,

2 transient Orcas

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Orca’, 2, ‘Last night I returned to RR at about 1600hrs and was greeted by some great wildlife. A new female elephant seal had hauled up and was lying near the foot of the jetty. She was very, very nervous, especially as I tried to sneak around her and I later observed her getting quite agitated by the gulls as she hauled up on the grass and tried to find a comfortable sleeping spot for the night. Late in the evening she eventually settled close to Slash behind the boathouse. This was the first time I had seen this female, and she was definitely a very beautiful female. A few hours later, I went down to the jetty and a juvenile female was just beginning to haul up. However, a few minutes after I spotted her, she turned around and headed back to the ocean. She was not tagged so there was no possibility of her being Ninene or #4252. Around 1600hrs as I landed the boat, I looked up and saw two orcas breach in the channel between Middle Rock and Great Race, heading eastward on the flood current. They disappeared for a while, then breached on the other side of the kelp bed near Middle Rock. For the next minute or so, there was quite a commotion with tail fins flapping in the water and dorsal fins popping to the surface. I expect that these two orcas were hunting seals, which makes me assume that they were two transients passing through the Reserve. Sea lions are now beginning to make more and more of an appearance in the Reserve. There are several on the jetty each night, and some large northern sea lions out on the Rocks. Harbour seals are all now having their pups as well. Pam has caught some fantastic images of pups nursing and a possible placenta in the east bay a few days ago.’, ‘adam’, ’08:52:54 ,

Seagulls hatching

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A California sea lion decided to haul out this morning on the NE corner of Great Race. Slash has not been sighted yet today on Middle Rock. Bertha and 4252 have not been seen on Great Race for a few days. The seagulls are hatching! Pam B. reports a chick up near the helicopter pad, and a nest beside the winch pad hatched yesterday with two healthy chicks. Pam thinks that the chick near the helicopter pad is several days old. The three black oystercatcher chicks are still being fed down on the rocks beside the jetty. They’ve grown considerably in the last number of days. There are at least two other families on the NE corner of Great Race, as I’ve seen at least two pairs of parents who act quite distressed when I get near.

Census and orca

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Orca: 2
Two transient orcas were spotted this morning travelling westwards between Great Race and Middle Race. A number of whale watching boats were in pursuit.
Elephant Seal: 3
Misery has been hauled up behind the boathouse for several days now, while Bertha is beside the fuel hose container. A small, young elly is NW of the Science House. She has a green tag that reads 4252 in her flipper.

Sad to report our first neck ring sighting this year. A juvenile California sea lion was hauled out with a group of ~9 other sea lions; its neck was constricted and lacerated by a ring of marine garbage. Given the numbers of California sea lions spotted here so far this season, this sighting fits the 1-2% entanglement rate observed here last fall.

Northern Sea lions predominate

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California Sea Lion’, 4, ‘Two adult males and 2 juvenile males are hauled out on the intertidal island on the SE corner of Great Race Island today. At least one adult male has been around this week.’, ‘Ryan’, ’12:19:52 ,
Northern Sea Lion’, 50, ‘Northern or Steller sea lion population has remained relatively constant this past month, with no major storms dispersing them for any amount of time. Interestingly, only 1 or 2 animals have ventured back to the largest of the Middle Rocks where the entangled sea lion was rescued. Instead, they have chosen to stay crowded on the smaller adjacent rock to the East.’, ‘Ryan’, ’12:21:57 ,