shark bite | Race Rocks Ecological Reserve-

Wind: W at the beginning and end of day, NE mid morning to early afternoon, 4-18 knots
Sea State: calm
Visibility: 0-10 NM
Sky: fog in morning, clear in the middle of the day, overcast in afternoon, rain in evening
Temperature: 12-17 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.15 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

There was a lot marine mammal activity today. At 11:00, two pods of Bigg’s transient killer whales were in the ecological reserve. One pod appeared to have about six whales. The other pod appeared to have three. Both pods spent a lot of time around the South Islands. A nearby whale watching boat captain mentioned on the VHF radio that the orcas were two families most likely having some social time. They were probably having a good meal too. I didn’t see any hunting happening on the surface. Transients eat marine mammals like seals. I did see a lot of harbour seals not taking any chances, huddled together on nearby rocks and around the east bay beach, looking towards the areas where the orcas were swimming. The transients stayed around until at least 3:30.

See the photos below for views of the orcas and other sights from today:

: Three transients in the south channel with many harbour seals on the rocks, probably trying not to become the next meal for the orcas. The large dorsal fin has a distinctive notch on the back side, which could help identify it. DFO has a 127 page document photos identification for the Bigg’s (Transient) Killer Whales from BC, Northern Washington and Southeastern Alaska. I flipped through the photos, but could definitively identify the orca.

: Four transients

: A family of four transient orcas surface south of the South Rocks.

: A large harbour seal looks on to the action in Middle Channel.

: Orca

: Orca

: Orca

: Two orcas surface in near the bull kelp

: A brave or foolish male steller sea lion swims toward an orcas.

: The fluke of an orca

: An orca takes a breath beside South Rock close to gulls, an oystercatcher and harbour seals.

: An orca surfaces near some scared looking harbour seals on the South Rocks.

: View from the jetty of sea lions on the rocks and an orca behind them.

: A california sea lion on the boat ramp that appears to have glaucoma in its left eye.

: Three different species hauled out together on the south side of the island: steller sea lions, california sea lions and harbour seals.

: An overlooked gull snack that was left on the path. It appears to be a juvenile herring.

: While I was eating lunch in the house, I saw a different kind of marine mammals, a group of seven sea kayakers approaching from the west. The kayakers paddled around the ecological reserve and headed north.

: Oystercatchers making noise

: The steller sea lion with the flasher is still hauled out on Middle Rock with the flasher attached. Behind is another steller, who was spotted recently with a suspected shark bite on its side.

: The steller with a suspected shark bite wound made a brief appearance on the jetty this afternoon.

: Two gull chicks look on as I stack winter firewood under the back porch.

Weather:

Sky: clear and blue
Visibility 10-15 NM
Wind 20-25 knots W
Sea state: .5 m chop

Visitors:

No island visitors
A small number of eco-tourism vessels (only one today).
We were saddened to hear this week that a fishing boat we have often seen pass by, Arctic Fox II, sank in rough seas on Tuesday, claiming 2 lives. An article Here.

Ecological Observations:

The seagull chicks continue to practice using their wings, hopping and flapping in the wind. It can be quite comical to hear them “peeping” as they did when they were just hatched- they are nearly the size of their parents now!
The harbour seal pups get cuter by the day. We were lucky to catch one nursing this week from the lighthouse (photo below).
The sea lions population continues to grow, with a notable increase this week on Main Race Rock. We will need to put the electric fence back soon to prevent them damaging infrastructure.
We have been enjoying bird watching this week as migrations continue and the pigeon guillemots are raising their young. There have continued to be very large numbers of black turnstones on the E shore.
This week we have also been visited by a handful of ruddy turnstones, and one whimbrel (thank you Daniel for the ID help!)
The one male elephant seal is still here. He doesn’t seem to be actively moulting anymore, aside from a tiny bit of remaining skin around his neck. He spent the entire day yesterday drifting and napping in the peaceful and sheltered jetty waters. We have not seen V173 in quite some time.
We find a lot of joy in watching the elephant seals move from higher ground down the jetty ramp and into the water. If you are not familiar with their undulating movements, this video is an excellent example. It’s a lot of blubber to get off the ground!
We spotted one sea lion with a fishing flasher hooked onto his face a few days ago. We haven’t seen him since but we are hoping that we will, so a rescue attempt can be made to remove it.
We also saw a sea lion with what we thought could be an infected brand. We sent a photo to a wildlife officer in Oregon who tracks these branded sea lions and he shared with us that it is likely a shark bite!