Tag Archives: snow

Snow Receding

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Ecological Notes:

  • The California Sea Lions have made themselves at ease in the snow.

  • The large female Elephant Seal was very active and vocal today. She spent much of her time ,moving around the center of the island, from high spot to high spot, lifting high as though she was looking for something, all the while bellowing and “calling”
  • A first for me, while I had the camera out with the long lens, I saw a female Steller Sea Lion nursing  pup! With further scanning with the camera, I found 3 other nursing pairs.

    Female Steller nursing a pup!

  • I have been doing water-based tours of the area for nearly 20 years and  had noticed there were a lot more small sealions than I had ever seen here at Race Rocks. 

Facility Work:

  • Although shoveling the snow was futile, I’ve managed to cut tracks now so that I don’t have to wander too much to get from location to location!
  • With too much snow on the paths from the drifts, resorted to moving fuel old school in fuel cans.

  • Water is still frozen, but checked the heat tapes to make sure they were still working

Weather Events:

  • Thursday December 22:
    • Sky: Overcast with occasional flurries and freezing rain
    • Wind: N/NE winds 20-30 Knt
    • Sea: 1 meter swells
    • Temperature Low -8 oC, High -3 oC
  • Friday December 23:
    • Overcast 
    • Wind: ENE  to N mid-day 30knts, then back to ENE 10-15knots in the evening
    • Sea:  1 – 2 meter waves
    • Temperature Low  -1oC, High  3oC
    • Some snow melting
  • Tower weather electronics are still down, so wind numbers are estimates.

 

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Guess what? lots of snow

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Ecological Notes:

  • Very large, pregnant Elephant seal moving around on the main island. At one point I thought she was in labor, but then she calmed back down

She got here before the snow

Flicking snow up onto her back

Her packed down trails are the best to walk on

  • many Sealions have left in the bad weather, not sure if they will be back
  • Still seeing occasional Humpback Whales around the reserve

Visitors:

  • Last week had visitors for Royal Roads
  •  Seafront coordinator to deliver fuel, joined him on a quick trip into the Victoria Fuel dock

Facility Work:

  • Installed new, high efficient  heater in the Desalinator Bunker

NOT the grey one!

  • Serviced the chainsaw and put on new chain, bucked up available firewood
  • Continuous repairs to the electric fence system
  • Weekly battery maintenance, 
  • Checked heat tape on exposed waterlines, was working but eventually failed, no water to the main house now

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • A group of sailboat did a run around the reserve

Ecoguardian  Notes:

  • Great care taken to navigate around in the high snow drifts, it all changes hourly, and shoveling is futile, other than to keep doorways passable

Weather Events:

Blustery Day

  • Primarily N/NE winds for the last week, overcast with lots of snow
  • Monday / Tuesday December 19/20:
    • Sky: Overcast with snow flurries
    • Wind: N/NE winds 20-30 Knt
    • Sea: 1 meter swells
    • Temperature Low -8 oC, High -3 oC
  • Wednesday December 21:
    • Overcast with a mix of sunny periods, clear skies after dark
    • Wind:N/NE 20-30knts
    • Sea:  1 – 2 meter waves
    • Temperature Low  -8oC, High  -6oC
    • Very cold windchill
  • Tower weather electronics are still down, so wind numbers are estimates.

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

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!

All Kinds of Weather

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Wind: yesterday 0-10 knots from N to SE, today 0-20 knots from S to E to N
Sea State: yesterday rippled with swells up to 1 m in afternoon, today calm, then rippled with swells up to 1 m in afternoon
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 3-10 NM
Sky: yesterday hail then clear, today overcast, snow and rain
Temperature: yesterday 3-5 °C, today 1-4 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.32 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

There has been a variety of weather over the past two days. Yesterday began with hail at sunrise, quickly becoming clear skies for the rest of the day. Today was foggy with a light snowfall in the morning, turning into rain for the rest of the day.

This evening, one of the female elephant seals left the island. She had been here since January 3, for a total of 32 days without eating. She gave birth to the second pup of the season on January 11 and nursed that pup for 24 days. That pup is still hanging out with the harem, which now consists of the alpha male, second pup, female that lost her pup, third pup and her mother. The first pup has been nearby the harem since his mother left the island two weeks ago, but he doesn’t sleep in the same spot as the rest of the group. Lately, the first pup has been spending a lot of time around the rock ledges by the water shed and desalinator building.

There was one visitor to the island in the past two days. Greg stopped by the jetty briefly to drop off fuel: gas for the generator and groceries for the ecoguardian. No other boats were seen in the ecological reserve.

More Snow and Elephant Seals

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Wind: yesterday 10-29 knots N, today 16-63 knots N switching to E in the afternoon
Sea State: yesterday rippled, today up to 3 m waves from E
Visibility: yesterday and today 1-10 NM
Sky: both days fog, blowing snow, cloudy and patches of sun
Temperature: yesterday -1 to -4 °C, today -4 to 3 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.38 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The snow has continued to fall, creating large snowdrifts against buildings, paths and rocks. I have enjoyed watching the elephant seals move through the snow and appear to play in it. The snowdrifts have changed my routes around the island, finding the path of least resistance that doesn’t disturb the ground or engulf me into a metre of snow or a hidden puddle. It’s not all fun and games here, there have also been some fights amongst the elephant seals. The beta males have been chasing each other around the island and sinking their teeth into each other. There are once again four adult males on the island. The alpha male continues to be with the pups and females. A new pregnant female elephant seal arrived yesterday morning as I was waiting for Greg to arrive in the boat with a food delivery. She made her way up the boat ramp to the centre of the island with the others. That brings the current elephant seal count to ten. Perhaps two more pups will arrive soon.

Since the snow and strong winds came, the sea lions are still mostly in the water, floating in large groups. Today, a few california sea lions huddled on the jetty. A smaller number of birds have been seen in the ecological reserve. Stay tuned for the post in two days with the results of the weekly census.

See the photos below for some recent snowy, windy and wavy views.

Video clips of a few elephant seals interacting with the snow:

Sea Otter Visit and Snow Day

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Wind: yesterday 3-53 knots W, today 9-34 knots N
Sea State: yesterday 2 m waves from W, today up to 1 m waves from N
Visibility: yesterday 2 to 10 NM, today 1 to 2 NM
Sky: yesterday sunny with cloudy patches, today fog and snow
Temperature: yesterday 7 to -1 °C, today -1 to -4 °C with windchill as low as -14 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.15 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Yesterday brought many gifts from the sun: rainbows, warmth and solar power for the batteries. In the afternoon, I spotted an unusual sight for this time of year. A sea otter was being tossed around in the waves near the jetty. I grabbed the camera and did my best to capture some photos as it swam around the northeast side of the island, got out briefly on the rocks near the house, then swam back to the waves of the north side, before it floated northeast past the east side of the North Rocks. The wind was over 40 knots, which made it hard to hold the camera steady and take photos. I managed to get a few photos (see below) that show a slightly blurry sea otter in action.

Last night, the temperature dipped below O °C. I prepared the buildings from getting too cold by turning on heat in the evening. Throughout the night, the fog horn sounded and the snow accumulated. Judging by the snow on the relatively sheltered ground mounted solar panels, there was about 8 cm of snow overnight and into the early afternoon. On the rest of the island, the tracks of sea lions, birds and slide marks of elephant seals showed the few movements of a quiet island. A smaller than usual group of gulls and cormorants were hunkered down on the southwest side of the island. Most of the sea lions were rafting in the water, which was observed this afternoon at 7.7 °C, much warmer than the -4 °C air temperature.

A video of the two beta male elephant seals fighting at the base of the lighthouse. They move very fast when they are motivated. After they disappeared behind the tower, they chased each other around the island and into the water by the jetty, causing a stampede of some nearby sea lions.

A video of the snowy views and windy sounds of the islands.

 

 

More Snow

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Weather

  • Visibility: 10 Miles
  • Wind: 15-25 NE
  • Sky: Overcast
  • Water: Waves under a meter

Boats/Visitors

  • Expecting Guy today with a food order and help me refuel the generator

Maintenance

  • The generator is needing a lot of run time lately, I haven’t been running it too much after dark because the paths are made of ice, I don’t have a proper flashlight and there are 5 male elephant seals around the house and I don’t want to run into one in the dark. I will be getting a couple new flashlights today so this won’t be a problem anymore.
  • I haven’t tried running the desalinator the past couple days, just concerned of breaking something if any part of the system froze. I have enough freshwater to last a while though

Ecological

  • the pups are hiding under the stairs in the front of the house, but they are adorable and finally bonding with each other. Once the storm passes they might start going down to the water to splash around so I have to make sure the path stays clear.
  • The female pup is the only female right now, then there is the male pup and 5 other males scattered around.

Snow Storm

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Weather

  • Visibility: 10 Miles
  • Wind: 20-45 NE
  • Sky: Overcast
  • Water: Waves over a metre today

Boats/Visitors

  • No visitors today, haven’t seen anyone out in today’s weather

Maintenance

  • Should’ve run the generator a little longer today but the wind was picking up, I’m waiting on a better flashlight, the elephant’s seals are scattered around and those pathways are pure ice

Ecological

  • I think the third mature female left today, the one who lost her pup
  • a juvenile female showed up, she was cuddling with the male pup but the alpha male started chasing her around and she took off
  • the female pup has moved away from the front door finally, she is by the cistern now
  • haven’t seen really seen many sea lions today

Snow and Coast guard

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: 5-15 NE
  • Sky: Clear and Sunny
  • Water: A bit choppy, no big waves

Boats/Visitors

  • Guy came by today to deliver fuel and help me with the desalinator, I had some freezing issues with it
  • Coast Guard also dropped by in their helicopter to do some lighthouse maintenance

Maintenance

  • I ran the generator for awhile last night, will do so again tonight
  • tried to run desal but had a freezing issue so will try again when it warms up a bit

Ecological

  • The pup that is alone right now decided the front door was a good place to sleep so I’ve been using the side door
  • the elephants don’t seem too bothered by the snow
  • there are about 3 males around right now, the alpha chases the other two off when they get close

Snow Day!

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The wind was howling up to 38 knots from the north northeast last night, bringing with it a low of -2oC and a couple centimetres of snow.  The temperature stayed just below 0oC for the rest of the day.  The barometer rose from 999 hPa to 1022 hPa throughout the day, making for a bluebird sky.  During the daylight hours, the wind continued to blow from the north northeast between 10 and 20 knots.

There was one whale watching boat seen in the reserve in the mid afternoon.  Six divers from Ogden Point were exploring the undersea world of the reserve in the late morning.

The snow didn’t seem to faze the animals.  The sea lions barked just as loud and the bald eagles tormented the gulls just as much.  Some of the snow melted from the sun.  There is still ice on some of the paths and rocks, as well as a light dusting of snow on the grass and in the places that were shaded by buildings and rocks.

Other than taking photos of snow, the tasks of the day included: running the desalinator, topping up the batteries with the generator, deconstructing the old washroom in the basement of the Marine Science Centre to accommodate the new composting toilet (it’s almost finished), fixing the wheelbarrow, testing the salinity and temperature of the water, and doing a load of laundry.