stampede | Race Rocks Ecological Reserve-

Weather:

Boats/Visitors:

- A whole boat load of visitors this morning! VP of Pearson College Tyrone, Alum in residence Norbert and friends to advise on our solar panel system, a desalinator consultant (in preparation for the new desalinator!), and an insurance appraiser.
- Fewer whale watching boats this week, but we have been concerned about the frequent use of flash photography and its possible effects on the wildlife.
- Greg also made another trip to bring us some water this afternoon.
- Yesterday we watched a pleasure craft approach the sea lions near our jetty and throw some kind of food at them (some of it hit the sea lions). We were able to capture them scaring the animals, who stampeded into the water. They hovered to take photos and unfortunately pose with their open alcohol. Even more unfortunate, the bait that we saw being thrown at the sea lions previously and perhaps this time as well is not suitable for consumption, as many times it has been treated with formaldehyde.

Ecological:

Many sea lions now, and unfortunately a few that are injured. Aside from the two that we have mentioned previously, we have been finding more fishing hooks scattered around and a sea lion appearing to have a nasty wound possibly caused by an embedded fishing hook.
This afternoon we also noticed a sea lion with a propeller inflicted gash on his head. He seemed to be dazed or perhaps concussed due to the injury. Normally the sea lions are skittish and make a ruckus if we get too close, but this one didn’t react to our presence and seemed notably lethargic. We were concerned that he might fall victim to the injury, but approximately an hour later he seemed more alert, reacted to our presence, and seemed to be doing okay.
We reported the tagged sea lion to the researchers in California and were excited to hear that they have some information about him and his early life. We hope to be able to share more soon! This little guy has already swum almost 1500 km from his birth place, Ana Nuevo CA.
Yesterday there was quite a bit of smoke caused by controlled burning taking place on the nearby DND land. They burned 20 hectares of Gary Oak habitat to protect the species (from invading conifers) and and prevent spread of invasive plants.