Tag Archives: Steller Sea lion

August 2 and 3

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Tomorrow is a shift changeover and my last day on the Island. Ann Nightingale is coming to be the Ecoguardian. I have enjoyed my stay here for the past five weeks. The near constant west wind provided excellent air conditioning. I learned to live harmoniously with the nesting gulls and chicks. The marine mammals (elephant seals, sea otter, humpback whales, orcas, and Steller sea lions) provided me with plenty of entertainment. I fixed more things on the island than broke. Another successful Ecoguardian shift.

Ecological Notes:

  • The large male elephant seal spent the whole day today on the land, most of the time nestled against the north side of the Guest House.
  • The population of Steller sea lions has doubled in past week. The stench of sea lion poop is also growing down wind of Middle Rocks. There are even a few California sea lions showing up on the main island.
  • In the morning yesterday, myself and the two visitors took the station boat out for a trip to the closest land to the north. I enjoyed seeing a closer view of Bentinck Island, Rocky Point, Church Rock and Swordfish Island. There were many harbour seals hauled out on the rocks and little jumping fish along the way.
  • See the photo gallery below for the ecological happenings from the past two days.

Weekly Census observed on Wednesday, August 3:

  • Elephant seals: 3 (1 adult male, two juvenile females)
  • Steller sea lions: 95
  • California sea lions: 3
  • Harbour seals: 146
  • Bald eagles: 2 adults
  • Brown pelican: 1
  • Canada geese: 2
  • Cormorants: 5
  • Glaucous-winged gulls: 232
  • Glaucous-winged gull chicks: approximately 200 (They are hard to count due to their hiding in plants and rocks. Some chicks have died and new chicks have been born recently.)
  • Gulls (uncertain of species): 331 (around outer islands and congregating on the south end of Great Race Rocks)
  • Black oystercatchers: 8 adults (no chicks seen today)
  • Harlequin duck: 1 female
  • Pigeon guillemots: 132
  • Surfbirds: 12
  • Black turnstones: 148

Weather:

  • Yesterday (August 2):
    • Sky: Partly cloudy
    • Wind: W 11-28 kts
    • Sea: up to 1′ chop
    • Temperature Low 12 oC, High 15 oC
  • Today (August 3):
    • Sky: Overcast until mid morning, then partly cloudy
    • Wind: W 15-34 kts
    • Sea: up to 3′ moderate
    • Temperature Low 12 oC, High 15 oC

Visitors:

  • Abi and Jeremias, the two volunteers
  • 9 visitors from Pearson College in the afternoon of August 2

Facility Work:

  • Scrubbed and squeegeed solar panels, poured cement to fix a broken section of sidewalk, routine tidying and checking infrastructure around the island. 

DND Blasting:

  • Just before 13:00, there was one large blast from the DND lands at Rocky Point.

Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve.

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

July 31 and August 1

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Ecological Notes:

  • The four elephant seals have been busy near the boat ramp with lots of movement to and from the water.
  • This morning, I saw four brown pelicans off the south side of the island.
  • See the photo gallery below for the ecological happenings from the past two days.

Weather:

  • Yesterday (July 31):
    • Sky: Clear, fog in evening
    • Wind: W 3-30 kts
    • Sea: Rippled in morning, then up to 2′ chop
    • Temperature Low 12 oC, High 18 oC
  • Today (August 1):
    • Sky: Fog overnight, then partly cloudy at 07:30
    • Wind: W 18-35 kts
    • Sea: up to 3′ moderate
    • Temperature Low 12 oC, High 21 oC

Visitors:

  • Abi and Jeremias, the two volunteers

Facility Work:

  • Scrubbed and squeegeed solar panels, routine tidying and checking infrastructure around the island.
  • Month end stats:
    • Water used: 1,843 L (average of 59.4 L/day)
    • Diesel used: 168 L
    • Generator hours: 28.3 (average of 0.91 hours/day)
    • Visitors: six people visited

DND Blasting:

  • At sunset this evening, there was one large blast that shook the island from the DND lands at Rocky Point.

Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve.

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

July 29 and 30

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Ecological Notes:

  • I have spotted at least six oystercatcher chicks over the past four weeks, although they are hard to get photos of since they often hide and blend in with the rocks. The parents alert the chicks when I am nearby. On any census day in July, I have only been able to spot three each day. Today I spotted four.
  • I launched the station boat early this afternoon to pick up two volunteers from Pearson campus. On the way to and from Pedder Bay, I slowly and at a safe distance checked out some of the smaller islands that make up the ecological reserve. On the way back with the visitors, we went around the island clockwise to see the sea otter in the east kelp, around the south side of the island, through Middle Channel to see the hauled out sea lions, then landing at the jetty to many watching eyes on the eco tour boats and four elephant seals in the jetty bay.
  • The three juvenile elephant seals (two females and one male), who have been in the jetty bay and on the boat ramp over the past week, have been joined by a large male elephant seal. His huge size, as well as large proboscis (trunk) and back battle scars lead me to believe he is the alpha male I witnessed here in the winter and early spring of 2020. He has also been here as the alpha male for the past two winter birthing seasons. Some past ecoguardians referred to this alpha male as Bernard. I prefer not to anthropomorphize animals. I suspect the three juvenile seals are offspring of the adult male, as the alpha mates with all the females after they give birth. I also believe the juveniles might be the three pups born between December 2019 and January 2020, when I was on the island. They appear to be the correct size for two and a half year olds. They also seem to be friendly with each other as they were in the spring of 2020. See the comparison photo below :)
  • See the photo gallery below for the ecological happenings from the past two days.

Weather:

  • Yesterday (July 29):
    • Sky: Partly cloudy with fog overnight until mid morning
    • Wind: W 16-26 kts
    • Sea: Rippled in morning, then up to 2′ chop
    • Temperature Low 11 oC, High 14 oC
  • Today (July 30):
    • Sky: Partly cloudy
    • Wind: W 0-24 kts
    • Sea: Rippled
    • Temperature Low 11 oC, High 18 oC

Visitors:

  • Two volunteers, Jeremias and Abi, arrived today to help out around the island for the next nine days.

Facility Work:

  • Scrubbed and squeegeed solar panels, routine tidying and checking infrastructure around the island.

Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve.

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

July 27 and 28 – Weekly Census

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Ecological Notes:

  • I counted 40 Steller sea lions hauled out on Middle Rocks, the highest number so far this month.
  • About 200 black turnstones, ruddy turnstones, and surfbirds have been hunkering down in the east bay in the strong west winds for the past two afternoons and evenings.
  • See the photo gallery below for the ecological happenings from the past two days.

Weather:

  • Yesterday (July 27):
    • Sky: Fog at 07:40 until late morning, partly cloudy until fog at 17:00 onwards
    • Wind: W 9-29 kts
    • Sea: Rippled in morning, then up to 2′ chop
    • Temperature Low 13 oC, High 21 oC
  • Today (July 28):
    • Sky: Fog overnight until late morning, partly cloudy until fog rolled in at 16:00
    • Wind: W 18-32 kts
    • Sea: Rippled in morning, up to 3′ moderate in afternoon
    • Temperature Low 12 oC, High 14 oC

Weekly Census (observed on July 27):

  • Elephant Seal: 3
  • Steller/Northern sea lions: 40 on Middle Rock
  • Harbour seals: 132
  • Bald eagles: 2 (1 juvenile and 1 adult)
  • Canada geese: 6
  • Black oystercatchers: 21 (18 adults, 3 chicks)
  • Cormorants: 6
  • Glaucous-winged gulls nesting on the main island: 189
  • Glaucous-winged gull chicks: approximately 200 (It is hard to get an exact number due to their camouflage)
  • Gulls not nesting (some glaucous-winged and some other species) on the south end of the main island and outer islands: 156
  • Pigeon guillemots: 182
  • Surfbirds: 16
  • Black turnstones: 192
  • Ruddy turnstones: 6

Visitors:

  • No visitors

Facility Work:

  • Scrubbed and squeegeed solar panels, routine tidying and checking infrastructure around the island.

Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve.

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

July 19 and 20 – Weekly Census

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Ecological Notes:

  • An elephant seal swam up to the boat ramp at some point yesterday late afternoon or evening. When I went to do the seawater sample at 19:30, I spotted her sleeping at the water’s edge. As far as I can tell, she has been there ever since.
  • See the photo gallery below for more ecological happenings from the past two days.

Weekly Census recorded on Wednesday, July 20:

It was not an ideal day to record the census, as it was quite foggy. Although, I had a window of less fog at around noon, when I could see all the islets that comprise Race Rocks and the water in between, so I was able to count the species from the lantern room of the lighthouse. I counted other species throughout the day as I walked around.

  • Elephant Seal: 1
  • Steller/Northern sea lions: 15
  • Harbour seals: 125
  • Bald eagles: 2 (1 juvenile and 1 adult)
  • Canada geese: 9 (5 adults, 4 goslings)
  • Black oystercatchers: 11 (8 adults, 3 chicks)
  • Cormorants: 5
  • Glaucous-winged gulls nesting on the main island: 229
  • Glaucous-winged gull chicks: approximately 250 (It is hard to get an exact number due to their camouflage in the grass and hiding under their parents) 
  • Gulls not nesting (some glaucous-winged and some other species) on the south end of the main island and outer islands: 96
  • Pigeon guillemots: 163
  • Black turnstones: 2
  • Western sandpiper: 3
  • Fox sparrow: 1

Weather:

  • Yesterday (July 19):
    • Sky: Partly cloudy, fog in evening
    • Wind: W 3-29 kts
    • Sea: rippled, then up to 1′ chop in afternoon and evening
    • Temperature Low 11oC, High 15oC
  • Today (July 20):
    • Sky: Fog overnight, a mixture of partly cloudy and fog throughout the day and into the evening
    • Wind: W 12-30 kts
    • Sea: rippled, then up 2′ chop in afternoon and evening
    • Temperature Low 11oC, High 14oC

Visitors:

  • 2 visitors from Pearson College to deliver supplies. 

Facility Work:

  • Scrubbed and squeegeed solar panels, routine tidying and checking infrastructure around the island.

Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve.

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

July 15 and 16 – A Scoop of Pelicans

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Ecological Notes:

  • 12 brown pelicans flew around the island at 12:30 yesterday. They returned just before 14:00, flew by the South Islands, and landed on the South Seal Rocks. They moved to the east side of Race Rocks, where they remained for at least a couple hours. A group of pelicans is known as either a pod, pouch, scoop, squadron, or fleet.
  • The glaucous-winged gull chicks are growing quickly, with many meal deliveries happening throughout the day by their parents.
  • See the photo gallery below for more ecological happenings from the past two days.

Weather:

  • Yesterday (July 15):
    • Sky: Part Cloudy
    • Wind: mostly W, 0-28 kts
    • Sea: rippled, then up to 2′ chop in afternoon
    • Temperature Low 12oC, High 16oC
  • Today (July 16):
    • Sky: Overcast
    • Wind: W 15-25 kts
    • Sea: rippled, then 1′ chop in afternoon
    • Temperature Low 13oC, High 15oC

Visitors:

  • No visitors

Facility Work:

  • Scrubbed and squeegeed solar panels, routine tidying and checking infrastructure around the island.

 DND Events:

  • Between 10:00 and 14:00 yesterday, there were five detonations on the nearby DND (Department of National Defence) training area on Bentinck Island, about 2km or 1NM from Great Race Rocks. The sudden explosions sent many birds into the air, as well as seals and sea lions into the water.

Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve.

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

July 13 and 14 – Weekly Census

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Ecological Notes:

  • The sea lion population is growing. For the past few days there have been 18 Steller sea lions hauled out on Middle Rocks. That is up from four sea lions one week ago. One of the sea lions has a brand. It appears to say 620R, although the researcher I contacted in Oregon mentioned it is what they call a bad brand and he was unable to determine the brand from the photos I sent. I will keep a look out for the sea lion and see if I can get a better view. The researcher will check his records to see if he can identify the sea lion and be able to record the resighting.
  • The super moon on Wednesday night rose in the southeast at 10:00pm. It was a big bright orange orb that looked more like the rising sun, than the moon.
  • Today’s extremely low tide of -0.2m or -0.7′ was at 10:13am. The overnight high tide at 00:55am was 3.0m or 9.8′. It is apparently the lowest tide in a decade. I was fascinated to see the extended edge of the water all around the many islands. I looked at the exposed intertidal zone from a distance and up on the jetty, so as not to disturb the many delicate species.
  • See the photo gallery below for more ecological happenings from the past two days.

Weekly Census Results from July 13:

  • Steller/Northern sea lions: 18
  • Sea otter: 1
  • Harbour seals: 133
  • Bald eagles: 2 (1 juvenile and 1 adult)
  • Canada geese: 9 (5 adults, 4 goslings)
  • Black oystercatchers: 11 (8 adults, 3 chicks)
  • Cormorant: 4
  • Glaucous-winged gulls nesting on the main island: 247
  • Glaucous-winged gull chicks: approximately 200 (it is hard to get an exact number due to their camouflage in the grass and hiding under their parents)
  • Gulls not nesting (some glaucous-winged and some other species) on the south end of the main island and outer islands: 96
  • Pigeon guillemots: 142
  • Black turnstones: 2
  • Western sandpiper: 2

Weather:

  • Yesterday (July 13):
    • Sky: Part Cloudy
    • Wind: W 12-32 kts
    • Sea: rippled, then up to 3′ waves in afternoon and evening
    • Temperature Low 12oC, High 16oC
  • Today (July 14):
    • Sky: Part Cloudy
    • Wind: W 15-27 kts
    • Sea: rippled, then up to 2′ chop in afternoon
    • Temperature Low 11oC, High 13oC

Visitors:

  • No visitors

Facility Work:

  • Scrubbed and squeegeed solar panels, routine tidying and checking infrastructure around the island.

Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve.

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

Census July 6

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Ecological Notes:

  • I am seeing more gull chicks everyday. Many gull parents are frequently feeding their two or three chicks.
  • I seem to have come to an understanding with some gulls. If I approach near them on the path at a slow speed, we both ignore each other. There are other gulls who freak out if I even look in their direction. As I do necessary work, I limit my movements around the island and avoid certain paths that have nearby nests and chicks.
  • See photo gallery and captions for more details on the ecological happenings over the past two days.

Weekly Census Results:

  • Elephant seal (juvenile male): 1
  • Steller/Northern sea lions: 4
  • Harbour seals: 113
  • Bald eagles: 6 (4 juveniles and 2 adults)
  • Canada geese: 11 (7 adults, 4 goslings)
  • Black oystercatchers: 10 (8 adults, 2 chicks – probably more that are camouflaged)
  • Cormorant: 2
  • Glaucous-winged gulls nesting: 172
  • Glaucous-winged gull chicks: approximately 50 (also hard to spot in the grass and under their parents)
  • Gulls not nesting (some glaucous-winged and some other species) on the south end of the island and outer islands: 97
  • Pigeon guillemots: 123
  • Surfbirds: 3
  • Killdeers: 2
  • Western sandpiper: 1

Weather:

  • Yesterday (July 5):
    • Sky: Fog in morning, Part Cloudy in afternoon
    • Wind: W 0-12 kts
    • Sea: calm
    • Temperature Low 11oC, High 17oC
  • Today (July 6):
    • Sky: Overcast in morning, Part Cloudy in afternoon
    • Wind: W 8-22 kts
    • Sea: rippled in morning, 1′ chop in afternoon
    • Temperature Low 12oC, High 15oC

Visitors:

  • No visitors over the past two days

Facility Work:

  • Installed bird deterrents on new solar panels, scrubbed and squeegeed solar panels, emptied composting toilet, fixed screen door at basement entrance.

Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby and heading through the waters of the ecological reserve.

Here are photo highlights from the past two days. Click on the photos for larger views and captions.

Gull Chicks Everywhere

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It is great to be back as the Ecoguardian at Race Rocks. I have been lucky enough to spend a total of almost seven months here between 2014 and my last shift which ended on September 1, 2020. I have been spending the past three and a bit days reacquainting myself with the island and infastructure. I have not stayed here before in July, so it is taking some adjustment to live in harmony and not disturb hundreds of nesting gulls. It drastically limits where I can go on the island.

Ecological Notes:

  • The glaucous-winged gull population is increasing everyday with lots of chicks hatching. I do my best to avoid getting close to the nests. I move quickly by the ones near doors and pathways on which I need to travel to get to the energy building, jetty and lighthouse.
  • A pod of orcas swam westward through the ecological reserve on Saturday, July 2, then went eastward in Race Channel. The orcas continued to head eastward, with at one point 14 ecotour boats viewing them from a safe distance.
  • A juvenile male elephant seal, tagged D018/D019, has been hanging around here for a while this spring and early summer. I noticed the tags this weekend, so I could confirm it was the same seal that Ecoguardian Joan spotted on the seal’s arrival on the island on May 19. Here is a link to the tagged resight histories, when I spotted this seal in April 2020 and reported the details to the Director of the Año Nuevo Reserve, in California. The brief version is he was tagged in February 2017 as a pup in Año Nuevo. He was first observed at Race Rocks in April 2018. He was again spotted here in April 2019, December 2019, and April 2020. His proboscis (nose) and body has grown a lot in the past couple years. I wonder what adventures he has gone on in that time.
  • I know of two black oystercatcher chicks that I have seen through the binoculars and  long lens of the camera. One is hanging out near the jetty with its parents. The other is hanging out near east bay with its parents. The dark grey fluff ball chicks are hard to spot, as they blend in well with rocks.
  • See the photos below for these and more ecological sights.

Weather:

  • The wind has been consistently coming from the west over the past four days that I have been here.
  • Friday and Saturday were part cloudly with lots of sun to fully charge the solar panels by 17:00 both days.
  • Sunday and Monday were overcast with periods of rain and fog.
  • The temperature in the past four days has ranged between 11 to 14 oC.

Visitors:

  • Greg drove the boat on the afternoon of Friday, July 1 to do the shift changeover between Jillian and I. Thanks, Jillian, for leaving the place in such great shape.

Vessel Traffic:

  • Many Canadian and American ecotour boats have been nearby throughout this long weekend.

Here are photo highlights from the past few days. Click on the photos for a larger view.

December 29th – A Break in the Snow

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Ecological Notes:

First things first: the new Elephant Seal pup is doing great! 8 days old today, very vocal and mobile; especially when compared to last years pups. The seal pup doesn’t seem to mind the cold, and we’re reached the point of nursing where the mom starts moving around throughout the day. Maybe to stimulate the pup to get moving and muscle-y, or maybe to get a break from the nursing.

The Beachmaster left the island after the first 2 days of snow. He was spotting wallowing around Race Rocks, so maybe just using the warmer ocean water rather than sitting on land getting snowed on.

Once the snow stopped falling we had a shift in birds, with 12-20 eagles spotted in the early mornings feeding on what looks like bits of other birds. Maybe the cold was enough to provide some good food for all those eagles. Prior to the snow we were seeing 3-5 eagles in the mornings.

The California and Steller Sea Lions have been moving around the islands trying to find spots where they can group up and keep warm. This has provided an opportunity for the Harbour Seals to haul out, something that we don’t see much with the available real-estate claimed by the larger sea lions. It’s funny to me that the seals choose to be on land when the sea lions choose to hang out in the water.

Facility Work:

We have been fighting to keep things unfrozen for the last week, with temperatures dropping the water pipes froze and we’re working to keep the desalinator and other infrastructure from freezing as well. Shovelling walkways and keeping things snow free.

DND events:

Real quiet on the DND front. No boats or blasting over the holidays.

Weather Events:

The snow showed up Christmas night, heralded by the foghorn. Not much snow lands on Race Rocks when it’s blowing, and the cold (around -5 to -7 for a few days) kept the snow nice and powdery, perfect to be swept!

30-40 knot winds and cold weather have made us VERY appreciative of the new windows in the Eco-Guardian house, significantly improving the insulation.

 

Weather – Current: 

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

Weather – Past:

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