Tag Archives: sunset

Farewell! (For Now)

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Well, just like that it’s been 6 weeks and it’s time for me to return to the mainland. The wind is gusting 65km/hour right now, giving me one final storm before my departure. The animals are all hidden away, protecting themselves from the weather. All except the male elephant seal who is still harassing the gulls.

I thought I’d wrap up my final blog post with my favourite photos and moments from this trip. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Pinnipeds:

Cetaceans:

Ollie the Sea Otter: 

Birds:

Northern Lights:

Sunsets:

That’s all from me for now, but I’ll be back! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

July 17 and 18

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Ecological Notes:

  • A large pod of humpbacks has been around Race Rocks for at least the past few days, with many visible to the south. Today, I saw a few blows and dorsal fins near north of Turbine Rocks (north of the main island), then near West Rocks. Unfortunately, I did not get any photos.
  • I keep seeing a fast moving barn swallow and fox sparrow fluttering low around the island. I only see one at a time, so it is possible there are more of each species. Similar to the humpbacks, the little birds don’t stop in one place long enough for a photo opportunity.
  • See the photo gallery below for more ecological happenings from the past two days.

Weather:

  • Yesterday (July 17):
    • Sky: Cloudy, heavy rain showers after sunset and overnight
    • Wind: W 14-25 kts
    • Sea: rippled, then up to 2′ chop in evening
    • Temperature Low 12oC, High 16oC
  • Today (July 18):
    • Sky: Partly Cloudy
    • Wind: W 12-30 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 10:20 and 13:20 today, there were three 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.

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.

August 31 – Weekly Census and Shift Change

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Wind: W 2-15 knots
Sea State: calm
Visibility: 5-15 NM
Sky: partly cloudy in early morning, then clear
Temperature: 11-17 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 411.90 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Census results recorded this morning at low tide for the mammals and throughout the day for the birds:
26 steller sea lions
110 california sea lions
1 sea otter
290 harbour seals
1 Canada goose
7 pelagic cormorants
1,232 california gulls
251 glaucous-winged gulls
98 gull chicks
2 black oystercatchers
7 black turnstones
1 song sparrow

There were a lot of eco tourism boats passing through the ecological reserve today. An outrigger canoeist paddled through the main channel in the mid morning and again in the early afternoon.

Tomorrow is my last day as the Ecoguardian. Mara and Kai are returning for a few months. I have enjoyed being back on this wonderful island for the past 17 days, learning on the edge where the land meets the sea meets sky. Race Rocks is a unique place that couldn’t exist without the work of Pearson students, staff, faculty, alumni and volunteers.

Here are some sights from around the island today:

 

 

 

 

August 23

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Wind: W 2-19 knots
Sea State: calm in morning, rippled in afternoon
Visibility: 15 NM
Sky: clear, partly cloudy in evening
Temperature: 11-16 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.58 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

There were not a lot ecological happenings to note from today. The sea lions are continuing to grow in numbers in the main haul out spots on the southwest side of the main island, southeast side near the lighthouse, jetty area, and Middle Rock. Stay tuned for the weekly census tomorrow to get the official numbers to see how the population has grown since last week.

I have been keeping track of the two steller sea lions seen recently with flashers hooked to their mouths. I only saw one this morning near the jetty. I thought I saw one which was possibly the same one on Middle Rock, although I couldn’t get a good look at it because it was facing away.

I transferred diesel to the furnace tanks in each house, in the ongoing effort to get everything stocked up for the colder months.

There were a lot of eco tourism and pleasure boats in the area, taking advantage of the nice weather.

Here are two photos from today:

April 13 and 14 – End of Shift

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Wind: yesterday variable 2-28 knots, today W 7-38 knots
Sea State: yesterday calm, today rippled in morning and up to 1 m chop in evening
Visibility: both days 15 NM
Sky: both days clear
Temperature: yesterday 7-13 °C, today 8-11 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 415.81 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Today is my last full day on the island before the shift changeover. Tomorrow morning, Mara and Kai will arrive to take over as Ecoguardians. They were here last year from May to September.

I spent the past two days finishing up some tasks around the island and cleaning. I also took time to walk around the island and get a look at all of the incredible species, land and shoreline that make up this ecological reserve.

There were no boats in the ecological reserve.

See the photos below for some views from around the island.

  • The combination of clear water and low tide make it easy to see lots of colourful seaweeds, surfgrass, urchins and other intertidal species.
  • Two swallows were fluttering around the island yesterday. This one landed on the a cable on the winch long enough for me to take a photo.
  • At first I thought it was barn swallows, but then with the help of a field guide realized it’s a violet-green swallow.
  • The sun peering over the horizon at 6:20 this morning.
  • The lighthouse just after sunrise this morning. The moon, in its third quarter, can be seen to the south.
  • A thayer’s gull with a Canada goose egg in its beak.
  • Can you spot the juvenile elephant seal in the middle of the photo, amongst the group of california sea lions?
  • A beautiful sunset on the edge, where the land meets the sea meets the sky.

April 1 and 2

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Wind: yesterday variable 1-21 knots, today W 2-31 knots
Sea State: both days rippled
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: both days partly cloudy then clearing in the mid morning
Temperature: yesterday 4-10 °C, today 5-6 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 415.81 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Yesterday morning, a new elephant seal arrived on the island. He has green tags on each tail flipper, D018 and D019. The green tags signify it was tagged at Año Nuevo Reserve, similar to the female juvenile seal here right now. Due to the website being down for a few days, I didn’t realize at the time the seal was the same one here for the last two weeks of December. The seal was also seen here for two weeks in April 2019. I reported the sighting to Dr. Patrick Robinson, the Director of Año Nuevo Reserve, near San Francisco in California. He reported back that the seal was born at the beginning of 2017, meaning he is now a three year old sub adult. Based on the photos I sent Dr. Robinson and included in the gallery below, he determined the seal is in great body condition but fur/skin is in poor condition.

In the past few days, the sea lions have been taking over the jetty, something they haven’t done in critical mass since the beginning of the winter. This afternoon, I finished setting up and testing the electric fence on the jetty to deter sea lions from congregating and damaging the railings and boat cleats. When I need to use the jetty to test the seawater or for boats, the sea lions need to be cleared off. No matter how slowly I approach the them, they only have one speed of getting off the jetty, which is stampede. It will take some time each day to maintain the fence from sea lions bumping it, as well as wind and waves.

Only one boat was seen in the ecological reserve, a Coast Guard rigid hull inflatable went through Middle Channel yesterday afternoon and stopped to take photos of sea lions on the rocks.

  • Sunrise from the top of the tower
  • Morning mountain view
  • The newly arrived sub adult male elephant seal
  • He has a green tag on each tail flipper D018 and D019
  • D018
  • The beginnings of the electric fence to protect the jetty from sea lions
  • Colourful sunset

March 16 and 17

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Wind: yesterday variable 3-13 knots, today mostly E 0-13 knots
Sea State: both days calm
Visibility: both days 15 NM
Sky: both days clear
Temperature: yesterday 3-11 °C, today 4-9 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.35 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

It’s still officially winter, although it’s looking a lot more springlike. The ground is drying out, after lots of sun and little moisture lately. The elephant seal pups are now fending for themselves, as there are no signs of adults around. The female, tagged T563, hasn’t been seen for three days.

Today marked the first day this winter with more than 12 hours of daylight. The sunrise was at 7:21. The sunset was at 19:23. Each day adds three and a half minutes of light.

The pressure washing continues, in an effort to clean algae off the exterior walls of the buildings. Other maintenance tasks are happening like cleaning the solar panels, chopping wood, keeping the paths clear and running the desalinator. There is still lots of time leftover for watching the seal pups, eagles, pigeon guillemots and learning about this amazing place.

Yesterday, there were two tour boats in the ecological reserve. Today, Pearson College’s boat Second Nature and captain Greg came to deliver fuel for the generator. This afternoon, there was a pleasure craft touring, quite quickly at times,  around the islands. With lots of marine mammals in the water and along the shore, it’s important for people to drive at a slow speed in the ecological reserve.

Shoreline Debris

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Wind: yesterday N-NE 25-53 knots, today NE-S 9-45 knots
Sea State: both days rough with waves up to 2 m
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: both days clear
Temperature: yesterday 0-3 °C, today 1-6 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.33 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The wind was strong all day yesterday until mid afternoon today, when it began to die down. The cool temperatures and winds blasted some of the plants that were exposed on the north side. The high pressure and clear skies were great for the solar power. For the first time this winter, the batteries recharged themselves today, reaching full charge just after 4:00 this afternoon. Normally, I top the batteries up with the generator for a few hours each evening. Hopefully the voltage of the batteries will remain at a good level until the sun rises at 7:24 and begins to feed the solar panels soon after.

For the past two and a half months, I have been combing the shoreline, picking up all the trash that washes ashore. I picked up a lot of pieces of plastic, rope, foam, fishing gear, buckets and other things that floated their way here. There are only three small beaches on the island that collect garbage: the boat ramp, east bay and the tombolo, which at low tide connects the south side of the island with the south seal rocks. There must be a massive amount of trash that floats by Race Rocks and doesn’t get captured by the shoreline. On the south side of the island, I found a lot of metal and pieces of ceramic that were mostly from the days when the old things and buildings on the island were disposed of by pushing them into the water. A few of the items I found are going to be reused: dog toys, floats and rope. The rest will be either recycled or sent to the landfill.

There were two tour boats in the ecological reserve this weekend, both today.

Other photos from around the island over the past two days:

Leap Day Weekend

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Wind: yesterday 12-35 knots from W, today 2-28 knots from N to S to W
Sea State: yesterday rough with chop up to 1 m, today calm until turning rough in evening
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy, today clear turning overcast in late afternoon
Temperature: yesterday 6-7 °C, today 4-7 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.12 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Routine tasks were done over the weekend: making water with the desalinator, tidying the Tank Shed, refuelling the generator and writing the month end report.

The elephant seals rested on land for most of the weekend. The youngest female pup joined the oldest male pup on the boardwalk by the jetty.

There was more than the usual amount of self-propelled activity in the ecological reserve today. This morning, a group of five people spent two hours snorkelling at various spots around the main island. One person spotted in the small inflatable boat, while the other four snorkelled in pairs. This afternoon, two big canoes with 12 people each paddled by. They might have paddled around the island, but I only noticed them passing north through Middle Channel.

No boats were around yesterday, due to the rough seas. Today, other than the boats mentioned above, there were four tour boats and one pleasure boat.