Tag Archives: swell

Storm Season

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Ecological Notes:

  • 1 expecting female Elephant Seal … coming and going, still only coming as high as the ramp/ boat shed area
  • Very small female Elephant Seal , green tag number L334 visiting occasionally … very skittish and nervous, especially when the sea lions are moved off the ramp
  • In addition to a few Humpback Whales still in viewing distance, one did a rise only 5 meters off the jetty
  • Removal of dead bird carcasses (mostly gulls)

Visitors:

  • 1 supply drop off by the waterfront team
  • High tides, winds, and swells have prevented the work crews from coming out

Facility Work:

  • Fuel transfers, ensuring extra in the generator room as storms are coming again
  • Topped up battery levels
  • Daily fencing repairs. I got some new ribbon joiners that seem to be working well
  • Combination of high tides and swells has kept the jetty pretty much awash most of the daytime hours
  • Took advantage of rainy squalls to clean windows and solar panels

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Although they are less frequent, still some Ecotourism vessels in the park daily

Weather Events:

  • Thursday, November 14:
    • Sky: High cloud, with occasional clear periods
    • Wind: WSW 20 – 25 kts
    • Sea: Swells from the west to 1.5 metres
    • Temperature Low 8oC, High 11oC
  • Friday, November 15:
    • Sky: mostly clear, high cloud and light mist in the distance
    • Wind:  Mostly N 5 kts
    • Sea: overall flat with a slight swell…residual wrap around swell in the pier area is very high though, swamping the entire pier on each swell
    • Temperature Low 1oC (during the early morning N winds), High 8oC
  • Saturday, November 16:
    • Sky: High overcast, full visibility at water level. Light rain starting mid afternoon
    • Wind: ENE rising to 20kts in the early morning, veering to N and 10 – 20kts
    • Sea:  morning, calm with low underlying swell
    • Temperature Low 4oC, High 8oC
  • Sunday, November 17:
    • Sky: Overcast, Heavy morning rain squalls
    • Wind: Westerly night winds, peaking at 40kts… dropping to 15 – 20 kts by morning
    • Sea:  morning, calm with low underlying swell
    • Temperature Low 4oC, High 8oC

 

 

** 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?

Swell, Sea Lion, Sooth

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 10-15 knots N, later down to 5-10 N
  • Sky: overcast, then a rather sunny afternoon.
  • Water: 1′ waves, 3′ swell on the rocks

Ecological

  • A rather large sea lion encroachment today.
  • I think the powerful swell against the rocks was driving them inland.
  • 5 elephant seals on Great Race.
  • One of them spent the day lying in the mud on the NE part of the island.

e-seal-29-10

Maintenance

  • The sea lion encroachment caused major fence discombobulation.
  • Spent 1 hour resetting the fence.
  • The usual chores as well.

Boats

  • A few eco-tours came by today.

Other

  • A float plane flew over Great Race just after 15:00.

Hard Headway

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Brandt's Cormorants making a break for more sheltered area

Brandt’s Cormorants making a break for more sheltered area

Ecological Happenings

  • Gusting gale-force winds from the North East and high seas with 2m swells rolling through.
  • Birds hunkered down on the rocks while the sea lions mainly spent the day in the ocean away from the breakers on the rocks.
  • The male Elephant seals spent the day on the main island with two female seals on Middle rocks.

Marine Vessels

  • None

Maintenance

  • Logs cleared from jetty.
Thayer's gulls sitting it out

Thayer’s gulls sitting it out

 

Census Count

Sea Lion 169
Harbour Seal 18
Elephant Seal 4
Cormorant 187
Gull 323
Oyster Catcher 24
Bald Eagle (Adult/Immature) 1/6
Harlequin Duck 4
Dunlin 8
Bufflehead 1
Black Turnstone 12
Spotted during the week
Humpbacks 3
Orca 6
Marbled Godwit 1
Black Legged Kittiwake 1
Surf Scoter 3
Pidgeon Guillemots 15
Surfbirds 25
Oyster Catcher 63
Bald Eagle (Adult/Immature) 2/8
Harlequin Duck 18
Raven 3
Black Turnstone 48
Brandt's Cormorant trying to make headway in the galefore winds

Brandt’s Cormorant trying to make headway in the gale fore winds

Swells high today

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Ecological happenings

  • Gulls have been feeding in large flocks
  • Swells of up to 7ft today
  • Many Sea Lions appear to have left the island. The swells have not been forgiving on the inhabited rocks.

Marine Vessels

  • Three tour boats
  • One sail boat

Other

  • Three visitors today, (1 from Pearson College) who were given a tour of the Island.

Gust, Swell and Rain

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Ecological Happenings

  • Another wild weather day as RR. Gusts throughout the morning and afternoon, with showers and just moments of sunshine. Wind/gust warnings are still in effect until midnight.
  • Humpback whale spotted feeding towards Port Angeles.
  • Fresh propeller cuts spotted on a Sea Lion.
  • Animals continue to shift around the island and surrounding rocks, adjusting to the weather and moving away from the swell.
  • Number of geese on the island increased significantly from 13 to at least 48 today.
  • A necklaced Sea Lion spotted today near the dock.

Marine Vessels

  • Three tour boats
  • Two pleasure vessels

Maintenance

  • Camera 1 & 5 remote controls via RR website are not functioning – this is currently being troubleshooted.
  • High pressure hose requires a new pump. Attempts at rebuilding it have not been successful.
  • Electric fence repair attempts continue…..

Other

  • No visitors today.

 

 

Shift Change?

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The wind blew from the northeast between 17 and 27 knots. At 15:00, the wind died down a bit, blowing between 12 and 14 knots for several hours. The barometer dropped from 1014 hPa to 1008 hPa. The sky was clear, with some clouds in the south. Whitecaps rolled in from the northeast, calming down in the early afternoon. The temperature reached a high of 6.7oC at 15:00.

There was one whale watching boat seen in the reserve.

The winds, swell and tides combined to allow me to stay another day on the Rock. Between my time mopping the floors and tidying up inside the buildings, I observed sea lions through the binoculars. There were no branded or entangled sea lions observed. They all appear healthy. Many have moved on from Race Rocks, probably to go further up the west coast of Vancouver Island.  It will be interesting to see how many are still here. We will have to wait until tomorrow’s census to find out.

Cold, Sea Lion Brands and Beautiful Sunset

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The wind blew from the northeast, between 15 and 25 knots.  The barometer rose in the morning from 1024 hPa and then dropped to 1020 hPa.  The visibility was unlimited, with great views of Mt. Baker and many other wonders of the Salish Sea.  The temperature reached a high of 2oC as I am writing this at 21:00.

The dive boat from Ogden Point visited at 11:00.  The group was diving around Middle Rock.

I was going to leave on the Race Rocks boat this morning for a short trip into Pedder Bay to drop off garbage and pick up gas.  A lot of garbage is being swept onto the shores of the ecological reserve.  I thought I had a good window to get away from the jetty. Although, the northeasterly swell started to pick up just as I was putting the boat in the water.  The waves were too high as they rolled into the jetty, so I changed my plans and raised the boat back into the boat house.

Two branded sea lions were spotted today.  See the photos and captions below for 359Y and 975Y.  In November there were 20 different brands spotted around Race Rocks. Many of those california and steller sea lions had never been spotted before at Race Rocks.

I collected depth soundings from all the tanks around campus for the month end report. 475L of diesel was used over the past month to power the generator and heat the houses. Last year in November, 737L of diesel was used.  The reduction of diesel use by a third  this year has come from increased power output from the solar array as well as the wood stove, which was installed last winter in the Ecoguardian’s House.  There are lots more changes being made to transition to more sustainable power sources.  Stay tuned to this blog to read about them as they are introduced.

Elephant seals spent 45 minutes or so ‘surfing’ in the cresting waves

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Monday, April 15, 2002
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.3 ºC »» Min. 5.0 ºC »» Reset 7.3 ºC »» Rain 1.0 mm
MARINE LIFE: No Bald Eagles today but still 2 pair geese. The weather started out promising but by 9 am there was a fair swell in front of the dock.2 of the smaller elephant seals spent 45 minutes or so ‘surfing’ in the cresting waves. They then moved over to the east bay, floated about for awhile then hauled out for the rest of the day. They have moved about 7metres up from the water so expect they will stay there over night.The sea really started to build when the wind got up to 34knts.Great thundering 4-5 metre swells all around and great salty bursts of spray, especially in the area of the Rosedale reefs and the west side of Gr.Race. Everything is covered in salt -first order of the day for tomorrow will be window washing so hope the wind lets up.
HUMAN INTERACTION: 1 pleasure craft through the reserve. The 2nd Nature came out but with the low tide and sea swell, conditions made a landing at the dock impossible.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:25 PM
Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast »» Vis. 15 Miles »» Wind Calm »» Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:33 AM