April 7 and 8

Posted on Wednesday,April 8, 2020 by Nick Townley

Wind: yesterday W 0-34 knots, today E in am SE in pm 0-16 knots
Sea State: both days calm
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy in morning, clear onwards, today clear
Temperature: yesterday 8-11 °C, today 6-13 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 415.60 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

A sea otter spent most of yesterday afternoon in the South Channel between South Islands and South Seal Rocks. It ate clams, cleaned itself and rested on the rocks. When it dove underwater to grab some more food, I approached to get a closer view from an indent in rocks on South Seal Rocks. See the 16 second video below.

The last elephant seal pup appears to have left today. She was swimming in the jetty bay for most of the day. When I went out in the boat this afternoon, she was floating by the rocks to the north of the jetty bay. When I returned, she wasn’t there anymore or on the land. All three surviving pups left the island within a week of being three months old. The two others haven’t returned. Presumably, they are off feeding themselves after teaching themselves to swim over the past two months, since they weaned from their mothers.

I moved four wheelbarrows of the remainder of this winter’s supply of wood from the cupboards beside the Energy Building to the basement of the house. That wood should last for any cool or damp days of the spring or fall. I fixed some loose boards on the winch deck and boardwalk. Over the winter, the sea lions were rough on that deck.

A single blast was heard yesterday morning just after 11:00, coming from the demolition training area at Rocky Point.

One pleasure boat was seen in the ecological reserve this evening. The Race Rocks station boat was out this afternoon for a quick trip to Pearson College to pick up groceries.

Just a few big chunks of fir and skin around her middle remain to moult. T562/T653 is almost done.

A video of a sea otter cleaning itself on the south end of the island. A california sea lion pops up twice.

Newly Arrived Elephant Seals

Posted on Monday,March 23, 2020 by Nick Townley

Wind: yesterday W 7-31 knots, today W 6-26 knots
Sea State: both days calm in morning, 1′ chop in afternoon
Visibility: both days 8-15 NM
Sky: yesterday clear, today rain overnight then partly cloudy with rain in evening
Temperature: yesterday 6-8 °C, today 6-7 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.34 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The population of elephant seals is increasing on Race Rocks. The boat ramp, their preferred haul out spot, is getting a lot of traffic. Yesterday morning, an adult female arrived and quickly made her way up to the centre of the island. She could be one of the females who left in January or February, based on her size and scars on her back from mating.

I realized this morning the adult female elephant seal I have been seeing on and off for the past three weeks was in fact the first mother of this winter. In the month the seal and I were both here on this island from December 21 to January 21, I never realized she had two flipper tags. I only ever saw the ones marked T562 on both sides of one of her flippers. This morning I saw two sets of different tags, one on each flipper. Perhaps the mud and snow of the early winter concealed the tags. I also did not have as many opportunities to read the tags when the mother was spending most of here time either nursing her pup or mating with the alpha male.

Now that I know she’s the mother of the male pup, it could explains why that pup came towards her when she first arrived on March 3. The other pups moved away from her. Although, I haven’t seen the male pup interact closely or vocalize with its mother.

A juvenile elephant seal arrived this morning with two green tags, E103 and E135. There is something about today that made all the tags very visible. The seal looks to be very well fed for the upcoming moulting. This seal was here in the fall. She was born and tagged in Ano Nuevo, on the coast of California between San Francisco and Santa Cruz. I haven’t been able to figure when she was born. See the log post from September 30, 2019 for ecoguardian Mara and Kai’s details of the seal they called Eric. A few weeks later, Ecoguardian Laas revealed this seal was a female and named her Erica in the log post from October 11, 2019. Naming the seals can get confusing.

While not all elephant seals are tagged, some are studied for all kinds of factors from movements to genetics to bioaccumulation and generally understanding more about this fascinating species. I am realizing as the seals move around Race Rocks, how difficult it is to tell them apart. The pups are starting to look more alike as they lose the last of their pup fur. It’s a fun game as I try to track their movements as best I can, while I move around the island doing my daily routine.

With the arrivals of seals, there was also a departure today. The youngest seal pup was outside the house last night when I went to turn off the generator and desalinator, but nowhere to be seen this morning. Perhaps she ventured out a little to far from the shallow end of the jetty bay where she has been practicing her swimming. I am curious if she will return, as two months old is a bit young to leave for good. The other two pups are still here.

There were no boats seen in the ecological reserve over the past two days. I heard a solo kayaker by the name of Travis paddled around the islands yesterday.

Here are some photos from the past two days:

: Mystery solved! T562 and T563 are the same seal.

: The oldest pup looking at his mother, or possibly me who is walking behind his mother. He seems to like that spot under the tallest plant on the island, possibly because he was born there.

: Welcome back! The seal tagged E103/E135 next to the the older of the two female pups.

: This morning through the spotting scope in the lantern room of the tower, I spied a sea otter on Middle Rocks. I’ve heard it’s rare to see them out of the water. Once the kelp grows up, otters use it as an anchor. I took this photo with my iPhone. I like the effect created around the scope, as you can see some of the island structures like the Science House and the railing of the lantern room.

: “Reunited and It Feels So Good” The two adult females cosy up in the centre of the island. The bald spots on the back of the one on the right are where she has begun to moult.

: The log cutting jig loaded and ready for the chainsaw. This log, cut in half before I took this photo, was the prized log I fished out of the water in the winter. The chainsaw cut through it like butter.

: The wood pile keeps growing!

: I changed the water filter in the residence. The water now tastes even more delicious.

Vernal Equinox

Posted on Thursday,March 19, 2020 by Nick Townley

Wind: yesterday W 0-25 knots, today mostly W 1-22 knots
Sea State: both days calm
Visibility: yesterday 15 NM, today 10-15 NM
Sky: both days clear
Temperature: yesterday 5-8 °C, today 6-10 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.58 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Today marks the official start of spring at Race Rocks and the rest of the northern hemisphere. The days will keep getting longer until summer solstice, on June 20.

Two of the elephant seal pups marked the occasion by going for a swim this morning. When the sun rose, they were all on the boardwalk near the crane. When I went out to check the salinity and temperature of the water at the 9:09 high tide, the oldest and youngest pups were at the edge of the water on the boat ramp. The other pup was still up on the boardwalk. The youngest pup stayed at the water’s edge for about two hours. The all spent the rest of the day on the grass, basking in the sun.

Yesterday, the boats in the ecological reserve were three pleasure crafts, two tour boats and the Pearson College boat Second Nature to drop off food. Today, four pleasure crafts were in the area. Greg and Lawrence from Pearson came in Second Nature to drop off new solar panels to be added to the array. They also helped clean out the gutters on the Science House.

Here are photos of some views from the past two days:

: The three elephant seal pups lined up from oldest to youngest, top to bottom.

: The older of the two female elephant seal pups napped with her head in the daffodils for most of the yesterday.

: A bald eagle in the intertidal zone

: Two elephant seal pups in the shallow end on the boat ramp

: Two elephant seal pups on the boat ramp

: The youngest elephant seal pup stuck around and blew bubbles in the shallow water.

: The adult female elephant seal, tagged T563, returned this morning after being away for a few days. She quickly went back to her favourite place with the comfiest shrub pillows. *UPDATED March 23: I was able to take a closer look at the tag today and noticed this elephant seal is tagged T562 and T563, one on each tail flipper. This means she’s the seal that was here from mid December until January 21. She gave birth to the first pup of the season on December 29. She was seen again at Race Rocks on March 3 and has come and gone a few times since.

: A sea otter floating off the south islands today, seen through the spotting scope in the lantern room of the lighthouse.

We Have a Weaner

Posted on Thursday,January 23, 2020 by Nick Townley

Wind: yesterday and today 5-25 knots between E and N
Sea State: yesterday and today rippled with afternoon NE swells of up to 1 m
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 3-10 NM
Sky: both days mostly cloudy with periods of rain
Temperature: both days 7-10 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.07 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

On Tuesday night, the first elephant seal mother left the island, leaving her 24 day old pup to fend for itself. The mother had the tail flipper tag T562. The pup is still hanging out with the harem on the lawn.

The island is running on reduced power due to an issue with the generator, which is in the process of being fixed.

Four eco tour boats were in the reserve over the past two days. There were no human visitors on the island.

See the photos below for a few sights from the past two days:

: The second pup and mother lying with some spilled milk in between them. The first pup, now a weaner, is in the background.

: 38 bald eagles gather yesterday morning on the south rocks. Near the upper right corner of the photo is the buoy that marks Rosedale Reef.

: A wet juvenile bald eagle on the path

: DFO (Department of Fisheries and Oceans) mailed a paper copy of these graphs with the results of last year’s daily sea surface temperature and salinity observations.

One Day Old Elephant Seal Pup

Posted on Monday,December 30, 2019 by Nick Townley

Wind: Yesterday 5-15 knots W to N; Today 0-18 knots SW to E
Sea State: up to 1 m chop
Visibility: 10-15 NM
Sky: overcast with light rain this evening
Temperature: 8-9 C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.75 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The one day old elephant seal pup is doing well. It seems to have got the hang of nursing. The alpha male elephant seal, who in the past has been referred to as Bernard, interacted with the pup and mother several times today.

I heard from elephant seal researchers in California that the new mother is T562, who also had a pup on January 4, 2019 on Race Rocks. She was born in the 2010-2011 breeding season on SE Farallon Island, near San Francisco. Until the beginning of 2019, she hadn’t been recorded anywhere since her birth. See Garry Fletcher’s post from February 9th about the elephant seal cow.

Last breeding season, three elephant seal births occurred between January 4 to 20. I will keep a look out for more elephant seal arrivals. Usually, they haul out and then give birth a few days later. Although, the new mother T562 was here for a couple weeks before she gave birth.

The entangled california sea lion is still present on the rocks near the winch and jetty. There has been no sign for the past two days of the entangled steller sea lion.

A previously rescued california sea lion was spotted today and appears to be doing well. More can be read about the care given to that sea lion during the visit by the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre, as detailed in Laas’ post from November 9.

Several eco tour boats have been in the reserve each evening. Yesterday, SCUBA divers were in the water near the North Rocks.

Here is a video of the new elephant seal family:

: The elephant seal pup is getting the hang of nursing.

: A black turnstone joins in to sample some milk.

: The alpha male elephant seal is sliding back up the ramp from a morning swim.

: Elephant seal family viewed from the lighthouse. The pup is underneath or possibly in the large male’s mouth

: One of the two california sea lions that were rescued by the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre on November 5. The neck wound from entanglement appears to be continuing to heal. It is identified by the tags VA017 and VA019 on its fore flippers.

: A beacon of light on a dark and windy night.

Still just one pup

Posted on Monday,January 7, 2019 by Laas Parnell

Weather

Visibility: 15 Miles
Wind: 10-20 SW
Sky: Sunny
Water: A bit choppy out there today, waves didn’t look more than a metre high

Boats/Visitors

Guy, Christine, and Alex came by today, and I have a visitor staying with me for a bit
They brought the whaler which is now working well and took the zodiac back to the college
Guy hauled out some junk that was piling up in the generator room and Alex checked the batteries after they had been charged for a few hours

Maintenance

Checking the batteries, also making sure the desalinator is running as well as it can be at the moment

Ecological

The pup belonging to pink tag T562 is doing very well still
The untagged female is looking very large, but still no pup from her, maybe tomorrow
looked to be another female swimming around the jetty today but she didn’t haul out, she looked too young to be reproducing just yet

Pup is doing well

Posted on Sunday,January 6, 2019 by Laas Parnell