Tag Archives: T563

April 7 and 8

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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.
  • Sea otter swimming in South Channel in the clear water, as seen from the lantern room of the tower
  • Deconstructed shore crab
  • Watching a sea otter from the south side of the island yesterday evening. See the video below.
  • The full moon rising yesterday evening just after sunset
  • When I headed out in the boat in the late afternoon, the youngest elephant seal pup was floating in the water by the rocks, near a resting california sea lion.
  • The view of the ecological reserve coming out of Pedder Bay, passing Bentinck Island.
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

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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:

Vernal Equinox

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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:

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.

Elephant Seal Excitement

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Wind: yesterday 0-36 knots from W, E, S, W throughout the day, today 9-40 knots from W
Sea State: yesterday rippled changing in late afternoon onwards to chop up to 1 m, today calm in early morning then up to 1 m chop for rest of the day
Visibility: both days 10-15 NM
Sky: both days overcast
Temperature: yesterday 5-9 °C, today 7-10 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 413.72 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The ecological highlights of the past two days were a bald eagle eating a bird and as usual the very entertaining elephant seals.

A new female elephant seal arrived on the main island this morning. She is tagged T563 on tags on each of her tail flippers. I contacted elephant seal researchers to check her history. She was tagged as a pup in the birthing season of 2010-2011, on the Farallon Islands, off the coast of San Francisco. That makes her just over nine years old. She hasn’t been seen by those researchers since. Last year, Ecoguardian Laas spotted her for the first time at Race Rocks on March 21. This morning, the alpha male was attempting to mate with her. Now she is hunkered down by the flagpole, shielded from the strong west wind. The adult males were bellowing at each other for most of the day. The beta male has an advantage of a high lookout point, on the helicopter pad. He has been up there since January without leaving. I am not sure he knows how to get down, as I have seen him attempt a few times before turning around. He must be getting hungry.

The oldest of the two female pups might have gone for a swim yesterday. I saw her with wet fur climbing up the rocks from the east bay.

The youngest female pup and oldest and only male pup have been hanging together, vocalizing with each other and appearing to play fight.

In between watching nature neatos, I did some maintenance around the island. I used a new two metre pressure washer wand to get the algae off the north side of the boat house, tank shed and Race Rocks sign. I hope to clean off the rest of the buildings over the next few weeks, now that the desalinator is pumping lots of freshwater. I also fixed the door on the freshwater shed with a new hasp and a piece of wood to stop the door from blowing inwards.

No boats or visitors were in the ecological reserve over the past two days.

Here are some photos from the past two days: