Tag Archives: waves

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Saturday evening as the storm was subsiding, the communication lines went dead out here at Race Rocks. After trying all the normal fixes on my side, I was informed via cellphone that the problem lay at Pearson College. The College had lost power from some internal breakdown, and so no internet or phone line was being sent my way over the air. Once things were up and running again this morning, I was able to reestablish connection to the internet and phone lines.

Rather than submitting a log entry for each missed day, I will simply provide a summary of each day’s main events. And pictures as always!

Saturday 15 October 2016-Fierce Storm

  • Day began at 7:00 with winds of 15-20 knots NE.
  • 9:45 30 knots East
  • 13:00 35 knots East
  • 13:30 45 knots East
  • 14:30 50~ knots East!
  • 15:20 45 knots East, communications down.
  • 16:50 communications returned.
  • 17:00 30 knots East
  • Around 18:30 communications down for good.
  • 19:00 15 knots West
  • 20:30 30 knots South-West
  • One month remaining in my shift.

Sunday 16 October 2016-Pelican

  • 7:00 Weather
  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 10-15 knots East
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: 1′ chop
  • Saw a single brown pelican today!
  • Failed to get a picture though.
  • Branded California sea lion 8465.
  • 8 elephant seals on Great Race today.
  • A small group of California sea lions began sleeping on top of the e-seals.
  • To my surprise the elephant seals don’t seem to mind.

Monday 17 October 2016-Peregrine Falcon!

  • 7:00 Weather
  • Visibility: 5 miles
  • Wind: 0-5 knots East
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: calm
  • In the early evening a pigeon flew into a window, presumably breaking its neck.
  • Immediately a Peregrine falcon swooped down to inspect its prey.
  • I assume the falcon was the reason the pigeon hit the window at such a speed.
  • The falcon then flew way up into the sky, before returning to make off with the meal.

Tuesday 18 October 2016-Bio-mimicry Visitors (and Alex!)

  • 7:00 Weather
  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0 knots
  • Sky: clear
  • Water: calm
  • A rainstorm appeared from about 10:00-12:00.
  • A rather sunny afternoon!
  • Kyle came out with Alex Fletcher and a biology group.
  • The 6 visitors were studying bio-mimicry.
  • How can humans improve our technology by copying successful animals?
  • The organization that they are involved with is one of our donors.
  • They were very interested in the sea lions, seals, and birds.
  • 11 elephant seals on Great Race.
  • Saw 3 brown pelicans; this time got a photo!

Streaks of White Foam, Breaking Waves.

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The fog came in and out during the night and as dawn arrived, there was a west-southwest wind that blew all day varying little from west, as the day progressed and keeping up a continual 25 – 35 knots. It was quite cloudy here until early evening when the clouds lifted a little. Light levels were down a little, and so were temperatures, even more so, with the wind chill. The gale whipped the seas into a frothy mix of gray and white. The barometer didn’t do much today and the forecast remains the same, with a few more clouds Monday and gale warning continuing.

Only three whale watching boats were noted in the Ecological Reserve today although there may have been more. It was too rough for the smaller, open boats. One large sports fisher went through.

I spent most of the day indoors today so my usual, long ramblings about ecological happenings will have to wait.

There were no visitors and chores were routine

March 14 – West Wind and Waves

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Overcast and rain in the morning, sunny in afternoon
Wind: 1-11 knots from the W and N in the morning, 22-46 knots from the W from the late morning onwards
Air Temperature: Low 9.3°C, High 11.3°C
Ocean Temperature: 9.2°C

A gale warning in the afternoon, with winds gusts up to 46 knots, remained in effect for the rest of the day. The gulls had a hard time sitting and claiming their nesting sites when the wind gusts reached 46 knots. Due to the winds, the afternoon was filled with indoor tasks like cleaning, organizing the basement and drinking tea. The winds diminished in the evening.

Hanne Christensen, one of the visiting Pearson students, took some photos around the island yesterday and today. They are included in the gallery below.

Eagles, waves and engine troubles

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The barometer continued to rise today, from 1019 hPa to 1024 hPa.  The wind blew from the west and southwest between 14 and 34 knots.  The sky was mostly clear, with occasional brief showers and rainbows.  There was a large swell coming in from the west.

There were no boats seen in the reserve today.

There were four bald eagles seen in the reserve this morning.  Large groups of gulls got to practice their evasive manoeuvres as the eagles flew overhead.  Our UK camera viewer, Pam Birley, spotted a peregrine falcon on the helicopter pad at 15:20.

I was unsuccessful in running the monthly check on the fire pump and refill of the salt water cistern, but not for lack of trying.  I strung all the hoses from the jetty to the underground cistern, only to find that neither engine was willing to start and pump.  I will continue to tinker with those engines.  On the up side, I got to practice unrolling and rolling all the hoses.

Waves as an Abiotic Factor at Race Rocks

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This file is extracted from a report of the analysis of the data by Rick Birch of ASL from the ADCP deployment at Site 2.
Below is the wave height spectra for site 2. During the time of deployment, two significant storm events occured. The results show up very well in the graphs
This provides a sample of the type of data we logged when we used an ADCP deployed in the spring of 2006:Wave Data from ADCP Deployment at Site 2.

Below is an interesting set of data that documents the behaviour of waves arriving from two directions at the same time.

 Wave Energy as an Abiotic Factor Determining the Distribution of Organisms at Race Rocks

When one is on the island during a storm, the impact of wave energy is certainly obvious. The docks are awash making it impossible to launch a boat and further providing a great deal of force on the organisms living in the upper intertidal zone.<bulletlist>

  • Waves bring debris that can impact directly on mussels and goose-neck barnacles, however the adaptations of those animals as well as the intertidal algae have ensured that they remain clinging (for the most part) to the rocky substrate.
  • The energy flow of many species of marine algae involves wave energy depositing them on shore.
  • Wave energy also brings  rocks and other aggregates onto the shore.
  • The evolution of shorelines and shoreline ecosystems is also the result of wave energy.
  • Waves carry salt water sea spray far inland as well. This restricts the kind of plants which can survive near shorelines. Certain plants survive only with the benefit of salt spray however, such as the Romanzoffia tracyi.
  • One of our concerns with all Ecological reserves with shoreline borders is that any spill at sea of oil or chemicals which can wash up on shorelines could have consequences for the ecosystems of ecological reserves far inland.
  • Rarely do abiotic factors act alone. A good example at Race Rocks is that they cause “surge or swell” which causes water to reach higher  levels on the shore.
  • Another good example is wind energy and currents combine to form standing waves in current channels at Race Rocks.

See the other posts on this website about waves:

 

Ocean Wave Model ForecastsWaveModel

Wave watching Day

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Good morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast »» Vis. 5 Miles »» Wind North-East 7 Knots »» Sea Choppy/Rough
Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 9.1 ºC »» Min. 7.1 ºC »» Reset 8.0 ºC »» Rain 9.0 mm Today the blasting is over. We will finish editing the footage and it will appear on the website shortly. We have had some impresseive looking waves crashing on the rocks today, and they have been scaring the birds from their resting places.
posted by Race Rocks Relief at 1:16 PM

A Video made by the students this week:

http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/archives/viddailyduties.htm

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