Tag Archives: weaner

All Kinds of Weather

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Wind: yesterday 0-10 knots from N to SE, today 0-20 knots from S to E to N
Sea State: yesterday rippled with swells up to 1 m in afternoon, today calm, then rippled with swells up to 1 m in afternoon
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 3-10 NM
Sky: yesterday hail then clear, today overcast, snow and rain
Temperature: yesterday 3-5 °C, today 1-4 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 414.32 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

There has been a variety of weather over the past two days. Yesterday began with hail at sunrise, quickly becoming clear skies for the rest of the day. Today was foggy with a light snowfall in the morning, turning into rain for the rest of the day.

This evening, one of the female elephant seals left the island. She had been here since January 3, for a total of 32 days without eating. She gave birth to the second pup of the season on January 11 and nursed that pup for 24 days. That pup is still hanging out with the harem, which now consists of the alpha male, second pup, female that lost her pup, third pup and her mother. The first pup has been nearby the harem since his mother left the island two weeks ago, but he doesn’t sleep in the same spot as the rest of the group. Lately, the first pup has been spending a lot of time around the rock ledges by the water shed and desalinator building.

There was one visitor to the island in the past two days. Greg stopped by the jetty briefly to drop off fuel: gas for the generator and groceries for the ecoguardian. No other boats were seen in the ecological reserve.

We Have a Weaner

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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:

Feb 4th

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Weather

  • Visibility:15 Miles
  • Wind: 10-40 NW
  • Sky: Cloudy with sun in the afternoon
  • Water: waves 1-2 metres

Boats/Visitors

  • a couple ecotours went by this morning when it was more calm

Ecological

  • The first pup who’s mother has left started exploring today, I was a bit worried when I didn’t see her in front of the house this morning but she was just on the other side of the lighthouse

Notes

  • I will be heading out tomorrow morning, Mikey will be filling in for me and I will be back on Feb 28th

Feb 2nd

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Weather

  • Visibility:15 Miles
  • Wind: 10-30 NW
  • Sky: Cloudy
  • Water: Choppy, under a metre

Boats/Visitors

  • Kyle stopped by to give some Pearson College students a quick tour

Ecological

  • The first pups mom left last night, the pup seems to be doing well, no other elephant seals have really bothered her

Notes

  • DND was blasting today, shook the house pretty good

The Census of Birds and Mammals

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Weather

  • Visibility: 10 miles, later 15 until…
  • 19:35 onwards foggy, 100 yards.
  • Fog horn sounded for over 3 hours.
  • Wind: 0-5 knots South East.
  • In the evening 15-25 West.
  • Sky: overcast, then sunny, then foggy.
  • Water: calm

Mount Baker near sunrise.

Strangely disturbed water.

Ecological

  • Census day! Counting stuff!
  • Found what to me is a solo mystery bird.
  • Surprised to see no Black Turnstones around today.
  1. Steller (Northern) Sea Lions: 53
  2. Harbour Seals: 35
  3. California Sea Lions: 29
  4. Elephant Seals: 13 (11 on Great Race, 2 on Middle Rock)
  5. Seagulls unspecified: 304
  6. Pigeon Guillemots: 225
  7. Cormorants unspecified: 21
  8. Canada Geese: 18
  9. Savannah Sparrows: 10
  10. Harlequin Ducks: 9 (6 males and 3 females)
  11. Black Oystercatchers: 7
  12. Bald Eagles: 2 (2 adults, 1 immature)
  13. Mystery bird: 1
  14. Black Turnstones: ZERO!

Maintenance

  • Ran the desalinator.

Boats

  • Lots of eco-tours cameth by today. Over 10!
  • Some of them were perhaps a bit too close to the mammals at times?
  • Kyle brought me my final food order; milk, red and green bell peppers, sour cream, and onions.
  • Eerily reminiscent of the Thin White Duke’s diet..

Visitors

  • Kyle with food stuff.

Windy Day

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 20-40 knots West
  • Sky: mostly overcast, some rain in the evening.
  • Water: 1′ chop

Ecological

  • Seven elephant seals on Great Race today.
  • The same set from yesterday, minus the weaner.
  • Some of them are definitely starting to moult.

Boats

  • One brave eco-tour rode the waves today.

Helicopter Generator Swap

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knots North
  • Sky: mostly overcast, some rain in the evening.
  • Water: calm

Ecological

  • There were eight elephant seals on Great Race today.
  • That is the most I have seen out here during this current shift.
  • Three of the younger males enjoyed a spirited bout or two.
  • The rest of them snoozed off in pairs or alone.
  • The birds and sea lions were definitely disrupted by the helicopter.

Maintenance

  • Kyle and four men from the Coast Guard removed the old Generator B.
  • A Coast Guard helicopter then dropped off a new generator, and took away the old one.
  • They then placed the new generator in its spot.
  • I helped out with various auxiliary tasks, but mostly just took photographs.
  • Tidied up loose tools after everyone had departed.

Boats

  • Second Nature.
  • A few eco-tours.

Visitors

  • Kyle, the four Coast Guard men, and Ian and Stephen.
  • They all departed in the early afternoon.

Other

  • Coast Guard helicopter overflight.

 

Bald Eagle Eating his food

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0-5 knots West
  • In the evening, 15-20 knots West
  • Sky: mostly overcast and a few drops of rain.
  • Water: calm

Ecological

  • There were six elephant seals on Great Race today.
  • Other than some brief interactions between two of them near the flagpole, all six kept far apart on separate parts of the island.
  • The weaner has only moved about 10 feet since yesterday.
  • Watched a bald eagle eat a meal on the driftwood lumber pile.

Boats

  • Only one eco-tour that I noticed today.

Earth Day, I presume?

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 25-30 knots North East
  • In the afternoon, 20-25 knots West
  • In the evening, 10-15 knots West
  • Sky: mostly overcast and a few drops of rain.
  • Water: 1′ chop
  • A nice view of the snow on Hurricane Ridge in the morning.

Ecological

  • Four elephant seals on Great Race today.
  • The weaner slept all day beside the main house.

Maintenance

  • On this Earth Day, I would like to take the time to thank (however corny it made sound) the framework of the Ecological Reserve, which helps to maintain the wild beauty of these spectacular islands!

Boats

  • One fishing boat, and a couple of eco-tours came by today.

Sunshine Friday

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0-5 knots South West.
  • In the early afternoon, 15-20 knots North East.
  • In the evening, 5-10 knots South East.
  • Sky: clear and sunny most of the day.
  • Water: calm

Ecological

  • The weaner returned for what I believe to be the first time since April 10th.
  • She(?) spent the whole day snoozing on the ramp beside the jetty.
  • One elephant seal went over to join the lonely muddy e-seal on the west side of the island.
  • This made for a total of three elephant seals on Great Race today.
  • There were six elephant seals on Middle Rock.
  • I only saw one Short-billed Dowitcher today.

Maintenance

  • Did some goose work.
  • Hand pumped some diesel.