Tag Archives: weaner

New Weaner on Great Race

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 10-15 knots E, later up to 48.6 knots W
  • 48 knots falls into the “storm” category. Only “violent storm” and “hurricane” are higher on the scale. The house is shuddering.
  • Water: 2′ chop, later at least 5′
  • Sky: overcast and some rain

Large waves 1

Ecological

  • The mother elephant seal on Great Race was gone this morning, making the fourth pup a weaner. He is much smaller than the previous weaner was, and over on Middle Rock the mother is still with her pup, who was born approximately 8 days before, and is quite larger. All this makes me think the mother has left prematurely?
  • In the morning Chunk spent some time chasing the weaner, but he was too slow to catch him and he gave up, later heading over to Middle Rock.
  • Chuckles showed up on Great Race afterwards and has been watching the weaner.
  • At one point I found the weaner chewing on a wire cord underneath the big old yellow diesel tank by the Energy Building.
  • Today was the first day that I saw a great blue heron at Race Rocks! Not a first in general though, or for Race Rocks.
  • Pam Birley also noticed the heron and she took some photos with the webcam.

Maintenance

  • Stacked some firewood.

Other

  • Heard one small DND blast at 10:30.

Weaner’s Derrick Ride

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0-10 knots North
  • Water: rippled
  • Sky: mix of sun and cloud

Ecological

  • After analysing the elephant seal pup on Great Race, I am fairly certain that it is a male pup.
  • Mum and pups on Great Race and Middle Rock were alone most of the day.
  • For the first time, I saw a bald eagle eating from the dead elephant seal pup out on the rocks.

Maintenance

  • Stacked firewood.
  • Cleared the ramp three times.
  • Started replacing dead light bulbs in the Student’s House.
  • Moved the weaner’s body away from the main house with ropes and the derrick, helped by Chris, Jeff, and 3 volunteers from the college.

Boats

  • Second Nature came by for a couple of hours in the afternoon, crewed by Chris, Jeff, the IT guy, and 3 volunteers. They helped move the weaner and checked up on various electronic systems.
  • One eco-tour came by in the late afternoon.

Other

  • There were 6 more DND blasts today.
  • Two massive blasts that shook the house at 10:15 and 10:17. Birds and mammals quite disturbed, but they settled back down.
  • Two small blasts at 11:31 and 11:34.
  • Two medium blasts at 14:40 and 14:45.
Massive DND blast.

Massive DND blast.

Weaner deceased

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Weather

  • Visibility: 15+ miles
  • Wind: 12-17 knots E
  • Water: 1’ chop
  • Sky: clear
  • Beautiful day. Mt. Baker was clearly visible.

Ecological

  • When I got up in the morning, I discovered that the weaner elephant seal was dead. His head had been crushed in during the night by several bites. Chunk had blood stains around his mouth, while both the females had blood stains along their bodies. All 4 living elephant seals were across the path from the dead weaner.
  • Chuckles was with the mum and pup on Middle Rock, who still appear to be doing well.
  • In the afternoon Chunk went over to the dead weaner and rolled him over onto his back.
  • Saw a sea lion with the number “2” branded onto its back. The remainder of the sea lion was underneath a pile of the great beasts, so I could not see the full branding number.
  • There appeared to be half as many cormorants today as there were yesterday, but a similar amount of seagulls.

Maintenance

  • Cleared logs off the ramp once.
  • Cleaned bird droppings off the solar panels.
  • Reorganized the dry firewood and started storing the new firewood prepared by Alex.
  • Vacuumed up hundreds of fruit flies in the basement near the composting toilet.

Boats

  • One pleasure craft containing 4 people who were recreational fishing appeared to be just inside the boundary of the rock fish conservation area.
  • Two eco-tour boats came by this afternoon. The first one seemed to go too close to the islands, at one point a mere stones throw away from the dock. The second one also looked rather close at times.
  • Two navy ships were out and about near William Head. HMCS Whitehorse (705) and HMCS Ottawa (341).

First Official Day On The Job

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After training last weekend, and a general review yesterday, I, Riley Strother, have now taken over as Ecoguardian from Alex Fletcher.

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 15-20 knots NE
  • Water: 1’ chop
  • Sky: overcast

Ecological

  • The first female elephant seal to give birth left the island at 7:30 in the morning and did not return. As such the first pup has now become a weaner.
  • Chunk appeared to mate with the female who lost her pup.
  • The newest pup is quite vocal and seems to be doing well. Chunk and the other female went along the path after mating to inspect the new mother and pup.
  • Alex was able to identify the number on the yellow flipper tag attached to the newest mother: 5928
  • There was quite a disturbance of seagulls and cormorants today when a raven with a small fish in its beak was chased all around the island by two eagles. Eventually the raven managed to land and eat the fish.
  • Conducted a census.
  1. California Sea Lions: 88
  2. Northern/Stellar Sea Lions: 53 (many sea lions were swimming in the waves and thus impossible to count)
  3. Elephant Seals: 8 (Chunk, weaner, grieving mother, new mum and pup, Middle Rock: Chuckles, mum and pup.)
  4. River Otter: 1
  5. Cormorants: 615
  6. Seagulls: 512
  7. Bald Eagles: 9 (7 juvenile, 2 adults)
  8. Raven: 1
  9. Crow: 1
  10. Black Oystercatchers: 6
  11. Harlequin Ducks: 4
  12. Canada Geese: 6
  13. Black Turnstones: 29

Maintenance

  • Cleared logs off the ramp two times.
  • Lowered the boat trailer because the cable coil was quite criss crossed. Managed to recoil the cable in a more orderly fashion.
  • Vacuumed up hundreds of fruit flies in the basement near the composting toilet.

Boats

  • Alex and Virginie left in the morning.
  • Surprised to see no eco-tourism boats about on such a nice Sunday.