Tag Archives: whale watching

Census Time Again

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The fog rolled in last night after dark and it was gone but not far away by mid-morning. Very light winds of 5 to 10 knots came from the south, southeast, southwest and west finally settling into a west southwest pattern.

The barometer spiked mid-day at 1018 hPA and then settled to 1016. The forecast is for light a variable winds, patches of fog dissipating late morning Friday in sunshine.

Only four whale watching boats were observed visiting the Ecological Reserve today. Two of the vessels were zodiacs and two were larger vessels packed with passengers. The same vessel that has been observed and photographed speeding in reserve before, was at it again today as well as almost sitting on top of the sea otter so the clients would get a good view. The owners and insurers of that vessel might be concerned if they knew about this operator’s risky manner. Three sports fishing vessels were also spotted and recorded, speeding through the go-slow zone. There are hundreds of animals in the water inside the reserve right now and reckless vessel operation puts them at risk as well as the people in the boats.

There were explosions at Rocky Point today with minimal impact on animal behaviour here.

Today was census day and here are the results.

Steller Sea Lion 313

California Sea Lion 726

Harbour Seal 157

Northern Elephant Seal 6

Sea Otter 1

River Otter at least one (assumed, not seen but evidence of it seen)

Southern Resident Killer Whale ~15 (Part of L-pod – during count week)

Humpback Whale 3 (during count week)

Canada Goose 4 full time (2 adults 2 goslings) (no other flocks visited)

Harlequin Duck 0

Double-crested Cormorant 7

Pelagic Cormorant 5

Brandt’s Cormorant 0

Black Oystercatcher

Black Turnstone 11

Ruddy Turnstone 0

Western Sandpiper 5

Kildeer 2

Glaucous-winged Gull 303 total (221- adults; – 82 juveniles)

California Gull 73

Herring Gull 1

Ring-billed Gull 1

Western Gull 0

Heerman’s Gull 7

Peregrine Falcon 1

Common Raven 1

Savannah Sparrow 12

 

A Whale of a Day.

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The weather on Race Rocks was variable today. We started with drizzle, overcast and fog. The fog came and went until early afternoon when it cleared. The wind, which was westerly, picked up a bit in the afternoon and was still blowing 15 – 20 west, as I finished up the log after sunset. The barometer started a descent yesterday that continued today ending at 1016 hPA. This matches the forecast which is calling for showers tonight. There is also a strong wind warning in effect and overall it looks like more good weather coming.

There were 18 observed visits by whale watching boats to the Ecological Reserve today. Most of the operators work carefully, respectfully and sustainably, they slow right down on entering the reserve and go even slower when there are seals and sea lions in the water. If there are whales in the Protected Area they do not enter into the Ecological Reserve and if whale enter while they are inside they carefully and slowly leave using extreme caution to avoid interacting with the animals. They stay in the centre of Middle Channel going with the current and never try to wedge themselves between Great Race and South Islands (their insurance companies probably like this too). They are respectful of their distance to the animals and a role model for other companies and vessels on the water. In the long run, this is good for business and good for the animals. It means that this kind of commercial activity might be able to sustainably continue to use the Ecological Reserve for profit making.

Today was a day with lots promise for Southern Resident Killer Whale recovery. L-pod has another brand new calf, born sometime on or before September 5th. The significance to Race Rocks is its’ central location to this babies’ first few days of observed activities. This is the fifth Southern Resident calf born since last December and it renews hope for recovery of this very endangered population. To give you an idea of how significant this is: 1977 was the highest ever recorded year for Southern Resident calf production with nine calves born. According to the Center for Whale Research no calves survived in 2013 and 2014, so 2015 is a boon.

Killer whales and salmon are both almost iconic to our identity in this part of the world and of course they are completely linked together, especially here at Race Rocks, which is an oceanic salmon funnel, a condensed part of one of the planet’s largest salmon runs.

While celebrating this success, let’s also do more to continue their recovery by modelling more fundamentally sustainable behaviours, like using less water, eating sustainable seafood, recycling, using fewer harmful chemicals, electricity, fuel and plastic, doing shore cleanups and working for positive change through democracy. I have digressed, so back to biology: this new calf was seen with L91 (probably the mother) and has been officially named L122.

At this stage of writing the log, I looked up to see several Humpback Whales going through the Ecological Reserve from west to southeast. It looked like three animals; a very large one, (probably “Big Mama” a name used by whale watchers) and two others, one much smaller, which may have been a calf. I headed out to photograph the whales and witnessed some whale watching vessels making a bee-line for them, even though the whales were inside the Ecological Reserve. Speaking of sustainable behavior, the agreement states that if there are whales inside the reserve, the whale watching boats stay outside. Two vessels came up tight behind them and a third came in around the front of their path, the other vessels following the whales dropped off staying outside as per agreement.

The whales were in fairly shallow water between South Islands and Rosedale Reef, next to a kelp bed, so didn’t have a lot of maneuvering room with two boats behind and one in front. I went up the tower and took more photos.  I totally commend the vessels that left the whales and turned to travel outside of the reserve instead of following the whales and other vessels into the Ecological Reserve.

I did a few chores and went back to writing. This time when I looked up there was a pod of Killer Whales heading into the reserve on basically the same track as the Humpbacks but a little closer to Great Race. I went back out for more photos and saw a group of about fifteen Southern Resident Killer Whales, members of L-pod according to the whale watchers. There was a little calf travelling at the back of the pack with a small adult animal, probably a female (?). Not sure if it was the newest one.

I took a lot of photos today and will share them over the next while. It was a busy day with regular chores, spotting and phtotographing the 10 Elephant Seals that have recaptured the top of Middle Rocks and are scaring off sea lions, photographing sea lion tags and brands, gulls and of course the whale shows. With all that going on it seems odd to say, there were no visitors.

A Busy Day at Race Rocks

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A northeasterly wind gusting 20 – 25 knots brought clouds and moisture in the morning and against the flooding tide it really made the waves in Middle Channel stand right up, creating a bit of a roller coaster effect. It was much nicer in the afternoon as the northeast dropped to ~ five knots and remained calm through sunset.

The barometer continued to rise today and reached ~1018 hPa before steadying. The forecast calls for light westerlies and some sun tomorrow with periods of rain on Tuesday.

There was quite a bit of whale-watching activity today: 20 visits by commercial operators were observed in the reserve. The sea otter is a definite attraction as are the sea lions. Island Explorer out of Port Angeles takes the sustainability prize for the day, travelling at a very low speed, staying in the middle of the channel and giving the wildlife a respectful distance. Seven sports fishing boats were observed in reserve today. Of those, four of them were speeding and one was fishing and then speeding in reserve. Time for more communications to the boating public who might not be as aware as the commercial operators about rules of conduct in the Ecological Reserve.

The sea lions continue to crowd ashore to moult and wedge themselves in tightly together in order to raise skin temperature for their important hair change. The soil here is full of sea lion hair, moulted Northern Elephant Seal skin with very short fur and is rich in guano from the nesting seabirds. No wonder the spring flowers are so spectacular. A Great Blue Heron visited Great Race today, an unusual sight here on the rock.

No visitors today. Chores were routine and entropy fighting.

 

Steller Sea Lions sparring in the water. Note the forward pointing vibrissae (whiskers). These animals spend hours play fighting.

Steller Sea Lions sparring in the water. Note the forward pointing vibrissae (whiskers) of the animal on the right. These animals spend hours play fighting.

Collection of sealion brand observations continues. This Stellers was branded as a pup in southern Oregon.

Collection of sealion brand observations continues. This Stellers was branded as a pup in southern Oregon.

It is possible that this California Sea Lion is recovering from having a plastic strap removed from its neck. Veterinarian Marti Haulena of the Vancouver Aquarium removed straps from several individuals last year. Aquarium

It is possible that this California Sea Lion is recovering from having a plastic strap removed from its neck. Veterinarian Marti Haulena of the Vancouver Aquarium removed straps from several individuals last year. Aquarium

Sea lions silhouetted by a beautiful Race Rocks sunset.

Sea lions silhouetted by a beautiful Race Rocks sunset.

 

 

 

 

Making Sense of the Census.

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The sun shone through a bit more today even as clouds and much needed rain continued. West winds blew at about 10 knots most of the day as the clouds were pushed steadily inland. The barometer is now back up to where it was last Friday before the big nose-dive into Saturday’s storm. The forecast looks a little brighter for Friday and Saturday before a return to wet and cool.

Whale watching activity in the Ecological Reserve was very subdued today as the black and whites moved north and east yesterday. Only four visits by commercial whale watching boats were observed in the Ecological Reserve. One sports fishing vessel and a couple of rental boats also came through obviously oblivious to the speed reduction zone within the reserve boundaries .

Thursday is census day and here are the results of this week’s animal census.

Steller Sea Lion 497

California Sea Lion 522

Harbour Seal 81

Northern Elephant Seal 2

Sea Otter 1

River Otter 1 seen (probably more)

Southern Resident Killer Whale 7 (during count week)

Biggs (Transient) Killer Whale 5 (during count week)

Humpback Whale 1 just outside of reserve but may have transited border

Canada Goose 4 full time (2 adults 2 goslings) (24 visited once during count week)

Harlequin Duck 1

Double-crested Cormorant 11

Pelagic Cormorant 12

Brandt’s Cormorant 1

Black Oystercatcher 29

Black Turnstone 95

Ruddy Turnstone 1

Western Sandpiper 3

Kildeer 1

Dunlin 1

Glaucous-winged Gull 276 (193 – adults; 83 juveniles)

California Gull 61

Western Gull 1

Heerman’s Gull 26

Peregrine Falcon 1

Common Raven 2

Savannah Sparrow 3

It is of note that there have been no Pigeon Guillemots seen since I arrived. Last year there were chicks, still  being fed by their parents, on the nests in the rubble area just west of the jetty at this time of year and later. I am hoping that the river otters have not been visiting these ground-breeding birds and will look for evidence of what has been going on there.

Maintenance work was routine and the only other visitors to the reserve were the Pearson College students having their orientation by vessel. Courtney kindly delivered paper, which was appreciated as there was none.

Pearson College students doing orientation week activity at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve.

Pearson College students doing orientation week activity at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve.

super friendly philosophy teacher

 

 

 

 

High Seas and Mystery Birds

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There was a large sea running today with at least a one-meter swell surging up the ramp and over the smaller islets. This was in turn reflected by a dramatic sky constantly changing with everything from downpours to brilliant sunshine, rainbows and some rumbling thunder thrown in for good measure. The barometer tentatively climbed to above 1010h Pa and the forecast is calling for continuing drama tomorrow including lightning and a strong wind warning.

There were 18 visits by commercial whale watchers noted, within the Ecological Reserve . Again it was a pleasure watching the respectful operators move slowly with the currents in the Ecological Reserve, keeping a sharp lookout for the hundreds of animals in the water and giving their guests the best views of the wildlife. Most (94%) of the skippers were respectful of the guidelines that the industry itself came up with for sustainable use of the Ecological Reserve.  I took photos of the one that wasn’t.

Other than the usual cast of characters, Great Race was treated to a visit by a very swift Peregrine Falcon, which was hunting young gulls. I didn’t see it take one but found another of the “turtleneck” mystery mortalities first thing this morning. Still betting on the River Otters for that modus operandi.

I photographed a shorebird that I wasn’t sure of the identification today. I posted a photo here and one on twitter and received a tweet almost immediately. Dick Cannings of Bird Studies Canada knew right away that this is a Ruddy Turnstone. I have only seen them from below (in the boat), in breeding plumage, in mixed flocks with Black Turnstones at Baeria Rocks Ecological Reserve and never in the vegetation, from above here at Race Rocks. That is my excuse and I’m sticking to it. Of course it is a Ruddy Turnstone, what else could it be?

Name this bird (please).

Ruddy Turnstone looking for insects in the vegetation.

unidentified sandpiper

No visitors today and chores were either routine or fighting entropy.

September 1st Eco-guardian Log

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It was a fairly quiet, dark and damp day at Race Rocks. The wind had still not done much by 18:00 but it rose out of the west later on blowing 20 – 25 knots. Although the ceiling was generally much higher than yesterday, solar radiation levels remained low, compared to the rest of the week, including stormy Saturday. The barometer dropped a little today, but remained above 1005 hPa and the forecast is for strong afternoon west winds to also bring much needed precipitation until Friday.

The weather pages on this racerocks.ca web site have lots of good data. If you like graphs or if you would like to learn to like graphs, check out the weekly solar radiation data graph to see how dark it has been lately.

It was another busy day for commercial whale watching activity in the Ecological Reserve with 17 visits observed. The main concerns were with a couple of vessel operators who are in a hurry and speed up before exiting the reserve. I really enjoy watching the better operators. They take their time; use the current to enhance their visit and make sure that their clients have a good experience, while assuring a sustainable future for their industry in the Ecological Reserve.

Four groups of Pearson College students visited the Ecological Reserve today as part of their orientation week activities. They were in the two vessels Haiku and Second Nature.

More sea lions appear to be arriving daily and I look forward to doing the census later this week. I have also documented a number of branded and tagged sea lions and data that will be shared with NOAA biologists. Today there were two Northern Elephant Seals on the island, the young male from the ramp yesterday moved up behind the boathouse and a similarly sized individual arrived on the ramp today with a crowd of California Sea Lions. Only one Elephant Seal was visible on Middle Rock, surrounded by Stellers Sea Lions.

Other less welcome arrivals were ~24 Canada Geese. I guess now that there are a few green shoots again; they are here to eat them. There is still a family of five, whose goslings were late to hatch, that looks like it hasn’t left yet.

I was busy with minor chores today, including the usual plus repairing the jetty fence twice, cleaning the camera, running the generator to bring the batteries back up and assessing generator use, de-salinator hours and various fuel quantities on hand for month end. I did make time to take a few photos and have included them in a gallery for your viewing pleasure.

 

 

Spot the Northern Elephant Seal amongst the Northern Sea Lions?

Spot the Northern Elephant Seal amongst the Northern Sea Lions?

 

Cool and Wet

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The cool, wet weather these last couple of days at Race Rocks was a long time coming and the ceiling is still thick enough so that peak solar radiation levels are about half the norm for this month. The little bit of soil is sucking up the moisture and there is already some visible return of green, a colour almost defeated by the drought. The wind didn’t do much until late afternoon today and there was no wind most of the morning. By early afternoon it was up to 10 knots southeast, only to fall off again as it swung to a feeble southwest in the evening. The barometer continues to crawl out of the hole created by Saturday’s storm and it is almost back up to 1010hPa. From the forecast, it looks like periods of rain will continue as the cold front moves southward over the next few days and then we will be back into the summer pattern of westerly winds and possibly sunshine, if not fog.

There was quite a bit of whale watching activity in the area today. There were 18 visits made by commercial boats operating inside the Ecological Reserve and more outside. All but two vessels abided by the rules, taking it slow, being respectful and courteous to each other and mindful of the large concentration of animals in this protected area. From the radio chat and observations, I was able to ascertain that there were both Biggs’ and Southern Resident Killer Whales in the vicinity. Both pods passed just outside the reserve heading west about a half mile to the south. There was also a humpback feeding just east towards Victoria.

One, large, whale watching speeder may have taken his cue from the only “sports”-fishing boat that came into the reserve today. A Grady-White-type boat with halibut gear, came inside behind a line-up of whale watchers and then roared off from inside Middle Channel as if his urgency trumped the wildlife values in this congested area. Later one of the well respected companies had a large vessel observed taking off at speed after a visit to the sea lions, closer than 100m. I hope the animals in the water were able to get out of his way.

There were a number of sea lions with major wounds noted today and I will try to photo-document them on a drier day. Of note were fresh, severe gashes on at least three Steller Sea Lions and what appeared to be propeller marks on two Californians. Most of the sea lions spend their time sleeping when they are not off foraging or tussling with each other. The Californians that are awake though, are always barking.

I tried to document three branded California Sea Lions today but only succeeded in recording one full number without question, # 8228 on the left side. I got one partial # U_05 on the rump and another partial #U14__. I didn’t see any branded Steller’s yet.

The pre-summer cast of avian characters, is back and it is really a privilege to be here again to witness Race Rocks as the change to autumn happens. I saw at least 95 Black Turnstones busy foraging all over the island today. They roost together on the south shore in the evening, making it easier to get a good count . They are back from a summer away at nesting sites along the western Alaskan shores of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. Cormorants probably didn’t go far but the Double-Crested Cormorants I saw today definitely do not nest in the reserve.

Most of the Glaucous-winged Gull chicks have fledged and left the island but there are still a few slow pokes who are busy begging from worn-out looking parents for food. Amazingly some adults are feeding three big chicks that appear larger than the adult. There is evidence of fresh predation on these young gulls and River Otter is the prime suspect as it seems to be nocturnal or crepuscular activity and one of the remains was dragged right in to the otter den entranceway. As was noted last year, it appears that the head of the gull is enveloped in its neck skin as if the skin was torn and pulled up like a turtle-necked sweater coming off inside out.

A newly fledged Glaucous-winged Gull with handsome new feathers.

A newly fledged Glaucous-winged Gull still not confident enough to fly away on a new adventure.

The Northern Elephant Seals surprised me. I knew there was one here on the marine railway ramp on Great Race because Guy and Christine had mentioned it and it hauled out just before they left yesterday. It is a really well fed young one, completely plumped out since I last saw them after their horrendous moulting fasts of the late spring. Another five Northern Elephant Seals are visible with the scope from the top of the tower, on Middle Rocks amidst the sea lions. Of the five, one appeared to be very small, perhaps young of the year and the other four were larger juveniles perhaps including a small adult female. I will try to get a better handle on this in the days to come.

There were no visitors today as I got back into routine chores and was constantly reminded of the incredible natural setting that makes this place so special.

5 -1= 4

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Exceptional weather those last days: no wind, flat sea, sun.
Young gulls get bigger than the adults maybe because of a fluffy undercoat. They are almost ready to fly for good and they even sometimes attack the adults. When we came back from Pearson College on the 10th we found a young goose dead on the side of the water-sampling house, almost inside the old tree boat. Now we have only four of them. First we couldn’t tell what was the story behind but after a closed look we discovered a very neat, clean hole in the neck. It was clear that the bird was not killed for food but had been attacked. It’s not sure but the gulls could have done it: a territorial conflict.
We saw in the distance going towards the open ocean a really huge barge charged with a 4 or 5 five floors building! Maybe it was for an oil platform somewhere in the coast. We never saw something big like this one before. Speaking about boats around Race Rocks we have counted around 20 Sea lions watchers each day. The Sea lions get slowly closer. They are so beautiful and some pretty big. We saw one with a flasher. A few ones have a green tag and one have a big number on its skin

Feeling like a fish in an aquarium

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After an agitated night no more wind early in the morning. It has been a beautiful, sunny day. The light morning wind blew to 32 knots around 4:30 PM and was at 36 knots in the early evening and got down at only 30 knots at 9:30. It has been absolutely gorgeous here: the sea was at its best: a mix of blues, greens and white. We had closed to 40 watching boats around it’s why I said that we got the feeling of a fish in an aquarium but the day was so beautiful that it was great to share so much beauty. The smell coming from the Rocks around was amazingly strong! We still have one lonely little female Elephant seal .She has a white running nose. I guess it ‘s usual and means nothing serious.

July 1st to 3rd : Summer time

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July 1ST to 3rd: Summer time is here

If on the last day of June the wind was blowing up to 38.9 around 7:00 the 1st of July and the following days we had some light westerly wind increasing to 25 knots at the most in late afternoon. Water temperature has been steady above 12 Celsius and in Race Rocks no heavy hot days just the best …a light breeze above the houses.

The first of the month (Our Canada flag prouder than ever) has been a very busy day around Race Rocks. Fishing boats and whales watchers were attracted by a pod of orcas heading from ocean to Victoria and we could see them a mere half mile away from the rock on the South West side. All the boats were around and quickly disappeared following the whales.

At 5h00 in the morning, one after the other Floyd and Chunk, the 2 belching and dripping water Elephants Seals, came back from sea ready for a long sleepy day…but we were surprised, in the middle afternoon they gave us a real show. The 3 of them spent more than an hour playing like crazy in the shallow waters by the the jetty for the pleasure of a big whale watchers boat a little too close …but it was such a nice show! Some friends of us at the camera took pictures of the whole thing!

Divers came too and this time very closed to the shore maybe 15 meters! Some were snorkeling and 2 had bottles. They stayed not for long I would say 30mn.

Chicks are now everywhere to be seen…and the island get very noisy .
It ‘s just amazing to see how well protected those new ones are by the whole community. Even the eagles fly away.

Today for the first time in a week the generator has been on for a few hours

Guy had to look at the quantity of oil on the island, that is to say in the 2 houses (175 and 154 liters) the 3 drums (208 liters each), the 2 tanks –the big one (1120 liters) and the new smaller one (200 liters).

Yesterday, July 3rd. It was time for some groceries to buy. We have been surprised to see how hot it was in town and even at the college only a few miles away…We were really happy to come back a few hours later. We had a calm weather condition for the whole day, west winds from 0.11 knots to 23 knots in the end afternoon, very good visibility 10 miles at least.