The wind varied in velocity and direction throughout the day. Fog settled in overnight as the wind blew between 15-25 knots from the southwest. In the daylight hours, the wind blew from the south and west between 7-32 knots. The barometer dropped slightly from 1008 hPa to 1004 hPa. It was overcast with patches of sun and rain throughout the day. The temperature reached a high of 12.8oC at noon.
There was one whale watching boat seen in the reserve, in the mid afternoon.
I saw humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) twice today, both times from the kitchen window. The whales were surfacing just south of Great Race Rocks, within the boundaries of the Ecological Reserve. At 9:30am, I saw two humpbacks blow, surface and dive westward. At 3:20pm, I saw one humpback surface and dive eastward. I am not positive if they were different whales, so I counted them as two in the census.
Two branded steller sea lions were seen seen today. 76Y was a pup in 2002 when it was branded in St. George Reef, California. 443Y was branded in 2013, when it was a pup at Rogue Reef, Oregon.
Here are the results of the weekly census:
Humpback Whale: 2
Steller Sea Lion: 244
California Sea Lion: 216
Harbour Seal: 39
Northern Elephant Seal: 4
Bald Eagle: 5 (2 adults, 3 juveniles)
Canada Goose: 18
Crow: 2
Harlequin Duck: 4
Double Crested Cormorant: 61
Pelagic Cormorant: 142
Black Oystercatcher: 25
Gull: 411
Black Turnstone: 8
Rock Sandpiper: 6
Surfbird: 11
Savannah Sparrow: 2
Fox Sparrow: 2
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- Harbour seals hauled out on Turbine Rock. Can you spot them all?
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- A small group of elephant seals are hauled out on Middle Rock. I could only spot four, but there might be more behind.
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- The steller sea lion was a pup last year when it was branded 443Y, in Rogue Reef, Oregon.
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- The steller sea lion was a pup in 2002 when it was branded 76Y, in St. George Reef, California.
