Boats in the Ecological Reserve 2010

Note incomplete for all months. This was taken from the old version Race Rocks Logs GF

‘2010-01-03′, ’13:45:14’, ‘Other’, ‘Plane’, ‘C-GZMH’, ‘This plane arrived from the N and made three passes of the island.  The first two appeared to be above the 1000\\” marine mammal viewing guideline, however the third pass was low enough that sea birds were disturbed.’, ‘Ryan’, ’14:19:40′),
‘2010-01-03′, ’14:15:43’, ‘Speed’, ‘Boat’, ‘n/a’, ‘An eco-tour boat was in a hurry to leave the reserve and unfortunately did not accurately observe the Go-Slow guidelines found on the Pacific Whale Watch Association webpage and racerocks.com’, ‘Ryan’, ’14:20:49′),
‘2010-01-06′, ’14:46:32’, ‘Disruption’, ‘Other’, ”, ‘Sikorsky Sea King buzzed Great Race at 14:25, flying around 100\\” altitude.  Sea birds and mammals disturbed.’, ‘Ryan’, ’14:47:24′),
‘2010-02-07′, ’16:28:47’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ‘n/a’, ‘A recreational fisher was spotted by the CCGS Atlin Post inside the Rockfish Conservation Area boundary.  The Atlin Post photographed the offender and informed him of the RCA boundary at which point he sped off to the N.  Unfortunately, he was in such a hurry that he left some gear in the water and had to return to pull it out.’, ‘Ryan’, ’16:30:24′),
‘2010-02-08′, ’16:15:53’, ‘Disruption’, ‘Boat’, ‘POW Queen of Hea’, ‘This boat approached from the SE to the Steller sea lion haul out.  About 20 adult and juvenile Steller sea lions began growling and roaring alerting me to the visiting eco tour boat.  Unfortunately, the boat disturbed the sea lions by changing direction near the haul out and then speeding out of the reserve.  These actions cleared the haul out of all sea lions.’, ‘Ryan’, ’16:35:18′),
‘2010-02-15′, ’14:45:05’, ‘Too Close’, ‘Plane’, ‘Harbour Air’, ‘Doing training came through the reserve below 1000 ft.’, ‘Ryan’, ’14:55:40′),
‘2010-02-15′, ’14:59:51’, ‘Too Close’, ‘Boat’, ‘Eagle Wing Tours’, ‘This vessel chose to disregard PWWA standard procedures at Race Rocks in its close approach to the islands:\r\n\\”Vessels in the Go Slow Zone will remain as close to mid-channel as is practicable between the major rock outcroppings known as North Race Rock, West Race Rock and Helicopter Rock.\\”‘, ‘Ryan’, ’15:04:20′),
‘2010-03-06′, ’14:11:53’, ‘Disruption’, ‘Other’, ‘NC 9914 WR & UNH’, ‘A Red and Silver \\”Jet Ski\\” with registry NC 9914 WR and British Columbia plates UNH 188 did several fast loops around Great Race Island scaring 2 of 3 Steller sea lions in the reserve into the water, and causing all seals (~50) on Great Race Island and South Rocks to stampede/take to the water.  This incident was reported to the Marine Mammal Disturbance hotline and images should be available in the Rogue\\”s Gallery.’, ‘Ryan’, ’14:35:08′),
‘2010-03-07′, ’15:51:42’, ‘Speed’, ‘Boat’, ‘Gold Wing’, ‘The MV Gold Wing of Eagle Wing Tours made a short tour of the reserve but was in a rush to leave, accelerating in the waters between Great Race and North Rocks creating wake as it sped out of the reserve.\r\n\r\nQuoting from the PWWA\\”s section specific to Race Rocks:\r\n\\”Vessels will slow their approach to Race Rocks such that speed at 1/8th mile (220 yards) from any rock or landmass is reduced to minimal wake and wash, when practical. This Go Slow Zone extends 800 yds/m around every rock and landmass in the Race Rocks area.\\”\r\n’, ‘Ryan’, ’16:23:41′),
‘2010-03-13′, ’12:10:07’, ‘Disruption’, ‘Plane’, ‘?’, ‘Larger dark plane with bright yellow wings came W to E low over the SE Rock, flying below 1000 ft. altitude.’, ‘Ryan’, ’12:15:23′),
(56, ‘2010-03-15′, ’01:49:23’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ‘on file’, ‘Recreational boat with 4 people aboard fishing in the southern waters of the RCA.  Left after my second radio warning that cited their boat make and serial #.’, ‘Ryan’, ’01:50:38′),
(57, ‘2010-03-19′, ’11:07:44’, ‘Other’, ‘Plane’, ‘??’, ‘Parks Canada plane did another low fly-by, this time E to W over the SE Rocks.  I assume they are counting sea lions and seals.’, ‘Ryan’, ’11:08:32′),
(58, ‘2010-03-28′, ’00:00:00’, ‘Speed’, ‘Boat’, ‘C13289BC’, ‘entered the reserve via Race Passage traveling W to E en route to fishing ground ~1 mile E of the reserve.  Vessel named \\”Miller Time II\\” did not respond to repeated hails on 68 or on channel 16.’, ‘Ryan’, ’12:03:18′),
(59, ‘2010-04-11′, ’15:01:15’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ‘BC2276842’, ‘3 persons in floater suits fishing out of a LUND 1800 Sport Angler within 20m of Great Race Island.  This violation was reported to the DFO report hotline: 1-800-465-4336’, ‘Ryan’, ’15:09:13′),
(60, ‘2010-04-25′, ’13:25:31’, ‘Speed’, ‘Boat’, ‘6K13121’, ‘Three men aboard a small white open hulled boat with a 200hp Johnson engine with fishing gear entered the reserve around 13:00, maneuvered too close to the three species of marine mammals hauled out on Middle Rock, alerting two of the pinniped species.  The boat then cut through the kelp bed between Great Race and North Race Rock and maneuvered too close to the fourth species of marine mammal in the reserve at the time.  When less than 200m away from these animals and the Pelagic Cormorants roosting there, the boat powered up to cruising past Prince of Whales\\” Ocean Magic II NW and out of the reserve.’, ‘Ryan’, ’13:31:09′),
(61, ‘2010-05-01′, ’10:29:25’, ‘Disruption’, ‘Plane’, ‘C-FWHR’, ‘West Coast Air made a low-altitude pass over Middle Rocks and the N side of Great Race Island.  The company has been told that this activity disrupts marine mammals and other wildlife in the reserve, including Species at Risk as identified by the Federal legislation.  A message was left with their Victoria Base Manager with whom I have talked before.’, ‘Ryan’, ’10:31:57′),
(62, ‘2010-05-21′, ’09:49:59’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ‘OBMG #11’, ‘Pedder Bay Marina was contacted after the boat did not respond to hails on VHF 68.’, ‘Ryan’, ’09:50:35′),
(63, ‘2010-05-23′, ’09:15:55’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ‘BC233812’, ‘This boat was fishing in the reserve of West Race from about 8:30am onward, drifted out of the reserve for approximately 20 minutes and then fished the channel between Middle Rocks and Great Race Island where I was finally able to raise them personally.  They did not respond to hails on VHF 16 or 68.’, ‘Ryan’, ’09:13:16′),
(64, ‘2010-05-23′, ’09:18:19’, ‘Speed’, ‘Boat’, ‘BC233812’, ‘This Trophy sport fisher snagged the bottom right in front of the jetty where I was able to communicate to them that Race Rocks is surrounded by a Rockfish Conservation Area and protected as a provincial Ecological Reserve.  The gentleman I was talking with gave up on his snagged line and fired up his boat, speeding out of the reserve within 50m of marine mammals.’, ‘Ryan’, ’09:15:02′),
(65, ‘2010-05-23′, ’09:15:06’, ‘Disruption’, ‘Boat’, ‘BC2333812’, ‘In speeding past marine mammals hauled out on Great Race Island, this sports fisher turned recreational boater caused a marine mammal disturbance as 2-3 California sea lions took to the water.’, ‘Ryan’, ’09:16:26′),
(66, ‘2010-05-24′, ’16:33:46’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ‘Oak Bay Marine G’, ‘Young man and woman were fishing in the reserve as I returned from campus.  They were ignorant of the fact that the location was indeed Race Rocks and of the RCA and Ecological Reserve status.  They did not respond to hails on VHF 16 or 68 owing to the fact that they had no radio aboard.  When questioned about the species they had caught so far, they did not admit to having Rockfish, though once I made them release the fish there were two species of Rockfish (Tiger and Copper I believe) left floating belly up.  This offense, the worst recorded since September of 2009 was reported to DFO.’, ‘Ryan’, ’17:07:07′),
(67, ‘2010-05-24′, ’19:04:16’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ‘n/a’, ‘A blue-trimmed white sport fisher inadvertently drifted into the reserve today while line fishing.  They did not respond to hails on VHF16 or 68 so I launched the boat to inform them of their transgression.  This event raised an interesting policy question that I am now investigating!’, ‘Ryan’, ’19:05:32′),
(68, ‘2010-05-30′, ’05:56:22’, ‘Other’, ‘Boat’, ‘55903’, ‘A Swiftsure yacht flying Danish colours anchored in the reserve at some point during the night. When approached early in the morning they reported dropping their anchor.  They were informed that the Ecological Reserve does not permit anchoring because of the sensitive ecosystem below.  \r\nIt is disappointing that this ignorance of important conservation measured was evident despite the efforts made on behalf of the Swiftsure event by racerocks.com’, ‘ryan’, ’10:02:28′),
(69, ‘2010-06-06′, ’15:17:51’, ‘Other’, ‘Plane’, ”, ‘At 1517hrs two military fighter jets approached below 1000ft from the SW and flying NE towards Victoria. The noise from the aircraft disturbed seagulls on the island.’, ‘adam’, ’15:20:10′),
(70, ‘2010-06-11′, ’12:49:41’, ‘Too Close’, ‘Plane’, ”, ‘At approximately 1215hrs, Friday, June 11, 2010 a large military plane (Hercules maybe?) flew over the south side of Great Race at less than 1000ft. No animals being disturbed were noticed.’, ‘adam’, ’12:51:37′),
(71, ‘2010-07-03′, ’14:54:11’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ‘Second City’, ‘The vessel Second City, a Smith 45 with three persons (two men, one woman) has been moving in and out of the Reserve for the last hour or so while fishing. They\\”re just off the kelp bed to the east side of the rocks south of Great Race. ‘, ‘adam’, ’15:01:55′),
(72, ‘2010-07-04′, ’11:45:09’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ’14K68536 \\”The B’, ‘A white fibreglass pleasure vessel with a green canvas canopy and a black outboard motor and kicker was noticed fishing SW of Great Race in close proximity to the Island. Two persons on board. They were hailed on VHF 68 and VHF 16 and immediately departed the Reserve, heading NW. The incident was reported to the DFO Fisheries Violation Reporting Line.’, ‘adam’, ’13:53:36′),
(73, ‘2010-07-06′, ’13:56:17’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ’14K21894′, ‘At approximately 1320hrs, a white fibreglass recreational runabout with a friendly elderly couple on board was spotted fishing in close proximity to the kelp beds east of Great Race and the south rocks. The station vessel was launched and the couple were informed of the area being closed to fishing. They claimed they were not aware of this, and departed immediately.’, ‘adam’, ’20:07:54′),
(74, ‘2010-07-06′, ’18:40:45’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ’14K37827′, ‘At approximate 1700hrs a rental vessel from Pedder Bay Marina with 5 20-something males on board was spotted fishing within the boundaries of the Reserve south of Great Race. The station vessel was launched. The gentlemen claimed they were \\”not familiar with the area\\” and immediately departed the Reserve to begin fishing on the eastern boundaries.’, ‘adam’, ’18:44:16′),
(75, ‘2010-07-06′, ’20:04:17’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ’14K23450′, ‘At 1930hrs a vessel with four young men on board was spotted fishing in the channel between Great Race and Middle Rock. The station vessel was launched and they were intercepted. The persons on board claimed to be unaware of the Reserve being an RCA and departed soon thereafter for the Church Island area.’, ‘adam’, ’20:07:28′),
(76, ‘2010-07-07′, ’12:44:26’, ‘Speed’, ‘Boat’, ‘unknown’, ‘At approximately 1130hrs a white RHIB with approximately 8 people onboard entered the Reserve at high speed from the East and proceeded to continue at high speed through the channel between Great Race and Middle Rock. The vessel then turned, still at full speed (I estimate 30 knots), to starboard and entered the channel between Middle Rock and West Race. They turned to port again and I lost visual contact as they passed around the west side of West Race. They must\\”ve slowed down at this point, for they were behind the rock for several minutes. However, a few minutes later they came shooting out from behind West Race and travelled southeast towards the south rocks. I was on top of the energy building and made hand signals to attempt to tell them to slow down. They interpreted this as a wave, so all persons on board started waving back. The vessel slowed to approximately 20 knots and travelled around the south rocks before heading east and out of the Reserve. ‘, ‘adam’, ’12:49:19′),
(77, ‘2010-08-13′, ’13:31:37’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ‘\\”On Ice\\”‘, ‘The vessel passed through the main channel between Great Race and Middle Rock at around 1300 then began fishing east of North Rock. They then continued to fish as the current pushed them around the north side of North Rock. This incident was reported to the DFO Fisheries Violation Reporting Line at 1330hrs 13 August 2010.’, ‘adam’, ’13:33:46′),
(78, ‘2010-08-13′, ’07:08:47’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ‘BC1149787’, ‘An aluminum vessel, BC1149787, with five persons on board was spotted fishing at approximately 2000hrs east of Great Race. Over the next half hour, the vessel drifted towards Rosedale Reef as it continued fishing. The vessel left the Reserve at approximately 2045hrs. This incident was report to the DFO Fisheries Violation Reporting Line.’, ‘adam’, ’07:12:28′),
(79, ‘2010-08-19′, ’11:11:46’, ‘Speed’, ‘Boat’, ‘Eagle Wing’, ‘This tour boat entered the reserve producing wake that washed ashore on North Race and exceeded 7 knots in speed in the NE corner of the reserve in close proximity to sea lions in the water.’, ‘Ryan’, ’11:13:28′),
(80, ‘2010-08-21′, ’20:26:28’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ‘n/a’, ‘A boat was found anchored and fishing in the reserve this morning.  The people aboard offered the excuse that it was foggy and they had not wanted to get lost so were sticking close to Race Rocks.  Of course, this is not the first time that poachers have used the foggy conditions around Race Rocks to disguise their activities.’, ‘Ryan’, ’20:28:06′),
(81, ‘2010-08-23′, ’13:25:50’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ‘WN 7305 NP’, ‘This vessel arrived from the south midday and proceeded to drive through the reserve at speeds exceeding 7 knots making short stops to fish in the Rockfish Conservation Area.  The single male aboard was wearing a camo hat and gray tanktop and loose-fitting track pants.  Images of this man gaffing lingcod and throwing them to the sea lions have been recorded.  This increasingly common trifecta of excessive speed, illegal fishing, and marine mammal disturbances has been reported to DFO.’, ‘Ryan’, ’13:30:34′),
(82, ‘2010-08-24′, ’09:58:47’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ‘BC1622024’, ‘A white fibreglass vessel, one person on board, entered the Reserve at approximately 0950hrs 24 August 2010 and began fishing north of North Race, then began to drift westwards and is now fishing west and north of the kelp bed at North Race. The vessel is tied off to kelp and I have observed the person on board pulling fish out of the water onto the boat. ‘, ‘adam’, ’10:14:25′),
(83, ‘2010-08-24′, ’10:14:28’, ‘Speed’, ‘Boat’, ‘unknown’, ‘A black zodiac with two persons on board and two white outboard motors sped westwards through the main channel between Great Race and Middle Rock at approximately 1015 24 August 2010 at a speed between 20 and 30 knots. Attempts to tell the vessel to slow down were made with hand gestures but these were ignored.’, ‘adam’, ’10:18:46′),
(84, ‘2010-08-30′, ’17:33:00’, ‘Fishing’, ‘Boat’, ’14K37805′, ‘Pedder Bay Marina helped us with a group using one of their rental boats to illegally fish in the Rockfish Conservation Area.’, ‘Ryan’, ’17:34:08′),
(85, ‘2010-09-04′, ’10:00:06’, ‘Disruption’, ‘Boat’, ‘Kayaks’, ‘Starting around 10 this morning groups of kayakers began to show up and inevitably disturbed many sea lions around the reserve throughout the day.  Their silent approach often startles slumbering sea lions, causing stampedes in certain cases.’, ‘Ryan’, ’16:32:01′),
(86, ‘2010-09-10′, ’12:00:05’, ‘Disruption’, ‘Plane’, ‘\\”Parks\\”‘, ‘The phantom \\”Parks\\” plane that Parks Canada has no knowledge of made another low-altitude overflight today.  This green and yellow Cessna Citation-type plane always approaches from the NE and makes a low pass over the SE Rocks before heading West about 2 miles south of Vancouver Island.’, ‘Ryan’, ’13:20:59′),
(87, ‘2010-09-21′, ’19:02:14’, ‘Speed’, ‘Boat’, ‘n/a’, ‘Two recreational vessels were noticed speeding through the N and S ends of the reserve.’, ‘Ryan’, ’19:02:34′),
(88, ‘2010-09-26′, ’12:00:40’, ‘Too Close’, ‘Boat’, ‘Fantasea’, ‘The Fantasea Charters boat came in from the West and into the reserve and approached a huge gathering of hundreds of cormorants, seagulls and sea lions. At least 100-150 sea lions were in the water due to an upwelling of fish and were jumping in and out of the water fishing. The boat went straight into the major group of feeding sea lions completely disrupting their activities and having to relocate. The boat went through the passage, turned around and came back again through the feeding sea lions and birds. They did this four times without any regard to disrupting feeding behavior in an environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner. They left only when the feeding frenzy had died down a little, staying in the reserve for at least half an hour and repeatedly engaging their engines while motoring over groups of sea lions. About 15 minutes after Fantasea left, another feeding frenzy occurred. A Prince of Wales zodiac came from the East and when they saw that the sealions were feeding, they turned around and took another way around the reserve demonstrating a professional standard not maintained by the Fantasea Charter\\”s operator. ‘, ‘Ryan’, ’15:52:17′),
(89, ‘2010-10-03′, ’11:46:30’, ‘Too Close’, ‘Boat’, ‘Great Pacific Ad’, ‘This infraction was reported by Pearson College students staying at the Science Centre on a weekend study trip.  The vessel approached marine mammals to within 30m on the W side of Great Race Rock where California sea lions are hauled out.  Both professional and federal standards state that no vessel is to approach marine mammals (including those hauled out of the water) closer than 100m.  The majority of eco tour traffic at Race Rocks will approach marine mammals closer than 100m, however these approaches do not always result in marine mammal disturbances.’, ‘Ryan’, ’11:49:35′),