It just keeps going, for now. The barometer is not doing much; the gentle outflows are keeping the fog out. The smog from the interior is cranking up the sunsets. It is supposed to change by Wednesday though, so enjoy it while you can.

There were 24 whale watching boats observed in the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve and Rockfish Conservation Area today. Most of them came in the afternoon and spent time to the south of the reserve watching cetaceans before or after coming in to see the sea lions.

Most of the Whale Watching boats are very well behaved and respectful but there are a few boats that may be pushing the boundaries in terms of slowing to 7 knots within the Reserve and/or speeding before leaving the Reserve. The same may be said for dive charters and some sport’s fishing charter boats. The speed limit is 7 knots within the Reserve.

A dive charter operator out of Victoria was back again today with divers and the operator of the vessel sped around the kelp bed, an area with lots of sea lions in the water, after dropping off his divers. In the end he had to come back to the drop-off point to pick up the divers, so not sure what the point was. One Pedder Bay Marine rental boat was reported jigging in the reserve again today.

Maintenance work took priority over observations today and Alex helped with all kinds of entropy-fighting activities including fence mending, moving concrete blocks, and fixing the weed eater. Now I will be able to put aside some hay for composting in the winter without bringing in off-island seeds or continuing to use the little hand scythe. He also contributed some great ideas for improvements like adding vertical rubbing strakes on the jetty, painting a mark on the marine railway carriage to indicate the depth required for loading/unloading the whaler and sending an e-map showing the 40m contour to all the operators who frequent the Reserve.