Tag Archives: Sea Otter

Back on the Rock!

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Hello dear readers!

I’ve been lucky to come to Race Rocks on and off for just over twenty years – and there is still nothing quite like the magic of pulling out of Pedder Bay and first catching a glimpse of the lighthouse on the horizon.

I arrived yesterday afternoon to glorious sunshine and a warm welcome and handover from Kendra, and quickly felt at home once more amongst the island’s sights, sounds, (and smells!)

The weather had turned to grey and windy this morning – but who can worry about inclement conditions when there are boisterous sea lions going about their morning stomp down to the jetty for a quick dip?

The rest of the day was spent wandering around the island, re-familiarising myself with facilities and SOPs, and frequently just stopping for a moment to marvel. It’s great to be back!

 

Ecological Notes: 

  • Several orcas entered the reserve south of Great Race Rock, but didn’t stay for long or come in to feed.
  • The lone juvenile male is now consistently joined by two females, with Petal continuing to enjoy demolishing any flowers she can find around the island.
  • Spotted one of three currently resident sea otters.

Visitors: 

  • Greg and Cedric came on Second Nature to pick up Kendra and dropped off some fresh drinking water.

Facility Work:

  • Handover inspection of facilities, fuel, water &c
  • Checked Battery Acid levels and topped up as appropriate
  • Setting up in the Keeper’s cottage
  • Checked safety equipment (first aid kit, fire detectors & extinguishers, &c

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • 2 ecotourism vessels

 Weather – Current:
http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:
http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Sunday Update

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This morning’s sunrise made up for yesterday’s gloom. All 3 elephant seals are still on the island. I’ve nicknamed the smaller female “Petal” because every time I find her she is squashing a different bed of flowers. Tonight she settled on the largest patch of grape hyacinth behind the house, but not before flattening the majority of the remaining daffodils. 

The darker of the new sea otters spent the morning around the South Island snacking on bright red urchins. It amazes me how they can make their way through the sharp spines and remain completely un-phased. I have not seen the little blonde one or Ollie this week. 

This afternoon I counted 26 California sea lions on the rocks near the jetty. I know this number may seem low for anyone whose here at busier times of the year but until today the most I’ve seen is 10! There was also one large Steller who snuggled himself in amongst the significantly smaller California boys. 

Lots of eagles around lately too!

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Sea Otters at Sunrise

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An early morning alarm clock to watch the sunrise paid off when one of our new sea otters popped up just off the rocks beside me. No colourful urchins to munch on today, just some sleepy floating and grooming. The weather was warm in the morning and cooled off later in the day with the wind. Despite cooling down, the sun was strong and I was able to run the desalinator off pure solar all afternoon!

 

A moment of appreciation for our lone boy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Facility Work:

  • Topped up battery electrolytes
  • Topped up generator’s diesel
  • Cleaned inside keeper’s house and prepped rooms for next Ecoguardian

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Ecotourism vessels

Weather Events:

  • Sunday, March 17:
    • Sky: Clear, not a cloud in the sky
    • Wind: High of W 24 knots, Low of NE 2 knots
    • Sea: Glassy morning, whitecaps in the afternoon
    • Temperature: Low 8oC, High 11oC

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Not a Fun Day to be a Sea Lion!

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Another epic day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning I spotted the darker of our two new otters feeding off South Island again. These two might need names if they keep sticking around. Bright red urchins were on the breakfast menu for today, personally I prefer a few less spikes with my coffee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The afternoon brought transient killer whales past the reserve who spent 2.5 hours in the area hunting sea lion. While they didn’t come super close, they did put on a pretty unbelievable show!

 

 

Visitors:

  •  Greg and furnace repairman

Facility Work:

  • Keeper’s house furnace now working!
  • Prepped student house for visitors

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Ecotourism vessels

Weather Events:

  • Friday, March 15:
    • Sky: Blue sky
    • Wind: High of 14 knots, Low of 6 knots
    • Sea: Whitecaps
    • Temperature: Low 6oC, High 10oC

Two Otter Thursday

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It’s been a busy few days for sea otters! While I didn’t see Ollie today, the smaller of the 2 I saw a few days ago spent the majority of this morning near the South Island. Later in the afternoon what appeared to be the same otter came past the jetty before heading out toward North Rocks. I figured the two new kids on the block were just passing through but its been 4 days now so we’ll see if they stick around. I couldn’t get great photos but I’ll include a couple below!

 

Weather for Thursday, March 14:

    • Sky: clear
    • Wind: High NE 11 knots, Low WNW 3 knots
    • Sea: Flat calm, slight ripple with afternoon current picking up
    • Temperature: Low 6oC, High 10oC

 

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Animal Census and Blog

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Time is flying by here! Nothing too wild to report today, the weather is definitely getting warmer and the solar panels are working hard. See below for more details!

March 13th Census:

Birds

  • Harlequin duck: 13
  • Bald eagle adult: 5
  • Bald eagle juvenile: 1
  • Turnstones: 16
  • Gulls, Glaucous and Western: 130
  • Cormorants: 27
  • Pigeon Guillemots: 86
  • Oyster catcher: 21
  • Canadian goose: 11
  • Surf Birds: 8

 

Mammals

  • Steller sea lion: 23
  • Harbour seal: 40
  • California sea lion: 27
  • Elephant seal male: 1
  • Sea otter: 1 (+ additional sighted March 11th)
  • Animal Tracking and Injuries: 
    • Injuries: Steller sea lion with head wound (see photo) 
    • Tracking: California sea lion with small red flipper tag, no numbers or markings on tag

 

Ecological Notes:

–          Two sea otters observed near the South Island on the morning of March 11th. One was larger with a dark face, the second appeared to be young with blonde cheeks and lacking the nose scar that Ollie is known for. Watched them both for 3-4 hours, they were eating urchins, crab, grooming, and exhibiting other common sea otter behaviours.

–          Still just one male elephant seal on the rocks. Female was reported on Middle Rock by an ecotourism vessel.

Visitors:

  • Greg to drop off supplies

Facility Work:

  • Gardening/weeding
  • Repaired some gaps in the electric fence
  • Full clean inside keeper’s house (on bad weather day)

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Ecotourism vessels, the same 2-3 seem to pass by each day
  • Wednesday, March 13:
    • Sky: Blue sky with some clouds 
    • Wind: Low of WNW 4 knots with high of WSW 18 knots
    • Sea: Relatively calm today 
    • Temperature: Low 6oC, High 9oC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Ollie the Sea Otter

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This morning started with strong winds, dark skies, and sideways hail. The wind didn’t let up at all throughout the day but there were brief periods of sun here and there. The darker sea otter from yesterday was happily eating urchins off South Island again but the smaller one was no where to be seen. Although it was hard to spot much out there among the whitecaps. I finally saw the true Ollie, nose scar and all near Turbine Rock this afternoon. He took a quick jaunt over to the South Island but the other otters were not there, on his return back to Turbine rock he passed right in front of the jetty allowing me to get a photo and confirm my suspicion that there have truly been 3 different otters here the past 2 days. How wild is that! Ollie’s light blonde head and prominent nose scar easily distinguish him from the other 2. I wonder if I’ll see them tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s Weather:

  • Tuesday, March 12:
    • Sky: Dark, hail, rain, brief periods of sun
    • Wind: High of W 32 knots, low of ENE 3 knots
    • Sea: Large whitecaps, strong current
    • Temperature: Low 6oC, High 9oC

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Two New Sea Otters!

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What an unbelievable day. I woke up to one of the most beautiful sunrises I’ve ever seen. As I do first thing each morning, I locate the lone male elephant seal, so I’m not caught off guard at any point. This morning he was asleep on the boat launch just out of reach of the incoming waves. I did my usual perimeter walk before sitting on the rocks overlooking the South Island with my coffee and camera. For the first time since I arrived here 11 days ago, I finally spotted Ollie the sea otter…or so I thought. I was ecstatic to see him so close and as I was snapping a few shots something else caught my eye. A second sea otter! About 200m apart I watched 2 individual sea otters crack open urchins and crab on their bellies, dive, and groom in the current. After spending nearly 3 hours watching and photographing them, I finally went inside to go through my photos. One of the otters appeared larger with a much darker head and narrow face, the second was smaller with blonde cheeks and in my opinion appeared to be a juvenile. Could it possibly be two otters that aren’t Ollie??? The blonde one was also lacking the nose scar that Ollie is known for, and he has been reported hanging around the North Rocks lately, so my hunch is these are two new animals. Will keep you posted!

 

Our elephant seal friend soon also found himself cruising by the South Island and just as I was wondering where the otters went…guess whose big head popped up in the current!? Poor guy scares off every animal he approaches. I look forward to tomorrow to see if the otters return or were perhaps just passing through.

 

Just need another elephant seal or 2 to keep him company!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

Early Spring = Cleaning

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Ecological Notes:

  • The birds are starting to pair off …. Geese, Gulls, and Oyster Catchers most notably. Lots of Adult Bald Eagle courtship in the air.

  • Young adult Elephant Seal male arrived a few days ago. After resting a couple days, he has spent most of every night bellowing and calling from a high point on the island.

One of his favourite calling spots is right below the window!

Realizing the female is calling from the other side of the rise

  • One adult Female Elephant Seal has since come to the island. She moves towards the males calls, but retreats when he tries to approach her. I can only speculate that she instinctively wants to haul out for her moult with other seals, but feels he not big enough to breed with(?)

She calls out a lot as well

  • I’m hoping his calls may attract others to the island
  • Normally I just get reports of “Ollie” the Sea Otter, but while I was up by the north camera, I could see him just beyond  helicopter rock.

very far away

  • 4 Transient (Biggs) Orca travel through the northern edge of the reserve without cutting in to hunt. I watched from the north camera rock, to see if they might double back, but they continued east.

T019B “Galliano” … 28 year old male

Visitors:

  • 2 techs from the Coastguard returned to complete repairs to the fog horn.
  • The upcoming Eco-Guardian also visited for an overview of the Ecological Reserve and day to day operations.

Facility Work:

  • Added water to the cistern to allow more desalination to fill the main water tank.
  • Gathered all the  hose on the island to pressure wash the pier.
  • Tackled the rather daunting job of moving and bucking the very large logs collected when I had help to pull them out of the ocean.  Even with a good understanding of leverage and pivot points, these logs were a brute! Most were well over 12-16 inches in diameter, and the bucked sections were 400-500 lbs! Task was cut short by rain (and exhaustion!), but moved the next sections into place for  the first buck. Next will be moving them to the final bucking and splitting area up top.

DND events:

  • some blasting, some fires

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Still occasional Eco-Tourism vessels

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?

Holiday Storm

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Best Wishes to you if you celebrate anything special this time of year!

Ecological Notes:

  • Still no Elephant Seals hauling out.
  • 1 yearling(?) came ashore for a couple days. When if first arrived it spent half a day moving around the central area, “calling” loudly (perhaps checking for others to haul out with?)

“You can’t see me here”

  • The Sea Otter – “Ollie” – was reported to be just off Helicopter rock by a photographer out on one of the EcoTourism boats. It’s nice to get updates on this animal, as his teeth are failing, and he is relatively old for a Sea Otter

    “Ollie” the sea Otter Photo submitted by Clint William

  • After dropping to very low numbers, there seems to be another surge of both Steller and California Sea Lions to the haul outs
  • There have been 2 or 3 small wrens in the flower beds, with help from Ann Nightingale, we believe these to be Pacific Wrens … too fast for me to get my own photo ….

photo by Mason Maron

Visitors:

  • 2 contractors from Viriidian Energy came and serviced the generator and upgraded the control system with an Auto Start/Stop system
  • Park Warden Garry Fletcher visited, and in addition to gaining an overview of the park and facilities, spent time with the Eco-Guardian providing interesting stories and history around the facility

Facility Work:

  • Spent some time analyzing and making adjustments to the new control system for the generator system
  • Initial setting on the Auto system proved to be problematic in that they resulted in very extended runs times(up to twice as long = twice the fuel burn and fuel transport!) Discussed with the programmer and they remotely adjusted the unit  to more appropriate times. Also, found out how to properly override the system for a manual run,  to ensure once a week full charges can still be done.
  • Will re-visit with the technician after the holidays
  • After help to secure some more logs … ongoing bucking and splitting to build up firewood stocks for the winter.
  • Did full maintenance on the chainsaw
  • Now running both the old, and the new Seawater data units, to give both readings to adjust  older incorrect readings

  • Proof on Concept: As the damp wood produces less heat in the woodstove, I decided to try to curtain off some areas, such as the front doorway and the kitchen. Using found materials , the main curtain is very thin, and does not cover the top very well, but it still produces a very noticeable temperature difference on either side

Noted Vessel Traffic:

  • Ongoing Eco-Tourism vessels in the park
  • Several private vessels visiting, no noted infractions

Weather Events:

Ongoing winter weather, unseasonably warm, winds direction shifting daily, very little rain

  • Monday, December 25::
    • Sky: Dense, High overcast, very light sprinkles threatening rain, but none occurred
    • Wind: ENE 5-15 kts during the day, rising to nighttime winds gusting to 35 kts
    • Sea:1 meter swells from the East
    • Temperature Low 8.5oC, High 11oC
  • Tuesday, December 26:
    • Sky: Bright overcast sky
    • Wind: ENE, calm in the morning, expected to rise to 25kts during the day and up to 45kts by evening
    • Sea: Large rolling swells from the east
    • Temperature Low 9oC, High 11.5oC

 

 

** All wildlife photos taken at the furthest distance possible, and may be cropped to improve detail! **

 

Weather – Current:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/current.php?id=72

 

Weather – Past:

http://www.victoriaweather.ca/station.php?