The end of my stay has come too quickly, I’m not ready to leave this piece of Heaven! My day was busy prepping for the turnover with Kendra who would be taking over for me tomorrow. I tried my best to soak in every minute I had left, already dreaming about when I’d be back.

Wildlife Notes

• Lots of action near Albert Head in the morning – big flocks of birds, lots of humpbacks and even
• I saw a distant single male Killer Whale, it traveled from Albert Head to Swordfish Is.

Facility Work

A big day of cleaning and preparing the house and site for the new arrival.

• Electric fence maintenance
• Cleaned solar panels
• Re-filled generator fuel
• Re-filled water in batteries
• Cleaned house

Weather:

• Sky: Partly cloudy
• Wind: 5-20kts NW
• Sea state: Small ripples
• Air temp: High 12C

Until I see you again Race Rocks! 

My first bit of rainfall at Race Rocks arrived this morning, a welcome change from the consistent sunshine as the cozy fall vibes set in. The lovely artwork the gulls paint on the solar panels every day is being washed away with hardly an effort on my end. To top the day off I saw perhaps the most epic sunset I’ve had here so far (picture below).

Wildlife Notes

• The usual humpbacks around, however more so outside the reserve
• Lots of black turnstones feeding around the edges of the island

Facility Work

No water sample was taken today as the YSI device was suddenly unresponsive to turning on. I’m unsure of what’s wrong but Jennifer from DFO will likely have to bring a replacement soon.

• Electric fence – had to fix multiple times today as the sea lions were extra unruly
• A very quick spot clean of solar panels as the rain did the job well
• Energy room check
• Food inventory taken for the Main House; organized supplies

Weather:

• Sky: Cloudy with periods of rain (16mm)
• Wind: 4-8kts SW
• Sea state: Light ripples
• Air temp: High 12C

Vessels:

Another fairly quiet day for vessel activity as the season for whale watching is starting to die down. However, I was disheartened to have to report a fisheries violation as a private vessel was parked inside the North end of the reserve fishing. Despite calls over the radio and approaches by nearby eco-tourism vessels, the boat refused to leave the park unwilling to accept they were in the wrong. After over an hour they finally left. I was however pleased to see the care and responsibility from the Eco-tourism industry over protecting the reserve and holding other vessels accountable to respecting the rules. They’re always quick to call out on the radio, warning of whales or of potential violations – thanks for making my job easier!

It was fairly quiet Sunday at the lighthouse… well as quiet as it gets with a few hundred sea lions barking that is. Not as much vessel activity around the rocks, although the whale activity did not slow down one bit. During my breakfast I spotted a breaching whale East of the rocks, and later in the day a tail lobbing whale to the South. I happened to also hear through the scuttlebutt on the radio that Ollie the Otter was spotted again up the coast somewhere, so I hope he or his friends makes a visit to Race Rocks soon.

Wildlife Notes

• Breaching and tail lobbing humpbacks. At least around the reserve throughout the day.
• More geese arrived in the morning, but departed in the afternoon

Facility Work

• Electric fence repairs and maintenance – the stakes are taking a bashing lately
• Cleaned solar panels
• Took daily water sample
• Checked water levels
• Re-filled Tidy Tank with more fuel

Weather:

• Sky: Cloudy all day
• Wind: 0-5kts ENE, very calm!
• Sea state: Calm; Temp has gone down to 10C from 11 or 12 the past few days
• Air temp: High 13C

Vessels:

A few Eco-tourism vessels around the reserve throughout the day but much less congested, only a couple passed through today. Submarine operations in the afternoon from the base to the NW.

Woke to a very calm and clear beautiful day. Fall on Race Rocks is proving to be a lovely season to be out here. The tidal currents were fairly still early this morning allowing me to see every ripple in the water made by a whale or sea lion. Even still enough for a couple of stand-up paddle boarders to cruise along the kelp on the south side of the island. What a day for it! Said goodbye to the students in the afternoon who hopefully got some nice R&R. Later in the afternoon, I had the pleasure of waving and saying hello on the radio to two good friends passing by the Rocks, one whale watcher and one oil spill response. They gave me a heads up about the incoming killer whales and where to keep a look out – thanks Sydney and Taylor!

Wildlife Notes

• ~ 5 humpbacks, again mostly on the South/East side of the reserve
• Quite a few black Turnstones were feeding near the SW fence in the morning
• 2 Male Bigg’s Killer whales  (T060D & T060E) passed by at a distance. They traveled Northeast through Bentinck Island passage toward William Head

Facility Work

• Electric fence was in surprisingly good condition – minor adjustments made
• Cleaned solar panels
• Took daily water sample
• Re-filled battery water
• Re-filled generator tank

Weather:

• Sky: Partly cloudy, slight marine haze
• Wind: 3-4kts ENE
• Sea state: Calm
• Air temp: High 14C

Vessels:

Many eco-tourism vessels out today watching humpbacks and the killer whales (perhaps around 10 vessels at any given time). A few private vessels, likely fishing came through and a pass by my friend in the oil spill response vessel.

Very blurry proof of Killer Whales!

It seems my luck continues and it happened to be another clear morning for my animal census day. But even better, the clouds formed and gave the perfect cover so I didn’t have to stare out into the glare and shadows of the sun. The tides were not as low today sitting at about 2m this morning which I suspect had an effect on how many birds and pinnipeds I saw today. This afternoon students from Pearson College arrived with Bella to spend the night enjoying all the island has to offer.

Animal Census Report:

I started my count around 7:30am at nearly a 2m tide. There were a lot more cormorants than my previous count, perhaps due to the time of day as I counted them later in the day the last census. A few less sea lions, I suspect more were out foraging this morning.

Mammals:

• Steller sea lion: 331
• California sea lion: 749
• Harbour seal: 70
• Humpback Whales: 8 (one tail slapping in the evening)

Birds:

• Glaucus-winged Gull: 391
• California Gull: 1
• Western Gull: 4
• Cormorant Spp: 1605
• Black Turnstones: 14
• Surfbird: 2
• Savannah’s Sparrow: 6
• Harlequin Duck: 1

Facility work

• Electric fence maintenance
• Cleaned solar panels
• Water sampled
• Animal census

Weather

• Sky: Overcast all day
• Wind: ESE 3kts
• Sea state: Calm
• Air temp: 12C

Vessels

Up to 5 eco-tourism vessels watching whales to the south of the island at any given time.

Tail Slapping

* Humpback whale photo taken with telephoto lens and cropped

With the breeze picking up a bit today, the sea lions were packed in tight to each other keeping cozy while the gulls soared effortlessly in the wind. Always entertaining watching the happenings of the sea lions – how annoyed they get when one in the pile moves and disturbs the peace, some barking and huffing and then they slightly settle down until the next one moves. And repeat.

Wildlife Notes

• Juvenile humpback lunge feeding near North rocks in early AM
• Geese are rudely making themselves at home
• Still many humpbacks mostly on South side of the island

Facility work

• Electric fence fixing
• Cleaned solar panels
• Water sampled
• Catching up on blog posts & drafting data templates

Weather

• Sky: Early morning fog, cleared to partly cloudy with slight haze
• Wind: WSW 10-15kts, gusting to 39kts
• Sea state: choppy seas, ~0.5m swell
• Air temp: 12C

Vessels

At least 10 Eco-tourism vessels visiting the park today. Also one private sailboat passed through. A large carnival cruise ship passed by a few miles away.

A Bunch of Silly Gooses

Another stunning sunny day with intermittent fog, making the island look like part of a storybook. I had a visit from Richard, Mike and Laura in the morning. Mike and Richard installed the new door on the energy building and dropped off some cleaning and first aid supplies for the main house. Laura and I had the chance to catch up and learn about each other’s path to becoming marine biologists, not surprising we had many commonalities and connections! We got chatting ideas for managing and showcasing the decades of data collected at Race Rocks.

Wildlife Notes

• Tail slapping humpback on the SW side of the island
• Canada geese have arrived – although a beautiful bird, they’re an unwelcome visitor as they destroy the tall grass used for other nesting birds on the island.

Facility work

• New door installed on energy building
• Electric fence repairs – another hook broke off a post
• Cleaned solar panels
• Water sampled
• Batteries filled – easy access with the new door!
• Donor sign installed in the Science Building

Weather

• Sky: Early morning fog, cleared to partly cloudy with slight haze. Prescribed burnings to the NW caused some distant smoke. Thick fog after sunset and into the evening.
• Wind: SSW 5-7kts
• Sea state: Calm, small ripples
• Air temp: 13C

Vessels

Many eco tourism vessels watching whales near the reserve throughout the day, mostly on the SE side where there’s consistently been 3-4 humpback whales

Nap time

Another day in paradise! I feel like I’m more of less settling into life on the rocks. Wake up, have coffee watching the sunrise in the tower, do a perimeter check on the fence, have breakfast, clean solar panels…and onwards. I of course have countless distractions to my tasks every day, for I can’t help but running to get my camera every time a whale splashes, or the sea lions get silly (which is often). The evenings end much like the mornings begin, but instead with a cup of tea at the top of the tower facing the other direction for the sunset show.

Wildlife Notes

Lots of feeding action today all around the islands. I watched as one humpback came surprisingly close to the jetty, with my eagle eye view from the tower I saw its entire body as it swiftly moved along in the shallows.

• 2 Humpbacks past West rocks
• At least 6 more Humpbacks spent good time on the N/ NE end feeding

Facility work

I took advantage of the beautiful day to do a major window cleaning session, which led me down the rabbit hole of attempting to scrub some algae off the siding of the house…to which I realized was a much bigger job in itself and would have to wait for another day. I postponed filling batteries as the new door to the energy building would be replaced tomorrow.

• Electric fence maintenance
• Cleaned solar panels
• Water sampled
• Washed all the windows of the Main house and Science house

Weather:

• Sky: Mostly sunny to partly cloudy later in the day
• Wind: SW 3-5kts
• Sea state: Very calm
• Air temp: 18C

Vessels

The usual Eco-tourism vessels, however I was pleased to hear one call out to a CCG vessel to slow down for whales in the area in which coast guard promptly did.

Sunset Gulls

I was giddy to get back to Race Rocks after the weekend away. Greg had warned that the sea lions would be wreaking havoc on the jetty, and that they were along with a fnece breach by the energy building. After some shooing and tightening up of the fence, Greg, Richard, and I got the place in good order once again.

Wildlife Notes

Still many humpbacks on every side of the island (appx 6 close by). Active lunge feeding happening around the North Rocks.

Facility work

No major facility work needed to be done, but we did note that the Fog horn has been acting out of sorts lately. It has been going off even during sunny days with no fog, perhaps the sensor is too sensitive. I will be keeping track and Greg will be in touch with the Coast Guard regarding this.

• Fence repairs and tightening
• Solar panels
• Water Sampled

Weather:

• Sky: Mostly clear
• Wind: 10kts SSW
• Sea state: calm
• Air temp: 15C