It is always hard to leave here and to know how to properly say goodbye to all the creatures and things I will miss. I find it helps me to imagine the beauty, wonder and excitement Kendra will experience over the next month. Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart! It has been an honour and a privilege.

Tonight’s sunset.

Wildlife notes

I woke this morning to find 80% of the sea lions had left. By evening the numbers were a bit higher but the majority were still away.  I can only assume they are out fishing.

Facility work

Another day of only minor adjustments on the fence.  Hopefully this will continue for Kendra. She will have a busy month with the major renewal of the energy system (new solar panels, controllers, batteries and the removal of the old stuff), the new water line to the cistern, the installation of the basement door and possibly students on the weekends.

• ran the generator
• topped up battery fluids
• cleaning and preparing for the shift change tomorrow

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 15
• Private: 0

Weather

Overcast and rain in the morning, skies clear by evening. Winds SW 13 in the am veering to WNW 26 early evening.

Wildlife notes

The two one-eyed gull chicks observed this summer (see post) are still with us. The one-eyed chick that lives near the Energy Building has learnt to fly, although not well it still has a chance at survival. The one-eyed chick by the walkway to the Keeper’s House can’t fly yet and it has been several days since I have seen its parent around feeding it. Its two siblings are long gone. They developed on schedule being quicker and able to get more than their fair share of the food.  I know of only one other gull chick that still isn’t flying but this one seems to have an issue with one wing.

The one-eyed walkway chick on July 29, 2026

The one-eyed walkway chick on Sept 28, 2026.  It is probably around 10 weeks old.  Normally a chick will fledge in 5 to 6 weeks.

Facility work

This is the first day, I did not have to do any major repair to the fence!!!

• ran the generator
• cleaned the solar panels
• started on the months end report and data entry

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 12
• Private: 1

Weather

Fog early in the morning, cloudy mid-day, overcast by evening with light rain.  Winds mostly from the south, 3 to 14 knots. Daytime temperatures 11 to 15 degrees.

Wildlife notes

A few days ago I showed a visitor the only clump of sea thrift (Armeria maritima) that I know of on the island.  Last year there were two clumps near the flag pole. There is only one clump left now and today I found it pecked at with many stalks removed. The pieces weren’t eaten but strewn about. I don’t know which bird is responsible – gull or goose?  I hope it makes it through the winter.

The pruned clump of sea thrift on Sept 27 2026.

Sea thrift clippings.

A photo of the clump of Armeria maritima on May 16 2025:   Thrift in bloom at Race Rocks.  The thrift was once on the British three pence coin.  If you were “thrifty” you would be able to buy something with this small amount of money.  Source: Armeria maritima – Wikipedia

They all look guilty.

Facility work

• ran the generator in the morning
• cleaned the solar panels
• fence repair at the Jetty and along the flats

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 21
• Private: 1

Weather

Clear skies. Winds light, SE 0 to 10 knots. Daytime temperatures 10 to 15 degrees.

Wildlife notes

With so many sea lions around, one gets to see a wide array of injuries and deformities.  I’ve seen cuts, abrasions and scars of all shapes and sizes on all parts of their bodies. Some scars, like those from the cookie cutter shark are perfectly round. I am not sure if the fellow shown below was born this way or had an unfortunate encounter. I don’t think the one-eyed gull chicks will live as long as him.

Facility work

There must have been a major event on the boat ramp late this morning.  Normally just one post is knocked down. This time the sea lions took out the entire line sending some of it up the Jetty and some of the it down the ramp, wooden posts and all. The line is attached to a wooden post that sits in a concrete blocks.  The wooden posts were all pulled out and the concrete blocks were knocked over and moved by several feet or more, even the biggest one.

The brown stained areas are outside of electric fence line.

• ran the generator a lot today as it was rainy
• fence repairs and patrol
• topped up battery fluids
• scrubbed the east porch and stairs

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 16
• Private: 0

Weather

Overcast. Periods of rain. Wind direction variable in the morning 4 to 20 knots. Winds westerlies early afternoon, 30 knots gusting 37.  Daytime temperatures 11 to 13 degrees.

Wildlife notes

The sea lions thrashed a large section of the electric fence running on the south side of the island behind the lighthouse. They shattered the wooden posts, redistributed the concrete bricks, ripped apart the lines and sent parts of the fence down the hill.  And then they crawled over and shat on all of it. This section of double line fence running from the Energy Building to the Keepers House has not yet been replaced.  We had the new holes drilled, rods cut and line supports made, but were waiting on new electric fence line.  I had no choice but to rummage through the torn, shat on line and cobble together and mend enough of it to feed through the new support posts.  I had to undress at the basement door to keep the filth away from the cooking and eating facilities upstairs.

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above… don’t fence me out!

A section of torn electrical fence line that was dragged down the hill and some guilty looking sea lions avoiding eye contact. The old fence was double lined and used wooden stakes. The white pipe supports are for the new single line fencing system.

These animals are so strong and heavy they easily shatter the wooden posts and rip apart frayed fence line. In this part only a piece of the bottom line is still in place.  None of them are fessing up to it.

Facility work

• ran the generator
• repaired the fence
• DID NOT even have time today to clean the solar panels but it was mostly overcast so they wouldn’t have contributed much power in their current state.

Visitors

Two more groups of Pearson College students visited the island for a field class but I was too busy to spend any time with them.

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 15
• Private: 2

Weather

Cloudy, overcast by evening with some very light rain. Winds light, 5 to 12 knots, direction variable, mostly SE or NE. Daytime temperatures 12 to 13 degrees.

Today we had a new branded sea lion and a new injured sea lion to report and a whole lot of new Pearson’s students visiting the island.

Our newest branded sea lion #601 will be reported to the researchers in the US.  So far this Aug and Sept we have was observed 28 different brands and 5 different tags. Sometime we receive interesting information about the sea lions like those in the 3 dash series with satellite transmitters on them.

California sea lion 601 was seen this morning in the flats on the northeast part of the island.

The sea lion with the wounds from an entanglement was spotted this morning near the Jetty by one of the students. It is difficult to tell if these wounds are from a past entanglement or an active one when the material is deeply imbedded. The seeping discharge suggests it is active.  I have sent photos to Kendra who works for Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue and who will be the Eco guardian here for October.

Visitors

Two groups of students visited the island today for their first time. It was fantastic to see so many smiling faces. They have an amazing instructor and the best classroom imaginable to learn about todays subject, the California sea lion.  I joined the first group this morning and my favourite new fact of the day was: the nostrils of a sea lion are by default in the closed position. We heard while this staring into the face of a sleeping sea lion perched on a rock at our eye height with its nostrils only 6 feet from our faces. They were given a brilliant exercise: pick a particular sea lion, watch its movements for 10 minutes, sketch it and come up with one question about sea lions you would like an answer to.  Perfect training for a fine young naturalist and marine scientist!

Facility work

• cleaned solar panels
• ran the generator
• fence repairs
• vacuumed the tank shed
• more work on the fence line – new holes, rods and fence supports for the last section of fence along the south side

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 15
• Private: 3

Weather

Skies clear. Winds light in the early morning, WNW 15 to 24 gusting to 29 in the late afternoon. Daytime temperature 12 to 15 degrees.

Wildlife notes

Most of the remaining glaucous-winged gull parents have developed their winter plumage – mottling or streaking on their heads and necks. There are less than 10 gull chicks still being fed by their parents.  It seems they have to be more persistent now to get a free meal. The parents often first offer them a mouth full of grass before they eventually give in to the nagging. Most of these lingering chicks can’t fly yet as they either hatched late or have injuries to their eyes, wings or legs.

A parent glaucous-winged gull in its winter plumage (sooty coloured head and neck) with its near full size chick asking for a meal.

A savanna sparrow on the wire lid of the compost bin.

Facility work

• cleaned the solar panels
• ran the generator
• electric fence repairs and patrol
• topped up battery fluids
• Our camera came back from the shop today. Thank you Greg !!!

Visitors

The Director Head of Pearson College, Director of Operations, Marine and Seafront Operations Coordinator and the Seafront Operations and Maintenance Coordinator (AKA Tyrone, Deanna, Greg and Richard) and four BC Parks representatives came ashore for a site visit.  There are a lot of different groups/governing bodies with an interest in Race Rocks apart from Pearson College who maintains the buildings and infrastructure: it is an ecological reserve (BC Parks), a rockfish conservation area (Dept Fisheries and Oceans), a lighthouse and weather station (Environment Canada, and the Canadian Coast Guard) and an important site for the First Nations who have burial mounds on the island dating back to 500 AD.

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 21
• Private: 2

Weather

The conditions today didn’t help the Mount Jack wildfire near Sooke. It was discovered late on Sunday and doubled in size this afternoon to 100 ha.

Clear skies, fog for part of the day. Winds 13 to 20 knots – WNW in the morning, SW by evening.  Daytime temperatures 11 to 15 degrees.

Wildlife notes

The marine life are getting their fill of food. There are too many humpback whales to count and today I watched a sea lion slap a salmon on the water to break it apart.  After he ate the front end he slowly swallowed the remaining 18 inches whole.

The sea lions are keeping me busy with fence repair. The majority avoid the fence but there are a few insistent on breaking in or gaining access to the Jetty.

Facility work

• cleaned solar panels
• ran the generator in the morning
• rolled and put away the fire hoses in preparation for the new water line
• fence repair
• emails (DFO – fishing infraction, IOS water sampling, Oregon Dept Fish and Wildlife – branded sea lions)

This sea lion is always on the wrong side of the fence. I chase him away, repair the fence and he somehow finds his back again. Just moving toward him isn’t enough anymore. I need to beat on a drum, jump up and down and yell to get him to move. The gulls find it amusing.

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 23
• Private: 4

Weather

Clear skies. Winds westerlies 13 knots in the morning building WNW 29 by evening. Daytime temperatures 12 to 17 degrees.

Smoke plume from the wildfire in the Sooke Hills (far left) stretching past Victoria (far right).

Race Rocks and the surrounding islets are within a Rockfish Conservation Area (RCA). These areas were established to protect rockfish and lingcod populations and it is illegal to fish in them. There are 164 along the BC Coast.

Rockfish Conservation Areas around Vancouver Island. The purple arrow is Race Rocks. To see all marine conservation areas in the Canadian Pacific Ocean visit the DFO website

This afternoon a small private boat with four people on board was fishing in the area.  I tried calling a small, local ecotourism zodiac boat to ask if they could let the folks know about the RCA. I couldn’t reach them and then tried calling the Glacier Spirit a grand, classic-style boat that visits often. The friendly and helpful captain offered to head toward the small vessel. The information was not well received and they were told to Go Home!  The Glacier Spirit is an American flagged boat that operates out of Port Angeles.  Had I known all the passengers on the deck would be greeted with such hostility I would never have made that call. The Naturist onboard provided the vessel registration information and photos (I could not photograph the boat as we are still without a camera) needed to report the violation to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The small boat continued to fish until another local (BC based) ecotourism boat who heard our radio conservation went over.  To all the passengers onboard the Glacier Spirit, I send my sincere apologies. I am ashamed it never occurred to me at the time that I asked an American boat to tell a Canadian boat in Canadian waters it was not allowed to fish. I just thought we all have the same objectives to preserve what is here.  The passengers on all the ecotourism boats regardless of origin were here today to enjoy a beautiful day on the water and marvel at the abundant marine life, which carries on unaware of our borders and politics.

The track of the Glacier Spirit this afternoon from Port Angeles to Race Rocks and back again. The track is colour coded by speed of travel. Slow speeds (were whales and marine life are observed) are in yellow and red.

Their track near Race Rocks.  The purple arrow is near to where they chatted with the small boat with their fishing gear in the water.

People aboard the Glacier Spirit. This photo was taken on June 6th 2026. I have been photographing ecotourism boats all summer in preparation for a post. As our camera is not yet repaired, I will be using these old photos.

Facility Work

• settling in
• fence patrol

Vessels

• Ecotourism: 27
• Private: 4 plus one fishing infraction

Weather

Clear skies. Westerlies 12 to 20 knots. Daytime temperatures 11 to 13 degrees.