Visit from Cheanuh First Nations

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 10-15 knots SW, later 5-10 West
  • Sky: clear
  • Water: 1′ chop

Ecological

  • A new female elephant seal appeared this afternoon.
  • The weaner moved about 3 feet all day, snoozing on top of the cistern.
  • Watched some geese engage in battle.
  • Some nice flowers.

Maintenance

  • Month end report data collection.
  • Stacked some firewood.
  • Did some goose work.

Boats

  • Kyle came out in Second Nature with some visitors from the local First Nations Reserve.
  • While presumably checking out the harbour seals, they came across a boat with some of their friends in it.

Visitors

  • The chief from Cheanuh, his wife, and their two children came out with Kyle and Guy.

Windy Day for a Census

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: a steady 20-25 knots West
  • Sky: mostly sunny
  • Water: 1′ chop

Ecological

  • Census day!
  • The weaner was lounging by the house all day.
  • Discovered my first Canada Goose nests with eggs in them.
  1. Harbour Seals: 143
  2. California Sea Lions: 66
  3. Steller (Northern) Sea Lions: 42
  4. Elephant Seals: 1 weaner
  5. Seagulls unspecified: 221
  6. Surfbirds: 62
  7. Cormorants unspecified: 27
  8. Double Crested Cormorant: 4
  9. Black Turnstones: 29
  10. Canada Geese: 21
  11. Rock Sandpipers: 11
  12. Harlequin Ducks: 7 (5 males and 2 females)
  13. Bald Eagles: 7 (2 adults, 5 immature)
  14. Black Oystercatchers: 2
  15. Killdeer: 1

Maintenance

  • Ran the desalinator.

Boats

  • At least one eco-tour came by today.

Very Windy

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: at 7:45, 10-15 knots East, then at 13:20 up to 35-40 knots West
  • A peak of 43 knots West at 14:15. Settled at 25-30 knots West after dark.
  • Sky: overcast, in the afternoon periods of sunshine, rain after dark.
  • Water: 1′ chop, later some monster waves from the west

Ecological

  • Just the weaner on Great Race.
  • Killdeer active as ever.

Boats

  • One eco-tour came by.

The First Aggressive Geese

Weather

  • Visibility: 10 miles in the morning, later 15.
  • Wind: 5-10 knots North
  • Sky: overcast and some rain
  • Water: calm

Ecological

  • Just the weaner on Great Race today.
  • He has a bit of a snotty nose. I suppose he has a cold?
  • I encountered my first pair of aggressive Canada Geese today.
  • Perhaps the nesting has begun?

Boats

  • The Pacific Scout Pilot boat passed through Race Passage today.
  • No eco-tours that I saw.

Other

  • Lots of DND blasting today.
  • There were blasts at the following times:
  • 10:38, 11:05, 13:18, 13:20, 15:19, 15:21, and 15:49.
  • The first few blasts really startled the birds, especially the Pigeon Guillemots.
  • There was one final blast at 21:05. That is very unusual..

Some Work

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 0-5 knots North, later 15-20 West
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: calm in the morning, later a 1′ chop

Ecological

  • Two elephant seals on Great Race today.
  • Adult male and the weaner.
  • They both went down to the water by evenfall.

Maintenance

  • Hand pumped more diesel into the day tank.
  • Cleaned the solar panels.
  • Topped up more of the battery bank. Over half finished now!

Boats

  • Only saw one eco-tour.
  • A few fishing boats just outside the reserve.
  • DND zodiac out and about during blasting.

Other

  • Lots of loud DND blasting today.
  • There were blasts at the following times:
  • 10:48, 10:50, 11:10, 11:25, 13:36, 13:38, 13:56, 14:19, 14:34, and 14:51.

A Life Of Sundays

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knots NE, later N
  • Sky: overcast, sprinklings of rain
  • Water: calm in the morning, later 3′ chop on the eastern half of the reserve, calm on the western half.
  • It’s hard to get a photo that accurately conveys how big the waves were!

Ecological

  • Two elephant seals on Great Race.
  • I spied a couple of crows, perhaps up to mischief.

Other

  • One float plane passed over the reserve.

 

Two Seals and a Killdeer

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 15-20 knots West, later 5-10 South
  • Sky: mostly clear, a few drops of rain
  • Water: 1′ chop

Ecological

  • The same two elephant seals on Great Race today.
  • The weaner spent the whole day snoozing beside the house.
  • The bigger fellah hardly moved all day, except the one time he tried to climb up the rock wall, and couldn’t!
  • Saw a killdeer again.

Maintenance

  • Transferred diesel from the Student House basement tank, into a barrel, and then into the tidy tank.
  • Ran the desalinator.

The Weaner Returns

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 10-15 knots North, later NW
  • Sky: mostly clear
  • Water: 1′ chop

Ecological

  • The weaner was back on Great Race today, over by the base of the tower.
  • The other male is still here too.
  • I saw some rock sandpipers today. Perhaps I failed to pick them out from the surfbirds yesterday.

Maintenance

  • Hand pumped more diesel into the day tank.

Boats

  • A few eco-tours.

Other

  • Lots of DND blasting today.
  • Big blasts at the following times:
  • 9:48, 9:50, 10:06, 10:22, 12:00, and 12:02.
  • Bigger bangs at the following times:
  • 14:09 and 14:12.

 

A No Weaner Census

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knots North
  • Sky: overcast
  • Water: rippled

Ecological

  • Census day!
  • The weaner was gone this morning. Hopefully he is ok.
  • Normally I only ever see killdeer at night, but today I saw a pair off and on all day!
  1. California Sea Lions: 85
  2. Harbour Seals: 44
  3. Steller (Northern) Sea Lions: 39
  4. Elephant Seals: 1 male
  5. Seagulls unspecified: 269 (same total two weeks in a row!)
  6. Pigeon Guillemots: 241
  7. Cormorants unspecified: 57
  8. Surfbirds: 49
  9. Harlequin Ducks: 32 (16 males and 16 females)
  10. Black Turnstones: 22
  11. Canada Geese: 13
  12. Black Oystercatchers: 9
  13. Bald Eagles: 6 (2 adults, 4 immature)
  14. Killdeer: 2

Boats

  • Kyle stopped by for 1 minute to exchange the extra security camera for a new Wifi access point.
  • There were several fishing boats literally yards outside the Rockfish Conservation Area.
  • A few eco-tours came by.

Maintenance

  • Installed the new Wifi access point in the Students’ House.

Other

  • Lots of DND blasting today.
  • Small blasts at the following times:
  • 10:25, 10:27, 10:45, and 12:34.
  • Larger blasts at the following times:
  • 12:32, 12:53, 14:52, 14:54, and 15:11.

Film Crew Island Visit

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 miles
  • Wind: 5-10 knots West in the morning
  • Around 15:30 the wind picked up to 25+ knots West. 18:00 peak at 42 knots.
  • Sky: overcast, then some blue sky, then some rain
  • Water: no visible wave crests, but lots of surge

Ecological

  • One of the larger male e-seals returned in the morning.
  • The weaner is still around.
  • Lots of bald eagles in the reserve.

Maintenance

  • Kyle and I took a look at the diesel hand pump and the desalinator.

Boats

  • Kyle came out in Second Nature with the 2 person film crew to take some footage.
  • Several eco-tours came by later on.
  • A few boats out fishing halibut just beyond the reserve.

Visitors

  • Kyle and the film crew were on the island for about 2 hours.

Other

  • Lots of DND blasting today.
  • There were blasts at the following times:
  • 10:00~, 12:50, 12:52, 13:12, 13:20, 13:23.