Seagulls vs Elephant Seals

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind:  5-10 W
  • Sky: overcast some rain
  • Water: calm

Boats/Visitors

  • A few ecotours came by today

Ecological

  • 11 elephant seals today mostly in the front of the house but went down to the jetty, I see still don’t see the youngest female around
  • There are definitely more seagull eggs, an elephant seal got too close to one of their nests earlier and got into a fight with two of them, the gulls won, the seal wiggled away

 

Nesting and Fighting

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind:  15-20 SW
  • Sky: overcast some rain
  • Water: choppy, no more than 1 metre waves

Boats/Visitors

  • A few ecotours came by today

Ecological

  • 11 elephant seals today, 5 of them are male, and they have been fighting with each other all day the other 6 females have been pretty aggressive toward each other today as well
  • The gulls have started nesting and will get protective if you get too close
  • The geese are just at the end of nesting and are still pretty aggressive
  • I came across 2 oystercatcher nests while cleaning the solar panels today, thankfully they just get loud and try to distract you away from their nests rather than attacking
  • Also I have not seen the youngest female elephant seal around

High Winds Today

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind:  20-40 West throughout the day
  • Sky: pretty clear
  • Water: choppy, at least 1 metre waves

Boats/Visitors

  • A few ecotours came by today

Ecological

  • 12 elephant seals scattered around, mostly in the front of the house

Another Foggy Day

Weather

  • Visibility: 0 Miles
  • Wind:  25-30 SW
  • Sky: Completely foggy from 1am until 7:30pm
  • Water: choppy, not too big

Boats/Visitors

  • A few ecotours came by today despite the fog

Ecological

  • 12 elephant seals scattered around, mostly in the front of the house

Swiftsure Race Today

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind:  5-10 NW was a bit less in the middle of the day but picked up a bit again
  • Sky: clear and sunny
  • Water: calm

Boats/Visitors

  • A lot of ecotours today, along with countless boats sailing by and fishing

Ecological

  • 12 elephant seals scattered around today, mostly around the jetty to cool off in the water

Other

  • The swiftsure race started today and hundreds of sailboats went sailing by the lighthouse today

Sea Otter!

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind:  0-5 S
  • Sky: clear and sunny
  • Water: calm

Boats/Visitors

  • A lot of ecotours today, and a couple visitors on the island

Ecological

  • 14 elephant seals scattered around today, mostly around the jetty to cool off in the water
  • There was a sea otter in the kelp bed off the north side of the island, unfortunately I could not get close enough to get a decent picture

Other

  • DND blasting continued today but  just a bit this morning

 

Census Day, Thursday, May 25th

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind:  0-5 NW
  • Sky: clear and sunny
  • Water: calm

Boats/Visitors

  • Many different boats around today

Ecological

  • 14 elephant seals scattered around today, mostly around the jetty to cool off in the water

Other

  • DND blasting continues

Census

  • Stellar Sea Lions: 42
  • California Sea Lions: 44
  • Elephant Seals: 14
  • Harbour Seals: 36
  • Unspecified Gulls: 321
  • Pigeon Guillemots: 120
  • Cormorants: 23
  • Canada Geese: 16
  • Oystercatchers: 8
  • Harlequinn Ducks: 5 males (that I could see)

Notes

  • I have not seen any eagles today but I saw them yesterday and they have been hanging around so I am guessing they are around here somewhere
  • There is another Elephant seal
  • An increase in sea lions as well as gulls

 

 

Wednesday, May 24th

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: between 15-25 throughout the day
  • Sky: partly cloudy
  • Water: choppy, no more than a metre

Boats/Visitors

  • A few ecotours came by today

Ecological

  • 14 elephant seals on the island today

Other

  • DND blasting today, the elephant seals don’t seem bothered by it but he sea lions really don’t like it

Tuesday, May 23rd

Weather

  • Visibility: 10 Miles
  • Wind: between 20-40 knots throughout the day
  • Sky: few clouds
  • Water: choppy, no more than a metre

Boats/Visitors

  • Maybe one or two, too windy for many boats to be around

Ecological

  • 14 elephant seals scattered around today

Monday, May 22nd

Weather

  • Visibility: 15 Miles
  • Wind: between 0-10 throughout the day, very light
  • Sky: clear
  • Water: calm

Boats/Visitors

  • Quite a few boats around of all sorts fishing, sailing, ecotours and people just wanting to relax on the water

Ecological

  • 14 elephant seals scattered around today