Weather

• Visibility: 15+ miles
• Mt. Baker visible at times today.
• Wind: 10-15 knots West
• Sky: clear and sunny!
• Water: calm

Ecological

• We spied three eagles on Turbine Rock this morning.
• 14 elephant seals on Great Race today, including both Chunk and Chuckles.
• As Second Nature was departing Race Rocks sometime after 9:00, Kyle spied several whale watching boats following a pod of orcas outside the reserve.
• I hopped aboard (sans camera) and we went off to join the fleet.
• Over the next half hour or so, we watched 5 or 6 orcas as they repeatedly surfaced on their southerly course.
• Christine (Guy’s wife) took several photographs; perhaps she will share them with us soon.
• Pam Birley discovered a Black Oystercatcher nest today via webcam. That makes 3 known nests.
• As Pam noted, it is “not a good spot to nest because the Otter likes to sunbathe in that spot on the rocks.”

Maintenance

• I did some yellow paint touch up on the jetty.
• Sprayed more algicide on the students’ house.
• Shut-down the students’ house.

Boats

• Second Nature arrived around 9:00, and properly departed around 10:00 after our unexpected whale watching trip!
• Many eco-tours came by today.
• A few of them appeared to be too close to the sea lions.

Visitors

• Kyle, Guy, Christine, and their daughter arrived at 9:00.
• Guy and Christine were dropping off some gear for their upcoming shift.
• Maya, Tazi, and Ali departed on Second Nature.