Tag Archives: tagged

February 7th census

Posted on by

Laura Verhegge celebrating her 50th birthday at Race Rocks, sharing her love of nature with students near and far.

Weather: Stormy weekend! Steady 30knots with bursts of 50knots.

Visitors/Traffic: We were visited by the Marine Biology class and Biodiversity classes last week, so cool!

Courtney Edwards regailing the Marine Biology students with tales of Lighthouse keepers past.

Ecological Notes:

Sebastion hasn’t moved since his mom left, his little flippers can’t reach the ground with that big fat belly.

We had another mom wean her pup and leave Race Rocks on February 4th 2021 (Rhi-Rhi). We’ve been hoping for the 3 pups to ‘pod-up’ but no luck yet, the newest weaned pup is still too fat to move. The students have been studying the Steller Sea Lion carcass on the NE side of Race Rocks, with 25-30 eagles feeding on the carcass early in the mornings. Some of the students spotted a new dead California Sea Lion just S of the Lighthouse, it’s a branded seal with a tag on it, no obvious sign of death.

After Jafar’s last beating he’s been giving the Beachmaster a wide berth, but still relying on the boat ramp sneaker move.

Eagles feasting on the Steller carcass.

Jafar got his nose shredded fighting the Beachmaster, but it hasn’t scared him off the island.

Census:

Gulls: 79

Cormorants: 300

Eagles: 4

California Sea Lions: 149

Steller Sea Lions: 89

Elephant Seals: 9

Harbour Seals: 6

Turnstones: 0

Killdeer: 18

 

The dead California Sea Lion.

Tag matches the brand on this dead California Sea Lion.

   

Storms on the Way

Posted on by

Weather Today: 

  • Sky partly cloudy, intermittent rain
  • Visibility
  • 20-35 knots W- SW throughout the day
  • Sea state: Swells up to 1.5 m, 1-2 foot chop

Visitors: Few boats through the reserve today as the seas have been a bit rough. A few eco-tourism boats in late afternoon watching a humpback whale just outside of the reserve.

Ecological: 

  • Not many unusual bird sightings this week as it has been incredibly windy. Quite a few more cormorants this week!
  • Erica, or GE103 has been enjoying napping around race rocks still this week. Her favorite spot is the jetty, although if there are too many sea lions she will venture higher onto the middle part of the island for some proper rest.

Census: 

  • 69 Harbour seals
  • 23 Glaucous-winged gulls
  • 163 California gulls
  • 43 Brandt’s cormorants
  • 263 Stellar sea lions
  • 695 California sea lions
  • 2 Bald eagles
  • 1 Elephant seall
  • 1 Sea otter
  • 1 Humpback whale (just outside of the reserve)
  • 10 Black turnstones
  • 5 Savannah sparrows

Stormy Seas

Posted on by

Weather:

  • Sky partly cloudy, sun/blue sky
  • Visibility 15 NM
  • Wind 26-30 knots W
  • Sea state: swells up to 5 m (high enough to cover the south islands!)

Visitors: 

  • Greg visited briefly yesterday to top up supplies before the stormy weather
  • Yesterday morning a coastguard team arrived by helicopter to do some work on the lighthouse

Ecological Observations: 

  • The sea lions and other animals have come further onto land than usual, presumably because of the stormy seas. Interestingly, the seagulls species have been mixing and not fighting at all as they need to remain closer together in the tough weather.
  • There have been quite a few more geese over the past few days. They have been enjoying the puddles created by the rain and grazing the greener areas now that the gull nesting season is over.

August 31 – Weekly Census and Shift Change

Posted on by

Wind: W 2-15 knots
Sea State: calm
Visibility: 5-15 NM
Sky: partly cloudy in early morning, then clear
Temperature: 11-17 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 411.90 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

Census results recorded this morning at low tide for the mammals and throughout the day for the birds:
26 steller sea lions
110 california sea lions
1 sea otter
290 harbour seals
1 Canada goose
7 pelagic cormorants
1,232 california gulls
251 glaucous-winged gulls
98 gull chicks
2 black oystercatchers
7 black turnstones
1 song sparrow

There were a lot of eco tourism boats passing through the ecological reserve today. An outrigger canoeist paddled through the main channel in the mid morning and again in the early afternoon.

Tomorrow is my last day as the Ecoguardian. Mara and Kai are returning for a few months. I have enjoyed being back on this wonderful island for the past 17 days, learning on the edge where the land meets the sea meets sky. Race Rocks is a unique place that couldn’t exist without the work of Pearson students, staff, faculty, alumni and volunteers.

Here are some sights from around the island today:

 

 

 

 

August 21

Posted on by

Wind: every direction throughout the day 0-24 knots
Sea State: calm in morning, rippled in afternoon
Visibility: 0-10 NM
Sky: fog and patches of rain in morning to mid afternoon, partly cloudy in afternoon to evening
Temperature: 12-18 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.15 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The juvenile female elephant seal tagged V173 slid her way up the boat ramp this morning. She is looking healthy and well fed. She has visited several times over the past few weeks, as well as in the spring to moult and briefly in December. She was born last year on Drakes Beach, in Point Reyes National Seashore, in California. Researchers tagged her as a weaned pup on February 28, 2019.

I did some maintenance around the island: changed the oil in the backup generator, tidied paths with the trimmer to make it easier to move fuel and equipment with carts, cleaned the solar panels, washed windows on the main house, and pressure washed the stairs leading up to the door of the lighthouse to get rid of the slippery bird poop. Greg brought 800 litres of fresh water, which we pumped up from the jetty to the fresh water tank.

Here are two photos from today:

August 16 – Returning Sea Lions

Posted on by

Wind: from NE in morning, SE in afternoon, W in evening – between 2 to16 knots
Sea State: calm in morning and rippled in afternoon
Visibility: 15 NM
Sky: clear
Temperature: 16-25 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 412.54 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

While I have only provided the conditions for today, I did step onto the Rock just after noon yesterday. It’s great to be back, having spent the whole winter and the first few weeks of spring here. I will be here for the next two and a half weeks, 100 days shorter than my last stint.

I feel very fortunate to be a part of the amazing team of Pearson students, alumni, staff, volunteers, donors and researchers who keep this Ecological Reserve going.

I spent yesterday afternoon and evening reacquainting myself with this wonderful place, practicing how to avoid disturbing the young gulls, who blend in well with the rocks as they like to hide beside the paths and in plants.

This weekend, there have been a lot of boats (pleasure craft and eco tour boats) taking advantage of the nice weather. The only visitor to the island, other than me, was Greg, who drove me out here from Pearson and brought back Mara and Kai.

In the previous log post, on August 13, a branded sea lion with an attached flasher (fishing lure) was mentioned. The steller sea lion is branded O-19. Bryan Wright, the Marine Mammal Biometrician/Project Leader at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, gave us an update on the history of the stellar sea lion:

He was captured and branded by us (ODFW, along with WDFW) at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River on February 2, 2012.  We don’t know his exact age but he was probably 5-7 years old at the time of capture, making him 12-15 now.  He then wasn’t seen again until July 21, 2016, at Tatoosh Island off the tip of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington.  He was then next seen back at Bonneville Dam from August-November, 2019.

Bryan also passed along an interesting article that was just published called “California Sea Lion (Zalophus Californianus) Monitoring In The Lower Columbia River, 1997–2018” (Brown et al 2020). Click here to read the abstract of the article.

See below from photos from the past two days.

Windy Week and Sea Lion Update!

Posted on by

Weather:

  • Visibility 15+ NM
  • Sky clear
  • Wind 15-20 knots W
  • Sea state: calm, rippled
  • It has been very windy this week. Most days the wind has hovered around 30 knots, sometimes as much as 35+ knots! It has been overcast intermittently, and we did receive some rainfall.

Visitors/Marine Traffic: 

  • Greg visited today with some supplies. Thanks Greg!
  • Since it has been so windy, there has been very little boat traffic. Yesterday we saw one small pleasure craft playing in the waves near Pedder Bay, and one coastguard ship passed by earlier today. A few small vessels and fishing boats passed by but no vessels entered the reserve.

Ecological:

  • Animal activity has been very quiet due to our stormy weather
  • The geese seem to be moving on now- there are fewer every day.
  • There are not many more seagull nests beginning but the seagulls have chosen their nesting locations and are defending them from other breeding pairs.
  • There is one sea lion who has been coming onto the jetty and does not move away from us as the others do. We believe this is the same one that we observed last year who seemed to have a propeller injury on his head. It’s interesting that he has been able to survive with seemingly quite a bit of behavioral impact due to the head trauma.

 

Bustling Wildlife

Posted on by

Weather:

  • Visibility 10 NM this morning, 15+ NM this afternoon
  • Sky overcast in morning but clear this afternoon
  • Wind 20-30 knots NW-NE
  • Sea state: white caps (.25m), fast moving ripples

Visitors/Boats:

  • Greg and Nick on Monday
  • Greg and Nick on Tuesday
  • Greg and a technician for generator maintenance on Wednesday
  • Greg and Nick this afternoon (Thursday) 

Aside from this there have been very few vessels aside from commercial/shipping traffic. Today a couple of sailboats passed by despite the astounding wind gusts (all a fair distance away).

Ecological:

  • There have been 4 eagles in the reserve daily on average, both juvenile and adult. They typically perch on Rosedale Rock to our SE, but we have been spotting them on the webcam tower, crane, and diesel tank near the power building. The juvenile eagles seem to be more interested in Great Race Rock, while the adults tend to stick to the outcroppings. Occasionally they swoop over the reserve, prompting the seagulls to rise into the air to avoid becoming lunch!
  • The geese continue to protect their nests but no new eggs have been observed.
  • The elephant seals have settled to complete their moult, all in various stages. The remaining pup is still here, and spends most of its time on the jetty away from the others.
  • There is a sea lion with a significant head/neck wound that we have been seeing daily. It looks like it has been tagged by the Vancouver Aquarium, so we are wondering if it has been disentangled and tagged at the same time.
  • Yesterday we spotted a killdeer, a type of plover. We’ve never seen one here before!

Repairs/Maintenance:

  • We filled the underground cistern with sea water to be desalinated (pumped using the fire pump and fire hoses).
  • To maximize our solar intake we have been keeping the solar panels as clean as possible (when they are covered in bird waste they create much less power). 
  • Juvenile eagle on diesel tank
  • Juvenile eagle on power building
  • The gang
  • Moulting elephant seal skin and fur
  • The gulls continue to arrive for nesting…
  • … and defend their territory fiercely!
  • a breeding pair of geese resting
  • This one has a sore leg from a fight!
  • The youngest nest
  • Tag of the latest arrived elephant seal
  • Pigeon Guillemot
  • Sea lion with healing entanglement wound
  • Killdeer (adorable!)
  • Juvenile bald eagle perched on the crane

Tagged Elephant Seal Resight Histories

Posted on by

The following resight histories were provided by Dr. Patrick Robinson, Director of Año Nuevo Reserve in California. The five elephant seals listed are presently at Race Rocks.

Animal: 48288, tags: GD019R-iu-So,GD018L-ol-So                  
Season 2017                        
OrigTag Age AnimalID ResightID Date Area Tags Read Comment TagComm MarkComm Age Sex Mlt Observer
GD019 0 48288 297540 2017-02-01 AP         P UK   C. Casey
GD019 0 48288 298632 2017-02-09 BBS         W     B. McDonald
GD019 0 48288 298988 2017-02-11 BBS         W M   P. Morris
GD019 0 48288 299787 2017-02-15 BBSU         W M   P. Morris
GD019 0 48288 301742 2017-02-23 BBS GD019R-iu-So,GD018L-ol-So THIS IS THE SECOND 30C, THE FIRST ONE WAS WEIGHED AT NP W M 5 C. Nasr
Season 2019                        
OrigTag Age AnimalID ResightID Date Area Tags Read Comment TagComm MarkComm Age Sex Mlt Observer
GD019 1 48288 330944 2018-04-19 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada GD018 Observed by Laas Parnell    juv     other
GD019 2 48288 330943 2019-04-09 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada GD018 Observed by Laas Parnell   juv     other
Season 2020                        
OrigTag Age AnimalID ResightID Date Area Tags Read Comment TagComm MarkComm Age Sex Mlt Observer
GD019 3 48288 335337 2019-12-14 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada GD018 Observed by Laas Parnell    juv     other
GD019 3 48288 335420 2019-12-29 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada GD019R,GD018L-ol-So reported by Nick Townley (eco-guardian)  juv     other
GD019 3 48288 347129 2020-04-01 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada GD018L-ol-So,GD019R-i Observed by Race Rocks ecoguardian Nick Townley and confirmed with photo. Seal is in great body condition but fur/skin is in poor condition. SA1 M   other
GD019 3 48288 347638 2020-04-12 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada GD018,GD019 Observed by Nick Townley (Race Rocks Ecoguardian)  juv   0 other
                           
                           
Animal: 49134, tags: GE103R-ou,GE135R-il-si                  
Season 2018                        
OrigTag Age AnimalID ResightID Date Area Tags Read Comment TagComm MarkComm Age Sex Mlt Observer
GE103 0 49134 313030 2018-02-05 NP0N   With G7644, Card # 548, but not her original pup. It was raised jointly by G9454 and G7644 after G7644 lost her own pup. P     P. Morris
GE103 0 49134 313518 2018-02-06 NP0N   Is with female 9454 but female 7644 is squabbling with her trying to reach the pup. This is a separate pup from the one marked 76 on LSh. Also has 2 blotches on top of its shoulders, P     P. Morris
GE103 0 49134 314153 2018-02-09 NP1   nursing from female 9454 but 7644 was near P     P. Robinson
GE103 0 49134 314987 2018-02-13 NP0   With Female G7644, Card # 548. It remains to be seen if this is the same pup that is marked 644 L and blotches on top of its shoulder. 6 is backwards, mark almost on ventral side P     T. Keates
GE103 0 49134 315582 2018-02-15 NP0   looks like it could be with either G7466 or G9454 P     R. Holser
GE103 0 49134 316021 2018-02-17 NPG0   This is FOR SURE the pup of 9454 and not 7644. The pup of 7644 is 76. This is one of my study pups that has been adopted by 7644. W     J. Linossier
GE103 0 49134 316052 2018-02-19 NP GE103R-ou One of Juliette Linossier’s study animals W     C. Casey
GE103 0 49134 316341 2018-02-20 NP0S       also 644 L W F   P. Morris
GE103 0 49134 316497 2018-02-22 NP GE103L-ou-So   also has 476? on belly W     T. Keates
GE103 0 49134 316665 2018-02-23 NP GE103R-ou-Si     Noticed marks on L and R, but could not read them. W     R. Cuthbertson
GE103 0 49134 316693 2018-02-23 NP GE135R-il-si,GE103L-ou-si Juiliette study animal. genetic sample AF00375791 database has disagreement on placement of GE103 also 476 on the right and the 6 is backwards W F 25 L. Johansen
Season 2019                        
OrigTag Age AnimalID ResightID Date Area Tags Read Comment TagComm MarkComm Age Sex Mlt Observer
GE103 0 49134 318448 2018-04-17 BBSL GE135R,GE103L-ou-Si     W   100 Robinson class
GE103 0 49134 318974 2018-04-17 BMB GE103L-ou-Si,GE135R-il-Si Cathy Debier 4x blubber biopsy original tag location for GE103 was incorrect W F 100 P. Robinson
Season 2020                        
OrigTag Age AnimalID ResightID Date Area Tags Read Comment TagComm MarkComm Age Sex Mlt Observer
GE103 2 49134 334454 2019-09-07 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada GE103L-ou Observed by Mara Radawetz @ Race Rocks Colony Confirmed by photograph. Seal looks healthy and in good body condition juv     other
GE103 2 49134 334574 2019-10-01 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada GE103 reported by Laas Parnell    juv     other
GE103 2 49134 334575 2019-10-11 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada GE103       juv F   other
GE103 2 49134 346669 2020-03-23 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada GE103L-ou,GE135R-il reported by Nick Townley and confirmed with photo juv   0 other
GE103 2 49134 347639 2020-04-12 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada GE103,GE135 Observed by Nick Townley (Race Rocks Ecoguardian)  juv   0 other
                           
Animal: 52226, tags:                        
Season 2020                        
OrigTag Age AnimalID ResightID Date Area Tags Read Comment TagComm MarkComm Age Sex Mlt Observer
    52226 346670 2020-03-23 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada PT563,PT562 reported by Nick Townley and confirmed with photo ad F 0 other
Season 2021                        
OrigTag Age AnimalID ResightID Date Area Tags Read Comment TagComm MarkComm Age Sex Mlt Observer
    52226 347640 2020-04-12 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada PT562,PT563 Observed by Nick Townley (Race Rocks Ecoguardian) ad F 100 other
                           
Animal: 50727, tags: GE779R-iu-so,GG512L-ol-si                  
Season 2019                        
OrigTag Age AnimalID ResightID Date Area Tags Read Comment TagComm MarkComm Age Sex Mlt Observer
GE779 0 50727 329337 2019-02-20 NP3         P     C. Casey
GE779 0 50727 329365 2019-02-23 NP3         W     M. Emard
GE779 0 50727 329392 2019-02-23 NP3 GE779R-iu-so       W     P. Robinson
GE779 0 50727 329711 2019-02-24 NPG3         W     E Levy
Season 2020                        
OrigTag Age AnimalID ResightID Date Area Tags Read Comment TagComm MarkComm Age Sex Mlt Observer
GE779 0 50727 330651 2019-03-12 NPD GG512L-ol-si,GE779R-iu-so     W M 99 P.Robinson
GE779 1 50727 347641 2020-04-12 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada GG512R,GE779L Observed by Nick Townley (Race Rocks Ecoguardian)  juv     other
                           
Animal: 48066, tags: GC887R-iu-So                    
Season 2017                        
OrigTag Age AnimalID ResightID Date Area Tags Read Comment TagComm MarkComm Age Sex Mlt Observer
GC887 0 48066 298641 2017-02-09 BMC         P     B. McDonald
GC887 0 48066 298732 2017-02-10 BMS         W     T. Barclay
GC887 0 48066 298955 2017-02-11 BMC         P     P. Morris
GC887 0 48066 299024 2017-02-12 BMS         P     M. Voisinet
GC887 0 48066 300206 2017-02-21 BMN         W     T. Russell
GC887 0 48066 300244 2017-02-21 BMC         W     E Levy
GC887 0 48066 300257 2017-02-21 BMC GC887R-iu-So     W     R. Holser
GC887 0 48066 300557 2017-02-22 BMC         W     P. Morris
GC887 0 48066 302743 2017-03-10 BBNS GC887R       W     P. Morris
Season 2019                        
OrigTag Age AnimalID ResightID Date Area Tags Read Comment TagComm MarkComm Age Sex Mlt Observer
GC887 2 48066 330772 2019-03-26 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada GC887R-iu-So Also reported present at Race Rocks in December 2017 and December 2018. juv M   other
Season 2020                        
OrigTag Age AnimalID ResightID Date Area Tags Read Comment TagComm MarkComm Age Sex Mlt Observer
GC887 3 48066 335252 2019-12-07 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada GC887       juv M   other
GC887 3 48066 347642 2020-04-12 Race Rocks, B.C. Canada GC887R Observed by Nick Townley (Race Rocks Ecoguardian)  M   other

April 11 and 12 – Weekly Census

Posted on by

Wind: yesterday W-S 0-32 knots, today W-SE 2-17 knots
Sea State: both days calm
Visibility: yesterday 10-15 NM, today 15 NM
Sky: yesterday partly cloudy then clear from mid morning, today clear
Temperature: yesterday 8-14 °C, today 7-14 °C
Atmospheric CO2: 416.33 ppm (recorded by NOAA at Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii)

The lawn in front of the house got busier this morning with nine elephant seals, two more than yesterday. A tenth seal, the pup, was near the jetty. The two new arrivals have green tags on their tail flippers. One is a male tagged C887. The other is a juvenile tagged G512 on the right flipper and E779 on the right. I will update the information on age and past sightings when I hear back from the researchers. The green tags signify the elephant seals were tagged at Año Nuevo, south of San Francisco.

[UPDATED April 13: I heard back from Dr. Patrick Robinson, the researcher from Año Nuevo Reserve. The elephant seal with green tags E779 and G512 was tagged as a pup in February 2019, where he was born at Año Nuevo. This is the first time the male juvenile has been spotted outside of Año Nuevo, where he was last seen as a weaner in March, 2019. The elephant seal with the green tag C887 is a juvenile male that was born at Año Nuevo in February 2017. He has been seen at Race Rocks in the month of December in 2017, 2018 and 2019.]

There was one boat seen in the ecological reserve on each of the past two days, a pleasure boat yesterday and a sailboat today.

Census results observed this afternoon at low tide:
10 elephant seals (1 female pup, 1 female juvenile, 1 juvenile, 2 sub adult males, 5 female adults)
16 steller sea lions
91 california sea lions
1 sea otter
72 harbour seals
5 bald eagles (2 juveniles, 3 adults)
16 Canada geese
1 black brant goose
99 gulls (mostly thayer’s)
17 pelagic cormorants
4 brandt’s cormorants
5 double-crested cormorants
6 black oystercatchers
24 pigeon guillemots
7 harlequin ducks
2 surfbirds
5 black turnstones

  • Two eagles on Turbine Rock and a colourful sailboat passing through Race Passage.
  • Newly arrived juvenile elephant seal tagged G512 and E779
  • Green tags G512 and E779 on the juvenile elephant seal.
  • Newly arrived sub adult male elephant seal tagged C887
  • Green tag C887 on the sub adult male elephant seal
  • Black brant goose
  • Four elephant seals waiting for the water to come to them
  • Newly arrived juvenile seal exploring the boardwalk
  • A view from the top of the lighthouse this afternoon of the clear water of the east bay. A group of sea lions can be seen on the rocks.
  • These lucky gulls won of the goose egg hunt