We are obliged as managers of the area and ecological reserve warden, to report all examples of disturbances to BC Parks, and if appropriate, the Federal Fisheries and Oceans department. It is our hope that we can eliminate the kind of disturbances and problems which we see, to ensure the integrity of the ecosystem remains undisturbed. People must realize that animals disturbed by their presence use up valuable energy when food resources may not plentiful. The environment they live in is such that all available energy is needed for body temperature regulation as well as for prey detection and predation avoidance. They often exist on a very slim energy margin . All of the margins of the islands are especially sensitive when seal pupping takes place from April to August. In particular, the channel to the south of the tower must be off limits to all boats. Harbour seals and cormorants especially are spooked at any time of the year when kayaks or other boats approach. 2. Motor Boats and Ecotourism in the reserve: 4.Military Activity Around the Area and Blasting on Bentinck Island DND BLASTING ACTIVITIES AT ROCKY POINT: Bentinck island is used by the Department of National Defense as both a demolition range and a testing range for explosives. On the South end of Rocky Point there is a disposal pit where other demolition occurs, and in Whirl Bay, behind Christopher Point, there is an underwater test site. The size of the explosions is supposed to be monitored and controlled , however, we invariable get widely varying impacts. Our reserve Guardians, Mike and Carol Slater have made observations of the impact on sea lions, seals and seabirds over the last few years. Invariably multiple basts in quick succession results in the sea lions stampeding from the islands . Sometimes they do come back to haul out on the rocks but they often move on to another location. Unfortunately the location of Race Rocks next to a test range makes it very difficult to mitigate the impact of these explosions. Recommendations: 1. Explosions should only be conducted at times of the year when there are no nesting birds or seals having young . 2. During the months of August, September and October when the sea lions are returning to the islands, they are particularly sensitive to disturbances. 3. December to the beginning of March is probably the time of least impact but only if explosion size and frequency is carefully controlled. 4. The sizes of explosions should be carefully monitored so as to limit the impact of disturbance. 5. Blasts should be spaced out to at least 10 minutes between detonation, and especially never three blasts in succession. Such spacing of blasts lessens the impacts on the animals. SAMPLE DAILY LOGS FROM RACE ROCKS WITH EFFECTS OF BLASTING ON ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR Thursday, November 22, 2001--MARINE LIFE: A typical November day weather wise however the Military detonation exercises on Bentinck Island were particularly disturbing for the Harbour Seals and Sea Lions. Once the blasting was done for the day the animals were still quite nervous and in fact when a Cuda Marine Whale Watching boat went by one rock (15:15-15:30) with approximately 120 sea lions hauled out over half of them stampeded into the water!" Thursday, January 17, 2002 Friday, January 18, 2002 Thursday, January 24, 2002 Addendum:
The unique assemblage of Birds and mammals as well as the other forms of sea life around Race Rocks within a relatively close distance to a centre of population is a valued asset. It is in part the result of years of vigilance on the part of the Race Rocks Guardians and those who are concerned with providing a sustainable future for the island ecosystem.
Without the cooperation of the public however, we cannot hope to assure that the ecosystem is viable in the long run. It is the purpose of this page to supplement the Guidelines page which we have provided for users of the area. Examples are provided of abuse to the area, in the hopes that others will be deterred from similar mistakes.
1. Kayaks in the reserve:
Kayaks are frequently a problem in the reserve, as kayakers seem to think they are so environmentally friendly that they can approach the bird and marine mammal areas without causing disturbance. We believe from our observations however, that kayaks are in fact the most disruptive form of transportation around the islands. Their quiet, stealthy approach to within the flight distance of the birds and mammals often leads to a greater stampede effect when the kayaks are noticed. There must also be continued enforcement of speed limits in the reserve, and a total exclusion is recommended for all motorized ski craft, before it becomes an issue.
On February 3, 2007, the cormorants in the photos below on the left were suddenly disturbed by kayakers approaching too closely to the shore of Race Rocks . An observant viewer on the robotic camera sent these photos with the comment: " There was a sizeable group of cormorants with those seagulls and suddenly they took to the air - I thought it was an eagle approaching but it was the paddlers, so they did indeed scare the birds. The picture on the left was taken a few seconds before the kayaks were seen.".
Safe boating practises and speed reduction are needed in all areas around bird and mammal colonies. The link on the left provides evidence of what can happen when boaters do not exercise caution. Over the years, we have picked up several baby seals which have been decapitated by careless boaters.
In this video, you can see the results of what a motor boat can do when driven over an elephant seal.
Male Elephant Seal Injured by Boat propeller. January 2003
This file provides more information on the effects of whale-watching boats in the reserve. See this video on Ecotourism effects on sea lion behaviour.
In recent years the majority of the whale watching community has been cooperative in slowing down in the reserve and keeping a reasonable dis
tance away when viewing birds and mammals. However there are still occasionally problems with tour boats going too fast and going too close to the islands for viewing. We wish they would all abide by their own guidelines. If they are within less than 100 meters of a bird or mammal then they are going against their own guidelines published here:
The whale watching community have published their own regulations for whale watching . In addition Federal Fisheries has a pamphlet on Guidelines for whale watching. ..If these were observed regularly by all operators, we would have no problems with this industry operating in the reserve
3. Fishing in the reserve:
There is a sports fishing closure in the Marine Protected Area, however we still get people claiming ignorance of the fact .
There is also now a Rock Cod closure in the area which prohibits all fishing. (DFO link) See the map:
Link to other files showing Sea lion - Fishing conflict
4. Airplane Overflights in the reserve:
Although it has only happened a few times, airplane overflights are a serious disruption to the animal life at Race Rocks..
Such flights are reported immediately
( the young appear from May to mid-August )
MARINE LIFE: 8:30 there were 150-170 Sealions, 2 large bull and 1 smaller Elephant Seals on Middle rock. With the first blast at 11:10 the gulls and cormorants took flight, most of the sealions were alerted and some went into the water. When the second blast went off 2 minutes after the first, the sealions scrambled over each other in a rush to get to the water. The elephant seals although alerted (raised their heads and looked around ) did not move off their spots. With each blast the eagles, gulls and cormorants all took flight but within 1 or 2 minutes settled back down. During the hour between blast series 10 to 15 sealions hauled out again but appeared to be somewhat 'edgy' and were much quicker to move into the water when the blasting occurred again. There were 14-7 mature Bald Eagles in the M.P.A. today.
MARINE LIFE: At 8:30 there were only 75-80 sealions hauled out on middle rock, not all the animals have returned since the blasting yesterday. The first blast at 9:58 alerted all the sealions and 20-25 went into the water, the second blast 2-3 minutes later sent all but 6 animals scrambling into the sea. The last blast at approximately 10:25 sent 12 of the 20 sealions that had hauled out after the 10:01 blast, back into the water. There will be blasting exercises again next week on the 24th and 25th. There were 11 (7 mature ) Bald Eagles today.
Posted by Carol or Mike S. at 6:03 PM
MARINE LIFE: Today we monitored the scheduled detonations at the D.N.D. site on Bentinck Island. There were three sets of blasts, each consisting of two detonations separated by about 2 minutes. The first blast at 10:54 sent the gulls, cormorants into the air and alerted the sealions hauled out on the middle rock. About 20 animals moved towards the water then the second blast went off and caused a stampede of all the hauled out sealions. The birds as usual settled back down in a minute or two. Very gradually a few at a time, 10-15 sealions returned to the haul out areas. The Elephant Seals raised their heads and looked around but did not move away. The Second set of blasts at 11:53 and 11:55 cleared Middle Rock of sealions and also sent 40-45 Harbour Seals hauled out on the western slopes of the Southeast Rocks scrambling into the water. The Last 2 blasts( 12:48 and 12:50 ) sent the 5 sealions that hauled out again about 20 minutes after the 11:55, back into the water. Do not know the size of the detonations but they shook the cameras and most of the pictures on the walls. There are more blasts scheduled for tomorrow. There were 7 Bald Eagles - 4 mature.
In the fall of 2002 the blasting activities took place again at Bentinck Island. This year we have had a large population of the endangered Northern Sea Lions, and are again at risk of having them move out due to the effects of the blasting. The DND has let a contract for an environmental study to LGL, an environmental consulting firm. Unfortunately the results of that study will not affect the pattern of blasting scheduled for the fall term. We have been recording the effects with several videos and images below.
And see the "Before and After" from the sitezap camera 1- Nov 7, 2002
The Oct 7 detonations.
video of DND blasts Nov 7/2002
UPDATE: January, 2007: Recent blasting activities at Bentinck Island have flushed some of the birds and have scared some of the northern sea lions into the water. In general however we have observed that when they only do two blasts at more than a 1 minute interval, there is much less disturbance than three successive blasts.
The following report was commissioned by the DND in 2003 to determine the impacts of disturbances at Race Rocks.
DEMARCHI, MW AND MD BENTLEY. 2004. Effects of natural and human-caused disturbances on marine birds and pinnipeds at Race Rocks, British Columbia. LGL Report EA1569. Prepared for Department of National Defence, Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt and Public Works and Government Services Canada. 103 p.
You may see the complete report here. Note in particular, the discussion of the results concerning the effects of blasting on the behaviour of sea lions.
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