Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max 7.7ºC -- Min 5.9ºC -- Reset 6.7ºC -- Rain 4.8 mm --Total Precipitation for December 2001 127.3 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:12 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast -- Vis. 10 Miles -- Light Rain -- Wind North 17 Knots Sea 2 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 8:09 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 7.7ºC -- Min. 5.3ºC -- Reset 7.5ºC -- Rain 0.0
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:16 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind North East 20 Knots -- Sea 3 Foot Moderate -- Low Eastery Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:31 AM

Good Evening
TEMPATURE: Max. 7.1ºC -- Min 5.9ºC -- Reset 6.9ºC Rain 0.0 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:09 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind North East 13 Knots -- Sea 1 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:50 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 7.2ºC -- Min. 6.1ºC -- Reset 6.9ºC -- Rain 1.2 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:02 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind North North East 13 Knots -- Sea 1 - 2 Foot Chop -- Occasional light rain shower
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:27 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 7.9ºC -- Min. 5.0ºC -- Reset 6.9ºC -- Rain 0.0
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:14 PM

Good Afternoon
WEATHER: Sky Overcast -- Vls. 15 Knots -- Wind North North East 23 Gust 30 Knots -- Sea 4 Foot Moderate -- Low North East Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 12:25 PM

TEMPERATURE:Max 6.9 ---Min 3.7 c --- Reset 5.0
MARINE LIFE: Today we enjoyed the sunshine, the view of Mt. Baker was outstanding. We had 3 Bald Eagles all immatures, spending about two hours sitting on the south east rocks, no prey taken. Just after 11am, 3 Orcas came into the area from the south west, they traveled through the kelp to the south and east of Gr. Race but stayed no longer than 30 minutes. A large bull Elephant Seal is hauled out on the closest of the south east rocks, tucked in just below the ridge, somewhat protected from the very chilly north east wind.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 3:18 AM

MERRY CHRISTMAS
WEATHER: Sky Clear -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind North East 19 Knots -- Sea 3 Foot Moderate -- Low Easterly Swell.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:21 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max 8.0ºC -- Min 4.9ºC -- Reset 6.7ºC -- Rain 0.0
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL !!!
MARINE LIFE: Yesterday Angus Mattews took Alan MacLeod, Andrew Harcombe, and Ron Satterfield out in the Pearson College boat, 2nd Nature for the annual Sooke Christmas bird count. The trip was postponed from the 22nd because of the 40knt. north winds. Following is a list of the birds seen between the Pearson College dock and Race Rocks- most of the sightings were in the area around Race Rocks. The highlight was the lone Iceland Gull, a very rare bird in this area! The first sighting of this bird for the trio of bird counters!
Pacific Loon 14
Common Loon 1
Horned Greb 1
Double Crested Cormorant 80
Brandt's Cormorant 60
Pelagic Cormorant 12
Harlequin Duck 2
Surf Scoter 30
Bufflehead 60
Hooded Merganser 5
Bald Eagle 4 adult,2 immature
Black Oyster Catcher 16
Black Turnstone 6
Surfbird 6
Rock Sandpiper 9
Mew Gull 15
Herring Gull 8
Thayers Gull 530
Western Gull 1
Glaucous Winged Gull 720
Common Murre 40
Pigeon Guillemot 8
Marbled Murrelet 6
Belted Kingfisher 1
Eurasian Starling 8
Common Flicker 1

You may check out the file on the Christmas Count with pictures at:
http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/seabirds/xmascount/xmascount2001.htm

Thank you Angus,Alan,Ron and Andrew, maybe it wasn't blowing 40knots from the north but it was still a cold bumpy trip with 20 knots from the north east!
HUMAN INTERACTION:11:30 am 1 Whale Watcher Boat
12:15 1 Rib with 2 divers (burrrr)
14:30 Discovery Launch (2 passengers)
Thank You Jane and Chris for holding the 'fort' so we could visit with family and restock the pantry.

posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:11 PM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.3ºC -- Min. 4.1ºC -- Reset 6.9ºC -- Dry day
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:09 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind North East 25 Knots -- Sea 3 -4 Foot Moderate -- Low East Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:50 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 5.0ºC -- Min. 3.2ºC -- Reset 4.7ºC -- No Rain
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:02 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind North East 17 -- 2' Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 8:32 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 5.7ºC -- Min. 3.9ºC -- Reset 4.2ºC -- Rain 0.4 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:05 PM

MARINE LIFE: With the relatively calm sea today the hauled out Sea Lions slept the time away.The most action came from a few Northern Sealions on Southeast Rks. that went into the water to investigate the Orcas that came in from the West at 1:20pm.There was one bull,3 that could be females or juveniles and one fairly small one.It was really hard to get a good look as they didn't stay on the surface very long.The whales made their way along the south shore of Gr. Race then veered out towards the Rosedale light buoy where they spent until 3:40 swimming back and forth with frequent tail slapping,breaching and slapping of flippers. 200+ gulls and 30 or so Cormorants stayed with whales I would guess feeding on any scraps floating about on the surface.Since the Orcas stayed well off shore,were quite 'noisy' and did not seem interested in the seals and sealions my guess is that they were residents. The last we saw of them they were headed SW.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 4:58 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind North North East 21 Knots -- Sea 3' Moderate -- Low North East Swell -- Occasional light Rain showers
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:33 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.1ºC -- Min 3.7ºC -- Reset 4.9ºC -- Rain 0.8 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:17 PM

MARINE LIFE:The Sea Lions seen on cameras 1 and 2 show about 1/2 the population presently hauled out, the other half are spread out along the east and south shores of Gr. Race and on the Southeast Rks.There are quite a few young Northern Sea Lions this year maybe an indication of a healthy population growth? The Northern Sea Lions presently hauled out, out number the California Sea Lions approximately 8-1,there being approx. 325 Northern Sea Lions hauled out this afternoon.
5 immmature Bald Eagles visited the area today but stayed only 50 minutes,arriving and leaving within minutes of each other,three sat over on the southeast rocks and the other two on the highest point on West Race. Was nice to have a day with light winds and even enjoyed a few glimpses of the sun!
posted by Carol or Mike S at 5:21 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind South East 5 knots -- Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:23 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.9ºC -- Min. 3.3ºC -- Reset 6.0ºC -- Rain 1.8 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:12 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Ovecast -- Vis. 10 Miles -- Wind East 35 Gusting 45 Knots -- Sea 7 Foot Rough -- Moderate South East Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:27 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 9.1ºC -- Min. 2.3ºC -- Reset 4.6ºC Rain 8.4 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:16 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind South West 13 Knots -- Sea 2 Foot Chop -- Low West Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:35 AM

MARINE LIFE: 4 Bald Eagles visited the Reserve today,3 immatures and one mature.The first one(mature) arrived just after 9:30 this morning with it's breakfast-an unidentified fish -grasped in it's talons. The big bird set down on the NW bluff just above the boat house to eat. As the eagle tore off pieces of fish the 5 crows danced around it, wary, but anxious to get any bits that scattered.After only 5 or 6 minutes the eagle flew off leaving the crows to scour the rocks for any scraps however tiny! I did not see anything that would have scared the eagle,certainly not the crows! Just after 10 a.m. a lone California Sea Lion came ashore just east of the boat dock and proceeded to lumber across the island stopping every 3 metres or so to roll and rub on the grass.The reason we took note of the poor fellow is that he has a terrible scar around his neck -garbage in the sea or maybe some type of discarded fishing gear.Sea Lions with this type of wound, unfortunately are not that rare.We could not get close enough to see if it was just a scar or whether something was still in the wound.About noon 3 immature Bald Eagles landed on the ridge of West Race.They sat there for about 10 minutes until a boat approached (divers) and they flew over to N Rocks.After 1/2 hour or so they flew over to SE rocks where they stayed except for a couple of flights around the islands, unsuccessful attempts at getting a bird dinner.Two of these birds looked somewhat bedraggled with the mottled appearance of the head and tail feathers.The distinctive white plumage gradually appears with each molt over 4 or 5 years. Just before 1:30 I noticed two Orcas northeast of North Rks. They were being followed by several groups of Sea Lions at about 100 metres. The whales surfaced 4 or 5 times as they made their way south just at the edge of the east side kelp bed.The last we saw they were in front of the engine room 200-300 metres off shore.As we watched for the whales to come back a 3-4 metre bull Elephant Seal drifted by and came into the small east bay.I did get some video as he floated around with just his head and unmistakable nose above the surface.He stayed in the bay only 12-15 minutes,arched his back,flared his great nostrils,dove into a wave and was gone! We often hear the elephant Seals vocalizing at night, it sounds like a calf bellowing in a tin can, but not lately, and from the sound of the roaring 45+ knt. not tonight either!
HUMAN INTERACTION: 12:10am -1:45pm Boat with 6 divers -West Race
TEMPERATURE: Max. 10.1ºC -- 6.3º -- Reset 8.7ºC -- Rain 26.2 mm -- Total rain fall for December 109.9 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 10:11 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind West 13 Knots -- Sea 1 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:32 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 7.0ºC -- Min. 4.7ºC -- Reset 6.9ºC -- Rain 1.4 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:08 PM

WEATHER:light winds all day,a nice break from the roaring westerly. It was nice to be able to hear the sea lions growling and barking again. Looks like we may be in for another stormy night judging from the swell that is starting to come in from the south east.Some of the Sea Lions on the east ridge are jumping into the water as the 3-4metre waves break over them while others are moving down the west side of the ridge to join a group of 14 California sea lions and the 2 Elephant Seals that have been hauled out all day.The Harbour seals are hauling out as the tide ebbs and unless disturbed will stay 'high and dry' until the tide comes in again.
--Today is the first day we have seen the large male elephant seal back on middle rock - ( see camera1- note added by Garry)
posted by Carol or Mike S at 4:37 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind North East 9 Knots -- Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:26 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.9ºC -- Min. 6.8ºC -- Reset 6.8ºC -- Rain 6.2 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:12 PM

MARINE LIFE:the westerly continues to howl at 44-50 knots and the favoured spot on Gr.Race is the east Bay area.There are 250-300 gulls,beaks into the wind,along the ridges of the cliffs.The 26 Black Oyster Catchers prefer to huddle in twos and threes in the shelter of large bolders.There are 67 Northern Sea Lions and 26 California Sea Lions packed together like 'pick-up' sticks also along the east ridge.Closer to the water and in the lee of the house, two juvenile Elephant Seals are 'cuddled' together as if to keep warm.The Harbour Seals however seem to enjoy the surf and spend a lot of time diving into the 2-3 metre waves.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 4:23 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Part Cloudy Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind 30 Gusting 45 Knots -- Sea 6 Foot moderate with Moderate South West Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 8:48 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 9.3ºC -- Min. 5.7ºC -- Reset 8.3ºC -- Rain 24.0 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:12 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast -- Vis. 10 Miles Rain -- Wind West 13 Knots -- Sea 1 - 2 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 8:25 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 6.1ºC -- Min. 5.0ºC -- Reset 5.7ºC -- Rain 3.8 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:40 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind North East 15 Knots -- Sea 2 Foot Chop - Low Soth East Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:29 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 6.6ºC -- Min. 4.0ºC -- Reset 5.7ºC -- Rain 1.6 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:04 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind East 23 Knots -- Sea 4 foot Moderate with Low South East Swell -- Rain Showers
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:46 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 5.8ºC -- Min. 4.7ºC -- Reset 4.7ºC -- Rain 7.2 mm
WEATHER: We are well into the winter weather pattern now although the winter solstice is another 11 days away.With the heavy dark clouds and almost daily gales the area is not too hospitable.The Sea Lions are always on the move hauling out in the lee as the wind changes direction.
MARINE LIFE: There are 35-40 Cormorants,mostly on the South East Rocks and 250 gulls on the East ridge of Gr.Race,another 300 or so gulls along the south and west shores.Other birds that we see every day are Black Turnstones.Starlings and crows.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:05 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind North 13 Knots -- Sea 3 Foot Moderate with Low South East Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:24 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max 8.1ºC -- Min 5.0ºC -- Reset 5.5ºC -- Rain 0.6 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:01 PM

Good Morning
WEARTER: Sky Cloudy -- Vis.15 Miles -- Wind West 17 G 23 Knots -- Sea 3 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:22 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.7ºC -- Min. 6.0ºC Reset 7.9ºC -- Rain 10.6 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:06 PM

WEATHER UP DATE:
Sky Overcast -- Vis. 10 Miles -- Light Rain -- Wind West 30 G 35 Knots -- Sea 4 foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 10:58 AM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Light Rain -- Wind North 9 Knots -- Sea 1 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:19 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.1ºC -- Min. 5.3ºC -- Reset 6.7ºC -- Rain 1.0 mm
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:10 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy -- Vis 15 Miles -- Wind Calm -- Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:20 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max 8.8ºC -- Min 4.5ºC -- Reset 7.7ºC Rain 5.0 mm -- Windy day
WEATHER: A great weather day! Very noisy with the howling and whistling 35-46knt. winds out of the west.At times the rain, moderate and horizontal, reduced visibilty to 1/2 mile as some of you may have noticed on cameras #1 and #3. The constant pounding of the waves,especially during high tide causes the house to 'rumble' not unlike small earthquakes.
MARINE LIFE:The dead mammal is a very small Harbour Seal, looked to be about 8 or 9 kilos and 70cms. There are no external wounds, however the seal seems under sized with not much body fat, and for some reason failed to thrive.It would appear that it has been dead for 2 or 3 days and came ashore on a flooding tide in a knot of kelp and driftwood.
Many of the sea lions rafted about in the relative calm sea in the lee of Gr. Race while 40-50 Harbour Seals spent several hours 'surfing' in the 3-4metre breakers between the Southeast Rocks and Gr. Race
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:08 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Light Rain Shower -- Wind South West 23 Knots -- Sea 4 Foot Moderate
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:19 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max 6.1ºC -- Min 3.3ºC -- Reset 4.9ºC -- Rain 0.8 mm
HUMAN INTERACTION:Two groups of students came over in 2nd.Nature this afternoon to learn the intricacies of the desalination plant that provides our fresh water. Two tour boats were in the reserve at 14:40 one of which did approach Middle Rock a little too close and caused some Sea Lions to take to the water. I think actually having people standing so high on an observation deck was very threatening to the animals. Garry happened to be in the tower so obtained this video of the disturbance:
http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/archives/videcotourimpact.htm

Sadly we have a dead marine mammal at the base of the ridge along the east shore of Great Race. Even with the telescope I cannot tell whether it is a Harbour Seal,an Elephant Seal or a California Sea lion and I can't get close enough without disturbing the 50 or so Sea Lions and 2 Elephant Seals hauled out all around to make a positive ID.

MARINE LIFE: At approximately 16:00 we saw 6 or 7 Orca just east of North Rocks, unfortunately it was too dark for filming but what a sight! There was one very large bull in the group and one quite small Orca, possibly a calf. They were breaching and slapping their tails and really churning up the sea. They started out in fairly large circles diving, porpoising and rolling and the large bull breaching quite often. After about 10 minutes the circles got smaller and they started swimming very fast on their sides with their dorsals at about a 45 degree angle to the water. They were quite low in the water and were sort of 'plowing' the water,back and forth,around and around.Finally with the telescope we did see the reason for all the activity, one unlucky California Sea Lion. Twice the Sea Lion was tossed in the air. We watched until it was too dark to see anything except a few white splashes. As all this was going on there was a group of 30-40 sea gulls circling over-head ready to snatch up any 'crumbs' that might come their way -nothing is wasted in this example of the food chain.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:08 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind North West 5 Knots -- Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:19 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 6.9ºC -- Min 2.9ºC -- Reset 4.8ºC -- Rain 5.6 mm no Snow
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:19 PM

HUMAN IMPACT: The racerocks.com group went to the island today to drop off a Sony camera with Carol and Mike. Carol and Mike have been requested by Fisheries (DFO) to record the ecological impact of the DND blasting that is to occur tomorrow at Rocky Point. Often, by the third blast, the sealions are scared off the rocks, possibly resulting in injury. Many of the sealions on Race Rocks have quite large scars on their undersides. Sealions are also scared by boats passing too close to the rocks.

ENVIRONMENT: We were treated to the rare sight of two Rosedale breakers. These breaking waves are the result of long, high energy waves, generated in the Pacific Ocean. When the waves reach Rosedale Reef, the most shallow point in the area, the pent up energy causes the wave to break. Refer to http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/data/data.htm to get a link to NOAA/NCEP Wavewatch for more information.

We can see that the snow is building up on the Olympic Mountains with the snow line moving down almost daily. At this time of year the clearcuts are quite visible.
posted by Damien Guihen at 5:19 PM

Good Morning
WEATHER: Sky Overcast -- Vis 15 Miles -- Wind West South West 15 Knots -- Sea 2 - 3 Foot Chop
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:22 AM

Good Evening
TEMPERATURE: Max 7.1ºC -- Min 4.3º Reset 4.7ºC -- Rain 0.6 mm
Marine Life:Three mature Bald Eagles arrived in the area this morning about 11:15 ,one perched on the 'look-out' log on N.Rks while the other two shared a high point on the SE Rocks. all was quiet for over an hour when one of the two took flight, circled the rock twice,swooped behind the rock and reappeared with an immature gull in it's talons.As the eagle with the gull landed the other two eagles started harassing the successful hunter to the point the it flew off leaving the now dead gull.I expected to see the other two eagles move in on the prey however they just remained on the ridge about a metre away from the gull just watching.Finally the third eagle came back,the other two took flight and the three eagles spent about 5 minutes flying at each other often with their talons out-stretched.At last one eagle left the fray swooped down made an unsuccessful grab for the gull then just continued flying north towards Pedder Bay.The other two flew over to West Race, sat there about 10 minutes then flew off towards Whirl Bay.Why the eagles left the gull I don't know but it did not go to waste as the ever vigilant crows soon moved in for a meal!
A Great Blue Heron spent 11/2 hours in the East Bay area just below the tower then flew off towards Pedder Bay.Also a group of Black Oyster Catchers arrived just at sunset and settled among the rocks on the east side of Gr. Race.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:10 PM

Good morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy -- Vis. 15 Miles -- Wind West 7 Knots -- Sea Rippled -- Occasional Light Rain Shower
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:32 AM

Good evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 8.9ºC -- Min. 5.1ºC -- Reset 5.1ºC -- Rain 5.5 mm
Human Interaction: A group of students under the direction of Laura Verhegge spent the weekend on Race Rocks doing some field work in enviromental systems studies. Wanting to take advantage of the low tides which are occurring after dark the students arrived late Friday afternoon.The weather at times was cold,wet and windy -so windy in fact the the return to campus scheduled for 11:30 saturday had to be postponed to Sunday forenoon.
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:10 PM

Good morning
WEARTER: Sky Part Cloudy -- Vis. 15 Miles - Wind East 8 Knots -- Sea Rippled
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:22 AM

Good evening
TEMPERATURE: Max. 9.0ºC -- Min 6.3ºC -- Reset 7.1ºC -- Rain 9.6 mm
WEATHER: Cloudy -- Vis. 10 - 15 Miles -- Light Rain Showers -- Wind South East 7 - 20 Knots -- Sea 2 - 3 Foot Chop with 6 foot South East Swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 6:11 PM

Good morning
WEATHER: Sky Cloudy -- Vis 15 Miles -- Wind East 5 Knots -- Sea 1 Foot Chop with low South East swell
posted by Carol or Mike S at 7:35 AM