First Limestone Log of the 2023 Field Season:
Welcome to our first Limestone Log of the 2023 Field Season!
Crew for Week 2 - Georgia Moneo (Intern), Taylor Larking (volunteeer), Matt Peck (LBCS Research Assistant). Photo: Max Nishima
The 2023 Field Season Begins!
After much anticipation the East Limestone Island (ELI) field season has commenced! Following the preliminary supply drop led by longtime LBCS advisor Jake Pattison and LBCS lead biologist Rian Dickson on Jake’s boat Whimbrel, the field crew left from Moresby Camp on May 5th via the Reef Boat to move into their new home. Move-in day could not have been more inviting for the incoming field crew: Lead biologist Rian Dickson, field supervisor Matthew Peck, field assistant Max Nishima, and intern Georgia Moneo. Light winds and a high tide allowed for easy unloading of all the gear right at Cabin Cove. Promptly after arriving, it was time to take on the task of camp set-up. The first few days in camp consisted of organizing gear, quizzing each other on bird calls and preparing for all the data collection to come. There was also a visit from Moresby Explorers, who kindly offered to deliver Jake Pattison for the day, along with the new solar panel system for camp to replace the aging system that has been in place for almost as long as the camp itself. Overall, we are off to a strong start!
School Group Visits
In addition to the brief visit from Moresby Explorers, the ELI crew also had the pleasure of showing students from Tahayghen elementary in Masset, and Coast Mountain College from Prince Rupert around beautiful East Limestone Island and the field camp. Rian and Max gave tours, while Matt and Georgia prepared a faux Black Oystercatcher (BLOY) survey for the Tahayghen students. The students were tasked to locate the prepared Black Oystercatcher scape (nest), measure the staged eggs, and take field notes just like the ELI field crew does. The students asked some great questions and showed lots of interest in the science. The most popular question was probably “he has a nice moustache” (referring to Max), which is not really a question, but seemed to get a good laugh from the students and adults alike. Coast Mountain College (CMC) brought a different sense of humor, about twenty years older, and almost as funny. They were a blast to have over, and ELI will see different groups from CMC returning for the next two weeks to come.
A real Black Oystercatcher nest or "scrape". Please note, school groups do not approach actual nests.
Ancient Murrelets
The Ancient Murrelet (ANMU) monitoring program is reduced this year to the nightly gathering ground count to survey the murrelet colony as they gather between ELI and Low Island in preparation for prospecting for good burrow sites or returning to their eggs at the colony on ELI. Each night the researchers bring out the spotting scopes and watch for 10 minutes and count all ANMU that fly through the scope’s view, set on the navigation light on Low Island, just as previous LBCS researchers have done for over 30 years. Next year the field crew on ELI will continue with the ANMU chick funnels that are now a part of the monitoring program every even year.
Marine Mammals
During the first week on ELI, the waters surrounding camp turned into whale soup! The eastern horizon of the Hecate Strait was alive with Humpback Whale spouts that could be seen from the tip of Reef Island to the south to the tip of the Skedans Islands to the north (with undoubtedly many more out of view beyond the islands as well). This was timed perfectly with the arrival of Karina Dracott from Ocean Wise, who was visiting ELI and helping the field crew practice photography skills for whale identification. The method for identifying individual Humpbacks is by taking photos of the underside of the flukes (tail fins) and dorsal fins which often have unique markings or scarring that can be used to create a photo record. When we capture a photo of the underside of the whale’s fluke or a unique dorsal fin, it can be identified using a coast-wide database.
The growing catalogue of known Humpbacks is furthering the understanding of how these whales use the waters around Haida Gwaii, in BC, and the rest of the Pacific Ocean. The team was grateful to have a couple days on the water with Karina, observing dozens of Humpbacks displaying an uncommon behavior called flick feeding where the whales dynamically toss their fins and bodies through the water to corral and stun baitfish/krill, and then eventually gobble them up. It makes for an amazing display, but it is very difficult to get identification quality photographs of the fast moving flukes! The soup of Humpbacks and occasional fleeting glimpses of Killer Whales extended well into week two, which caused much excitement, especially during the first sea survey of the season.
For more information check out these resources:
Flick-feeding captured on film. Photos by Karina Dracott of Ocean Wise.
Sea Surveys
The first nearshore seabird survey was an exciting event. Seabird numbers are high as they are moving up and down the coast between their wintering and breeding grounds. This survey was particularly unique because at the start of the first set of transects a group of Humpback Whales were trying their best to be a distraction, but the ELI field crew persevered! It is hard to imagine a better problem! The sea survey saw a large number and diverse mix of birds as well as incredible weather. Some of the seabird highlights so far are: Marbled Murrelets, Pigeon Guillemots, Rhinoceros Auklets, Ancient Murrelets, and one Horned Puffin. Other data from the sea survey includes Harbour Seal counts, sea lion haul out counts, hydrophone recordings, and sea surface temperatures measurements.
Sea lion haul out near Reef Island.
Wildlife Trees
At the end of the first week East limestone Island was hit by some large south-easterlies, which forced the field team to focus more on organizing and office work (their least favorite) and postponed some of the annual wildlife tree surveys. The storm passed, as they all do, and the second field week has been fantastic for wildlife trees! It is amazing to see how ELI changes from year to year, and this season some of the trees are almost unrecognizable or have completely fallen. Active cavities for Red Breasted Sapsuckers, Tree Swallows, and Hairy Woodpeckers, were observed so far. Also, for only the third time ever on ELI a Saw-whet Owl nest was found! This sparked lots of excitement in camp and has stoked the fire of the resident bird nerds.
Life in Camp
Life in camp has been anything but boring! It did not take long for the ravens to assert their dominance over the field crew, reminding the team that they are visitors on this island. A few punctured boxes of coconut milk (and a lot of curry) later the crew should have learned, but stolen eggs and buns would suggest otherwise. As luck would have it, the pair of camp ravens also have a nest nearby, and the population of ravens on ELI is about to rise from two to five! At least the freshly caught Ling Cod has been kept safe, and the ravens are often gifted the carcasses for their mercy.
During the second week of the season ELI was lucky to have Taylor Larking volunteer her time! She has been a great addition to the team, bringing her adept birding skills, and always encouraging health, comedy, and quality time together. Every evening in the camp logbook a new tradition has also begun! Whoever is on logbook duty has the “option” to write a haiku. The logbook is looking good now and going on nine poems already! Here are a few samples straight from the minds behind East Limestone Island data collection:
It’s the best problem
We can’t even count the whales
And that is okay
Whale what do you know
The blows and the grumbling noise
Its whale soup again
Max saw a Saw Whet
Sweet tiny face poking out
Made new forest friends
Thank you and please watch for another Limestone Log dropping into your inbox very soon!
"Tricky Trivia"
How many Bald Eagles do you see?
Bonus: How many are immature and how many are adult?
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The Laskeek team would like to send out a big HAAWA & THANK YOU to our sponsors and supporters who have made our 2023 projects possible: Moresby Explorers, the Royal Bank of Canada, Gwaii Trust, the Council of the Haida Nation, B.C. Gaming, Gwaii Haanas, B.C. Parks, Northern Savings Credit Union, the DFO Habitat Stewardship Program, Bluewater Adventure Tours, and the Canadian Wildlife Service.
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