Well, even though it might start sounding repetitive, it is REALLY windy here. Gusts of 40 knots today literally knocked me off my feet. Sitting in the Corm blind this morning doing my daily murre attendance was pretty frightening, with the blind vibrating and shaking the entire time.
Rough Seas
Rough seas have pretty much guaranteed that Pete and Claudia won’t be leaving the island tomorrow (Pete on his break, Claudia for good), and that no food resupply will arrive either. Gerry, the refuge manager, is also stuck with us for the time being, but he’s using the time to get extra work done.
The wind is both exhilirating and exhausting. Because the sun is shining, it’s not overly cold, as long as you’re not sitting in a blind for hours (which is what I do all morning). Once you’re walking around, it’s kind of fun, and it keeps you thinking, since you have to be on your guard all the time to keep from falling off the path, or onto an unsuspecting nest/gull. The wind is also helping to keep the gulls from attacking us–they’re hunkering down just like we are, trying to keep from getting blown away.
Me, Battling the Wind
Daily Chick Checks today were brutal, and so Claudia went around with me on them to help hold down box shades, data notebooks, my hardhat, etc. Although in this picture it might not seem like it’s very windy…it is. I’ve learned a few tricks to streamline myself while I attempt to walk, so that it’s not as much effort.
I have had quite a few birds fledge though, more and more each time, which is good.
Speaking of birds in boxes, we went out last night to attempt to retrieve the TDR’s we deployed a few nights ago. The attempt did not go that well. We retrieved five TDR’s, two of which did not record data correctly. A sixth TDR was “found” when we retrieved the banded bird, but without the TDR attached to it. We assume it is somewhere out at sea, recording data for about another twenty-four hours, and we will never see it again. To top it off, most of the birds barfed on us.
The other four TDR birds have been AWOL so far, so we will go out again tonight and try to find them. Last night, searching for the birds lasted until about 1 am. Tonight, however, will be another story, because we MUST get these devices back before the glue wears off, and they ALL get lost at sea. So, the plan of attack tonight is to head out at 10:30 and look. Birds that aren’t found at 10:30 will be searched for at 12:00. If we don’t find them then, we’ll go out again at 2:00, then 4:00, and finally 6:00, taking shifts for sleeping/searching. Could be pretty exhausting, so cross your fingers we retrieve the devices quickly.
I saw my very first bull elephant seal today! I have seen quite a few large males, but a bull is something else entirely–he dwarfs everything around.
Bull Elephant Seal (and friends)
Although it’s hard to capture his size from the angle where I was standing, you can see his characteristic “elephant” nose, and you can also see a little bit of his chest shield, the pink scarred area on his chest. The nose and chest shield are the defining characteristics of a bull male; without a fully developed version of either, the individuals are still classified as Sub-adult.
This particular bull arrived a few days ago, and though I haven’t seen him until today, I have heard him. When he makes his call, you can pretty much hear it everywhere on the island. In fact, the first time I heard it, I was up at the lighthouse, pretty far away, and it took me by surprise.
I have a pretty light day of work today, in fact I’m pretty much done already. So, I’m going to make a dessert, using up some of the rhubarb we still have, and some frozen blueberries I found. After battling the wind all day, it’s always nice to have a fresh dessert 🙂
Finally, I’ll end with a picture, since I haven’t put up many pictures of people since I got here. Here are all of the ladies currently on SEFI, and we are thinking of sending this picture to Carhartt and asking for sponsorship, haha.
The SEFFI Ladies (Jordan, Annie, Claudia, and Me!). Notice the elephant seal in the background.
Best,
Eleanor