Stewardship Report: First Sightings of the Season

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Our first week of HRAP's beach season brought rain and cold temperatures, but also a few clear days and some exciting wildlife sightings. We saw about 100 common murres on Haystack Rock and another 60 on the north Needle at the beginning of the week, only to have them disappear after a couple of days. This is actually not particularly unusual – last February, murres came to the rock for a few days and then returned in April, and those with longer memories say this pattern has happened several times over the years. We’ve also sighted our resident black oystercatcher pair on the north and south boulders, a handful of harlequin ducks in the calm water near the boulders, and a peregrine falcon, a bald eagle, and a pair of Canada geese at the top of the rock.


This past week, low tides allowed us to get out to the tide pools for the first time this beach season. Winter storms swept away much of the sand, leaving large areas of bare rock that provide good access from the south side when the tide is low enough. 

An eye-catching sighting this week was a large group of whelks on the north side tide pools (see picture below). Whelks are scavenger mollusks that can eat large dead animals such as crabs and fish. 

In other news, a recent study published in the journal Science Advances sheds light on the connection between warming oceans and sea star wasting disease, which has depleted populations of sea stars along the Pacific coast, including at Haystack Rock. Read more at the links below: 



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