Extra-SEFI Adventures

Southeast Farallon Island is the only inhabited island in a small archipelago of granite rocks thrust out of the sea just east of where the sea floor drops from 300ft deep to almost two miles deep. Most Farallon researchers spend all of their time on SEFI, but I was lucky enough to be invited along on two trips off of SEFI and onto (or near) some of the other Farallon Islands.

The first trip was a boat journey to North Farallones to survey roosting Brandt's and Pelagic Cormorants, as well as pinnipeds. The sea was almost glassy and the pewter sky reflected off the ocean to create a surreal feel to the whole day. Were we boating through the sky or the sea?

North Farallon Islands, glassy sea.

It took about an hour to get there in the SAFE boat (the one we use to schlep gear back and forth from our supply boats to the island). The "islands" are small and jutting steeply out of the water so there is no landing spot--we circled each islet to get a count of the birds and pinnipeds, and took photographs of this bizarre collection of oceanic monoliths. We found a pair of Peregrine Falcons roosting above the cormorants on one islet, perhaps biding their time between meals.

Pinnipeds checking us out while we checked them out.

On our way back to SEFI, we swung by Middle Farallon--which is called "the Pimple" by some--a single rock in the crashing swell (well, not that day...it was more a gentle licking).

Middle Farallon, looking back towards SEFI.

The second extra-SEFI adventure was a trip across the Jordan Channel to West End, also called Maintop Island, to count Northern Fur Seals, California Sea Lions, and Steller's Sea Lions. Four of us suited up in full body harnesses and clipped into the 20 foot zipline to pull ourselves (one-by-one, of course) across the channel while California Sea Lions surfed the waves in the waters 15 feet below.

Jonathan and Nyssa (USFWS) strap into the full body harnesses.

The Jordan Channel zipline.

This is me, halfway across the channel on the line.

Then we hiked into the center of the island to a perch above a flat terrace where all the Fur Seals hang out. It sounded like a goat ranch. Baby Fur Seals bleat like little baby goats. They also sit in the most adorable positions and use their incredibly long hind flippers to scratch their chins and swat away the flies.

Young Northern Fur Seal hangout.

Adorbz.

Just look at those long flippers!

After we finished the count, we climbed to the top of Maintop--a 220 foot scramble up the granite dome--and relished in the breeze. The fog prevented us from enjoying the view back towards our little home island (you couldn't see it AT ALL), but it still felt amazing to be on top of the second highest rock in the archipelago.

Almost too foggy to see Saddle Rock, definitely too foggy to see Lighthouse Hill!

This view is (obviously) not from the top of Maintop because my camera ran out of batteries before we climbed it.

These adventures were a great little getaway from the monotony of foggy, virtually birdless surveys during a week straight of socked-in fog and few migrants.