The Calm After the Storm

Through the office window I can see rays from the rising sun illuminating Maintop peak on West End, big puffy golden clouds drift past in a light breeze. The roar of hefty 10-12 foot swells still linger from a big blow we experienced several days ago, with winds that peaked around 35 knots and waves triple overhead that nearly broke over Saddle Rock and completely swamped Middle Farallon 3 miles to the north. North Farallon, further up the archipelago, took on the image of a comet streaming across the Pacific, with a tail of mist and spray stretching downwind for miles. It was a dramatic event that postponed the scheduled patrol run indented to drop off a few new volunteers and fresh provisions – but an air of calm has settled over SEFI and it looks like a good day for a landing. There have been three of us on the island for just under a week now. Dinners have been quiet and journal entrees brief. We’ve spent a few late nights watching certain cinematic gems such as “Pirate Radio” and “Ghost Busters”, but most nights have ended early.

Spotted the first Tufted Puffin of the season while resighting murre bands up at the Murre Blind yesterday. The chunky black bird with bold broad orange beak buzzed by the cliffs of Lighthouse Hill in several circling flights before heading back out to sea (the were a lot of B's in that sentence); just checking out the scene and probably waiting until more puffins show up before it finally settles in. The Rhinoceros Auklets are also preparing to invade their cliff crevices around the island, we’re seeing a slight increase in Rhino Auklet peregrine kills about, which means there must be an increase in live ones about as well. Even the whales appear to be arriving for their feeding season off the island; I spotted another Blue Whale from the lighthouse yesterday just 2 miles east of Shubrick Point– the second confirmed sighting of the season.  

Good news, four fresh packs of Oreos are due to arrive on the delayed patrol run…the perfect midday snack.