Today an event that I had never seen before occurred on Taylor Beach. Millions of tiny Euphasids or Krill ended up on a 600 metre section of the beach North of Taylor Road . Many of the krill were still alive , but the majority were dead and they were accumulating as the tide came in. I have no idea what the cause of this is, but it was reported to have happened to the north on Witty’s Beach as well today.
Since Lester B. Pearson College is situated on the north shore of Pedder Bay, we have an ideal opportunity to be able to study the structure and function of this ecosystem. We have established this web page to be a cumulative resource for information we gather from our field lab work in biology and environmental systems. This resource should eventually have enough information to serve as a case study of a marine ecosystem which may be used by future students at Pearson College as well as a model for others studying ecology . We welcome any suggestions or links to other sites with similar ecological case studies.
Almost every day on my stroll along Taylor Beach I encounter the trash of those who freely use this beautiful beach and yet are so thoughtless that they continue to leave bags of dog poop. These are just from today…
sure — throw rthem up in the bushes!
Who do they expect is going to clean up after them ?? Throwing the deposits directly in the ocean would be better than leaving these plastic bags on logs or suspended in the bushes.
Subject: Marine Protection, Coastal and Ocean LawsAuthor: Stephanie Hewson, Linda Nowlan, Georgia Lloyd-Smith, Deborah Carlson & Michael Bissonnette
Summary:
Are you concerned about the health of your local shoreline, and wondering what your government(s) can do to help? Curious about the complex web of laws, policies and regulations governing the BC coast and ocean? Interested in learning how different authorities and jurisdictions can work together?
Our Guide to Coastal and Ocean Protection Law in BC is a comprehensive resource that covers the wide array of legal tools available to Indigenous, federal, provincial and local governments to protect the coast and ocean in BC.
In addition to being a resource on marine spatial protection law, this Guide is a record of what has been accomplished on the Pacific coast over the last several decades – providing examples that demonstrate how different legal tools have been employed to preserve the health of coastal and marine ecosystems.
This Guide was developed with the generous support of the Sitka Foundation and the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. Publication Date: December 3, 2020Publication Pages: 324Publisher: West Coast Environmental LawPublication Format: PDF
At certain times of the year the water of the inner part of Pedder bay turns a deep maroon color . This is an algal bloom of the ciliate Mesodinium rubrum or Myrionecta rubra and its “Incomplete Symbionts”
The Docks at Lester Pearson College with a planlton bloom..
A quote from Laura Verhegge marine science teacher at Pearson College : Because there has been lots of light lately with longer days and sunny days, there has been a significant increase in the populations of various phytoplankton species. The most numerous species is a type of ciliate called Myrionecta rubra. They are little (10 – 100 μm), reddish in colour and very motile. With all the sun, warming sea surface temperatures and adequate nutrients, this species has been photosynthesizing and multiplying like crazy so that now there are so many of these little phytoplankters that the water has turned red. This is called a red tide but it is not a harmful algal bloom (M. rubra does not produce any toxins that we know of). This is a seasonal occurrence and is part of the spring bloom.”
Well yes there was, but he was quite dead .. A surprize to see this one as I don’t believe they live on Vancouver Island – yet! Maybe this one was washed up from somewhere in the US gulf islands??
Recently I opened an account on iNaturalist.com . I have been able to add many pictures of species taken around the Metchosin coast, as well as other locations. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/garryfletcher
It is a great idea to contribute to the Metchosin Biodiversity program, and opening a free account on iNaturalist is a good way to do it. If you have images on iNaturalist of Coastal organisms around Metchosin I would be glad to link to them here.
I have no idea what the cause of this is, but it was reported to have happened to the north on Witty’s Beach as well today.
