The ocean bioluminescence that we see in the waters around Mayne Island are created by dinoflagellates: tiny, single-celled plankton. There are thousands of species of dinoflagellates throughout the oceans of the world, and most of them reproduce asexually. It is assumed that dinoflagellates light up when disturbed to intimidate or escape predators.
The intertidal zone is the area of shore between the lowest and highest tides. From sea stars to tidepool sculpin, an amazing array of different creatures call this harsh environment home.
Despite very wet, cool weather, 90 dedicated volunteers participated in the annual Mayne Island Beach cleanup, held on Sunday, May 15th. A big thank you to all the beach cleaners, captains, and depot crew that came out on Sunday, and also thanks to those of you who have picked up Read more…
From the scuttle of shore crabs to the spray of clams, the intertidal zone is always teeming with new and exciting life! We visited Piggott Bay with the Mayne Island School at low tide to see what we could discover, and the beach did not disappoint. After navigating rocky crevices Read more…
New Addition to Miners Bay If you’ve been to the Miners Bay dock in the past couple of weeks, you might have noticed something new in the water. Our light trap has been deployed and will stay floating beside the dock until this September. Not to be confused with a Read more…
When confronted with slow-moving, large-scale problems, humans generally have a track record of failing to take reasonable and timely action. This is partly an issue of perception, a failure to recognize the negative changes that have happened or are happening around us. The slower these changes happen, the harder it Read more…
What has eight legs, two light-tipped claws, and huge cultural, commercial and ecological value on the west coast? Dungeness are a widely loved large crab, known for their sweet, mild taste. In the Hul’qumi’num dictionary, this culturally significant species is noted as the most commonly eaten type of crab for Read more…
Pacific herring are a small silver forage fish near the base of the food chain that eat plankton, and in turn are eaten by everything from Chinook and Coho salmon to larger fish, birds, whales, and bears. An essential link in the marine food web, they are a critically important Read more…
This article provides a description of the ongoing problem of derelict docks, and a record of docks the community has been left to deal with in past years. Derelict docks have been a growing problem in the last few years, and we expect more docks will wash up on our Read more…
Mayne Islanders interested in watching, monitoring, and protecting whales are invited to participate in a citizen-science project. The Southern Gulf Islands Whale Sighting Network is a land-based, volunteer-led organization for monitoring and gathering field data on whale movements and boating infractions around Saturna, Pender and Mayne Islands. Whale sightings are Read more…