With Oceans Day taking place this month, it’s a great time to take a closer look at one of coastal B.C.’s more elusive creatures – the humble clam! These molluscs call the sandy shorelines of Mayne Island home. The native clam species found in the Salish Sea include littleneck clams, Read more…
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.
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…
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…
Sea Discovery: Chitons, the algae vacuums of the intertidal Chitons are a group of molluscs that are defined by the eight plates that act as armour on their backs. These plates are mobile and allow the oval-shaped mollusc to curl itself into a ball when hiding from predators (just like Read more…
Weekly Sea Discovery: One organism or many? The budding and beautiful orange sea pen Suitably named after the old-fashioned quilled pen, sea pens have a very distinct shape. Sea pens are cnidarians and related to soft corals, sea fans, anemones and jellies. These bottom-dwelling invertebrates look quite different from their other stinging Read more…
Weekly Sea Discovery: Bubble Snails As we continue our eelgrass surveys in our local waters, I am always amazed at the diversity of exciting creatures we encounter. Last week, we mapped an area by Montague Harbour and came upon hundreds of egg deposits in the eelgrass bed (see photo). Though Read more…
Weekly Sea Discovery: Sea Cucumbers Are Amazing Nutrient Cyclers While kayaking during our eelgrass surveys this week, I looked down and noticed some bright orange specks hidden amongst the algae and kelp. As we went shallower, I could see that these vibrant blobs were orange sea cucumbers! While nuzzled in Read more…
Weekly Sea Discovery: Delicate Porcelain Crabs of the Intertidal While porcelain crabs may look like true crabs, they are more closely related to squat lobsters and hermit crabs. They have flattened bodies so they can squeeze between rocks and crevices on rocky shores. One identifying feature is their large, broad Read more…
Weekly Sea Discovery: Wasting Sea Stars of the Intertidal Many of you may have noticed or heard about the virus causing sea stars along the Pacific Northwest to waste away, known as Sea Star Wasting Disease/Syndrome. The virus isn’t new, but changes in ocean temperature and marine environments have resulted Read more…