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Category: Marine Biology

Stanley Park Seaweeds with Dr. Bridgette Clarkston

Stanley Park Seaweeds with Dr. Bridgette Clarkston

Saturday, April 13, 2024 was a perfect day to explore the seaweeds in the sandy and rocky intertidal area off the Empress of Japan Figurehead in Stanley Park. The unpredictable rainy weather dissipated providing us with a bright day for our intertidal exploration. The spring tides are in their extreme ranges now, meaning that the lower low spring tide level (LLW) at 16:11 PDT had an elevation of a mere 0.7 m. The meet-up time at the Spray Park was…

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False Creek Oyster Quadrat Survey # 1 & 2

False Creek Oyster Quadrat Survey # 1 & 2

Charleson Park, July 16th & 30th Report by Janet Snell & Marjo Vierros The second phase of the False Creek Oyster survey has begun with the intention of providing more detailed information about the oyster beds in False Creek that we had previously surveyed using iNaturalist. Two separate quadrat surveys were held at Charleson Park with the help of many able volunteers.  From one of our Quadrat Survey team leaders, Marjo Vierros, a marine biologist, here is an excerpt from…

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Stanley Park – Intertidal Exploration 

Stanley Park – Intertidal Exploration 

Joint trip with Wonders of the Salish Sea & Nature Vancouver Report by Sheila Byers, Member of Nature Vancouver & Wonders of the Salish Sea What a day of intertidal exploring we had on Saturday, May 6, 2023! Spring tide low water level (LLW): 13:13 at 0.6 m elevation. The forecasted rain was just a sprinkle making our trip quite comfortable, albeit cool under an overcast sky. Fifteen participants arrived early at 12:15 to the Lumberman’s Arch area to sign…

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Juan de Fuca Trip – 2023

Juan de Fuca Trip – 2023

NV Trip to Juan de Fuca Marine Park – June 2 to 6, 2023 Report by Denis Laplante We had no rain, and the worst patch of mud was only 2cm deep. Many of the trails required scrambling and good balance; some sections were like a walk in the park. For tides we used Fisheries & Oceans https://tides.gc.ca/en/stations stations Point No Point and Port Renfrew (also Java App jtides.jar). Beware daylight saving time – tide tables at trailheads were in…

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False Creek Oyster Survey – Boat & Walking Tour

False Creek Oyster Survey – Boat & Walking Tour

Report by Janet Snell & Joan Lopez False Creek © Chris Harley On Sunday, April 23, a boat and walking tour of False Creek was held for a group of twenty Nature Vancouver Oyster Survey volunteers. Our special guest was Chris Harley, a UBC Marine Ecology professor. We are excited to be doing this project with support from a BC Naturalist Foundation Club grant. We are also working closely with False Creek Friends Society with the boat tour made possible…

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Nature Vancouver Trip to Adams River

Nature Vancouver Trip to Adams River

Trip Report by Cynthia Crampton From October 11th to 13th, 2022, thirty-two members of Nature Vancouver participated in this trip to witness the dominant year migration of the sockeye salmon. Twenty members traveled by Enjoy the Journey chartered bus, and twelve by private vehicles. We all stayed at the Sorrento Conference Centre, on the Shuswap Lake. After reaching the Centre, some of them settled in but most of them went down to visit Shuswap Lake, on the property.   Next day –…

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Intertidal Exploration at Centennial Beach

Intertidal Exploration at Centennial Beach

Report by Cathy Walker On July 2, 2022, I participated in the Marine Biology field trip, led by Sheila Byers, to the intertidal zone at Centennial Beach in Delta.  Sheila focused primarily on eelgrass, lugworms and bivalves. I learned a lot. The native eelgrass, Zostera marina, has the wider, longer leaves while the introduced species, Zostera japonica, has the narrower, shorter leaves. There is a lot of Z. japonica on the sandy mudflats of Centennial Beach. The native eelgrass prefers to be immersed in…

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Western Painted Turtles – Nesting Sites

Western Painted Turtles – Nesting Sites

Submitted by Caroline Penn  An early morning drop off at the Fulford ferry and return trip past Stowel Lake with the sun breaking through a cover of mist caused me to stop and explore the lakeshore, hoping for a few shots of the lake.  This little corner of the lake draws many swimmers on hot summer days but today with spring temperatures still cool enough for a morning frost I found a different attraction. On the short path to the lake…

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Health of Fraser River Sockeye

Health of Fraser River Sockeye

Research Paper by Otto Langer Nature Vancouver members will be interested to read this research paper by renowned fisheries biologist and Nature Vancouver member, Otto Langer: Why Alaska’s Bristol Bay Rivers Produce More Sockeye Salmon that the Fraser River. The subtitle of Langer’s 15-page research paper is: An inconvenient truth – human activity and climate change has much to do with the demise of sockeye in the Fraser River. Note that his paper was written March 2021, so before the summer Heat Dome and…

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Stoney Creek Salmon Tour

Stoney Creek Salmon Tour

Trip Leaders Deborah Simpson and Joan Lopez  Report by Deborah Simpson, Joan Lopez, and Sheila Byers On 26 November, 2021, a rare sunny morning, our group of 10 met up for a walk along the upper reaches of Stoney Creek in Burnaby with the hope of seeing some spawning salmon. Stoney Creek is one of the few places in an urban environment where you can see salmon spawning up close. It is home to coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and chum (Oncorhynchus keta) salmon,…

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