Salish Sea Herring Spawn and Marine Mammals

On March 5 of this year, we braved the unseasonably cold weather and headed up to Comox, BC for a four-hour boat tour with Wild Waterways Adventures, in search of Biggs orcas and other marine mammals.  Our trip took us south to the Seal Islets north of Hornby Island, where we found a group of harbour seals hauled out on a small sand bar.

Harbour Seals (Phoca vitulina)

Harbour Seals (Phoca vitulina)

We then headed south through Lambert Channel between Denman and Hornby Islands, where we stopped for a few minutes to observe the seiner MV Nita Maria conducting a sample catch for the Pacific Herring Test Fishery near the south end of the channel.

MV Nita Maria

MV Nita Maria, Herring Test Fishery

MV Nita Maria, Herring Test Fishery

After watching the gulls flocking around the boat for a few minutes, we turned and headed east towards the south end of Hornby Island, where we found a large colony of California Sea Lions hauled out on the rocks at Toby Island.

California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) and Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus)

California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus)

California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus)

California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus)

After a brief stop at Ford's Cove on Hornby Island for hot chocolate and snacks, we headed west past the Chrome Island lighthouse and turned north up the west side of Denman Island, but by then the weather had started to deteriorate and we didn't find much in the way of wildlife aside from a number of seabirds.  We headed back to Comox, cold but smiling, without having sighted any orcas but the trip was very enjoyable and informative all the same.

If you're looking to get out and see some of the fascinating marine life of the Salish Sea, I highly recommend Jen and Reuben at Wild Waterways Adventures.

Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve

In October 2023, we stopped to visit the beautiful Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve near Duncan, BC.  The Preserve was created in 1999 when the Nature Conservancy of Canada purchased land that was slated for development in order to protect one of the few remaining intact Garry oak meadow ecosystems on Vancouver Island.

Once common throughout southeastern Vancouver Island and the southern Gulf Islands, the spread of urban and agricultural development and introduction of invasive plant species has reduced the Garry oak meadow ecosystem to less than five percent of their original extent.  More than a hundred insect, reptile, bird, and plant species at risk depend on the remaining fragments of Garry oak meadow ecosystem.

Public access to the conservation area is limited, but there is an accessible boardwalk and viewing platform along Maple Bay Road a few minutes east of Duncan.

Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve

Garry Oak Meadow Walkway

Garry Oak Meadow Viewing Platform

Garry Oak Meadow

Garry Oak Meadow

Cowichan Garry Oak Meadow

For more information, please visit the Nature Conservancy of Canada web site, and consider making a donation to this very worthwhile organization:

Nature Conservancy of Canada - Cowichan Garry Oak Preserve