Lion Dance

November 20th, 2008 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

Lion Dance

Parksville, Vancouver Island BC Marine Life Tours, Tide Pools, Sea Lions, Eagles

The bizarre sculpted sandstone landscape along Northwest Bay has a kind of Martian beauty and is a local hot spot for marine life and wildlife in general. You can get to the rocky shore quite quickly with a short trail down hill. The upper shore is quite level and easy to walk on in both directions for several hundred meters at low tide, though the lower slopes, which are blessed with more marine life, are covered in very slippery seaweed. Fortunately, for those less nimble, there are still many tide pools high up the slope to peer into. I see California Sea Lions swimming by regularly, especially between September and May, but there are a couple that stay all year. The harbour seals come to investigate walkers and transient Orcas come to eat the sea lions and seals. Dolphins and porpoises come into the bay after herring, eagles and heron colonies nest along the shore, and mink and otter feast on the marine life. When the herring spawn, the water is alive with all manner of sea birds. Even the 80 million Year Old sandstone rocks have a story to tell with the fossils of shells imbedded in its curves. Perhaps the most reliable stars of this show are the animals that live in the tide pools and under the rocks. During an extra low tide around a new or full moon, the diversity of life here is even more amazing to see. Anemones, a few species of colourful sea stars, several types of crabs, sea slugs, sea squirts, sea cucumbers, singing fish, cling fish, tiny green shrimp, eel-like blennies, snails and clams all have their part in the amazing dance of life. I have even found a baby octopus in a tide pool there.

Be sure to take nothing but pictures and tread lightly. Put all of the rocks and critters back exactly where you found them. Life is tough on the edge and the animals need the shade and protection of rocks, shells and seaweed to survive the heat and prevent drying out or being eaten by predators. Crabs and others have a specific territory, while singing fish will guard their eggs and young. Sea stars are damaged when you rip them off of rocks. If you are into scuba diving, the lower depths have even more delights with the giant Pacific octopus, wolf eel, and kelp forests full of fish.

To get to the trailhead, take Northwest Bay Road off of Highway 19A at the Tourist Information Center and proceed to Wall Beach Road and turn left. Keep to the right as the Road turns into Sea Haven Road near another beach access. If you follow Sea Haven to the end, there is a bit of parking space there and the trail proceeds off the end of the road. You can follow the shore around the point to the right and view sea lions on the logs in season and watch for eagles perched in the trees.

<a href="http://www.coastalrevelations.com">Coastal Revelations Marine Life Tide Pool Tours </a> “Discover the story behind ancient rainforests of giant trees, alpine flower meadows, ocean tide pools, marine and other wildlife, salmon and birds with a professional biologist trained by Interpretation Canada. Unravel ancient mysteries through thought-provoking and interactive programs while we illuminate the winding trails of Vancouver Island.”

Patrick Walshe, R.P. Biologist, http://www.coastalrevelations.com or 250-954-0110

About the Author

Patrick Walshe is a Vancouver Island BC nature tour guide and biologist.