This week kicked off with our first Dungeness crab of the season arriving in the light trap. We are so excited for their arrival. We have teamed up with the Hakai Institute Sentinels of Change program to collect samples for population genetics study. It is the second year of sampling and we hope to have the results from last year soon.

The Loon Foundation is expanding its youth environmental programming, bringing new opportunities for kids and families to explore, learn, and appreciate nature through outdoor adventure.

Last week we kicked off the week by starting our eDNA collection for European green crab DNA. We do this using the light trap that is designed to attract the larval crabs. Once we identify, record, and release the organisms in the trap, we filter the remaining water for collection. This water sample is frozen and will be sent to Fisheries and Oceans Canada at the end of the season for analysis.

The Loon Foundation has named Lana Brandt as the organization’s next executive director. Brandt has served as interim executive director since last October.

Last Friday started off with teaching local highschool students microscopy, using a sample taken from the light trap located at Irvine’s Landing. We were thrilled to have students interested in learning more about their local environment and engaging in science. Thank you to the volunteers who help lead these educational experiences and support our students and community.

We kicked off the week by teaching local students about the different life cycle stages of crabs as well as fun facts about the other invertebrates observed in the light trap. We had an extraordinary number of zoea in the trap this week. Stay tuned to find out what species they are!

First and foremost, we would like to remind you that it is our volunteer appreciation event tomorrow at 4 PM. If you are a volunteer, or you are interested in volunteering and meeting our team, please come by the Tranquility Garden located behind the Earthfair store. We hope to see you there!

What a wonderful day at the Rotary Sunshine Coast Community Connections Fair!

The week kicked off with the removal of the Pacific herring curtains from the docks in Egmont. We did not observe any spawn this year, but we will try again next year. An enormous thank you to everyone who completed weekly checks and recorded observations.

The juvenile salmon numbers continue to increase with 731 chum and 680 pink identified at Irvines Landing and 446 chum and 91 pink at Gerrans Bay! Did you know that in addition to observing fish, we also measure water quality parameters during these surveys? We record water temperature, salinity and recently added secchi disc readings for water clarity.

Last Friday, we continued to catch salmon and a few three-spined sticklebacks during our juvenile salmon survey at Irvines Landing! Monday, we moved to Gerrans Bay, where the numbers of juvenile salmon increased as well. Gerrans Bay is unique since we tend to catch a lot more larval fish here. We have learned that some of the larval fish are sculpins, gunnels, pricklebacks, and herring.

PODS has officially received its Archaeological Site Alteration Permit, one of the final steps needed before we can break ground.

Last Friday was the first day of spring, and our first salmon of the year! We caught both pink and chum salmon along with a lonely herring. Thanks to everyone who came out to help, it really makes a difference when we have hundreds of fish to count. At Monday's smolts survey we caught a few salmon as well, both pink and chum.

In recognition of World Water Day, the Loon Foundation is organizing a shoreline cleanup at Lily Lake from 1 to 3 p.m. this Sunday, March 22. The community is invited to attend this family-friendly restoration event, where participants will help remove debris through Tyner Park and along the highway.

Thank you to the Coast Reporter for the splashy feature in last Friday's paper. Our team has been thrilled to work on a Herring Curtain Pilot Project in ḵalpilin (Pender Harbour).

Spring is near and field work is starting to pick up again! We ended last week with a smolts survey in the rain at Irvine's Landing. Still no salmon, but we did catch a stickleback! At Monday's smolts survey in Gerrans Bay, we caught our herring babies again – it's so much fun to watch them grow. We also caught a bay goby, a flat fish, some pipe fish, and a sculpin.

Last Friday, we ended the week with our first juvenile salmon survey of the year. Our youngest volunteer, Calvin, came out for his first survey at only four months old! No salmon yet, but we aim to begin our data set at zero. Thank you to all the volunteers who came out to help and enjoy the beautiful sunny February afternoon.

We’re proud to share that the Loon Foundation is now an Environmental Partner of 1% for the Planet!

On Tuesday, we conducted our monthly water quality sampling in Anderson Creek. We appreciate the volunteer support to assist our team in sampling. We will be expanding our freshwater monitoring program this year, and we are looking for keen volunteers who are interested in becoming environmental stewards of freshwater ecosystems on the Sunshine Coast.

The Loon Foundation is searching for a mission-driven Executive Director to lead our organization into its next chapter.