Field Work Friday
It’s #FieldWorkFriday
This week kicked off with another European Green Crab (EGC) detection! Our friends at the Blue Act Marine Society caught one in their monitoring program in Gibsons. This is the second Howe Sound detection. We will be partnering with them and Fisheries and Oceans Canada next week to implement a coordinated response. EGC are identified by the five spines along the side of their carapace. Think you have found one? Please take a photo, note the location and report is to AISPACIFIC@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.
We completed our monthly coastal waters nearshore bird survey and marine water quality monitoring on Sunday. It was a beautiful morning. This marks the official start of a new bird survey year. We did not see the diversity of birds that we would have expected for this time of year. We have been alerted by Bird Studies Canada that due to a super el nino year, we could see more sea bird deaths, which is occurring along west coast beaches from California to Oregon. Please report any findings of deceased sea birds on iNaturalist and tag them as “dead”.
We held an underwater dive clean up on Monday at Hotel Lake. A HUGE thank you to the Lakeside Campground at Hotel Lake for allowing us to use their facilities to haul out and sort trash that was found in and around the lake. We collected 8.5kgs of garbage including many googles, masks, beer cans and an incredible number of cigarette butts.
We wrapped up the week conducting water quality analysis in Myers and Anderson Creeks. There are still areas of dry creek beds creating a barrier to fish passage in the creeks but they are out in the bay ready to come in as soon as we get some rain.
Want to get involved? Please check out our website at loonfoundation.org or contact Jenn at jenn@loonfoundation.org for more information.
