When the Chum salmon returned to Cortes Island four years ago, they entered every creek. Approximately 1,050 swam up Basil Creek this year, but the numbers were far lower everywhere else. Some Whaletown residents saw Chum in their creek, these did not make it to the official tally – which is zero. Despite the disappointing returns, Streamkeeper Cec Robinson describes 2020 as a year in which steps were taken to ensure future Chum runs.
Continue reading Cortes Streamkeepers: to ensure future Chum runsTag Archives: Die-offs
90% of sunflower sea star population wiped out
National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The magnificent sunflower sea star, once ubiquitous along the Pacific coast, is now critically endangered after more than 90 per cent of the species was wiped out by a marine epidemic ravaging its population.
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Agarikon: An old-growth mushroom, possibly the key to fighting future pandemics
Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
With care bordering on affection, mycologist Paul Stamets hoists up an enormous conk of agarikon to better show it off.
Continue reading Agarikon: An old-growth mushroom, possibly the key to fighting future pandemics
key to sustainability: pollinators like bees and flies
By Marc Fawcett-Atkinson, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Forget lions, tigers and bears: For Claire Kremen, conserving insects is more important. Around the world, forests, meadows and wild spaces are being rapidly transformed into farmland, pushing wildlife into steep decline and threatening our food security.
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Sea Star On Brink of Extinction
Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Every child who has ever explored a West Coast shore relishes the discovery of a sea star, with its bumpy skin, jumble of arms and striking colours.
But the once common treasure of the tidal pool is at risk of being eradicated along the Pacific coastline from a deadly combination of disease and warming oceans caused by climate change, said biologist Alyssa Gehman.
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