National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
B.C.’s critical kelp forests withered as climate change has triggered marine heat waves along the entire West Coast in recent years.
But exceptions to the rule may provide insights helpful to saving and restoring our underwater forests, said Samuel Starko, a University of Victoria researcher.
Continue reading West Coast kelp is in hot water, but scientific insights may help save our underwater rainforestsNational Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
An ambitious project to map and monitor sea kelp forests along the entire B.C. coast is afoot, and scientists are using seemly disparate tools — both ancient and modern — to do it.
Continue reading Mapping critical kelp beds along the Pacific coastNational 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.
Continue reading 90% of sunflower sea star population wiped outCanada’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.
Continue reading Sea Star On Brink of ExtinctionOriginally posted on Cortes Radio.ca
Mike Moore obviously has an intense passion for the ocean and for the waters around Cortes Island in particular. He has been working on the water or under it for more than 40 years, as a commercial halibut, crab and prawn fisherman, as a diver harvesting sea cucumbers, sea urchins, scallops and the giant pacific octopus, as a Navigation Officer with the Canadian Coast Guard for 11 years and finally, along with Samantha Statton, he was owner/ operator of Misty Isles Adventures, Cortes Island’s kayaking and passenger schooner tourism business, which was the vessel by which many tourists and locals got to appreciate Cortes as an island, seen from the water.
Continue reading Mike Moore Talks About The Waters Around Cortes Island
