Tag Archives: Sea Stars

Animals, Environment, History

A walk through memory lane to Carrington Lagoon and Grandmother Grove with George Sirk

George Sirk explained some of the history and wildlife that he and Kim and their friend Janet Gemmel recently explored during a walk to Carrington Lagoon and Grandmother Grove.

“Janet Gemmel came to visit us for a week. Her husband, Jim Palmer, died last December. He had a very rare lung cancer.”

“Jim and Jan lived out in Carrington, at the Reversing Rapids, in the 80’s.  So Jan wanted to take the ashes back and release them there, but she forgot to bring them from Courtenay.”

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Environment

Unchecked climate change puts Canada’s West Coast in hot water

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Last year was the hottest on record for the ocean, an upward trend only expected to continue as it wreaks havoc on coastal communities and spurs irreversible losses to marine ecosystems. 

Ocean warming has cascading effects, melting polar ice and causing sea-level rise, marine heat waves and ocean acidification, the United Nations’ panel of climate experts made clear on Monday.

Sea-level rise has doubled in the last three decades, reaching a record high in 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported. Rising seas, coupled with more extreme weather, are setting the stage for a perfect storm of flooding for coastal communities. 

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Education, Rivers & Oceans

Campbell River’s ‘catch and release’ Aquarium

There are only seven ‘catch and release’ aquariums in British Columbia, and one of them is in Campbell River. The Discovery Passage Aquarium is also in the first building dedicated to this purpose in British Columbia. 

“This job is very interesting and engaging, but it’s all a means to an end.  We want to work hard to change our relationship with nature, because in its current state it is unsustainable,” explained Ricky Belanger, Manager of the Discovery Passage Aquarium.

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Rivers & Oceans

Perceived Biodiversity loss in Mansons Lagoon

Around 30 people trekked around the Spit into Mansons Lagoon, during the July 12 ‘Gumbooting the Lagoon.’ While Jane Newman, from the Cortes Island Museum, explained the site’s human history, marine biologist Deb Cowper and FOCI’s Autumn Barrett-Morgan introduced everyone to intertidal life forms. One of the many topics that arose was the loss of marine life.  

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Rivers & Oceans

West Coast kelp is in hot water, but scientific insights may help save our underwater rainforests

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.

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