Signing in the Salish Sea: ASL Project Reflection

September 23 is International Day of Sign Languages and Mack Ross, Assistant Educator reflects back on her summer project, Signing in the Salish Sea!

Being hired as an Assistant Educator in the summer of 2021 was an interesting time because most of the educational programming and general function of the Centre was being dictated by the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Having never visited the Centre before, my whole perception and understanding of the work being done by the Learning Team was through the lens of the pandemic. This meant that the Learning Team had to focus not only on how to provide an engaging learning experience, but how to accomplish this in a way which was safe for staff, volunteers and visitors. Working within COVID-19 restrictions naturally brought up many limitations such as contactless education, one-way flow through the Centre, and maintaining social distancing while providing excellent customer service. Although these protocols were implemented to ensure the health and safety of everyone in the Centre, they also posed barriers to accessibility.

One major accessibility concern was face masks and the barriers created for communication, particularly for those in the deaf and hard of hearing community. Face masks can make communicating a challenge as they obscure speech, hide facial expressions and eliminate the potential for lip-reading. In an attempt to counteract some of these barriers, I began learning some of the basic American Sign Language (ASL) signs that would be relevant to our Centre. I hoped that by learning some of the signs for common marine species and basic customer service interactions, that we could create a more inclusive environment for visitors.

I began this project by conducting research on current ASL resources pertaining to signing and science communication. I discovered YouTube channels focused on science related content such as Atomic Hands and their video series #STEMinASL. Through these YouTube channels, I became familiar with video components that were important to include, such as subtitles, visuals and side-views of sign demonstrations. Once I had a grasp on what to include in my videos, I created a list of relevant terms and species and began learning and practicing each sign!  

The learning process was definitely my favourite part of the project. Each week, I learned five new signs and I would spend the next few days practicing each sign with my fellow staff members and volunteers. It became a really fun learning activity for everyone as we practiced our favourite signs and began sharing them with visitors. This process helped me memorize each sign for film day.

Aquarium - Moon Jelly - Ocean - Sea Star - Wolf Eel…were the first five signs I recorded with my crafty videographer Tina back in June. Our initial plan was to record the videos in the Centre and highlight the different species featured in each signing tutorial. Something we didn’t anticipate was the constant sound of water and the hum of the pumps affecting the audio. We also attempted filming outside, but quickly discovered that between the laughing children, passing boats and air traffic, Beacon Park was also too noisy. At first it took some creative thinking and a lot of patience, but by the end of the summer we were able to complete most signs in just a single take!  

In total we recorded 16 different signs including many popular species in the Centre, like salmon, rockfish, octopus, and crab. I also included some of the charismatic marine mammals of the Salish Sea like seals, sea lions and orcas. Reflecting back on all the signs in this project, my favourite video tutorial was ecosystem! This sign is exceptionally interesting because the motion of the sign accurately reflects the meaning of the word.  

As I worked to bring the ASL video project to a close, I decided to look back on my experiences during this project and reflect on the various successes and challenges I encountered throughout the way. To me this project was a success because it not only provided new educational content to explore, but it also offered an opportunity to learn and reflect on the accessibility of our Centre. Coming away from this project, I am now more aware of the accessibility considerations of the Centre and the steps we can take as a community to counteract some of these barriers. 

Happy International Day of Sign Languages!

(All of the Signing in the Salish Sea tutorials can be found through our Facebook @salishseacentre.)

Sending Salmon Back to the Sea*

Did you know that the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea sends its salmon back to the sea?

Pacific salmon are featured animal ambassadors at the Centre. Of the five species of Pacific salmon, these ambassadors have always been Chinook. The Centre’s salmon program is one of display and release; smolts, small finger-sized fish, acquired from a local hatchery, are displayed for two years. By then they have reached adulthood and after veterinary inspections, paperwork, permits and planning they are released into the Salish Sea.

For the plan to work, it required all hands on deck. On July 13, twenty-eight staff and volunteers put in overtime to ensure the Centre’s school of salmon could safely swim into the next chapter of their lives.

Transporting salmon to Glass Beach, Sidney BC

Historically, the salmon have been released by dip netting the fish into the water one at a time. This year, a new strategy was trialled — releasing all the salmon at once. Salmon are a type of fish that find safety in numbers and live in a school. By creating a temporary sea pen along the Sidney waterfront, the salmon could be gathered together until all 176 of them were ready for release.

Salmon released into temporary pen

Getting the fish to the pen was a well organized and heavily choreographed process. From inside the Centre and through a caravan of staff and volunteers, bins of salmon were relayed to Glass Beach and finally to Aquarist Amanda who corralled the fish in the pen. After the last fish were safely placed in the pen, the entire team — and a few onlookers — let out a hurrah and a farewell as the net was lowered.

Head of Animal Care, Kit Thornton, adds this about the Centre’s salmon release program, “By the time the fish are set for release, they are robust and ready to spend another two plus years at sea before heading to their natal river or stream to spawn. Releasing these fish allows them to complete their life cycle and continue the next generation. This is incredibly important at a time when many salmon populations are declining.”

Of course life in the open ocean presents some challenges. Before the salmon can return to spawn, they must live and swim through a gauntlet of predators. A salmon’s place in the food web is critical; they are sustenance for a large suite of animals — larger fish, birds, bears, wolves and marine mammals including the endangered Southern resident killer whales. The food chain links and the role that salmon play in connecting land, rivers and sea form a large part of the educational conversations taking place at the Centre’s salmon exhibit.

This past May, the Centre received more than 200 Chinook salmon smolts from Sooke’s Jack Brooks Hatchery. These little fish will be on display for the next two years. With the success of the sea pen release process, they may finish their time at the Centre with the same experience. Until then, visit the Centre to watch these salmon grow and grow and grow and grow.

*Originally published in September’s Seaside Magazine

Most Interesting Questions and Comments, Summer 2021 Edition

by Mary Nightingale, Assistant Educator

At the end of each day, members of the Learning Team all share visitor interaction highlights. Sometimes these are memorable moments or unique encounters, other times they are questions that really made us think! As my summer here comes to a close I’ve been reflecting, and put together some of the most interesting insights that visitors have had this summer. Hopefully, these inquiries bring a smile to your face as they have for the summer team!

“I have a strange feeling that these (the exhibits) are all projections...” (Age 11)

Nope! Our aquarium is home to roughly 3500 animals from 160 marine species, all of which are native to the Salish Sea. I can personally attest to the fact that everything you see here is real. If it weren’t, I’d wonder what our aquarist team does all day! Behind the scenes, this team works tirelessly to ensure all of the animals are healthy and the systems are running smoothly. Plus those 55 gallons of water/minute passing through the Centre have to be going somewhere…

Things are always changing around here, and it is not due to the reprogramming of projections, but the ebb and flow of what is best for the animal ambassadors!

Photo: Bob Orchard

“You should call that one a belly button plant!” (Age 8)

A young visitor had her first introduction with a giant green sea anemone. This is certainly a great nickname to describe the appearance of this species but provides an opportunity to teach as well. 

Anemones are not in fact plants, but animals! Its base, called a basal or pedal disk, is like an adhesive foot that holds onto rocks, enduring strong waves. Unlike a plant, this animal can move around, though it usually picks one spot and sticks with it. As this animal doesn’t actively hunt, their preferred spot is somewhere where food passes by. The “belly button” is both the mouth and anus. Scientists refer to this as an incomplete digestive system (We have a complete digestive system!). The anemone’s stinging tentacles trap prey and move it toward this opening. 

If you are walking about Sidney, make a stop at our community tidepool and spot one of these “belly button plants” for yourself!

Photo: Jeff Reindl

“I need help remembering the name of a species I saw today! It has the head of a seahorse, the body of a walrus and flipper-esque appendages used to hop along the bottom.”

This was a puzzling one but after putting our heads together we soon figured it out! This unique description is of our grunt sculpins! You can find these little fish living in the Centre’s main gallery, to the left of the Surge Channel exhibit. Don’t be afraid to ask for a clue though, despite their bright orange fins, this species can be hard to spot. They are often nestled into an empty barnacle, amongst the red sea cucumber, zoanthids and strawberry anemones. In case you were wondering, yes this species does “grunt”!

“Why does that yellowtail rockfish appear to be cuddling the kelp crab?” 

I’ll admit, this is a question I asked myself! I’ve since learned that this behaviour is more likely a cleaning session than afternoon snuggles. While it looks like our kelp crabs are clawing at the rockfish, they are actually picking off algae. Algae makes up this crab’s summer diet and contributes to their excellent camouflage colours. If you are hoping to spot a kelp crab, take a close look around our exhibits. This species is a great climber and is often blending in with the kelp. 

“Did you have to break the glass to let the salmon out?” (Age 4)

In July, we released 176 juvenile Chinook salmon, as part of our salmon release program. These salmon arrived as fry from the Goldstream Hatchery and will (hopefully) return to that river to spawn. When we released the salmon, we partially drained the exhibit and climbed in from the top so we could transfer them from nets, to bins and finally to the ocean nearby.

So no, we did not have to break the glass. That would be a messy, dangerous and expensive method indeed! 

Photo: Jeff Reindl

“Where do sea stars come from? Do they fall from the sky?” (Age 6)

What a wholesome question, but in fact, these creatures do not come to us from outer space. Some of our animals, including sea stars, are long-time residents of the aquarium. Others, like our Chinook salmon and giant Pacific octopus, are here for a short time to act as advocates for their species before being released back into the ocean.

“You could name it Hot Sauce!” (Age 7)

This was a response from a girl wanting to name our toy octopus. 

Did you know that we often hold contests to name our octopus? Roughly every six months, we release our octopus and welcome a new one. This means twice a year we are looking for a new name! Sometimes it’s a contest for visitors and sometimes these names honour someone who has had a significant impact on our aquarium or the greater community. Who knows, maybe our next octopus will be “Hot Sauce”! 

Photo: Bob Orchard

“Are those jellies really changing colours? Is that how they communicate?”

While some animals might change colour to communicate (the chameleon perhaps?), that is not the case with our moon jellies. The exhibit for our moon jellies features a colour changing LED to highlight the beautiful, methodic way in which these white jellies move. 

The crystal jellies, however, really do produce a green light around their bells. This jelly’s body contains the protein, aequorin, that has bioluminescent properties!

“Is this fish okay?” “Is it supposed to be on the bottom like that?” “Do fish sleep?”

These are asked quite frequently when visitors spot a fish lying about. 

This could be referring to greenlings, one of many fish species that doesn’t have a swim bladder. A swim bladder is a pocket of gas within a fish, used to control buoyancy. When a fish doesn’t have this, it takes a lot of energy to continuously swim! Just like I only run when I’m missing my bus to work, these types of fish only swim if it's worth it, like when it's lunchtime or evading a predator! 

Hope in the Salish Sea: My Experience in Hopeful Communication

by Mary Nightingale, Assistant Educator

In the midst of wildfires, heatwaves and mass plastic pollution, it can be difficult to imagine long-term environmental solutions. When faced with the doom and gloom of the climate crisis, it is easy to let despair take over. With such a large and complex topic, the problems can feel insurmountable. Despite this, I recently discovered a bright spot through the concept of hope. 

Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, I enrolled in a class at the University of Victoria, Environmental Communications for Hopeful, Real-World Solutions. This course was a breath of fresh air, not only in terms of the climate crisis, but also in the pandemic. The instructor Elin Kelsey, (https://www.elinkelsey.org/), is an educator, author and spokesperson in the area of evidence-based hope. During the semester, Dr. Kelsey’s book: Hope Matters was our textbook, linking class concepts with our own experiences. We learned how hopeful communication can be more effective than fear-based communication. Where fear often creates a feeling of hopelessness and results in inaction, evidence-based hope can transform how we imagine the future. Over time, I began to interpret hope, not as a naive eagerness that the world will magically get “better”, but as a method for creating fact-based optimism that can drive change.

“Solutions journalism stories don’t just reassure people; they let them know what they can do - and how. People are doing remarkable things all over the world, but with the media overwhelmingly focusing on corruption, scandal and disaster, these positive events too often go unreported.”

In Hope Matters, Dr. Kelsey presents how trends can shift the way we think about our relationship with the environment. With the speed at which stories can be shared on the internet, these trends become more accessible and easily integrated into our everyday lives. One trend that is evident not only in the book, but at the Centre, involves transportation. For more people, including our staff, utilizing personal transportation has become a lesser priority, instead trading it for more sustainable methods such as carpooling, public transit and walking. These methods reduce emissions, allow for increased social activity and benefit our personal health. A trend such as this is hopeful; it presents a simple and accessible way that we can change our mindsets, while improving how we interact with the environment. This form of hope doesn’t ignore the issues, but rather demonstrates actions we can take.   

I have carried this idea of hope with me to my summer working at the Centre. Everyday I feel hope when I share the vibrant and fascinating Salish Sea species with visitors. As I do this I witness each person forming a deeper appreciation and understanding for what’s below the ocean’s surface.

Releasing the salmon. Left to right: Liv, myself (Mary) and Lindsay

I gain hope when visitors discuss good news stories, such as the return of both humpback whales and sea otters to the Salish Sea. I am excited to inspire hope through projects such as our salmon release program, that results from partnerships with local hatcheries. I know that the Centre is participating in something positive by helping a small population of chinook salmon grow to adulthood. During my time as an Educator, I have recognized my team’s ability to curate hope and I am looking forward to continuing this focus of hopeful communication. 

Sometimes we all need a little reminder of hope. During my course I developed a project to amplify a positive message of hope for the beauty and optimism found in our environment (https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/6c06402da9a948ca820dd17de49de1e2). 

We are all in this together!

---

I have gathered some resources to look to when you are feeling overwhelmed by the climate crisis.

Recent hopeful stories from the Salish Sea:

25 to 30 Sei whales spotted off Island, not seen in such numbers for decades
Humpback whales are loving the Salish Sea

Videos:

Conservation Optimism Short Film Festival 2020
The Great Realisation | Tomfoolery | A bed time story of how it started, and why hindsight’s 2020 (A story of hope within the Covid-19 Pandemic)

Websites:

Seeds of Good Anthropocenes: A website sharing positive projects and social initiatives with connections to sustainable futures

Nature’s Good News (2020 Conservation Successes: 10 Positive Environmental Stories)

Podcasts (accessible through Spotify with a free account):

From Hope to Here: Podcast developed by my classmates “sharing stories of hope and features researchers working towards positive changes in their fields”

Speak Up for the Ocean Blue: Interview with Dr. Lyne Morissette to report back on her time at the Earth Optimism Summit

People Fixing the World

Salmon Release 2021

176 Chinook salmon were released on Tuesday, July 13.

Releasing that many fish is no small feat. But as the old adage goes, many hands make light work, and the entire team at the Centre, including a handful of volunteers, played their part; some roles wetter than others. The well organized and heavily choreographed process stretched from the Head of Animal Care inside the Pacific Salmon Exhibit, through a caravan of team members transporting salmon out to the beach and a diver in the water corralling the fish in a sea pen. Once the entire school was gathered together the sea pen was opened and the school of salmon headed out to sea to the sound of the team’s cheers.

Plastic Free July

by Mary Nightingale, Assistant Educator

Plastic Free July is a worldwide initiative that invites anyone and everyone to take on the challenge of reducing plastic waste. The challenge brings together a large community of committed individuals who uplift one another along their low waste journey. This community goes beyond the “three r’s” of reduce, reuse and recycle, encouraging further strategies such as refuse, repair and repurpose. 

At the Centre we demonstrate the harm of plastic in the ocean in a number of ways. Displayed on our walls we have two community-made art pieces where plastic has been repurposed to raise awareness of its effect on the Salish Sea. One of these pieces is by Braefoot Elementary’s Grade 5’s who were inspired to pick up garbage after a trip with Eagle Wing Tours. The other is by a former volunteer who researched the effects of plastic on blue whales. Alongside her piece she describes how toxins can be passed down from mother to calf and how microplastics make their way into the whale diet. A common example of plastic pollution we discuss here at the Centre is with sea turtles who rely on jellies as a food source. When suspended in the water, jellies and plastic bags look nearly identical, resulting in this creature ingesting plastics. With only these few demonstrations, it is not hard to see why plastic pollution is such a serious topic.

In honour of Plastic Free July, I alongside other Learning Team members, took on an impromptu beach clean-up at Sidney’s Glass Beach. We wandered along picking up bottles, food containers and a little abandoned dinosaur toy, which seemed to be advocating for this initiative. In just 30 minutes our small team filled 2.5 buckets; 50% of the trash collected was single-use plastic. We separated and washed anything that could be recycled. This was an important step as it is estimated that only 9% of plastic is recycled, with the remaining 91% ending up in landfills or the environment. 

While we were out, an interesting side-effect happened —  a family on the beach joined in, picking up garbage alongside us! The kids were excited to share stories about their other clean ups and it started interesting conversations about Plastic Free July, what garbage we had already found on the beach and what we do at the Centre. They had as much of an appreciation for our coastline as we do and were eager to share their own experience of protecting it. Through these conversations I could easily see how this challenge brings people together. 

After completing this beach clean-up we felt accomplished, but began talking about our next steps. How can we prevent plastic waste in the first place? The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly brought challenges for those already working to reduce waste with restrictions against reusable plastic alternatives (BYO coffee mug!) and single-use masks showing up everywhere we look. Despite this, our team has still found a variety of ways to continue living with less waste:

• At Home: 

  • Swapping bottled shampoo, body wash and dish soap for soap bars

  • Making household cleaners using simple ingredients from the kitchen; find recipes at CRD

• When Eating: 

  • Meal planning around ingredients with zero packaging 

  • Making veggie dips, bread and ice cream from scratch to avoid plastic packaging

• Out and About: 

  • Declining plastic utensils with takeout 

  • Using mesh bags, paper mushroom bags or no bags when buying loose veggies

  • Bringing reusable containers for leftovers when eating at a restaurant

Are you participating in Plastic Free July? 

We challenge you to take on one of these tips for living with less waste. You don’t have to be completely plastic free but we encourage you to take one more step in reducing your impact!

SALISH SEA NEWS — Keeping Up With the Eagles: Season 11*

Photo: Tina Kelly

Less screen time, more time outside. These days that’s the advice from experts. But we raise our hand high to suggest an exception — the Salish Sea reality show staring Trooper and Ma Delta, a mated pair of bald eagles featured in one of Hancock Wildlife Foundation’s live cameras.

For some time now, my colleagues and I have been eagerly awaiting the hatching of Trooper and Ma Delta’s clutch. The nest may be physically located in Delta, across the Strait of Georgia, but the nest’s activity can be streamed anywhere and has been playing out on at least two of the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea’s screens. If you’ve visited the Centre recently, you may have met an Educator excited to point out the activity in the nest. This year Ma Delta laid three eggs; a bald eagle clutch can range from 1-3 eggs. Both parents — one at a time — dutifully and diligently tend the eggs, giving them a turn and keeping them warm and hidden from predators.

Which parent is on the nest at any given time is anyone’s guess. Bald eagles are sexually dimorphic — displaying visible differences in sex — in size only with the female being up to 25% larger than the male. Unless viewed side-by-side at just the right angle, we just can’t be sure.  (Moderators and avid watchers of the site have discovered a small visible difference between these two particular individuals; check out the website’s forum for more information.) Eggs hatch after incubating for 26-34 days. These three eggs were laid February 27, March 2 and March 5 and at the time this article was submitted, two eggs had recently — to staff delight — hatched and fingers and toes were all crossed the third would soon safely hatch.

Just like taking turns incubating the eggs, eagle parents share the responsibility of hunting for food and feeding their offspring. Bald eagles are incredible hunters. Eagle eyes, as the expression goes, are extremely powerful. Eagles can see objects 4-5 times farther away than the human eye. They also have monocular and binocular vision and are able to use their eyes independently from each other.

When one parent arrives at the nest with food, the other parent flies off to hunt. Newly hatched eaglets have little control over their bodies. The unsteady neck movement reminds me of a bobblehead ornament you’d see on a car dashboard. This is most noticeable during feeding time. The feeding parent uses its sharp hooked beak to tear food into small manageable pieces for the eaglets. In years past, we've seen a variety of prey brought to the nest — salmon, flounders, sculpins, rabbits, black oystercatchers and mallard ducks

The young eat a lot and grow fast. From clumsy balls of grey fluff to fully feathered fledglings in roughly 12 weeks. Watch them practice flapping their wings as they ready themselves to leave the nest. Bald eagles are mottled brown until they reach sexual maturity at 4-5 years old. It’s then that their head and tail feathers turn white and their beak changes colour from black-brown to vibrant yellow.

There are a couple more months to view this season’s Keeping up with the Eagles. We recommend watching through to the season finale and tune in again next year starting in February. Just like an eagle beak, you’ll be hooked! Website: hancockwildlife.org/delta-2-cams/

*originally published in Seaside Magazine

In the Know — Seal Pup Season

Photo: Tina Kelly

by Kit Thornton, Head of Animal Care

Harbour seal life cycle

Harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) are a familiar sight year round in British Columbian waters. Their lifespan ranges from 20-25 years for males, and 30-35 years for females. Both sexes can grow up to 1.85m long and weigh up to 110kg. A single pup is born on shore after a nine-month gestation and is nursed by its mother for 4-6 weeks; pups double their weight in that time thanks to the high fat content of their mother’s milk. Mothers periodically leave their pups to forage for food so it is not uncommon to see a lone seal pup on shore.

Pupping season in BC typically starts in late May and can extend into July. The majority of time this birthing and weaning of harbour seal pups goes well, however, on occasion you may come across a pup that requires assistance.

It is important the public never try to help a seal pup; although well intentioned, it can negatively affect the animal’s chance of survival and cause unintentional stress. It is also illegal to touch, feed or harass marine mammals.

Some common reasons seal pups may need assistance are: prematurity, maternal separation, injuries or disturbance. Premature pups, also known as lanugo pups, are easily distinguished from full term pups by their fluffy white coats. This white fur is normally shed in utero before the pup is born. Maternal separation can occur through predation on the mother or through disturbance from dogs or people. Seal pups are sometimes found with injuries or infections, anything from dog bites to entanglements, damaged eyes and infected wounds.

What to do

If you see a marine mammal you believe is in distress please:

1.       Stay back

2.      Keep people and pets away

3.      Call the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre (MMR) at 604-258-SEAL (7325)

Vancouver Island has trained responders that the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre — in Vancouver — calls upon to assist in observing and rescuing orphaned, injured, and distressed seal pups. The aquarist team here at the aquarium is one of those responders and can assist in the rescue and transportation of the pup to the rehabilitation facility on the mainland. In the summer of 2020, we rescued four seals that were sent to MMR. All were released after being successfully rehabilitated.

What does the rescue and rehabilitation process look like?

From the time a concerned citizen calls into the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre, the pup is monitored by the team of experts. If the seal needs to be taken into care, a trained rescuer is dispatched to the area. The rescuer will place the pup carefully in a kennel while the team at MMR organizes transport to the rehabilitation facility. Harbour Air often generously fly the pups at no cost. They may also go by boat and are occasionally airlifted by wildlife volunteer and helicopter pilot, Norm Snihur.

Once a pup arrives at MMR, it is weighed and placed in an enclosure with a heat lamp. Rescued pups are slowly tube fed electrolytes and fish formula to help them regain their strength, and any injuries are addressed. As the pups grow, they learn to eat fish and “graduate” into bigger pools with other seal pups where they to learn the skills needed to survive in the wild. Once they have proven their ability to thrive, the pups are weighed, health checked, tagged, and released back to their natural home in the ocean.

The Marine Mammal Rescue Centre expert rescuers and trained volunteers rehabilitate more than 100 marine mammals per year.

SALISH SEA NEWS — Stars of the Show*

Wolf eels, jellyfish and an octopus aren’t the only stars of the show at the Shaw Centre of the Salish Sea. Volunteers are key to the success of the non-profit aquarium. Lately, there’s been much ado about one particular volunteer. And rightly so, Mikes Patterson has reached an incredible milestone — surpassing 3000 hours of volunteering. Mikes isn’t alone in her club of contribution. Roughly 115 volunteers donated more than 4200 hours over the last year.

Women have a strong presence on the Centre’s volunteer team; more than 70% of the Centre’s volunteers identify as female. Retirees on the team reflect diverse professional backgrounds and reasons for volunteering. Some prospective volunteers look for a clear link to their former professions. During Merlie McGee’s career as a teacher she was known as “Queen Green”. When she sought out a new volunteer role in 2009, she thought, “it made sense to continue in the education field.”

Lesley Nicholls, like Mikes and Merlie, has been with the Centre since opening day. She credits her career in university administration for her ease in public speaking. That skill combined with her interest in fish — including keeping her own aquariums — lead Lesley to the Centre. While the bulk of her time has been spent engaging visitors, she has also provided administrative support and was the first to hold the role of Volunteer Representative on the Board of Directors. Her two-year term helped develop this role into what it is today.

When the call went out for the next Volunteer Representative Lesley Wood stepped up. She already had years of interacting with visitors under her belt. When asked what she had been looking for in a volunteer role initially, Lesley was specific, “it should appeal to my interests and replicate the parts of my profession I particularly enjoyed.” For her that equated to animals, natural history and interacting with the public. A unique aspect of Lesley’s professional background is now proving especially valuable; as the Centre undergoes the process of developing a 10-year strategic plan, Lesley is sharing insight and expertise from her experience with community consultations.

The Centre is not the only benefactor of these womens’ time and talents. Their passion for community giving extends to other organizations, locally and globally. For 27 years Merlie has volunteered on humanitarian projects around the world, Lesley N. has long been involved with the Sidney Sister Cities Association and Lesley W. is an active volunteer with both the Royal BC Museum and Abkhazi Garden.

It’s not all about giving, it’s also about receiving. Each of these women, without being prompted, has acknowledged the positive impact volunteering has on their lives. Lesley W. appreciates learning something new on every shift. For Lesley N., the Centre’s temporary closure due to COVID-19, highlighted how volunteering is important for getting her out into the community and connecting with people.

It can be hard to quantify the impact these women, and all volunteers, have had, and continue to have, on the Centre and the community but when Merlie reflects back on her time with the Centre one anecdote pops up. A young boy approached her at a Victoria area mall with recognition in his eyes and proudly announced he remembered her favourite species — the grunt sculpin. That is an impact. And a little proof volunteers are stars of the show.

*Original article in March’s Seaside Magazine. Read full issue here.

SALISH SEA NEWS — Get Outside*

La Niña — two small words reflecting a big influence on our weather. As I type, the sun is shining and shoppers in Sidney are notably toque-less. Not bad for December but predictions suggest that’s about to change. Peppered into news reports — between pandemic and politics — have been warnings of our winter weather to come.

Wetter and colder are not descriptors we particularly want to hear. Especially as we navigate restrictions on our indoor activities and limited access to the people we typically share them with.

Jeff Reindl

These restrictions, bleak weather and the season’s limited daylight is a recipe for a long, miserable winter but there is one saving grace, one constant that has remained throughout this pandemic — access to the natural world. Time spent in nature is scientifically proven to have a significant positive influence on our mental and physical wellbeing.

Finding the motivation to head out into inclement weather however is the challenge. Here are a few tips for spending time in nature when the weather is anything but inviting:

1)      Know you don’t need to commit to a three hour hike up a mountain 40 minutes away; there is likely nature nearby, even in urban areas. (Within a 15 minute walk of my concrete jungle home, I have access to the ocean, city parks and pockets of Garry oak habitat.)

2)      When it comes to understanding our local weather, we’re intimately familiar with the phrase, “wait 10 minutes, it’ll change.” It’s still important however to consult the forecast for special weather notices. Extreme wind warnings, for example, should factor in when choosing your destination — avoid heavily forested areas due to the potential for falling branches, as well as certain beaches as sea conditions can change dramatically. (Though storm watching can be fun if you maintain a safe distance from the shoreline.)

3)      Bundle up! Dressing in layers is key to being able to adjust to fluctuations in the weather and in your activity level. A waterproof layer is ideal, including footwear; cold, damp feet, or cold, damp anything, can end your adventure prematurely.

4)      Where to go? We’re somewhat spoiled for choice. Municipal parks, regional parks, national parks, not to mention all of those random pockets of greenspace,  a series of neighbourhood trails and access to creeks, rivers and beaches. You can find information and directions to parks on your municipality’s website, the CRD website, and even Google maps.

5)      Consider your destination’s space in terms of physical distancing. Open expanses, wide trails and beaches during lower tides provide more area to maintain the 2 m/6 ft distance from others.

6)      Set a theme, goal, challenge or checklist. Maybe this is quantitative, “I’ll spend X minutes a day/X minutes a week in nature”; “I’ll visit five different greenspaces a week”; “I’ll explore one new-to-me park each month.” Maybe it’s experiential: “I will record my adventures in a journal”: “I will take this opportunity to learn how to identify birds or plants”.

7)      Reflect on your experiences through photography, art or journaling. Reliving your experiences in nature can be an additional mood booster.

8)      Inspire others to get out by sharing your experiences, favourite places and any new discoveries that had an impact.

Embrace La Niña, explore nature. Get outside, breath fresh air – your health will benefit.

*Original article in January’s Seaside Magazine. Read full issue here.

Releasing Henry!

by Kit Thornton, Head of Animal Care

As Aquarists we are often asked what it is like working with a giant Pacific octopus; the answer to that is – pretty great!

Photo: John Roney, mahoneydives.com

One of the favourite aspects of our job is releasing our octopus ambassador after their six month stay and Henry’s release was particularly special. He was a bright spark among what was a challenging year for many. A lot of preparation goes into an animal release — applying for permits from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, arranging a transport vehicle, and checking the weather and tides to ensure optimal conditions for our safety.

Henry’s release day dawned bright and early for myself and the rest of the Animal Care Team. After a quick weight check*, Henry was loaded into the transport container with sea water, ice and oxygen to keep him comfortable for the long drive to the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Arriving at the release site, we bundled ourselves into thick wetsuits to guard against the chilly waters. We were joined by John Roney of MahoneyDives — a Victoria-based documentary filmmaker and underwater videographer.

Henry’s transport container was carried out into the gentle swell, and carefully tipped down so it flooded with fresh sea water. After a few moments of consideration, Henry jetted out into the ocean, his arms streaming behind him as he made his way home.

While we snorkeled above, John dove down and filmed Henry from a respectful distance, capturing footage of Henry settling onto the sea floor and beginning to explore his surroundings.

Photo: John Roney, mahoneydives.com

An octopus’s preferred method of locomotion is walking, and that is just what Henry did, walking on six hind arms while raising his two front arms into the water column. He sensed and tasted his new environment using the chemoreceptors that line each individual sucker.  Turning a deep red colour and texturing his skin with raised papillae, Henry periodically cast his interbrachial web out over the sea floor, pausing to take in his surrounding area before continuing onward. Henry remained in the area for 25 minutes, allowing us plenty of time to observe his return to the ocean.

The moments we are afforded on release day are bittersweet. There’s our overarching excitement as our ambassadors are returned to the natural world, tinged with sadness that we won’t see them again.  And so it was with Henry; we parted ways for the final time as he headed out to deeper water and we headed back to land.

How much did Henry weigh when he was released? A whopping 10 kg/22 lbs! How much did Henry weigh when he arrived mid-June? 2.5 kg/5.5 lbs

SALISH SEA NEWS — Now You Know Your Salish Sea*

by Tina Kelly, Director of Learning and Communications

The fifteen percentile — are you in it? A survey completed just last year, reflected a mere 5% of Washington State citizens and 15% of British Columbians could accurately identify the Salish Sea. If you fall into the remaining 85%, you may be surprised to learn the Salish Sea term has been official for a decade. And if you call Southern Vancouver Island home, you may be shocked to learn you are one of roughly eight million people living in the Salish Sea.

Photo: Jeff Reindl

The Salish Sea is an inland sea straddling two countries and encompassing three significant bodies of water –  Puget Sound, Strait of Georgia and Strait of Juan de Fuca (They still retain their individual designations.). For additional context, Campbell River represents the northern border and the bioregion’s southern boundary is Olympia, Washington. Contrary to the word sea, the Salish Sea is not exclusively an ocean ecosystem but a watershed with interconnected lands, rivers and streams. It is the mixing of the regions saltwater and many freshwater systems — essentially a large estuary — that results in the sea’s high biological productivity. The single largest influx of freshwater is BC’s mighty Fraser River. Looking east from Sidney on a clear day snow-capped Mt. Baker is a magnificent site; this mountain also signifies the Salish Sea’s eastern border.

Truth be told, the Salish Sea term has existed for decades. In the late 1980’s, a name proposal was put forward by Western Washington University scientist, Bert Webber; however, it wasn’t officially accepted until 2009 (Acceptance in Canada occurred in 2009 but was formally announced in early 2010). Who decides? Each country has its own board responsible for authorizing the official use of names — Geographical Names Board of Canada and United States Board on Geographic Names.

A multitude of factors led to the name suggestion. Referencing the region with a formal name would serve as a constant reminder of the interdependent and interconnected natural systems at play. Name recognition for this integrated ecosystem would aid scientific studies and help inform decisions and policy.

Conservation initiatives, at an individual level, are often linked to the psychological principle of sense of place. Sense of place forms when personal connections and social interactions with a particular site take place and it’s believed a sense of place is deeper when you can call a place by name.

The name recognizes the area’s early (and present day) inhabitants — Coast Salish peoples. Coast Salish peoples include more than two dozen ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous groups whose territory extends from the mouth of Oregon’s Columbia River up to British Columbia’s Bute Inlet.

While geographically locating the Salish Sea rated low on the survey, a separate question reflected 48% of British Columbians had at least heard of the term. Should another survey roll around, you can proudly proclaim you’ve not only heard of it, you’ll be able to put a finger on it.

*Original article in November’s Seaside Magazine. Read issue here.

October is Registered Veterinary Technician Month!

Registered Veterinary Technicians (RVT) are valuable members of animal care teams and they work in a variety of industries from veterinary clinics to research facilities, rehabilitation centres and even aquariums like us!

Our Head of Animal Care, Kit, holds dual qualifications in Marine Biology and Veterinary Technology. Today she is here to answer some questions about what it’s like to be an RVT at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea.

Question: What exactly does an RVT do?

Answer: RVT’s are akin to the nurses of the human medical world. We have specialized skills in the care of both healthy and sick animals. We can take blood, place IVs, take x-rays, use microscopes to look at skin scrapings, blood smears, and search for parasites. We even put animals under anesthesia and monitor them during and after surgeries! Above all we are advocates for animal health and welfare.

Question: How does someone become an RVT?

Answer: Animal health technology/veterinary technology is an intense two year program at an accredited post-secondary institution. After completing your courses and internships you must pass a national board exam. Each year you must partake in continuing education credits to maintain your registration within the field.

Question: What do you do as an aquarium RVT?

Answer: Every day is different but I start each day along with my team of Aquarists as we carefully look over each habitat and animals residing within. We look for animals that are showing signs of illness or stress, we ensure the animals are in good body condition, we monitor for external parasites, watch out for pregnant animals or those that are getting ready to mate. Some mornings we even come across eggs being guarded by their parents, or in the case of our perch who give birth to live young- tiny newborn perch!  We ensure the animals are provided with everything they need to live healthy and stimulating lives during their time with us.

Question: What is the most challenging group or species of animal to work with?

Answer: Most challenging would be invertebrates. There is such anatomical diversity across invertebrates and very little data about medical conditions or treatments for illnesses.

Question: Favourite animal in the Centre to work with?

Answer: I really enjoy working with the Chinook salmon we have. It’s so rewarding to see them grow from smolts to adults and then say goodbye to them when they are released back to the ocean. Also our giant Pacific octopus - their personalities and playfulness is just so fun. Doing their pre-release health exam is usually very easy as they are happy to be handled by us.

Question: What advice would you give to someone wanting to become an aquarium Veterinary Technician?

Answer: Take science courses in high school, get as much hands on animal experience as you can, even caring for fish in a home aquarium helps! Complete your veterinary technician program and try and get experience with fish through internships, work experience and lastly, network with aquarium professionals!

My Salish Sea Summer 2020

Another summer has passed.

More than 7000 visitors have visited us since early June and they all had the pleasure of engaging with our Summer Educators. Before they wrapped up and headed back to school, we posed a few questions about their summer under the Salish Sea. Here is what Marissa W. had to say.

(Special thank you to Canada Summer Jobs funding for supporting our non-profit and allowing us to assist students in skill development and work experience.)

Marissa W.

Major in University: Biology with a concentration in marine biology.

Favourite Salish Sea species you didn’t know much about before you worked at the Centre?

It’s so hard to pick just one! I’m team grunt sculpin 100%. I did know they existed but had never observed them in person. Seeing the grunt sculpins moving around first hand was interesting and exciting. Watching them move around the bottom of their habitat is quite entertaining, and seeing them all tucked away into the giant acorn barnacles and camouflaging so well is something I always looked forward to seeing and enjoyed sharing them with visitors.

Favourite habitat IN the Centre:

Toss up between the nursery and the kelp forest. The nursery is the habitat I checked on every morning when I arrived because there is so much going on and many fun tiny critters to watch, but I could stand in front of kelp forest and watch it for hours!

Favourite place in the Salish Sea to go explore nature:

East Sooke Regional Park! Beautiful hiking trails along the coast and lots of sea life to discover.

Describe how working at the Centre connects to your schooling and career aspirations.

I love fish, and recently took a fishes course in school. I learned about a number of fish, but the majority of the time I was observing and drawing these fish from preserved specimens. To be able to see these fish moving around and really observe their behaviours was incredibly cool, and really put all the pieces together for me.

What was something that surprised you about your time as an Educator?

Two things really surprised me about my time as an educator: 1) the level of knowledge kids have about so many of the local species, 2) the hardest questions often come from kids. 

On one of my first shifts at the look pool I was talking to a family about the sea stars and a child started naming all of the different species, and I was blown away. I thought I could stump them with a fun fact, so I asked them if they knew what the leather stars smelt like. They replied back, without missing a beat, “GARLIC!”!. Their parents asked them how they knew that, and rather than answer, the child proceeded to explain how the star’s water vascular system functioned. I was impressed with the explanation, and the depth of understanding this child had was amazing for their age; I personally didn’t learn about a sea star’s water vascular system until third year university. This continued to catch me off guard; kids that have a wealth of knowledge about the local species. It is so fun to see kids excited about the ocean.

I expected to receive the occasional hard question, but I never thought that the hardest ones would come from the youngest visitors. I anticipated kids would be the easiest to talk to to and teach, but never once thought that their questions would be the ones I would need to follow up with the most. Questions of “Why is ____ doing ____?” or the continuous streams of “but why?” Not only did these experiences lead me to learn more about things I had never questioned, I got a small glimpse of how kids see the aquarium; it’s an interesting perspective that I wouldn't have experienced otherwise.

What was your highlight of the summer?

The highlight of my summer has to be having so many knowledgeable people to ask my ever-growing list of questions to. 

What is your best fun fact? The one you shared most often with visitors and never grew tired of saying?

I really love the shock value of crazy facts, so I love telling people about the sea cucumber. When a cucumber feels threatened, they can eviscerate (force out) some of their internal organs to distract predators and escape. The part that I find the craziest is they survive, and regrow those organs! An equally crazy sea cucumber fact is that they breathe through their bums. Also, sea cucumber’s have feeding tentacles that look like feather duster mops and they use them to pick up food. The last fact isn't shocking, but I do love pointing out sea cucumbers feeding to visitors!

Fish you'll miss the most:

There are so many good options it's hard to pick just one. I love the sailfin sculpins in the Ocean’s Heartbeat, the assortment of grunt sculpins and moss head warbonnets tucked away in barnacles in the Eelgrass Meadow, the china rockfish in Rocky Reef, and of course the yellow eye rockfish in Kelp Forest.

Three words to describe your summer at the Centre: 

Intriguing, exciting, educational

Wild card: 10/10 rating for an excellent summer job

My Salish Sea Summer 2020

My Salish Sea Summer

Another summer has passed by. More than 7000 visitors have visited since early June and they all had the pleasure of engaging with our Summer Educators. Before they headed back to school, we posed a few questions about their summer under the Salish Sea. Here is what Cathy T. had to say.

(Special thank you to Canada Summer Jobs funding for supporting our non-profit and allowing us to assist students in skill development and work experience.)

Cathy T.

Major in University: I am majoring in microbiology and doing a minor in biology at the University of Victoria! 

Favourite Salish Sea species you didn’t know much about before you worked at the aquarium? (and why)

C-O Sole, a type of flatfish! They camouflage extremely well which makes them fun to spot, and I think it is so interesting how one eye migrates towards the other during their metamorphosis. I love speaking with visitors about their development! 

Favourite habitat IN the Centre:

I have a special place in my heart for our nursery exhibit which is where we keep a lot of our babies or juveniles. Be sure to not miss this habitat when you visit the aquarium! 

Favourite place in the Salish Sea to go explore nature:

I really like Cattle Point on a low tide day. 

Describe how your summer at the Centre connects to your schooling?

My time here at the Centre has made studying biology much more engaging and fun! Often at school we learn about different organisms and species but never actually get to see them. So being able to study marine biology with the animals right in front of your eyes has really made my learning experience extremely fascinating.  

What is your best fun fact you never grow tired of sharing?

I absolutely love sharing fun facts about our California sea cucumbers.  I often share that the spikes on their bodies are actually super soft and not hurtful to touch at all! I call them "pretend spikes" as they just want to pretend to look scary. I also like pointing out their feeding tentacles when they are extended because they look like feather dusters! 

What was the hardest question posed from a visitor?

Sometimes questions about where certain animals belong on the food chain or what they eat can be hard. Food chains and food webs can get really in depth. 

Fish you'll miss the most:

So many...the baby grunt sculpins, all of the flatfishes and Betty and Beatrice, the wolf eels.

Three words to describe your summer at the Centre: 

Engaging, exciting, and rewarding. 

Anything else you’d like share…

I WILL MISS THE CENTRE SO MUCH!

My Salish Sea Summer 2020

Another summer has passed.

More than 7000 visitors have visited us since early June and they all had the pleasure of engaging with our Summer Educators. Before they wrapped up and headed back to school, we posed a few questions about their summer under the Salish Sea. Here is what Ayla B. had to say.

(Special thank you to Canada Summer Jobs funding for supporting our non-profit and allowing us to assist students in skill development and work experience.)

Ayla B.

Major in University: Biology, Marine Concentration

Favourite Salish Sea species you didn’t know much about before you worked at the aquarium?

Bay Pipefish! These little fish are some of the cutest stick-like animals I have ever seen. I knew we didn’t have seahorses in the Salish Sea, but I didn’t know we had species in the same family! They’re so adapted for the environment they live in, from the colouration and body shape matching eelgrass almost perfectly, to their behaviour and reproduction strategies that allow them to thrive.

Favourite habitat IN the Centre.

Kelp forest! This habitat is filled with so many animals (including a wolf eel and illusive gumboot chiton!) but what I really love about it is all the different types of kelp. Watching them sway in the current with the light filtering through — it’s so peaceful. The rockfish meandering around add a nice touch of colour and watching their antics never gets boring!

Kelp Forest

Favourite place in the Salish Sea to go explore nature.

Big Skate

Island View Beach has become a favourite stop on my way home from work this summer; it is conveniently located between Sidney and Victoria. I’ve found some really cool animals washed up there; my best find so far has been a big skate. You can spot so many animals — river otters, mink, bald eagles, nighthawks, seals, sea anemones, sea stars, and crabs are just a few you might spot!

Describe how your summer experience connects to your schooling.

Well, everything about the aquarium connects to my schooling as a marine orientated person, but the chance to talk to people of all ages has really boosted my ability to explain somewhat complex ideas to a variety of audiences. I think this experience has made me a better scientific communicator, and will help my future career goal of marine biologist!

What was something that surprised you about your time as an Educator?

Something that surprised me is how knowledgeable kids are about the animals; they really soak up the information you give them! I loved when they would add onto your animal fun fact with information they already knew.

What was your highlight of the summer?

The highlight was “Ask an Educator” days. Not only did I get to be outside (on the sunny side of the building!) but I also got to interact with people and talk about cool ocean creatures in the outdoor exhibit! I loved being able to identify photos or descriptions, and pointing out animals was a lot of fun. I found that even showing a child something as simple as the small snails on the rocks was a big hit.

What is your best fun fact? The one you never grew tired of sharing.

This is hard because there are so many fun facts!

If I had to choose just one, I think it would be how barnacles eat! They have special hairy legs called “cirri” that they use to catch all their food! When they’re feeding, the top of the barnacle opens and closes with the legs sweeping in and out. As the legs sweep out the hairs catch all the bits of plankton in the water. As they sweep in they bring the food back towards their mouth!

China Rockfish

Fish you'll miss the most.

I’ll definitely miss the china rockfish in the Rocky Reef Exhibit. I personally refer to it as “Nebula” after its Latin name Sebastes nebulosus. Its colouration is the best I’ve seen in any china rockfish, very starry, night sky-like! Not only does its appearance catch your eye, its overall chill but feisty demeanor is also very admirable.  

SALISH SEA NEWS — Meet Henry*

by Tina Kelly, Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea

What’s in a name? Attaching a moniker to the giant Pacific octopus at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea is not usually so straightforward. Choosing a theme, community votes and tallying ballots roll on for weeks before a winner is announced. You may even have cast an octopus name ballot yourself. But this time around, the naming task was simple — to recognize BC’s Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry.

Like much of the province, the aquarium team tuned in daily at 3:00pm throughout the spring to take in Dr. Bonnie Henry’s updates, advice and calm delivery of the ever-changing science and understanding of the virus. Much needed was someone to trust, a strong leader and a calm, clear communicator who also showed empathy and kindness. And that is undoubtedly what the residents of BC received. Acknowledging the incredible contribution Dr. Henry has made to our safety and overall approach to the pandemic with an octopus namesake was an easy and unanimous decision.

The Centre welcomed a new octopus in the middle of June, shortly after reopening. Pebbles, their previous octopus was released back to the wild in mid-March. While this coincided with the Centre’s closure due to COVID-19, the octopus release was pre-planned as part of the octopus ambassador program; each resident octopus lives at the Centre for roughly six months before being released to the same area in which they were found. In the aquarium’s 11 years, there have been many octopus ambassadors — Dennis, Darla, Emily, Hermione, Steve, The Dude, Norm, Jar Jar, Nellie, Billie, Olive, Sylvia, Buttercup and Polkadot. (How many have you met?) And now added to that list is Henry.

Henry is a giant Pacific octopus; the largest octopus species in the world, topping out at six metres, measured arm tip to arm tip. The giant in giant Pacific octopus is a clear measure of the team’s admiration, but add to that the fun fact octopuses have three hearts. A fitting tribute as the heart symbol has come to reflect gratitude for Dr. Henry, healthcare workers and frontline staff.

Another octopus attribute fitting for this accolade is an octopus’ level of intelligence; octopus and other cephalopods are considered to be the most intelligent invertebrates.

Henry arrived from the west coast of Vancouver Island. It was not until the team welcomed the octopus that they could determine its sex. How do you sex an octopus? Find the third arm on their right and look for a specialized appendage called a hectocotylus; the male octopus uses the hectocotylus to fertilize a female. On a female, all eight arms look the same, with suckers extending down to the tip of each arm. Making the discovery the new octopus was indeed male, and determined to honour the health officer, the Centre shifted the name choice from Bonnie to Henry.

You can visit Henry the octopus five days a week. The Centre is currently open Friday-Tuesday, 10:00am-4:30pm. However, if Dr. Henry wishes to meet Henry, the Centre declares their door is always open.

If you visit, remember the words of Dr. Henry, “Be kind. Be calm. Be safe.”

*Original article in September’s Seaside Magazine. Read issue here.

SALISH SEA NEWS – Give Them Space*

by Tina Kelly, Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea

Photo: Northern Resident A30s by Leah Thorpe

Meet Eve. Eve’s skeleton hangs near the touch pool at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea. To scientists Eve was known as A9, a killer whale or orca who once inhabited the waters around Northern Vancouver Island. Eve was a resident fish-eating killer whale, a type of whale currently garnering much attention from scientists, conservation groups, and news headlines.

Killer whales, orcinus orca, are found in all oceans of the world and while they may all appear the same to a novice, there are in fact ten different types of killer whales. These ecotypes vary in size, dorsal fin shape, prey preference, group structure, vocalizations and more. The coast of British Columbia is home to three ecotypes – resident or fish-eating killer whales, Bigg’s or marine mammal-eating killer whales and the offshore ecotype whose meal of choice may surprise you – sharks!

Resident killer whales can be sorted into two separate populations: northern and southern. As those names suggest, they are geographically separate or have geographic preferences. The Northern population — that Eve belonged to — spends its time in the waters north of Campbell River, up around Haida Gwaii and into southeast Alaska. Southern resident killer whales generally roam the ocean south of Ucluelet, around the Salish Sea and down to Monterey, California.

Both resident populations are listed as “at risk” under the Species at Risk Act (SARA); Northern resident whales are considered threatened and Southern residents are listed as endangered. When it comes to their survival, these whales face a trifecta of challenges and research has not isolated one issue as a frontrunner. Identified in the SARA Recovery Strategy are the three main threats to resident killer whales – reduced prey availability, acoustic and physical disturbance (vessel disturbance) and environmental contaminants.

In the spring of 2019, the Federal government – Department of Fisheries and Oceans – in an effort to curb acoustic and physical disturbance, laid out updated guidelines for boaters. Year-round boaters must keep 200 metres away from all killer whale ecotypes on the B.C. coast. That distance increases to 400 metres between June 1 and October 31 for any ecotype in southern resident killer whale critical habitat. This critical habitat ranges from the Southern Strait of Georgia through Haro Strait, around Victoria, through Juan de Fuca Strait and out to La Perouse Bank off Ucluelet. Also from June 1 through October 31, no fishing or boating is allowed in Interim Sanctuary Zones around Swiftsure Bank, around East Point on Saturna Island and along the southwest coast of North Pender Island.

Other regulations focus on fishing: in some areas you should avoid fishing within 1000 metres of killer whales and in some areas fishing is prohibited between August 1 and October 31. There’s more to these guidelines and it can feel complicated; to ease your understanding, DFO has created maps with colour coded graphics. Download a copy at https://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/maps-cartes/srkw-ers/boating-around-kws-nav-prox-eps-eng.pdf, or pick one up at the Centre.

If you’re out on the water, remember to give marine mammals space, paying particular attention to killer whales; it’s not only the right thing to do, it’s the law. Their survival depends on it.

You can visit A9’s skeleton at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea.
Open 10 a.m. daily.

*Original article in March’s Seaside Magazine. Read issue here.

A Little Bit of Everything!

Behind the scenes and in front of the scenes — I do it all!

Another job title — Sous Chef!

Hi, I’m Brianne, and I have not one, but THREE job titles at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea -- Visitor Experience Associate, Assistant Educator, and Aquarist Intern. I am a recent graduate of Marine Biology from the University of Victoria.

Why am I working so many positions? That’s where the needs are and to be honest, I enjoy having a variety of tasks to keep things interesting.

As a Visitor Experience Associate in the Salish Sea Store, I’m the first friendly face visitors experience, hence the job title! I especially enjoy getting to know our members who visit often. Fun fact -- some members pop in simply to experience our submarine and sometimes up to eight times, then leave! When newcomers are unsure about heading in to the submarine and ask if it’s worth it? My answer is a resounding, “Yes!” From my perspective, it feels like an underwater adventure, a journey to experience our incredibly diverse local flora and fauna. It brings me joy and satisfaction, when first timers spend hours in the Centre and come out and thank me for convincing them to go in. 

If you’ve ever taken part in an “Octopus Creature Feature”, “Tot Tuesdays” or maybe even “Sea Shirt Sunday” you’ve met our wonderful education team. I’m continuously learning new information and as an Educator, my role is to package it into those fun activities and learning opportunities. My favorite part about being an educator is similar to working in the store; I get to know regular visitors. When a member remembers me from a previous visit, it feels great. I also like it when they approach me with more questions or want to play another round of a game like “Crab Survivor”.

As an Aquarist Intern, I gain knowledge of what happens behind the scenes. Having an understanding of how three different departments run, I am able to add to educational stories, like how we care for a particular species.

I fit!

What else do I do as an Aquarist Intern? Lots -- water quality monitoring, exhibit maintenance, food preparation, collection/transport of animals, record keeping and cleaning! Some of our habitats are small and awkward, so when one needs to be cleaned, I volunteer! Because who doesn't want to be covered in algae and fish poop?

When I am interacting with the Centre’s marine life, I really get to geek out and apply my marine biology education. Working with marine life has been my dream for a long time.

Love it or list it?

My favorite part of working at the Centre, is noticing small differences or day-to-day changes in exhibits. Sometimes fish move to a different barnacle shell, clam shell, or hide under a different rock (I like to think they are trying out new real estate until they find the perfect spot.). Even our wolf eels, Bob, Betty and Beatrice, don’t behave the same every day. They like to mix things up allowing their personalities to shine!

Three months into my job(s!), I find myself working from home during the COVID-19 crisis. I miss the routine, observing fishy friends, witnessing children's enthusiastic reactions when they first enter the submarine doors, and when visitors are fascinated by the aquarium and full of questions. I also really miss sharing all of my “Fun Fish Facts”. 

SALISH SEA NEWS – Return of a Kelp Forest*

Photo Ryan Miller

They say life is all about balance. When it comes to life in kelp forests — and other natural systems — no truer words could be spoken. Human actions regularly upset these natural balances and in the case of some kelp forests the imbalance has been more than a 100 years in the making.

Urchins are a significant prey item for sea otters and kelp is a main food source for urchins. Removing one link in this three species food chain has caused an ecological shift scientists are now trying to reverse. In the 1800’s, British Columbia’s fur trade was booming. Sea otters were plentiful and their fur was luxurious and lucrative. By 1929, otters were extirpated from the BC coast.

In the absence of a voracious predator — sea otters — the population of urchins exploded. These urchins grazed and grazed leaving large expanses devoid of kelp. A land comparison familiar to many locals involves deer; in the absence of predators, deer numbers increase and vegetation is overgrazed. Scientists coined the term urchin barren to reflect an underwater landscape that has had most if not all kelp removed by urchins. With dwindling kelp forests comes the loss of critical habitat for many species including herring, salmon, rockfish, and abalone. The latter two considered threatened and endangered, respectively. While healthy kelp forests thrive with biological life, they also play a role in geological processes; kelp forests protect shorelines from erosion.

Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve, and Haida Heritage Site and the Haida Nation aim to reset the ecological balance that existed before otters were extirpated from the coast. In December, Parks Canada Ecologist, Dr. Lynn Lee presented their efforts to an enthusiastic crowd at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea’s Floating Ideas Lecture Series. The project “Chiixuu Tll iinasdll (Nurturing Seafood to Grow)” represents one of the first ecosystem restoration projects in Canada where an Indigenous group, federal government and the commercial fishing sector are collaborating to achieve conservation goals.

Between 2017 and 2019, divers played the role of sea otter at the study site on Murchison Island. Seventy-five percent of urchins, or guuding.ngaay to the Haida people, were removed along three kilometres of the island’s shoreline. Many of these urchins were provided to Haida Gwaii communities while others were cracked or crushed and left underwater to feed microbes, fish and invertebrates, recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem.

With urchin numbers reduced kelp had an opportunity to re-establish into a forest and the complex ecological balance could return. And return it has. Prior to this project, scientists described the kelp at Murchison Island as existing in a narrow fringe below the low tide line. Fast forward to today and individual kelp number in the thousands and cover an area the size of nine soccer fields.

With the return of kelp forests comes more — more fish, more invertebrates, more diversity. And with the success of this project comes the knowledge to help inform conversations about continuing restoration in Haida Gwaii or elsewhere on the BC coast.

*While this project lays outside the Salish Sea boundaries, the Salish Sea is also home to this critical ecosystem.

*Original article in December’s Seaside Magazine. Read issue here.