Beachkeepers

Have a marine question but not sure who to ask? Jessica Schultz can answer it for you! The Beachkeepers team has asked her questions before and has found her to be patient and kind, and an excellent resource. Direct any burning idea questions you might have her way! (Really, you can ask her just about anything about our local waters, how to study the ocean, lots of octopus questions , whatever!)... In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you all during the warmer weather next year, stay safe.

Just as jellyfish come and go with the seasons, so to do the Belcarra Beachkeepers; summer is the time for both of us. This year the team documented beach creatures and monitored recreational fishing efforts at Belcarra wharf, adding to 16 years of continuous data that tells us more about the crab populations off our waters. The Beachkeepers were able to educate crabbers, anglers, and curious park visitors about crabs, fish, sea stars, and other marine species, but more so t...his year than years past: jellyfish. Jellyfish naturally are easier to find near the end of summer - warm waters especially allow them to grow large - however the influence of people can cause more jellyfish to "bloom" in areas. This year we found plenty of jellyfish, so here's hoping that will translate to a "bloom" of Beachkeepers for our 17th season in the summer of 2021 - in the meantime: be kind (to the ocean as well!), stay safe, and don't forget your crab ruler. See you in 2021.

Just like that, it’s the last weekend in the 2020 Beachkeepers season! In a year full of the unexpected, the Beachkeepers program and volunteers have adjusted and changed too! We have discovered and inventoried more of Belcarra beach through beach surveys and BioBlitz’s and switched up the crab study. Some keys things we’ve found this year: there are more pacific oysters found along the beach than ever before... there have more urchins spotted than we usually see the juvenile Dungeness crabs appear to be somewhere else this year (we have seen a lot less Dungeness crabs than normal - we don’t know why, but it happened before in 2005 and 2010) there’s less crabs in general: it’s a rather slow crabbing season on the wharf this year (we can’t be sure why at this time, but it happened before in 2013 and 2014) If you haven’t visited Belcarra beach, or any beach lately, be sure to go out while you can! End of summer/start of autumn is a good time to find lots of jellyfish, and we’ve certainly been spotting them lately! What will you find?

This year we’ve been seeing more sea stars come up in crab traps - species like these giant pink sea stars (Pisaster brevispinus) [pictured]. Both photos featured are the same species, but young, or juvenile pink sea stars can be lighter. As they become full-fledged adults they become very pink (like Patrick from SpongeBob SquarePants). This species can also get very big: one arm of the sea star can grow longer than your forearm! ... Pink sea stars often hang out in soft-bottomed habitat, and prefer quiet bays and harbours to open ocean. In other words, Belcarra is a perfect spot for this species - how about for you?

Meet one of the top ten most unwanted species in the world: the European Green Crab (EGC). This invasive species has already arrived in B.C. and it can destroy habitats. It can out-compete our local crab species for food and habitat, and also has a tendency to mow down eel grass beds, beds like those found at Belcarra Bay and a big part of the reason why recreational fishers can find crabs at Belcarra Regional Park.... Green Crabs have been spotted near parts of Victoria as well as at Boundary Bay here in the Lower Mainland - crabbers/beachcombers, please keep an eye out: Identifying features *Adult size: up to 10 cm *Shell serrated and trapeze-shaped, with three spines between the eyes and five on each side *Two claws of different sizes *Tips of its back legs are pointed, slightly flattened and hairy *Colour variable: green, red or yellow *Aggressive, territorial and vigorous, can survive out of the water for several days More information can be found at: https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca//europeangreencrab-crabevert-eng It's asked that anyone who finds a suspected EGC document the location where it was found as well as the date captured, and submit a photo and any other capture information to [email protected].

You see that spotted brown lump? That's the barnacle eating nudibranch, an animal often spotted on the beach of Belcarra. (Note the scale of it compared to the barnacles around it - it's small). These nudibranchs often eat (you guessed it): barnacles. It uses it's toothed tongue (radula) to chew away at the top plates of a barnacle, then it sucks up the barnacle itself. These little lumps get no bigger than 2cm, and are often found in large groups, or aggregatio...ns (if you find one, you're likely gonna find a bunch more nearby). This year the Beachkeepers are doing some beach surveys and recording animals they spot (like the barnacle eating nudibranch) so we have a better sense of what lives here and can in turn, ensure all the animals are (and stay) protected.