East Sooke Regional Park Site Description: Exposed, sand, rock Nearest town: Sooke, VI Whiffen Spit Regional Park Site Description: Semi-exposed, sand/mud, rock Nearest town: Sooke, VI French Beach Provincial Park Site Description: Exposed, rock, tidepools Nearest town: Sooke, VI Botanical Beach Provincial Park Site Description: Exposed, rock, tidepools Nearest town: Port Renfrew, VI Bamfield Site Description: Exposed, sand, rock Nearest town: Port Alberni, VI Pacific Rim National Park Site Description: Exposed, sand, rock Nearest town: Tofino, VI Burnaby Narrows Site Description: Protected, sand/mud, rock Nearest town: Sandspit, QCI Yakan Point Site Description: Protected, sand, rock, tidepools Nearest town: Massett, QCI 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Beaver Point, Ruckle Provincial Park, Saltspring Island Site Description: Protected, rock Nearest town: Fulford, SI Stanley Park Site Description: Protected, sand/mud, rock Nearest town: Vancouver Skookumchuck Narrows Provincial Park Site Description: Semi-exposed, rock Nearest town: Egmont, Sunshine Coast Saltery Bay Provincial Park Site Description: Protected, sand, mud, rock Nearest town: Powell River Miracle Beach Provincial Park Site Description: Protected, sand Nearest town: Courtenay, VI Tribune Bay Provincial Park, Hornsby Island Site Description: Protected, sand Nearest town: Denman Village, Denman Island Montague Harbour Provincial Park, Galiano Island Site Description: Protected, sand, rock Nearest town: Sturdies Bay, GI Winter Cove Provincial Marine Park, Saturna Island Site Description: Protected, sand/mud, rock, tidepools Nearest town: Lyall Harbour, SI 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 16 15 3 1 2 4 5 6 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 Lewis's Moonsnail Le i' Moo ail Bat Stars Bat Stars Sea Star un Star S Sand Dollar Dungeness Crab Dungeness Crab Jellyfish Jellyfish References: Sept, J. Duane, The Beachcomber' Guide to Seashore Life in the Pacific Northwest, Harbour Publishing (Madeira Park, BC) 2001. Levin, Harold L., The Earth Through Time, Saunders College Publishing (Orlando, FL) 1999. Image Sources: http://www.alaska.net/~scubaguy/gallery.htm (jellyfish) http://www.123crabdelivery.com/pictures/content/dungeness-crab-whole.jpg (Dungeness crab) www.at-bristol.org.uk/ News_data/default.htm (sea star); www.biosbcc.net/ ocean/fltre.htm (bat stars) www.oceanlight2.bc.ca/ about.htm (beachcombers); www.hmsc.orst.edu/projects/ rocky/sfstar.html (sun star) http://www.njmsc.org/Education/List%20Lessons/List%20Lesson-Seashells%20are%20homes%20for%20mollusks.htm (moonsnail) www.nhm.ac.uk/palaeontology/ echinoids/MORPH/MORPH.HTM (sand dollar); members.rogers.com/jgleed/ (beach) Tide Data: http://www.lau.chs-shc.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/marees/cgi-bin/tide-shc.tcl British Columbia's coast contains some of the world's richest and most diverse habitats for intertidal marine life. The intertidal zone - the area that is submerged during high tides and exposed at low tides - is a wonderful place to observe a variety of marine plants and animals. British Columbia's coastline contains many types of intertidal habitats. From its sandy beaches and mud flats to its rocky shores, each habitat provides the opportunity to view an assortment of marine creatures. Habitats can be significantly different along various sections of the west coast depending on whether the location is exposed to or protected from the pounding waves of the Pacific Ocean. Sandy areas can be found in both exposed and protected sites. Exposed sandy areas such as sandspits or sandy beaches are good locations to find the Pacific razor-clam or purple olive, while protected beaches or sand flats are the ideal place to find Dungeness crab or Nuttall's cockle. Mud flats are usually found in sheltered locations such as bays and estuaries and are home to creatures such as the yellow shore crab or Pacific gaper. Some animals inhabit both sand beaches and mud flats such as Lewis's moonsnail, Pacific geoduck and soft-shell clams. Rocky shores can also be found in exposed and protected sites. These exposed sites are great locations to find the California mussel or black Katy chiton while protected sites are home to creatures such as the painted sea anemone and hairy hermit. Explore BC's coast but remember marine habitats, as well as the marine animals within them, should be handled with care. Don't forget to check local tides as well! Phylum Mollusca: Sea animals in this group include chitons, limpets, nudibranches, clams, and mussels. They all have a soft fleshy mantle, a toothed radula for scraping, and a shell covering. Members of this group found in BC include the hairy, Merten, white-lined, woody, black Katy, and giant Pacific chitons. The rough keyhole, plate, and mask limpets, red turbans, Lewis's moonsnail, purple olives, channeled dogwinkles, red, and yellow-edged nudibranch (sea slugs), fat gaper, expanded macoma, Olympia oyster, Pacific o ysters, clams, Northern hair mussel, Nuttall's cockle, and dark- mahogany clam Phylum Echinodermata: ea animals in this group include sea stars, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and sand dollars. They all have spiny skins (calcareous plates) that are are covered with a soft layer of skin. Members of s of this group found in BC include the bat, Paci acific blood, sunflower, morning sun, leather, mottle tled, giant pink, and six-rayed stars, California sea cucumbers, eccentric sand dollars, green, and red sea urchins hylum Arthropoda: Ph ea animals in this group include barnacles and Se rabs. They all have 'jointed limbs' and cr xoskeletons which cover their bodies like suits ex f armour. Members of this group found in BC of clude Dungeness, red rock, flattop, graceful in decorate, helmet, hairy, and yellow shore crabs, goose, and acorn barnacles Phylum Cnidaria: Sea animals in this group include jellyfish, sea anemones and corals. They all have specialized organs for digesting and stinging, and some live free-swimming while others are attached. Members of this group found in BC include the giant plumose, painted, proliferating, red- beaded, moonglow, and striped anemones British Columbia Beachcombing Sites British Columbia Beachcombing Sites Produced by Sandi Gibson Cartography 250, April 2003 Department of Geography Simon Fraser University N