Greater Vancouver Marine Life
by Murray A. Newman
Coastal waters possess extraordinarily abundant and diverse marine life from microscopic planktonic forms through colorful invertebrates and fishes to giant kelp and whales. Contributing to this abundance is the deeply indented, rocky British Columbia coastline bathed by swiftly moving tidal currents.
Perhaps largely because of its stable, cool temperature the North Pacific has the greatest number of species compared with other temperate oceans. For example, there are about 90 species of starfishes compared with only 20 in the North Atlantic Ocean; six species of Cancer crabs in the North Pacific, only one in the North Atlantic. The continuity of cool temperate conditions over vast geological periods brought about the evolution of a rich fauna adapted to North Pacific conditions. Here species tend to be larger than closely related animals in other oceans. Examples are the giant Pacific octopus (3-metre spread, 45 kilograms), California mussel (20 centimetres long), sunflower star (1 metre in diameter), red sea urchin (12 centimetres in diameter), chinook salmon (30 kilograms) and Pacific halibut (females to 267 centimetres, over 225 kilograms; males to 140 centimetres).
There are great tides along the British Columbia coast creating extensive inter-tidal zones filled with marine organisms. At low tide the mild maritime climate and overlying kelp protect marine animals from dehydration and overheating. Here the beachcomber can find anemones, starfishes, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, crabs of several species, whelks, chitons, marine worms and small fishes such as sculpins and pricklebacks in pools or under rocks.
Vancouver shares the richness of the coast but most of its marine life is invisible since it is far below the surface. As you stare into the water from a dock you see anemones, barnacles, mussels and purple starfish on the pilings together with feather hydroids and some seaweed on which there will be kelp crabs and small decorator crabs. Moon jellyfish with short tentacles and the large orange-brown sea nettles drift along. At low tide you can compare the rocky coast of West Vancouver with the sandy beaches of Spanish Banks, noting the greater diversity and abundance on rocky shores.
Scuba divers see much more. Porteau Cove on Howe Sound and Whytecliff Park in West Vancouver are marine sanctuaries where divers can observe protected underwater habitats. As the divers descend they observe different species at different depths. Between the tides they see red and green anemones, mussels, green urchins and purple starfish. As they go deeper these species are replaced by plumose anemones, red urchins and many starfish species--pink, leather, blood, vermilion and the giant orange sunflower stars. Sometimes, in a cave or crevice or even exposed on the bottom, divers encounter dark red octopuses that quickly seek cover. On the bottom are coon-striped shrimp, orange sea cucumbers and cancer crabs, both red rock and the larger Dungeness crab. In the warmer water above the thermocline in summer, the diver sees small silvery salmon and herring, shiner perch, blackeye gobies and copper rockfish but farther down will see quillback rockfish and striped seaperch in midwater and lingcod, red Irish Lord sculpins, cabezons and occasional wolfeels on the bottom. Over sand or mud there are starry flounders and other flatfishes and skates.
In the deep waters of Vancouver Harbour are dogfish sharks and ratfish and species that people almost never see--little brown sharks, great six-gill sharks, black skates, sculpins of strange shape and appearance, red thornyheads, poachers and eelpouts. The deep water fishes are often black or red and tend to be soft and slimy.
The waters around the city of Vancouver are influenced by the Fraser River which flows into the Strait of Georgia and spreads in a plume over the surface of much of the southern portions of the region. In late springtime when the river is in flood, freshwater sweeps around Point Grey into Vancouver’s harbor where occasional freshwater fishes such as carp and sturgeon are found and surf smelt spawn in brackish water along the beaches. Associated with the Fraser River and other streams such as the Capilano, Lynn and Seymour, are salmon runs where young salmon swim out to sea in the springtime and mature salmon return in the summer and autumn. All of the five species of Pacific salmon plus migratory steelhead trout swim through Vancouver waters at one time or another and are sought avidly by both sport and commercial fishermen. In summertime many sport fishing boats can be seen while larger seiners, gill netters and trollers come and go from more distant points.
The Capilano Salmon Hatchery in North Vancouver is a good place to observe salmon. The park itself is very beautiful with the river cascading swiftly though a narrow canyon below the Cleveland Dam. Chinook, coho and steelhead can be seen there. The best times to observe them are: July to October for adult coho, October for Chinook, January to May for young Chinook and year round for young coho and steelhead.
Watching spawning salmon in the autumn is fascinating. All five North American Pacific salmon (there is a sixth species in Japan) die after they spawn. Some steelhead trout die after they spawn but most survive. Salmon usually undergo great migrations from freshwater to saltwater and back. Associated with these migrations are changes in shape and color, while in the ocean salmon are silvery. As sockeye salmon approach freshwater spawning areas, their bodies turn brilliant red while their heads and tails become green. Male salmon develop big teeth, elongated jaws and hunched backs. The most extreme hunched form are the male pink salmon or “humpbacks.”
You can see adult pink salmon in the Jones Creek Spawning Channel near Hope in October during odd-numbered years. Pinks live only two years in southern B.C. waters and runs only occur in odd years.
The Fraser River basin is one of the world’s most productive watersheds. The river has never been dammed and has immense salmon runs, tile most valuable of which is the famed Adams River Sockeye run. These salmon reach the mouth of the Fraser River in late summer, then return to the Adams in the South Thompson area for spawning in late October. The dominant runs take place every four years--1994, 1998, 2002--when 1.5 to 2.0 million sockeye spawn.
When the salmon are milling around the mouth of the Fraser in August and September, killer whales are often seen in the area. More than 600 of these large black and white dolphins are found along the B.C. coast. They live in four communities: northern resident, southern resident, transient and offshore. Residents and transients have different diets, the former apparently feeding only on fish while transients prefer warm blooded prey such as seals, sea lions and Dall’s porpoises. While resident whales are attracted by schools of salmon in the Strait of Georgia, transients are sometimes seen in Vancouver Harbor apparently searching for seals.
Much of our understanding about killer whales, or orcas as they are also called, comes from the photo-identification system used by the late Dr. Michael Bigg. While earlier scientists fired darts with tags into whales, Dr. Bigg carefully photographed most of the orcas along the coast and showed they could be identified by individual marks or scars on their backs and fins.
Killer whales can occasionally be seen from ferry boats crossing. the Strait of Georgia, but the best place to observe them is in Johnstone Strait between northern Vancouver Island and the Mainland. During summer, pods of resident killer whales move regularly around the area and can be watched and photographed from tour boats. Dr. John Ford, Vancouver Aquarium’s whale scientist, has revealed that the calls of killer whales can be heard with the help of a hydrophone and that call types are arranged in dialects which differ in the various pods.
In the waters around Vancouver other marine mammals can be seen. Many of them follow the migrations of eulachons, herring and salmon, particularly around river mouths. Harbor seals are very common and can be recognized by their spotted coats, large eyes and earless heads. While there are two species of sea lions, the giant Steller sea lions are rare as compared with the California sea lions. Tour boats take tourists out to observe sea lions from the Steveston docks near the mouth of the Fraser River.
The best place to see B.C. marine life is in the Vancouver Aquarium located in Stanley Park. The main exhibits are arranged in a sequence to represent British Columbia aquatic habitats from the open ocean to the headwaters of the Fraser River. Flocks of waterfowl can be seen in Lost Lagoon and the waters around Stanley Park.
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