![]() ![]() One of the trails in the Pacific Rim National Park that ends in two, not just one beautiful beach, is the Willowbrae Trail. Florencia Bay – a lovely stretch of sand to explore on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Within Tofino and Ucluelet, there are enough beaches, trails, and things to do to keep you busy for days on end. After all, who doesn’t love rainforests, beaches, and the ocean? With just a few weeks until our holidays and nowhere left to go, we opted for a quick change of plans and decided to go to Vancouver Island. Now don’t get me wrong, gems like Iceline, Verdant Pass, and Burstall Pass are worth doing, but the snow was coming and we needed a change of scenery. Fall colours were quickly shelved when all of Eastern Canada went back into the red zone and everything was shut down due to a significant rise in COVID numbers.Īfter spending most of our summer in Rockies, we were ready to do something new. First on my list was to go to Quebec City, the Eastern Townships, and Montreal to explore the fall colours and hike as many places and mountains as possible in the span of 9 days. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic travel, even within Canada continues to be quite limited. This fall, we decided to visit Vancouver Island for the Canadian Thanksgiving week. Having grown up on the west coast and then transplanted to the subarctic as an adult, there is always something about visiting the coast that makes my heart warm even though the rest of me is rather cold and wet. The low tide gives way to hopping down the coastline from beach to beach, as well as clambering over rocks and exploring tide pools. Once you are on the beach, you can do as much or as little exploring as you want. Something that I love about the Ucluelet and Tofino area is that the beaches are plentiful and easy to access. The west coast of Vancouver Island is a wild, rocky and rugged place worthy of exploring. Logistics – none, but be prepared for some slippery stairs.Difficulty – Medium (due to slippery stairs).Distance – 3.9 km roundtrip + distance for exploring on the beaches.Intertidal explorers should add Andy Lamb’s excellent book Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest: A Photographic Encyclopedia of Invertebrates, Seaweeds and Selected Fishes to their reading list – its really helpful when trying to identify the intertidal creatures of the Pacific Northwest. Pink-tipped Anemone (Anthopleura elegantissima) - note the small clone to the right of the larger anemone. Below is the Pink-tipped Anemone ( Anthopleura elegantissima). There were a few anemones that seemed to be doing well in the little pools of water. Wrinkled Dogwelks (Nucella lamellosa) and eggs. The egg masses are commonly called sea oats because of their distinctive appearance. ![]() I knew that these were eggs but was unsure of what type of snail laid them until I found more of them and a rout of Wrinkled Dogwelks ( Nucella lamellosa) at the base of a very large boulder in the middle of the cobblestone beach. Sea Oats - the distinctive egg mass of a Wrinkled Dogwelk (Nucella lamellosa). Note the other organisms on this rock – what appear to be some bryozoans (the mesh like pattern) and some small snails. The sponge is soft and velvety to the touch. This Purple Encrusting Sponge ( Haliclona sp.) is fairly easy to identify due to its distinctive colour and prominent oscula (excurrent pores). ![]() Here’s just a few of the things that I saw on the beach this weekend: Purple Encrusting Sponge (Haliclona sp.) plus some bryozoans, a few small snails and a limpet! Walking carefully lessens your impact and you’re more likely to see some of the small things that are often missed. One of the rules of beach exploration is to move slowly. After discovering a small cast of Red Rock Crabs I ventured out toward the far edge of water. I made my way out onto a large cobblestone bar following the dropping tide. ![]() Point Holmes is always productive since it is a mix of sand and cobblestone with a few big boulders thrown in to make things interesting. With the fantastic weather of the last couple of days and the low afternoon tides it is an excellent time to be exploring the sea shore. This weekend I spent some delightful time poking around in tide pools at Point Holmes near Comox, BC. ![]()
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