Garbage, Construction and Box Crabs

Happy Spring from the Ucluelet Aquarium! We've had some exciting changes take place so far this year. Our new building is finally underway. After 4 years of fundraising, we now have a soundtrack of machinery and construction playing

throughout the aquarium. The little aquarium will still run for this season, closing again in october. When we re-open next year in our new building (projected opening date is set for May Long-Weekend of 2012) we will run year-round.

Our winter JCP crew wrapped up with a display of all the garbage they collected. Weighing 6710KG, plus about 25% which was previously recycled,and stretching out over 100 cubic yards, the massive haul of garbage was too large to be photographed from the ground. Many thanks to our volunteers for all the help, and to the Ministry of Social Development, which made the whole project possible.

We have a brand new box crab which we're very excited about. (Thank you to the crew of the North Islander). There are so many amazing species that we have on the coast, but the Brown Box Crab is truly remarkable. The holes on either side of its claws provide it with fresh water while closed up for protection. It moves with the grace of a tank but is more dextrous than it appears and has avery strong (and painful)grip.

May provided us with some of the lowest tides of the year. Perfect weather and ideal times (early morning right before work) meant many of us ran frolicking down to the intertidal zone to peer at all the creatures not normally accessible to us during low tides.

Greetings from the Ucluelet Aquarium,
We hope you are having a great February and looking forward to our March 19th re-opening. Recently, we have completed the Harbour clean-up and are now turning our attention towards removing invasive plant species from selected areas of the harbour. The top priority is the removal of Scotch Broom. An invasive plant on Vancouver Island since 1850. This perennial has been used in the past as a bank stabilizer by the highway department because of its deep root structure and rapid growth. However, it has flourished and become a nusance to many native plants on the Island as it hinders the available light, mositure and nutrients. It is also fast growing and considered a 'prolific seed producer' with up to 18,000 seeds per plant. It is also difficult to ward off and stop its invasive reproduction.
If you are planning on removing broom the general rule of thumb is if the stock is smaller than your pinky finger it can be pulled out of the ground. Otherwise, cut the stock of the plant as low to the ground as possible.
Our efforts have been focused in the Millstream area where we have removed approximately 20,000 of these invasive plants. After the broom has been pulled or chopped we burn the broom as to not spread the broom seeds any further.
We will be monitoring the areas that we have removed the broom from to see how the land rehabilitates.

Gorse

Happy New Year Aquarium lovers!

We are excited to get back to our JCP (Job Creation Program) Harbour Clean up project for 2011!

Despite the colder temperatures in the early mornings we have continued up the frozen harbour. To date we have removed garbage from 2/3 of the intertidal zone and shore line (25 fish totes worth) and we will be continuing our way north into the Millstream area. We can already see our positive affects on the harbour as we occasionally pass over areas that we have already cleaned on our way to new spots.

Of the items we have found, commercial batteries are the most concerning. We have found batteries on all the abandon boats in the Ukee harbour. So far we have found 13 large commercial batteries and many household batteries. These batteries leach cadmium, lead , mercury, copper, zinc, magnese, lithium and potassium which are all hazardous to the environment and human health. Many of these toxins do not break down in the environment and can accumulate in all animals particularly in fish and shell fish. Removing these toxic batteries will improve the health and future generations of the marine life in the Ucluelet harbour.

Most service stations will take and recycle your batteries free of charge! Petro-Canada and Noel Enterprises in Ucluelet will accept all batteries as well as Method Marine in Tofino. We hope that our days of throwing batteries in the ocean are behind us.

We would like to thank The Westerly newspaper for publishing a two page spread on the work we have been doing in the Harbour.(December 16th 2010 newspaper)The Harbour clean up also got a thumbs up in the Times Colonist(Victoria newspaper) for our good work.

Hey Folks,

Due to threatening letters from George Lucas (creator of Star Wars) we have changed our winter crew name from The Storm Troopers to the Ucluelet Aquarium Harbour keepers lol.

As for business, the days have gotten shorter and the weather a little chillier, making our job a little more challenging but fun nonetheless.

To date we have removed a distance of 7km of garbage from Hyphocus Island to Garbage dumphill; roughly a quarter of the harbour. We have found lots of garbage Everywhere! both in commercial and residential areas equally. As of Nov 19th we have collected 15 commercial fishing totes of a variety of garbage. Of this refuse, we are primarily pulling large chunks of Styrofoam, rope and single use plastic drink bottles. Interesting things we have found are an old glass insulator used formerly on hydro poles, a large brass propeller, a homemade fishing float toy and numerous shoes (who are these people walking around with one shoe!)

Here Seamus is found slacking off waiting for the hockey game to start.

Of the more interesting natural finds, we found a Giant Pacific Octopus beak. This beak may have come from an Octopus more than 20ft long.

In the coming weeks we will be continuing up the Eastern side of the harbour working our way north. Stayed tuned for further updates and progress on our mission to make Ucluelet harbour a cleaner and a more beautiful place to work and play. For more information log onto the Ucluelet
Aquarium Facebook page.

For your viewing pleasure here are some of our trashy photos!

Our first week as the Storm Troopers!

Hey folks,

Despite the harsh weather, we have been hitting the harbour pretty hard, finding a wide variety of discarded materials and mapping certain areas that are overrun with invasive plant species. A shout out to Josie Osborne of the Raincoast Education Society for putting on a very informative Invasive species work shop; much appreciated!

Biologist Josey Osborne of The Rain Coast Education Society

Last week we started in the Highphocus Inlet and slowly moved our way north using canoes thanks to Judy Gray and Bill Morrison. The canoes have allowed us to access virtually any area on the coast line due to their ability to maneuver in shallow waters. However due to the surprising amount of garbage we decided to make piles along the coastline just above the high tide line to later be collected with a power boat and small skiff. Thanks to Barkley Sound Black Seals Dive Company for the use of their power boat.

As you can imagine the garbage began to pile up quickly once we got it to home base. We then recruited the use of a dozen fish totes to seperate and organize the garbage for recycling or to be reused. Some of the items include car parts, doors, lightbulbs, bottles and cans, a wide variety of plastics and a surprising amount of styrofoam and rope, lighters and pens.

Stay tuned as we will be continuing to work our way up the harbour...

Dirty work but somebody has to do it

Winter 2010 Harbour Clean up Crew

Hello out there Aquarium lovers!! We are currently changing with the season and moving into another phase now that the Ucluelet Aquarium has shut down for the season. First off, thank you to all those who came down for the Oct 16th release day; your help was greatly appreciated.

Now that winter is approaching the Aquarium Society will be continuing its work in the community. The winter team known as the "Ucluelet Harbour Storm Troopers" which consists of Kane Edwards, Seamus Little, Jesse Espezel and Tewas Johnston will be doing a number of projects in and around the Ucluelet harbour such as, removing invasive plant species, removing harmful debris and garbage from the intertidal zone as well as diving and removing discarded garbage from the sub tidal zone. In addition, we will be assisting the Ucluelet First Nations in their on going shell fish studies of the Ucluelet inner harbour!

This project is made possible thanks to the Job Creation Program making the Ucluelet harbour a cleaner and healthier environment.

Team Bio:

Jesse Espezel, Born in Fort McMurray. 1982.

I have been involved with Vancouver Island all my life and finally moved to Ucluelet in 2003 to further my skills as a Carpenter and to enjoy the endless opportunities to get out there and enjoy nature. I have spent a significant amount of time combing the beach and trails with my two dogs, often bringing away a full bag of trash that washes up on shore. Now I have met a great group of like minded people, both from the Ucluelet Aquarium Society and our "Storm Troopers" harbor clean up crew. Together we can really make a difference.

Tewas Johnston

Hello interested folks of the Ucluelet Aquarium Society. My name is Tewas J. I've been fortunate to live in Ucluelet for 5 yrs and counting. I first came to Ucluelet on a recommendation from my uncle who is a carver in Nanaimo. Knowing that I had surfed in High school, he told me that you could catch waves in and around the Tofino/Ucluelet area. After a short visit, I immediately fell in love with the area and its people. I am looking forward to working for the Aquarium Society this winter, as well as the community on a whole. If you see any of us "Storm Troopers" trudging about feel free to say hello and chat us up.....Tewas. J

Seamus Little

Hi there! My name is Seamus. Before ever going to the West Coast of Canada I just knew it was were I wanted to be. There was something that intrigued me about surfing and the ocean ever since I was a little kid. Growing up in Ontario was great. My parents took my sister and I on camping trips in the summers and always got us involved in sports. Well the time came about 3 years ago were it was time to experience the west coast. I packed my little Toyota Corolla, drove strait to Ucluelet and never looked back. My love for the ocean grows the more and more I learn about it. I feel really lucky to be a part of the Aquarium Society and look forward to working with our awesome team. "Go Ucluelet Harbour Storm Troopers"

Kane Edwards

Hello !

I am super excited for this winters harbour project,we have an awesome crew and we are going to make a huge positive impact in the Ucluelet harbour!This project is going to benefit the environment as well as the community.If you see us on the shoreline working hard feel free to come chat us up!

Art Gallery Exibit on Release Day!

Two Artisits - One Community - One Country
After the release visit the community hall. From October 16th - 24th internationally acclaimed canadian artists Ken Kirby and Joan Larson will be displaying works at the Ucluelet Community Centre. There will be chowder and drinks by donation on release day, all benefiting the aquarium. 4 Days till Release!!!