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Discovering Kwilakm
  • Discovering Kwilákm
  • About
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  • Changing Climate
    • Hotter Ocean Temperatures
    • Changing Ocean Chemistry
    • Rising Sea Levels and Intensifying Winter Storms
    • When Seashore Temperatures Spike – Killer Heat Dome 2021
  • Terminal Creek
    • Where does Terminal Creek’s Water Come From?
    • Signal Crayfish
    • Terminal Creek Fish Hatchery
  • The Lagoon
    • The Tidal Inlet that became the Lagoon
    • Aquatic Plants
    • Chum Salmon
    • The Beaver
    • Canada Geese
    • Three-Spined Stickleback
  • Shores
    • Nearshore Forests
    • Beaches
    • The Terminal Creek Sand Flats
    • The Curious Clay Beds of Kwilákm
    • Blue Mussels
    • Clams
    • Purple Stars
    • Oysters in Kwilákm
  • Shallows
    • Eelgrass
    • Young Chum Salmon
    • Winter Bay Birds
    • Year-Round Bay Birds
  • Deeper Waters
    • Plankton
    • Northern Anchovy
    • Harbour Seal
    • Octopus
Conservancy logoBowen Island Conservancy
    • About
    • Get Involved
  • Discovering Kwilákm
    • About
    • Get Involved
  • Changing Climate
    • Hotter Ocean Temperatures
    • Changing Ocean Chemistry
    • Rising Sea Levels and Intensifying Winter Storms
    • When Seashore Temperatures Spike – Killer Heat Dome 2021
  • Terminal Creek
    • Where does Terminal Creek’s Water Come From?
    • Signal Crayfish
    • Terminal Creek Fish Hatchery
  • The Lagoon
    • The Tidal Inlet that became the Lagoon
    • Aquatic Plants
    • Chum Salmon
    • The Beaver
    • Canada Geese
    • Three-Spined Stickleback
  • Shores
    • Nearshore Forests
    • Beaches
    • The Terminal Creek Sand Flats
    • The Curious Clay Beds of Kwilákm
    • Blue Mussels
    • Clams
    • Purple Stars
    • Oysters in Kwilákm
  • Shallows
    • Eelgrass
    • Young Chum Salmon
    • Winter Bay Birds
    • Year-Round Bay Birds
  • Deeper Waters
    • Plankton
    • Northern Anchovy
    • Harbour Seal
    • Octopus
Female common merganser perched on a rock on the shore.

Photo: Will Husby

Shallows

Winter Bay Bird Conservation

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Discover Kwilakm » Story » Shallows » Winter Bay Bird Conservation
Sailboat washed up on shore in a storm
Derelict vessel washed ashore on Pebbly Beach. Photo: Len Gilday

Marine birds are extremely sensitive to changes in their environment. Bird population trends are vital indicators of overall ecosystem health. A decrease in species population could be due to a reduction in their food supply, quality of food, or changing ocean conditions. By protecting marine birds, we improve the circumstances for many species, including humans.

Mergansers in flight
Mergansers in flight Photo: Will Husby
Common Mergansers at Sandy Beach
Winter flocks of common mergansers. Photos: Will Husby

Birds that flock together on Kwilákm are particularly vulnerable when vessels spill fuel, oil and other pollutants into shallow water. When oil sticks to a bird’s feathers, the feather’s waterproofing is harmed, exposing the bird’s skin to cold ocean water, resulting in hypothermia, meaning the bird becomes very cold. An oil-soaked bird is unlikely to recover.

Derelict and poorly maintained vessels pose a particular environmental hazard. To restore environmental and community well-being to the Bay, the Bowen Island Municipality has control over what happens in Kwilákm. Boaters with mooring buoys in the Bay are required to pay an annual fee to the Municipality. They also need to provide contact information and proof of third-party liability insurance. Living on a boat in Kwilákm is not permitted. For more information, search online using the terms: “Kwilákm Revitalization – Bowen Island Municipality”.

Bowen citizen scientists and volunteers have embraced restoring Kwilákm’s natural environment. For instance, Dive Against Debris is an annual event where volunteer divers, boaters, kayakers, and shore support come together to remove garbage from the bottom of Kwilákm. Over five years, volunteers hauled over 2,700 kg of debris. The SeaChange Marine Conservation Society is leading a volunteer effort to replant and restore the Bay’s eelgrass Meadows.

Volunteers preparing eelgrass transplant
Volunteers preparing eelgrass for transplanting. Photo: Len Gilday

Eelgrass provides essential habitat for small fish and aquatic invertebrates to the benefit of loons, grebes, cormorants, and other fish-eating seabirds. Learn more at Eelgrass.

Herring are a cornerstone of the marine food-web and spawned in Snug Cove up until the 1970s.

Person holding herring in hand
Photo: Bob Turner

Flocks of loon, merganser, cormorant, murrelets and grebes feed heavily on this oily little fish and during the herring spawn scoters, goldeneye, bufflehead, widgeon, and mallards gorge on herring eggs.

Herring eggs on seaweed
Herring eggs on seaweed.Photo: Will Husby

Herring like to lay their eggs on seaweeds and on wooden structures–wharf pilings are a favourite. The creosote used to preserve the wooden pilings, however, kills the herring eggs. Herring supporters recommend wrapping the dozens of creosoted pilings in Kwilákm and Snug Cove with nontoxic landscape fabric in the hope of restoring herring spawning that once occurred here.

More About the Shallows

  • Shallows
  • Eelgrass
  • Young Chum Salmon
  • Winter Bay Birds
  • Barrow’s Goldeneye
  • Common Loon
  • Surf Scoter
  • Winter Bay Bird Conservation
  • Year-Round Bay Birds



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