The broom situation at Surfside on the Englishman River estuary proved to be too daunting for the dozen or so MVIHES and QB Streamkeeper volunteers who came out to take a whack at it while in bloom. There is an awful lot there and we were mostly concentrating on the isolated clumps in the field as the broom-busting guru, JoAnne Sales, recommended. Trouble was, a lot of those clumps had been previously mowed so had numerous shoots coming out at ground level making them very difficult to cut off. It took us longer, but we accomplished quite a lot in the time we were there.
On the positive side, the Surfside complex has taken charge by cutting a huge amount themselves and manager, Shawn Bennett, is vowing to make an annual event of it with a Broom Beer and Burger day. Way to go!
We would like to invite you to the slide presentation:
What we are learning about our aquifers: Results of a Groundwater Study of Englishman River Phase 1
This presentation will review the first phase of our groundwater study done by Dr. Gilles Wendling, Hydrogeologist
Please join us on May 26, 2010 7 pm in the Red Cedars Room at the Parksville Community and Conference Centre. Everyone is welcome and we hope to see you there!
This presentation is sponsored by Georgia Basin Living Rivers, and TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.
What an awesome diversity and number of fish we caught in our (relatively) small net at four sites! We netted hundreds of pipefish, Staghorn and Buffalo Sculpin, hundreds of juvenile flatfish, about a hundred Midshipmen, loads of Kelp Crab, Kelp Greenling, Sandlance, many Shiner Perch, Ghost Shrimp, and even some of what we were looking for - chum salmon smolts - and more!
The beach seine surveys are supervised by Fisheries Biologist, Dave Clough, with help from MVIHES volunteers and funded by Georgia Basin Vancouver Island Living Rivers. We'll be going out again in early June. Check the Current Events Calendar for dates if you want to become involved.
MVIHES would like to invite you to help eradicate the masses of broom on the west side of the Englishman River estuary on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 10 am or 1 pm.
Our Project Manager, Faye, will greet people at Surfside RV park (foot of Corfield Street in Parksville) at 9:45 for the morning crew and 12:45 for the afternoon crew. She will provide instructions on the effective removal of the broom and then we can all go through the private gate together. If you arrive late, please go to the RV Park office and ask for entry through the gate.
The Broombusters will bring some loppers, but if you have your own, hand held pruners or appropriate shovels please bring them. You are welcome to work for as long or short of time as you would like. We look forward to seeing you out there!
Michele Deakin and Faye Smith attended the Pacific Estuarine Research Society (PERS) conference at VIU in Nanaimo April 30 and May 1. They presented the Caring for the Englishman River Estuary and Nearshore bio-inventory and volunteer monitoring project with a power point lecture and a conference poster. A non-profit society,PERS brings together persons actively engaged in estuarine and coastal research and management on the Pacific Coast of North America for informal discussion and exchange of ideas for educational purposes. Presenting in Nanaimo were delegates from BC, Washington State, Oregon, California and Alaska.
What an awesome diversity and number of fish we caught in our (relatively) small net at four sites! We netted hundreds of pipefish, Staghorn and Buffalo Sculpin, hundreds of juvenile flatfish, about a hundred Midshipmen, loads of Kelp Crab, Kelp Greenling, Sandlance, many Shiner Perch, Ghost Shrimp, and even some of what we were looking for - chum salmon smolts - and more!
MVIHES would like to invite you to help eradicate the masses of broom on the west side of the Englishman River estuary on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 10 am or 1 pm.
Michele Deakin and Faye Smith attended the