Mazzaella parksii: The Race Rocks Taxonomy

mcornucopiae

Mazzaella parksii, photo by Ryan Murphy

Phylum: Rhodophyta
Class: Florideophyceae
Order: Gigatinales
Family: Gigartinaceae
Genus: Mazzaella
Species: parksii ( formerly M.cornucopiae)

Description: M. parksii is a clonal red alga that attaches to rock substrates in the intertidal zone. It ranges in colour from red to olive brown. Tufts of this plant reach 40 cm across, each lobe arising from the basal encrusting layer is up to 2 cm. in length
Habitat: On rocks in the middle and lower intertidal zones.
Pacific Coast Distribution: British Columbia to Mexico.

taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File.

 

 

The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental pearsonlogo2_f2Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

Ryan Murphy, 2005

 

Black Oystercatcher Behaviour

In December of each year, flocks of up to 20 Black Oystercatchers return to Race Rocks, having been away since the end of summer. They spend hours in their flocks on the South side of Great Race Rock. If one observes them for awhile they will note some interesting patterns of behaviour: sleep, preening, and alert behaviour when there is a possible danger nearby. This clip can be used as a short version sample for the lab on ethology.

The History of the Foghorn at Race Rocks

foghorn-1From the early 1980’s until January, 1997, fog or heavy rain impeding visibility in the eastern entrance of the Strait of Juan de Fuca would trigger three double tones per minute from the four trumpet shaped Airchime horns mounted on the South side of the engine room at Race Rocks.

Click below to hear them: 

click on bar below for the current foghorn 

Flabellina verrucosa The Race Rocks Taxonomy

Flabellina verrucosa grazing on the hydroid Garveia. Photo by Ryan Murphy

In this image is Flabellina verrucosa the “Three-lined” aeolid which is seasonally abundant from Baja to Alaska (Behrens, 1991). Aeolids are opisthobranch gastropods known as sea slugs because they have lost their shells. This photo shows the nudibranch’s “oral tentacles” (bottom), ridged sensory antennae called “rhinophores”, “cerata” which contain stolen stinging cells for defense, and a “propodial tentacle”. This aeolid is common year-round at the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve where it is often observed feeding on hydroids such as Tubularia. To the left of it is thesmall Granulina m.
Macro
 images by Ryan Murphy

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Gastropoda
Order Nudibranchia
Family Flabellinidae
Genus Flabellina
Species verrucosa
Common Name:nudibranch
Other molluscs at Race Rocks

taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

Garry Fletcher

MPA references


Marine Protected Area –Area of Interest
The Pacific Region Marine Protected Areas Home Page.

The National Framework for Establishing and Managing Marine Protected Areas 1997

Marine Protected Areas: An Essential Element of the Fisheries Management Toolbox
François Côté,Jessica Finney Science and Technology Division. 24 April 2006

About Marine Protected Areas- CPAWS

Reflecting ecological criteria in laws supporting the Baja to Bering Sea marine protected areas network case study Charlotte Vásárhelyia and Vernon G. Thomas

Marine Protected areas in Canada- Implications for both conservation and fisheries management, C.S Jamieson and C.O.Levings 2001
Abstract: Legislated marine “protected” areas are now widely distributed throughout tropical and temperate waters, but the nature of human activities actually restricted in any area varies. This ambiguity about what “protected” means hasresulted in contradictory claims as to both the benefits and costs of marine protected areas. Here, we give our perspective on the current status of marine resource protection in Canada in general and British Columbia in particular. We first describe and discuss the history of Canadian marine protected areas established to date. Many areas are claimed to be protected, with little understanding by either the general public or even most marine resource experts as to what human activities are actually regulated by legislative designations. Second, we present an overview of biological reasons and objectives for marine protected areas, followed by a review of both the conservation and fisheries management effects and implications resulting from effective renewable resource protection. Finally, we propose a unique qualitative scheme for classifying and describing marine protected areas of different types to determine relative measures of protection.

Marine Protected Areas: An Essential Element of the Fisheries Management Toolbox
François Côté, Jessica Finney, Science and Technology Division 24 April 2006
“Introduction : The urgent need to improve protection and management of marine areas is becoming more and more apparent as the number and status of many important fish stocks continue to deteriorate. It has become evident that the vast majority of attempts to manage fisheries resources in a sustainable fashion have been unsuccessful, and resource managers are beginning to seek alternatives to traditional management strategies. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are viewed as important tools in reducing the risks associated with current fisheries management practices. MPAs are areas of ocean that are protected from various human activities.(1) Canada has taken initial steps to ensure that MPAs will complement existing measures to conserve and protect fisheries resources. In fact, the establishment of a national network of MPAs is one of the main components of the federal oceans management strategy outlined in Part II of the 1997 Oceans Act.(2) By all accounts, however, progress has been slow.This paper provides an overview of some of the background theory behind creating and managing effective MPAs, and looks at how these areas are being used as part of Canada’s oceans and fisheries management strategy. ” Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 58: 138–156 (2001)

Out of Sight, Out of Mind and Almost out of Time
Towards an effective System of Marine Protected Areas in BC
A brief to the Sierra Club of BC by Scott Wallace and David R. Boyd April 2000 (PDF)

PISCO : The Science of Marine Reserves. (videos)Guidelines for Marine Protected Areas, ( IUCN: World Commission on Protected Areas, 1999) This file has a list and summary of the papers that evaluate the benefits of MPAs.

A link to Literature reviews by the SEADOC Society Developing a Collaborative Process to Establish Marine Protected Areas , Marc Pakenham
Fisheries and Oceans Canada In: Puget Sound Research ’01. Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team, Olympia, WA .XwaYeN (Race Rocks), as Canada’s first Ocean Act MPA, was recommended for designation based on a series of recommendations that were developed through a collaborative process. This process had a number of distinctive features and quite remarkable results. Was the process based on authority or interests? How do you bring a disparate spectrum of interests together to establish consensus-based recommendations for conservation and protection? As a case study, the XwaYeN experience offered many lessons and has encouraged a wide range of interests to describe their own process and vision for further MPA designations.

An evaluation of Government/Non-government Collaboration in Marine Protected Area Development. Jeff R.Juthans, UBC School of Resource Management

ARCHIVAL PAGES: Some no longer available on Government websites.An Approach to the Establishment and Management of Marine Protected Areas Under the Oceans Act: A Discussion Paper Jan 1997
Speaking notes: David Anderson at UBC Jan 20 1998 Sept 1. 1998 Statement by David Anderson on new Pilot MPAs

Statement by Herb Dhaliwal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans on MPA at Race Rocks announcing it as Canada’s First Protected Area. Sept 14

Dhaliwal and Sawiki Endorse Race Rocks as Canada’s First Marine Protected Area. Sept 14, 2000Marine Protected Areas : A Strategy for Canada’s Pacific Coast
DISCUSSION PAPER August 1998 A Joint Initiative of the Governments of Canada and British Columbia
Conservation of Marine Ecosystems ( CANADA) by the NRTEE) ,
Below is a quote from Chapter 9 of a report on Securing Canada’s Natural Capital.
“9.2 Key challenges

One of the most significant barriers to advancing marine conservation in Canada is the extent to which responsibility for protecting marine habitat is fragmented and spread among various agencies and jurisdictions. Within the federal government alone there are more than 35 pieces of legislation and at least 25 agencies concerned with marine management. In addition, although the federal government has primary jurisdiction over the oceans and the continental shelf, authority for some portions of the coastal zone is shared by the federal government with provinces and territories. This has resulted in confusion, duplication of effort and protracted delays in making decisions that affect ocean users.
There is also a lack of coordination within the federal government. Although Fisheries and Oceans Canada has a mandate under the Oceans Act to coordinate the efforts of the three federal agencies that can establish MPAs—Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Parks Canada and Environment Canada—there is no comprehensive federal approach to MPAs. Fisheries and Oceans Canada has taken a “learning by doing” approach to Oceans Act MPAs, by identifying a series of pilot Oceans Act MPA sites on Canada’s coasts. Parks Canada has developed a systems plan based on 29 marine regions but has not identified specific sites for all of them, and Environment Canada has yet to identify the sites that would complete its marine system of national and marine wildlife areas. The lack of a coordinated national plan for MPAs has led to uncertainty among resource users that in some cases has translated into fear and diminished support for conservation initiatives.

A third major challenge is our limited knowledge of the oceans compared with what is known about the land. For example, decision makers have extremely limited knowledge about the seabed and the habitat it provides for key species. In essence, we do not know enough about the underwater topography of important marine habitats to manage them effectively. Much of the bottom of Canada’s oceans is mapped at only a very rough scale and, even though ecosystem management requires an understanding of marine food webs, many of the links between marine species are not well understood. ” end of quote.

BILL C-10: AN ACT RESPECTING THE NATIONAL MARINE CONSERVATION AREAS OF CANADA Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act The Bill received Royal Assent on June 13, 2002 — exactly 4 yrs and 2 days after it was first tabled in the House of Commons. It is now an Act of Parliament .

OCEANS LEGISLATION IN CANADA Report: Marine Reserves Key to Preserving Ocean Ecosystems (01/14/2003)
In his report prepared for the Pew Oceans Commission, Dr. Stephen Palumbi of Stanford University finds that fully protected marine reserves are an effective tool for restoring and maintaining coastal and marine habitats.

 Marine Reserves: A Tool for Ecosystem Management and Conservation describes how intensive loss of coastal habitat, pollution, commercial fishing, recreational fishing, and tourism can degrade marine ecosystems, and presents a crucial role for marine reserves in ocean management.

Marine Sanctuaries USA NOAA The Gulf of Maine Marine Protected Areas Project About Marine Protected Areas -Canadian Parks And Wilderness Society

Marine Protected Areas and Marine Reserves- USMarine Protected Areas in Australia

Marine Protected Areas in the US Working to Set up Marine Protected Areas. WWFMPA news International News and Analysis of Marine Protected Areas

 

Dendronotus subramosus : Race Rocks Taxonomy

An 8mm long nudibranch

Thanks to Karin Fletcher on iNaturalist for identifying this for us.  She indicated that D. subramosus lack lateral papillae on their rhinophore sheaths and can have brown lines along from their rhinophores along their dorsolateral processes

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/68751217

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum
Order 
Mollusca
Nudibranchia
Class Gastropoda
Clade Dendronotida?
Suborder Dendronotacea?
Family Dendronotidae?
Genus Dendronotus
Species subramosus
Common Name:Stubby-fronted Dendronotus
Other Members of the Phylum Arthropoda at Race Rocks 
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy
and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

 October 2004-  (PC) Garry Fletcher

Unidentified “Clear” Shrimp? The Race Rocks Taxonomy

 

 

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Malacostraca
Order Decapoda
Family
Genus
Species
Common Name: Clear Shrimp
Unidentified
taxonomyiconReturn to the Race Rocks Taxonomy and Image File
pearsonlogo2_f2The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote control webcams.

 

Race Rocks Ecological Reserve: An Unusual Model of Reserve Management

Race Rocks Ecological Reserve: An Unusual Model of Reserve Management….By Garry Fletcher

On October 3rd, this  group of the Friends of Ecological Reserves made a trip to Race Rocks in the Pearson College Boats with Garry Fletcher and Chris Blondeau, Chris is the Pearson College Sea-front Coordinator and Operations Manager of Race Rocks.  This fall has been remarkable in the consistently high population of Northern and California Sea Lions and high populations of seagulls and Cormorants on the islands, so it was a good time for the visit after the nesting season. 

As a result of questions from members on the trip, I thought it might be useful to update everyone who is interested in the events on the reserve with the present state of the management and financing of Race Rocks.  Lester Pearson College assumed the full management of the facilities and staff at Race Rocks in the fall of 1997. The light and foghorn had been automated, and the Canadian Coastguard was retiring the light keepers, Mike and Carol Slater.  All the facilities except the light tower and foghorn were returned to BC Lands.  An agreement was reached whereby the island was leased for long-term management and continued use for education and research by Lester Pearson College.  In  2001, BC Parks was able to expand the Ecological reserve, which had previously omitted the large island with the facilities, to include all the remaining land area of Great Race Island in addition to the original 256 hectares of Islands and water to the 36 meter depth.

The Slaters were hired by Lester Pearson College to stay on as Ecological Reserve Guardians, providing security and keeping the diesel generator running, thus ensuring that the college could have full use of the other buildings and facilities on the island. In addition, the daily collection of air and sea temperature and salinity data was continued, maintaining a valuable long-term database. An anonymous donor from Ontario met operating costs for the first year. Each year after a special effort has been made by the college to secure the operating funds to carry through to keep the island open.   By the year 2000, a proposal was made to the Millennium Partners Fund of Canada, to help fund the installation of Internet facilities and microwave to provide a link to the College for the transmission of Broadband Internet.  A number of partners and sponsors who continue to assist are referenced on the website. Each year since, the college has had to seek funding from a number of sources to keep the island going, since government funding for parks is very hard to come by.

One of the higher costs incurred in the operation is the diesel fuel to run the island’s generators. Last year over $20,000 went into this, so it has been an aim for some time to incorporate alternate energy technology in the operation. It is with great relief that I can now tell you that our efforts are paying off as we now have a company, Clean Current Power Inc. securing the complete funding and installing at Race Rocks in the next year, an underwater tidal current generator which will have negligible negative environmental impacts.  Although a research prototype, this should generate all the required electrical needs for the island. The diesel generators will become backup utilities.

BC Parks has made a good effort to help with some of the facility costs on the island. Keep in mind that most Ecological Reserves do not have dwellings and facilities such as docks and workshops, so they have provided the funds to mitigate the effects of human sewage from the two houses, with the installation of composting toilets in 2003.  The Coast guard, although having no direct financial commitment, has provided technical assistance when necessary.  In 2000 an Advisory Board was set up by DFO for the formation of an Official Marine Protected Area under the Oceans Act. The Ecological Reserve is still a Marine Protected Area Designate, since final treaty negotiations have put a hold on complete Marine Protected Area Status. This has meant that no federal funds are available for maintaining the Protected Area.

It is a difficult job securing at least  $80,000 a year to keep the island operational. What is really needed is an endowment, and this we are determined to seek over the next few years.  Keeping observers and cameras on the island has in the last few years served to keep the many users of the area accountable, so that the ecological integrity of the resource may be sustained. On the home page of racerocks.com is written: “we humans are never content just to know that a special area exists on this earth. We strive to be there, to touch, to feel, to consume. But therein lies the paradox. In so doing we can destroy the very thing we love.” The aim of the racerocks.com program has always been to make this special ecosystem available to all through the Internet.  We have been fortunate to have this opportunity to establish a window into the daily lives of the creatures of a rugged marine island ecosystem. We just hope that we can continue to make the amazing life of these islands available to all.  This spring with the further assistance of Apple Computer, we upgraded our computers and added a new 340 degree robotic camera which provides a much more thorough survey of many parts of the islands from your own computer.

We are grateful for any assistance in the funding of the program at Race Rocks. One can pay by cheque or credit card to The Race Rocks Operating Fund c/o Lester B. Pearson College, 650 Pearson College Drive.  (250) 391-2411. A tax receipt will be provided for amounts over $25.00

This article appeared in the Winter 2004 edition of the Friends of Ecological Reserves Newsmagazine ; The LOG

Garry Fletcher (garryf(use the at sign).gmail.com) the volunteer warden for Race Rocks Ecological Reserve is the Educational Director of racerocks.com.In 2004 he retired after teaching for 36 years.  The last 28 of those years have been spent in Biology, Environmental Systems and the SCUBA diving program at Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific.  Garry now continues with his work on https://www.racerocks.ca and serves as a consultant from his home in Metchosin.