Ucluelet

We wanted to visit the aquarium so we drove over to Ucluelet for the day. Waiting for the aquarium to open I took a few photos around the dock.

Interesting reflections with a common merganser going by



This Black Turnstone (I looked it up later) was skittish and didn't really want its picture taken. In flight it had a beautiful pattern on its wings. I took photos of related Ruddy Turnstones in Belize last winter.



This crow was working on getting the marrow out of a bone of some sort. It didn't care if I took photos of it. (That's frost on the wood.)



Across the bay I spotted the white head of a bald eagle in a tree but it was too far away for decent photos. There were also jelly fish floating in the water beside the dock.

This sparrow (Lincoln's?) was also a cooperative subject, although it didn't stay in one spot for very long.



We visited the Ucluelet aquarium quite a few years ago when it was in the previous tiny building. At that time they were raising money for a new building (we donated). It was nice to see the new building - quite an improvement. It's not a huge fancy aquarium like the Vancouver one, but it's run by a non-profit society and it's interesting because it's a catch and release aquarium so everything is local. One of the tanks has been running for years. It started out with a bare chunk of concrete. The water is circulated from the ocean and the concrete is now completely covered and encrusted with a huge variety of creatures that colonized it from the water.

I would have loved to take more photos, but the sides of the tanks weren't very clear and taking photos through the surface doesn't work that great.

This sea urchin was poking out of the water, and very colorful.



A different anemone from the kind you see in the tide pools



And this starfish was just below the surface. The details on these creatures are fascinating.



This is a closeup of the top of a starfish



I didn't quite manage to get all of this snail in focus



We had lunch at the Black Rock Oceanfront Resort restaurant that had a great oceanfront view.

We also did a few hikes in the area on the Wild Pacific Trail. It doesn't seem fair that the Salal is flowering when it's full on winter at home.



This looks a bit like another flower, but I think it's just leaves changing color



The sun was melting the frost on these cedar branches



Another Bald Eagle in the distance. When we tried to move closer it flew away.



And a few reflection shots because I can't resist them. This is the reflection of a log





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Tofino

It's a bit of a drive from Victoria to Tofino (5 hrs) but it's quite a different feel on the exposed west coast of Vancouver Island, with the waves rolling in from the open Pacific, and big forest.

I took a ton of wave photos, trying to capture some of the feel of them. These weren't very big waves, but still impressive.









There weren't many birds around. Apart from the gulls, these Black Oystercatchers were one of the few we saw.



Since I was a kid and we came to the coast for summer holidays I've loved searching for life in the tide pools. I'm not sure if it was the time of year, or location, or the state of the world, but I didn't find a lot this time. There were a few anemones and a lone starfish, barnacles and mussels, sea weed, and not much else.







No shortage of barnacles:



I always enjoy the abstract aspects of the beach that the sand and water produce. This was spray from the waves in front of seaweed on the rocks:





















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Salmon

Salmon are interesting fish. They are anadromous - as adults they live in the ocean, but they lay their eggs in freshwater streams. The young fish hatch and grow in fresh water before returning to the ocean. As adults they (mostly) return to the same stream where they were born. They use a sense of smell/taste to find their way back. All Pacific salmon and most Atlantic salmon die after spawning. Salmon are related to trout, char, and grayling.

We stopped briefly at Goldstream Park just north of Victoria. To the locals, the salmon are nothing special, they come every year, but it was new to me. All the dead salmon were attracting lots of feasting gulls. Bald eagles, bears and other animals also come to feed, but we didn't see any. It's mostly Chum Salmon, although there are also some Coho and Chinook as well as Steelhead and Cutthroat trout. These salmon don't have far to swim upstream, but some salmon travel as far as 1400 km to reach where they spawn.

All the dead, decaying, and half eaten salmon seem a little gruesome (and smelly!) but it's a natural cycle that has many side benefits. The dead salmon are eaten by wildlife and end up bringing nutrients from the ocean to the forest.











At first I thought all the salmon were dead, but then I realized there were quite a few still alive and swimming in the river.

Vancouver Island

A few photos from a road trip to Vancouver Island. Still some fall colors here (unlike Saskatchewan).



The temperate rain forest always seems so ... overgrown ... to a prairie person.



According to iNaturalist, these are Orange Spot Jellies (a kind of fungus). They were about the size of a teaspoon and the consistency of jello.



There aren't a lot of birds around this time of year. We saw a few bald eagles in the distance but none close enough to photograph. Lots of gulls though.



I think this is a Yellowlegs, but I'm not sure if it's Lesser or Greater.



I always like to see Great Blue Herons.



When we checked in to the hotel at Cowichan Bay there was a sign warning about the noisy sea lions. Apparently this time of year they like to haul up on the docks. Obviously they don't sleep because they kept up their cacophony all night. It was nice to see them in the morning though. There were supposed to be both California and Stellar sea lions but from a distance I'm not sure I could tell them apart.







Of course, being around the water I couldn't resist a few reflection shots.



We've done a few hikes. This was the view from the top of Mt. Tzouhalem near Maple Bay.



And the view from the top of Bruce Peak on Saltspring Island. (We went to check out the paragliding launch, but it seemed a little sketchy to us - not much room, rough ground, and big trees)



Nice view of Mt. Baker though.



We stayed overnight at Moon Water Lodge on the Malahat and were treated to a wonderful sunrise.







The night view from our room at the Coast Harbourside Hotel. The night mode of the new iPhone 11 Pro does an amazing job.



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