Well, it's that time of year again... The bald eagles are back! For my second consecutive year, I am volunteering with Eagle Watch, the local Squamish organization that provides free information and telescope use for any visitor wishing to see the eagles passing through our area. The Chum salmon this year was a small run compared to previous years. So on my first shift, there were "only" 60 eagles along the ~200 meter length of the dike in Brackendale. This is small in comparison to the 600 or so that were counted at that location last year at the same time. However, that was 2 weeks ago. I suspect the numbers are up since then, as judged by the numerous eagles I encounter on my morning jogs every day. My next shift is on boxing day, and I am looking forward to it!
In the meantime, here is a brief video I took a couple of weeks ago. It features a juvenile (less than 5 years old) eagle eating a salmon.
If this movie does not load, you can view it here.
Enjoy!
Showing posts with label Squamish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Squamish. Show all posts
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Captivated by the Underwater Realm of BC
Vous trouverez la version française de mon blog en suivant ce lien
Why British Columbia
After graduation, what kept me in B.C. was not the beautiful mountainous landscapes, the serenity of the temperate rainforests, the laid-back life style, or the delicious Vancouver asian cuisine that most people will cite you. As a (somewhat fanatical) SCUBA diver, I feel privileged to have witnessed the dazzling array of colours created by the arrangement of a multitude of critters that colonize every rock and crevice in the coastal waters of the Pacific Northwest.
My First SCUBA Dive
I remember my first dive quite vividly (in the Squamish area, site of my new home, coincidently). What struck me then was how alien the life forms were. Gravity is not a factor in the development of an underwater body plan. Air and food are extracted directly from the surrounding medium, so respiration and digestion systems are radically different. I might as well have been on Mars. I remember thinking that most people, who only get the opportunity to look at the surface of the ocean, had never seen these creatures; most people didn’t even imagined that these bizarre and beautiful animals lurked mere meters away from the surface of the ocean.
I was Hooked
I felt privileged to have caught a glimpse of an unexplored part of our planet. I was hooked, and I wanted to learn more about these weird and amazing creatures. This was the launch of an 8 year quest for me, one that culminated in me authoring a chapter on marine life in a book on Stanley Park ecology.
Underwater Chemists
I’m sure you’ve often heard that one of the reasons to save the Amazonian rain forest is because it may contain some species as yet unknown to science that could hold the key to a cure for cancer. It turns out that the same is true of the marine critters that inhabit our coast. Nudibranchs (sea slugs) and sponges are quite common in our waters (see some representative snapshots I brought back from my little expeditions). Both types of organisms are expert chemists: they produce a lot of novel organic compounds that they use to repel would-be predators.
Fighting Cancer and Other Illnesses
I have a friend whose Ph.D. project involves collecting sponge and nudibranch species, grinding them down, separating the various chemical components that they produce and applying them to cancerous cells (click here to view her laboratory's website). It is her hope that one day, she will find one chemical that will inhibit the growth of cancerous cells, offering a potential treatment for this dreadful disease (everyone in my family eventually succumbs to this disease, so here’s hoping she finds something soon! :) ).
Protecting the Environment
Personally, I would advocate preserving marine habitats for the simple reason that they are beautiful to behold, but for those pragmatics out there, the cure to your future disease may soon come from the ocean. Knowing this, can anyone possibly argue that our oceans are not worth preserving?
Why British Columbia
After graduation, what kept me in B.C. was not the beautiful mountainous landscapes, the serenity of the temperate rainforests, the laid-back life style, or the delicious Vancouver asian cuisine that most people will cite you. As a (somewhat fanatical) SCUBA diver, I feel privileged to have witnessed the dazzling array of colours created by the arrangement of a multitude of critters that colonize every rock and crevice in the coastal waters of the Pacific Northwest. My First SCUBA Dive
I remember my first dive quite vividly (in the Squamish area, site of my new home, coincidently). What struck me then was how alien the life forms were. Gravity is not a factor in the development of an underwater body plan. Air and food are extracted directly from the surrounding medium, so respiration and digestion systems are radically different. I might as well have been on Mars. I remember thinking that most people, who only get the opportunity to look at the surface of the ocean, had never seen these creatures; most people didn’t even imagined that these bizarre and beautiful animals lurked mere meters away from the surface of the ocean. I was Hooked
I felt privileged to have caught a glimpse of an unexplored part of our planet. I was hooked, and I wanted to learn more about these weird and amazing creatures. This was the launch of an 8 year quest for me, one that culminated in me authoring a chapter on marine life in a book on Stanley Park ecology.
Underwater Chemists
I’m sure you’ve often heard that one of the reasons to save the Amazonian rain forest is because it may contain some species as yet unknown to science that could hold the key to a cure for cancer. It turns out that the same is true of the marine critters that inhabit our coast. Nudibranchs (sea slugs) and sponges are quite common in our waters (see some representative snapshots I brought back from my little expeditions). Both types of organisms are expert chemists: they produce a lot of novel organic compounds that they use to repel would-be predators. Fighting Cancer and Other Illnesses
I have a friend whose Ph.D. project involves collecting sponge and nudibranch species, grinding them down, separating the various chemical components that they produce and applying them to cancerous cells (click here to view her laboratory's website). It is her hope that one day, she will find one chemical that will inhibit the growth of cancerous cells, offering a potential treatment for this dreadful disease (everyone in my family eventually succumbs to this disease, so here’s hoping she finds something soon! :) ).
Protecting the Environment
Personally, I would advocate preserving marine habitats for the simple reason that they are beautiful to behold, but for those pragmatics out there, the cure to your future disease may soon come from the ocean. Knowing this, can anyone possibly argue that our oceans are not worth preserving?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
