The Loon Foundation

Forage fish: At the core sites (Baker Beach, Martin Cove, Vaucroft I and Vaucroft II) 4L of beach sand is collected along a 30m transect. Content is sifted and vortexed, then examined in the lab for eggs. These core sites are sampled regularly between mid-October to mid-January. Once spawning is detected at the core sites, other sites are sampled to increase the probability of finding new spawning beaches and to confirm repeat spawning.

Salmon Escapement Monitoring: Surveys are conducted every 7-10 days in Myers and Anderson creeks along with their tributaries Meadow and Coho creeks, respectively. Counts are conducted by volunteers completing stream walks and, once coho are present, snorkel surveys with a diver in a dry suit.

Juvenile Salmon Monitoring: Surveys are conducted at two sites in Pender Harbour; one inside at Gerrans Bay and one at the entrance at Joe Bay. A 30m seine net is deployed using a small boat after being secure to the dock. It is pulled in an arc and secured at the other end before being pulled into the dock. Trapped salmon are identified, counted, measured , inspected for lice or injuries, and then released. All by-catch is counted and recorded.

Seagrass Monitoring: Surveys occur throughout Pender Harbour and around Thormanby Island. Observers in boats, kayaks and paddle boards conduct exploratory surveys and map eelgrass beds with GPS. On Thormanby Island, a Leaf Area Index survey is conducted by measuring shoot density, length and width within 30 quadrats along a transect line, which can be used to track the health of the bed.

Intertidal Macroinvertebrates and Seaweeds monitoring: Surveys occur at sites along the rocky intertidal beaches in Pender Harbour and Thormanby Island. Volunteers count mobile and sessile organisms using quadrats along 30m transects, following biodiversity survey protocols outlined by the Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (MARINe) .

Pinniped monitoring: Surveys of the Hodgson Islands are conducted monthly to determine species composition (Harbour seals, Steller sea lion, California sea lion), seasonal migrations and breeding patterns.

Coastal Waterbirds monitoring: Outer Pender Harbour and the Skarden Islands are surveyed monthly by boat by observers. Observers typically use binoculars and a camera with a telephonic lens and sometimes a spotting scope. Water birds within the survey area are identified, recorded and reported to Bird Studies Canada.

Loon Monitoring: Surveys are conducted in 8 lakes in the Pender Harbour region (Garden Bay, Mixal, Lillies, Hotel, Klein, Waugh, North and MacNeil). Volunteers document territorial pairs, nesting pairs, successful hatches and survival to 6 weeks.

Larval Crab Monitoring: Surveys occur most nights at Irvines Landing employing a light trap between April and September to identify the number of Dungeness megalopae in an area. This survey is part of a multinational project with 20 sites in British Columbia and 18 in Washington State. Light traps are checked after every night of fishing and dungeness megalopae are separated from by-catch for carapace measurements and a sub-sample of megalopae are taken for population genetic studies. All by-catch is documented and released.

European Green Crab: Surveys occur weekly throughout the Sunshine Coast (Sechelt, Pender Harbour, Powell River, Texada Island and Savary Island) between April and October. Baited folding prawn traps are deployed on a low tide in muddy substrates. They are left overnight and collected on the following low tide. All crabs are identified, measured, sexed and if any European green crab are observed, then they are reported and humanely euthanized. By-catch is recorded and released.