One of the highlights of our trip to Nova Scotia has been the ocean swimming. We swim regularly at Miracle Beach Provincial Park on Vancouver Island, but the water is nowhere as warm as the sandy beaches on the west side of Cape Breton Island. While the swimming has been spectacular at every beach we’ve visited so far, the beach …
Sandy Beaches
Green Burrowing Anemones
Miracle Beach Provincial Park is a spectacular place to take kids tide pool exploring—the wide expanse of sand allows for plenty of running in bare feet and the warm shallow tide pools are great for wading and searching for sea life. This weekend I took Alden and Clara up to “the beach house” and kept one eye on the dropping …
Marvelous Mudflat Snails
A couple of weekends ago we enjoyed a sunny trip down island to Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park. This BC Park is a fantastic place for kids and in the winter time the number of people using the trails and beaches are few(er) – note that on a sunny day there are still plenty of people out enjoying the park. The …
Sand Patterns
Long curves of rippled sand mark the beach where Sandhill Creek empties into the Pacific Ocean. I’ve been busy working on a project related to the sand dunes at Wickaninnish Beach and haven’t had as much time to devote to my blog as I’d like. However, in the process of sorting through vast numbers of dune related images I stumbled …
Water-line Isopods: Scourge of the Surf-line
When jellyfish wash up on the shore at Long Beach in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve they don’t last long. At first glance, this stranded Moon Jelly (Aurelia labiata) appears forgotten. However, a closer look reveals that water-line isopods (Cirolana kincaidi) are hard at work dealing with the jelly’s remains. These marine isopods look similar to terrestrial isopods like wood …