East Sooke Regional ParkSite Description: Exposed, sand, rockNearest town: Sooke, VI

Whiffen Spit Regional Park Site Description: Semi-exposed, sand/mud, rock

Nearest town: Sooke, VI

French Beach Provincial ParkSite Description: Exposed, rock, tidepoolsNearest town: Sooke, VI

Botanical Beach Provincial ParkSite Description: Exposed, rock, tidepoolsNearest town: Port Renfrew, VI

Bamfield Site Description: Exposed, sand, rock

Nearest town: Port Alberni, VI

Pacific Rim National ParkSite Description: Exposed, sand, rockNearest town: Tofino, VI

Burnaby NarrowsSite Description: Protected, sand/mud, rockNearest town: Sandspit, QCI

Yakan PointSite Description: Protected, sand, rock, tidepoolsNearest town: Massett, QCI

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Beaver Point, Ruckle Provincial Park, Saltspring Island Site Description: Protected, rock Nearest town: Fulford, SI

Stanley Park Site Description: Protected, sand/mud, rock Nearest town: Vancouver

Skookumchuck Narrows Provincial Park Site Description: Semi-exposed, rock Nearest town: Egmont, Sunshine Coast

Saltery Bay Provincial Park Site Description: Protected, sand, mud, rock Nearest town: Powell River

Miracle Beach Provincial Park Site Description: Protected, sand Nearest town: Courtenay, VI

Tribune Bay Provincial Park, Hornsby Island Site Description: Protected, sand Nearest town: Denman Village, Denman Island

Montague Harbour Provincial Park, Galiano Island Site Description: Protected, sand, rock Nearest town: Sturdies Bay, GI

Winter Cove Provincial Marine Park, Saturna Island Site Description: Protected, sand/mud, rock, tidepools Nearest town: Lyall Harbour, SI

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Lewis's MoonsnailLe i ' Moo ailBat StarsBat Stars

Sea Star

un StarS

Sand D

olla

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Dungeness CrabDungeness Crab

Jellyfish

Jellyfish

References:Sept, J. Duane, The Beachcomber' Guide to Seashore Life in the Pacific Northwest,

Harbour Publishing (Madeira Park, BC) 2001.Levin, Harold L., The Earth Through Time, Saunders College Publishing (Orlando, FL) 1999.Image Sources:http://www.alaska.net/~scubaguy/gallery.htm (jellyfish)http://www.123crabdelivery.com/pictures/content/dungeness-crab-whole.jpg (Dungeness crab)www.at-bristol.org.uk/ News_data/default.htm (sea star); www.biosbcc.net/ ocean/fltre.htm (bat stars)www.oceanlight2.bc.ca/ about.htm (beachcombers); www.hmsc.orst.edu/projects/ rocky/sfstar.html (sun star)http://www.njmsc.org/Education/List%20Lessons/List%20Lesson-Seashells%20are%20homes%20for%20mollusks.htm

(moonsnail)www.nhm.ac.uk/palaeontology/ echinoids/MORPH/MORPH.HTM (sand dollar); members.rogers.com/jgleed/ (beach)Tide Data: http://www.lau.chs-shc.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/marees/cgi-bin/tide-shc.tcl

British Columbia's coast contains some of the world's richest and most diverse habitats for intertidal marine life. The intertidal zone - the area that issubmerged during high tides and exposed at low tides - is a wonderful place toobserve a variety of marine plants and animals. British Columbia's coastline contains many types of intertidal habitats. From its sandy beaches and mud flats to its rocky shores, each habitat provides the opportunity to view an assortment of marine creatures.

Habitats can be significantly different along various sections of the west coast depending on whether the location is exposed to or protected from the pounding waves of the Pacific Ocean.

Sandy areas can be found in both exposed and protected sites. Exposed sandy areas such as sandspits or sandy beaches are good locations to find the Pacific razor-clam or purple olive, while protected beaches or sand flats are the ideal place to find Dungeness crab or Nuttall's cockle.

Mud flats are usually found in sheltered locations such as bays and estuaries and are home to creatures such as the yellow shore crab or Pacific gaper. Some animals inhabit both sand beaches and mud flats such as Lewis's moonsnail, Pacific geoduck and soft-shell clams.

Rocky shores can also be found in exposed and protected sites. These exposed sites are great locations to find the California mussel or black Katy chiton while protected sites are home to creatures such as the painted sea anemone and hairy hermit.

Explore BC's coast but remember marine habitats, as well as the marine animals within them, should be handled with care. Don't forget to check local tides as well!

Phylum Mollusca:Sea animals in this group include chitons,

limpets, nudibranches, clams, and mussels.

They all have a soft fleshy mantle, a toothed

radula for scraping, and a shell covering.

Members of this group found in BC include the

hairy, Merten, white-lined, woody, black Katy,

and giant Pacific chitons. The rough keyhole,

plate, and mask limpets, red turbans, Lewis's

moonsnail, purple olives, channeled

dogwinkles, red, and yellow-edged nudibranch

(sea slugs), fat gaper, expanded macoma,

Olympia oyster, Pacific oysters, clams, Northern

hair mussel, Nuttall's cockle, and dark-

mahogany clam

Phylum Echinodermata:ea animals in this group include sea stars, sea

cucumbers, sea urchins and sand dollars. They

all have spiny skins (calcareous plates) that areare

covered with a soft layer of skin. Members ofs of

this group found in BC include the bat, Paciacific

blood, sunflower, morning sun, leather, mottletled,

giant pink, and six-rayed stars, California sea

cucumbers, eccentric sand dollars, green, and

red sea urchins

hylum Arthropoda:Phea animals in this group include barnacles andSe

rabs. They all have 'jointed limbs' andcr

xoskeletons which cover their bodies like suitsex

f armour. Members of this group found in BCof

clude Dungeness, red rock, flattop, graceful in

decorate, helmet, hairy, and yellow shore crabs,

goose, and acorn barnacles

Phylum Cnidaria:Sea animals in this group include jellyfish, sea

anemones and corals. They all have specialized

organs for digesting and stinging, and some live

free-swimming while others are attached.

Members of this group found in BC include the

giant plumose, painted, proliferating, red-

beaded, moonglow, and striped anemones

British ColumbiaBeachcombing Sites

British ColumbiaBeachcombing Sites

Produced by Sandi Gibson

Cartography 250, April 2003

Department of Geography

Simon Fraser University

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