March 2010 – Malaspina Naturalists

Scanning for goats

The mightly Eldred River

Lunch is served

Goats, rushing river and a portage
by Heather Harbord, 28 March 2010.

Twenty-two people travelled up the Goat Main as far as Mile 34. Through spotting scopes, we had a clear view of five mountain goats on the bluffs on the other side of Goat Lake. We continued on to Eldred Falls which was just beginning to flood from spring runoff. A pair of Dippers exhibited their courtship rituals for us. Lunch by a fire at the climbers’ camp helped rejuvenate us before we headed back to the Ireland Lake – Nanton Lake portage.

Clyde Burton continually showed us the signs of early spring. Juncos and a dozen or so golden-crowned kinglets flitted in and out of the shrubs along the portage and a tree full of pine siskins delighted us with their serenade. Out of sight but within earshot were varied thrush, a flicker and a couple of unidentified flycatchers.

Leaders: Owen Gaskell and Elizabeth Tenhoeve.

Lion’s Mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata
– K. Evans)

Moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) in the Pairi Daiza aquarium in Belgium
– L. Viatour

Kyrie Mann – “Jellyfish”
by Andrew Bryant, 18 March 2010

Kyrie Mann is a local biologist who also works a a guide and kayak instructor. She grew up here and loves everything about the outdoors. She spoke to us about jellyfish and their unusual characteristics.

Jellyfish are members of the phylum Cnidaria, which includes predominantly marine invertebrates, and are well known for their sting. Stinging cells are a defence mechanism and a way to capture prey.

The most common jellyfish encountered here are the red Lion’s Mane jelly (Cyanea capillata) and the translucent Moon jelly (Aurelia aurita). The former species is the largest jellyfish known, and enjoys the cool waters of the Arctic, northern Atlantic and northern Pacific oceans. One specimen (which had a bell of approximately two metres diameter and tentacles 36.5 metres long) was found to be larger than the Blue Whale, making it the largest animal in the world.

The Powell River Peak interviewed Kyrie for a story, which can be found here.