For World Oceans Day, Nanaimo Science is hosting an educational event on the animals and plants that live on the seashore.
On Sunday, June 8, Nanaimo Science will be holding a free hands-on, family-friendly ocean exploration event at Departure Bay Beach from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. that will focus on the various species that inhabit the intertidal zone.
Amie Armet, executive director of Nanaimo Science, said the organization will set up a seaweed touch tank, display various local shells for examination and lead informal interpretive walks.
"We do kind of want to highlight seaweed. It's something a lot of people don't look at when they're at the beach," Armet said. "They might notice the crabs scurrying along or the cool shells they find washed up, but the seaweed often gets overlooked – but it is very beautiful."
Aside from coming in different colours and textures, local seaweed can hold different uses from garden nutrients to edible food, Armet explained.
"There's just such a huge biodiversity of seaweed and so we want to highlight that and tell people more about that."
Some common species that can be found on Nanaimo's shores include sea cauliflower, sugar kelp, Turkish washcloth and sea lettuce. Each of them have clear distinctions, with sea cauliflower bearing with a yellow to orange puffy appearance, while sea lettuce is a green algae that grows in thin strands.
Armet said the event isn't just for children, and can be appreciated by anyone wanting to learn more about the local intertidal ecosystem.
"It is a drop-in style event, so people can just come and go … please just stop by and check it out and learn something new."
Nanaimo Science's World Oceans Day event is part of national Ocean Week Canada, which runs from June 1-8. Canadians are encouraged to learn more about the ocean and take action to protect it. For more information, visit www.oceanweek.ca.
“Every moment of our lives is influenced by the ocean – from the quality of our air to our culture, and from the food we eat to the products we buy," said Diz Glithero, Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition's executive director, in a press release. "Ocean Week Canada is the time of year we celebrate this connection with the ocean from coast to coast to coast."
