April 27-30 & May 1-4 2006
What a great start to the year! Naturalist Bill Merilees led two tours through Desolation Sound and out to his favourite haunt, Mitlenatch Island, were he has spent years as a Park Naturalist. The weather co-operated and Bill certainly didn’t let us down with his wonderful depth of knowledge about the B.C. coast’s plants and animals. I especially enjoyed acquiring the sense of transition Bill gave to the environment. He knew when and where the introduced species (seaweeds, shellfish, grasses) first appeared and how they were spreading and the overall effects of this on the ecosystem. Bill’s real passion is for very tiny mollusks (like 2mm across) and he opened a whole new world of marine life to us all. O.k. maybe Bill’s real passion was for cute sayings, like . . . “I’m like a pair of pants at the dry cleaner . . . pressed for time.”

Mitlenatch Island

Beach seining for specimens which were quickly returned to the sea.