By simply strolling the hard-packed
sand of Long Beach, you can catch sight of sea
lions, seals, schools of porpoise and pods of
orca whales, all of which exhibit predictable
patterns of movement and behaviour. Grey whales,
on the 8000 kilometre spring migration from
their December breeding and calving lagoons
in Baja, Mexico to the summer feeding grounds
of the Bering and Chukchi seas pass through
the park. Some of the 1900 animals making the
trip, the only significant population of grey
whales in the world, spend the summer in Canadian
waters, feeding off the bottom life around the
kelp beds, before heading south again for the
winter. International protection was given the
grey whale in 1947 and they have made an impressive
comeback from virtual annihilation by commercial
whalers in the early 1900’s. The sea otter,
which was virtually extinct by 1830, its pelt
being so highly prized by fur traders, has been
re- introduced from surviving colonies in Alaska
and should eventually populate the park’s
waters. Migrating shorebirds, including the
Trumpeter swan and sandhill crane, find critical
habitat in the region’s estuaries. Most
of the 250 species of birds identified are migrants;
however, there are 54 breeding residents of
the park, including red-throated loons, Brant’s
and pelagic cormorants, great blue herons, oystercatchers
and gulls. Runs of salmon, schools of herring,
cod, sole, and halibut are of interest to sports
fishermen, but in park waters, fishing is allowed
only from the shore. Scuba divers may catch
a few crab and abalone, but the toxic ‘red
tide’ often prohibits eating them or the
clams, mussels and oysters that can be gathered
in spite of the park’s efforts to protect
resources. At low tide, the tide pools in rocky
areas are a marvel of brightly coloured anemones,
starfish, barnacles and tiny darting fish.
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