Read the first blog in a series of four about the time ERS blog writer, Hashveenah Manoharan, spent studying and exploring the unique marine-terrestrial ecosystems of the Haida Gwaii Archipelago, just off the coast of British Colombia, Canada.
This blog series chronicles a 3-week period of exploring nutrient transfer in marine-terrestrial interfaces (MTIs) on the island archipelago of Haida Gwaii. Marine-terrestrial interfaces are places where aquatic systems meet terrestrial systems, creating unique ecosystems with species and processes that cannot be found elsewhere. British Columbia’s 40,000 islands have a total shoreline length just shy of the entire continent of Africa. Over 200 islands form Haida Gwaii, situated 100km off of the coast of British Columbia. It’s deep cultural history, active Indigenous population, and relatively isolated evolution away from the mainland has resulted in the development of a unique space to study environmental management. The islands boast a rich and complex ecological landscape, interlaced with mountain ranges and streams. Harsh winds and persistent, heavy rainfall concentrate habitation to a handful of small communities along the eastern coast of the islands. In 2016, 4700 people lived on Haida Gwaii, less than half of which are of Haida ancestry. It is not uncommon to encounter now-permanent residents of Haida Gwaii who claim that they visited the islands many years ago, fell in love with their beauty, and decided to stay indefinitely.
Atop of Sleeping Beauty Mountain
Popular activities on the islands are deeply rooted in nature, continuing practices of wild food harvest that has existed here for thousands of years. Today, it is more likely than not that your neighbour will be canning fresh-caught salmon, picking buckets of blackberries for jam, pickling sea asparagus, and drying mushrooms. In the community of Sandspit, an annual Wild Harvest Festival celebrates the abundances of the archipelago. Traditional knowledge of the patterns of the ocean, the behaviour of the animals, and the robustness of plants persist strongly in Haida Gwaii’s communities. It is difficult to spend time on the archipelago and not feel overwhelmed by the perception of abundance. The brush is filled with no shortage of huckleberry, salaal, blackberry, thimbleberry, and salmonberry.
This year, there was a bumper crop of the archipelago’s signature golden chanterelle mushroom, brightly dotting the forest understory. The ripe fruit or the visiting fish seem to always be the talk of the town. As a newcomer, it was hard to perceive that the forest is actually in a state of extreme depletion due to the invasion of the Sitka Black Tailed deer, which in some cases have decimated up to 80% of the understorey on affected islands. Some uninvaded islands provide a glimpse to the nearly impenetrable wilderness that used to dominate the archipelago. Ancient Haida villages once populated the coastline, where the intertidal zone acted as a constant source of food; the Haida often say “When the tide goes out, the table is set.” Uprooted trees sometimes expose shell middens where distinct layers of while shells date occupation back for thousands of years. In a day spent walking along the Slatechuck Creek, it did not take us long to find a 5000-year old stone tool sitting on the beach. This unique social, geographical, and ecological landscape is where this blog series will take place.
First, we look at the fascinating and vigorous work of spawning salmon, fighting their way up to their natal streams after years at sea. The salmon play a crucial role in providing nutrients to the archipelago, aided largely by the work of the large and ambling Haida Black Bear, seagulls, and eagles. We take a look at the lives of these salmon, how their survival and success is being shaped by human activities, and what efforts are being made to mitigate them.
Our second study will gaze on the unlikely heroes of nutrient transfer – wrack (otherwise known as seaweed, or kelp). We investigate the workings of the intertidal zone, an area characterized by both high disturbance and high diversity, unveiling the world of starfish and nudibranchs. We explore coastal systems from our school-side cobble shore to one of the longest continuous beaches in the world.
Lastly, we go from these rapidly morphing dunes to the salt marshes and estuaries of Haida Gwaii – hotspots for birds and millions of hidden clams. In the fall, the streams of Haida Gwaii are filled with spawning, splashing salmon. A riverside walk in the forest in October is often met with salmon carcasses strewn about the trail, heads partially detached by the longer-legged Haida Gwaii subspecies of the black bear (Ursus americanus carlottae). At the end of the spawning season, the carcasses pile up in pools and banks, quickly at the mercy of detritivores. Is it upon this interface of the marine-terrestrial environment that our study commenced.
Article written by Hashveenah Manoharan
“I would like to acknowledge and extend my deepest gratitude to the Haida and all other residents of Haida Gwaii, the Haida Gwaii Institute and Dr. Scott Wallace for welcoming me and enabling this experience”
Orca passing the Haida Gwaii islands, British Colombia