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Post 1: Observations
Posted on April 10, 2019 by caudia
Cathy Audia
April 8, 2019
This study is being conducted at the Courtenay River Estuary which is designated as a City of Courtenay Park. The site is being visited on April 8, 2019 at 1830 hours. The weather is overcast with little wind and the temperature is 9 degrees centigrade. The estuary is located approximately one kilometer from downtown Courtenay. The Estuary is the area where the Courtenay River flows into the Pacific Ocean sitting at 49.68 degrees North and 124.99 degrees West. The shoreline of the estuary is approximately 1 km across with the depth changing from as little as 5 meters wide to 500 meters during low tide.
There is a bank from the edge of the beach up to the grassy plateau sloping at approximately 10% grade. The estuary is made up of several different types of vegetation. Seagrasses and seaweed are found in the muddy flats with increasing amounts of seagrass closer to shore and decreasing amounts of seaweed closer to shore. The shoreline consists of a mixture driftwood, rocks, seagrasses, and various plants that appear to be more typical to be found on dry land than under water. There is a sprinkling of deciduous trees along the top of the bank. It appears most of the native trees have been removed to create a paved walkway and a small airport which is located steps from the estuary.
Some of the flowers and flowering shrubs along the shoreline have flowers blossoming at different rates. As it is early spring, and vegetation started growing within the past 3 weeks. The flowers that receive unobstructed sun are further along in their flowering cycle.
I pose the following 3 questions;
- I observe many of the reed-like plants have died in the tidal flats. Leading me to question did they die due to poor growing conditions, or do they die off seasonally. I discovered some of the same reed-like plants on the shore edge that appear healthy. I will continue to observe their growth as spring progresses.
- I also note an interesting pattern in the sand. It is circular shaped with greyish sand that was noticeably different then the surrounding beige sand. The circle has 4 an imprint in it with arms similar to a starfish shape and in the center is a hole. I suspect there must be some type of shellfish living underneath this hole. I will continue to look for clues to the source of this pattern.
- I also notice there are only 2 seagulls on the estuary side and 6 ducks in the small inlet. As the estuary is known as a good place to view a variety bird I wonder if I will see if more birds as the season changes.
