March Volunteer Opportunities with Project Watershed
Valeri Diamond
March 4th – Estuary Art Opening Night, 7-9pm at Zocalo's on the corner of 5th and Cliffe. This will be the kick off event for the Keeping It Living silent auction and competition. There will be food and music by a local group, admission by donation. We could use 2 volunteers to help set up between 5 – 6:30 and 1 or 2 to sit at the door collecting donations and giving out info from 6:30 – 9pm (free admission and food as a token of our appreciation for our volunteers).
March 12th and 13th – Eelgrass Restoration Pilot Project, This is a pilot project to train volunteers to map, monitor and replant eelgrass. Over the next 3 years we plan to do this at locations throughout the Estuary. We will need volunteers to help map, monitor and transplant eelgrass from the shore and volunteer divers to help map and transplant eelgrass offshore. Lunch will be provided for all volunteers.
Tentative Schedule
Saturday 10-5
10:00 – 11:00 Introduction to Eelgrass – Conservation Centre, 2356a Rosewall Crescent
11:00 – 11:30 Coffee Break
11:30-12:30 Introduction to Mapping & Monitoring Eelgrass – Conservation Centre
12:30 – 1:30 Lunch
2:00 – 3:00 GPS Orientation – Royston Wrecks at the end of Hilton Road
3:00 – 5:00 Mapping Eelgrass – Royston Wrecks at the end of Hilton Road
Sunday 10-3
10:00 – 12:00 Set up and prep for transplanting
12:00-1:00 Lunch
1:00 -3:00 Transplanting Eelgrass
March 17th – Estuary Movie Night, 7-9pm at North Island College. Project Watershed in conjunction with World Community will be presenting Estuary focused movies and a short presentation on our own Courtenay River Estuary. We need 2 volunteers to help set up and man a table with information 6:30 to 9pm (free admission and food as a token of our appreciation for our volunteers).
April 1st and 2nd – Day of the Estuary, K'omoks Band Hall. Volunteers needed to help set up for the event on the Friday before 1 to 6pm and the morning of 10-12pm. Volunteers needed to man tables, make coffee and tea, and direct crowds. Food (from the First Nations Salmon BBQ) and drink will be provided for volunteers as a token of our appreciation.
What is Eelgrass?
Eelgrass is a flowering plant and not a seaweed or true grass. Its flowers are hidden behind a transparent leaf sheath and so are seldom seen. They release long filamentous pollen into the water, where it remains suspended for days, spread by waves and currents. It reproduces both by germinating seeds and by spreading rhizomes. In the Northwest, most growth is by rhizomes.
The long, dark green, narrow, ribbon shaped leaves are usually 8 - 20 inches long but can be up to 6 feet long. The depth of eelgrass growth is limited by incident light and water clarity. In the Northwest, the maximum depth is about 30 feet, but in the extremely clear waters off California, eelgrass has been found growing at depths of more than 100 feet.
What’s so important about Eelgrass?
An eelgrass meadow:
· Is a nursery. It provides shelter and protection for many juvenile fish and shellfish of ecological, commercial and recreational importance.
· Softens the impact of waves and currents, stabilizes the shoreline and provides a calm space where organic matter and sediments are deposited.
· Provides a surface for small micro-algae to attach.
· Decomposes into detritus, an important part of the food web for the coastal marine ecosystem.
Less than 5% of
any eelgrass meadow is eaten directly. The main function of
eelgrass is the production of detritus (decaying plant matter)
from dead leaves and plants. Like leaves falling from a tree,
the decaying eelgrass is rich in bacteria and fungi. Slowly,
over time, they break the eelgrass down into tiny particles,
which can then be used by many marine organisms
Please feel free
to pass this information on to anyone who you think would be
interested.
If you are on facebook, please consider liking our pages: Courtenay River Estuary - Keeping it Living http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/The-Courtenay-River-Estuary-Keeping-It-Living/334041740236 Project Watershed http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Project-Watershed/141010405938043 The Mapping Centre http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/The-Mapping-Centre/151194554892794