FRIDAY AUG 19, 2016 VOL. 42, NO. 79
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Rough cut
Kat Benards’ take on another season, and fabulous finish, of Men’s Fastpitch
The Olympian
Athlete with Bowen roots participates in her fifth Olympics
Saying goodbye
Bowen Islanders on their way out
“They are everywhere!” Scientist urges public to keep a close eye on life in local waters MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
Tourism Bowen Island (TBI) board and staff Jody Lorenz, Murray Atherton, Maureen Sawasy, Denise Lawson, Jacqueline Massey and Alison Morse. Meribeth Deen, photo
Tourism stats show it’s all about the weather MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
According to statistics collected by the Bowen Island Visitors Centre, Bowen Island has welcomed more visitors this year than last - but only since the weather has improved. Until the week of June 26th, fewer visitors came off the ferry each respective week in comparison to 2015. Numbers have shot up since. Last week, described by Jody Lorenz as “crazy,” Bowen Island welcomed 430 more visitors than in 2015.
Owners of accommodations businesses are also reporting a high level of booking since June. Duncan Phillips, owner of the Studio at Snug Cove House, says that he has had just one night free in his rental unit all summer. “I think our annual record for the number of nights booked is 195,” says Phillips. “I think it we are likely to surpass that this year.” Rondy Dyke, owner of the Union Steamship Marina says that they have seen 2 percent fewer boats booked in for all-night moorage this summer.
The Vancouver Aquarium’s Vice President of Marine Science, Dr. Jeff Marliave, says he’s not surprised that sightings of anchovies are being reported in Howe Sound, but the numbers and their presence throughout the Sound is definitely something new. “I’ve been working in Howe Sound for more than a quarter century and we’ve always had anchovies,” says Marliave. “Now there are millions and millions of them and they are pervasive across the southern reach of Howe Sound. When we saw them before we saw them in Horseshoe Bay. Now we’re seeing them as far as Gibsons.” Marliave says that the activities of citizen scientists, often equipped with underwater cameras may account for range and frequency of sightings. One of such citizen scientist described an encounter, while swimming in Eagle Harbour, to the Department of Fisheries and Ocean’s Rob Bell-Irving. “There were thousands and thousands of small, slender fish with forked tails, a sort of transparent grey, but darker around the eyes, guts and tails…” Bell-Irving connected with Bob Turner, who had been in conversation with him about anchovies in local water. Turner says that he has spotted anchovies in their larval stage on swims in Mannion Bay, Cates Bay, Tunstall Bay and near Mount Gardner dock. “Given that I have seen them on four separate swims at four different locations on Bowen, I think it is safe to say they are all around the island,” says Turner. “Given they’ve been spotted in Gibsons, Horseshoe Bay, and now False Creek, I think that we can pretty safely say that is what was spotted in Eagle Harbour as well.” Turner says that when the fish are still transparent, they are considered to be in their larval stage. “This makes them fairly hard to see unless you are actually in the water,” he adds. Marliave says he accounts what is being called the great “Howe Sound Recovery” to two back-to-back El Niña years that allowed the cold-loving herring to flourish. He says the anchovies have thrived because of last year’s El Niña.
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