To Tlingit shaman
inhabiting the northwest shores of North America, the
oystercatcher inhabiting the border world between water and land
was in parallel with the shaman's role between the human and
spirit worlds. The oystercatcher is depicted on rattles used by Tlingit shaman.
The aim of the PWLF
in collaboration with Parks Canada’s
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve is to investigate
whether the oystercatcher is a suitable species to measure the
impact of human disturbance on the ecology of rock islands.
Oystercatchers play an important role in rocky shore intertidal
communities as predators of small marine invertebrates. They are
largely confined to nest on small rocky
islets away from most
predators. Oystercatchers on islands near urban centres are
frequently disturbed by kayakers and boaters. Oil spills can harm
oystercatchers.
The objective of our study
is to establish a means to measure human impacts on
oystercatchers. The first step is to understand the causes of
nesting variation under natural conditions. On the exposed outer
coast of
British Columbia, storms that wash out nests is an
important natural event. On the inner coast where large waves from
storms are less of a problem, the causes are attributable to
whether oystercatchers are in good or poor nesting territories.
Good territories have low shelving slopes or reefs with
invertebrate prey where the young can follow the parents. Poor
territories are steep sloped with few invertebrates and where
parents must fly food to their young. Once we have clarified the
natural causes of nesting variation, we can remove the effects and
go on to measure human impacts.
Learn About Black Oystercatchers
Oystercatcher Discovery
The
PWLF encourages people to learn about the sea with minimal impact.
The objective of the Oystercatcher Discovery study is to
measure human impacts on the seashore. We selected the Black
Oystercatcher because it resides year round on a very small section
of rocky shore that it uses each year, it occurs on small islands
visited by boaters and kayakers, and its ground nest and
flightless chicks are vulnerable to human trampling. Oil spills can
potentially be a problem. We are surveying all the islands in the
Strait of Georgia, Broken islands and parts of the west coast of
Vancouver Island, including the seabird colony on Triangle island,
and most of the east coast of Moresby Island in Haida Gwaii (Queen
Charlotte Islands). This project is directed by Dr. Rob Butler from
PWLF in collaboration with colleagues from
Parks Canada’s
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve,
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve ,
Gwaii Hanaas National Park Reserve,
Laskeek Bay Conservation Society, and the
Canadian Wildlife Service. To read about recent results on this
project,
click here.
Current PWLF
Projects
