Driven by communities and led by the Hakai Institute, Sentinels of Change is a decade-long project that uses light traps to investigate the ecology and dynamics of a critically important species in our inland sea: Dungeness crab. Join us to hear about our findings so far and how important community science is in our efforts to understand ecosystems and environmental change.

Come out to the beach at Friendship Park, Trail Bay, and learn about who forage fish are, and why they are important. Then we’ll get into a demonstration of the sampling process used by citizen scientists all along the Salish Sea to determine where these important little fish are choosing to spawn.  Bring your gumboots and curiosity for this hands-on demonstration.

Four young people with diverse connections to Howe Sound/ Átl‘ka7tsem confront an uncertain future. United by an innovative, community-led mapping project, can they work together to protect their home? (Followed by a presentation and discussion by the Howe Sound Biosphere Region Initiative Society.)

Salish Sea kelp ecosystems are among the most vital and most threatened ecosystems in Canadian waters. Kelp forests are foundational and provide critical habitat and food for diverse species, including commercially, recreationally, and culturally valuable species. Kelp also provides vital ecosystem services, stabilizing shorelines, filtering water, mitigating storm surges, and capturing large quantities of carbon, helping to mitigate climate change and counteract ocean acidification. Join Lee-Ann Ennis as she tells her inspiring story of cultivating kelp for fish habitat and restoration projects.

We will demonstrate the construction of a herring curtain and explain why such curtains are important to the Pacific Herring.  There will be extra materials on hand for participants to help make a herring curtain, and these will be stored for usage next spring during spawning season. Making a herring curtain is easy, it’s quick and it’s important for the survival and revival of the pacific herring species!

A simple way to support bats is to participate in the BC Annual Bat Count this Summer. The BC Community Bat Program is requesting colony reports and volunteer assistance for this citizen-science initiative that encourages residents to count bats at local roost sites.