Flirting with eelgrass
Paddling a canoe for me is pure bliss. Maybe it's because I had my maiden voyage the morning after getting engaged, or maybe because the rhythmic motion makes me feel immersed in an ocean of serenity. Being able to spy on waterfowl in their reedy hideouts is an added bonus.
But recently I've been flirting with rowboats. When my friend Andrea invited me on an eelgrass viewing expedition in her rowboat Nimble, I jumped at the chance. A case of the grass being greener on the other side?
Andrea sells rowboats (she used to build them) so I knew I was in good hands. It took me a while to get used to rowing backwards but once I got the hang of it, it was a breeze. The vigorous, rhythmic stroke was exhilarating. I felt like signing up for the St Catharines regatta!
We put in at Christie Point on the Portage Inlet and rowed up and down the Gorge, stopping every now and then to peer at the eelgrass through a glass-bottom bucket, a special invention of Andrea's coworker Colin Rolls. He calls it the "underwater window".
It was great to see eelgrass so abundant and healthy in the Gorge, long ropes of last year's growth studded with roe sacs, and new green budding everywhere.
Why eelgrass, you may ask, when grebes, goldeneyes and hooded mergansers - not to mention the fluffly new ducklings and goslings - make such a kaleidoscope of colour and movement?
Even last summer I would not have given eelgrass a second thought. But now I walk in awe of eelgrass magic.
What first brought eelgrass to my attention was a study by the United Nations Environment Programme that came out last fall with some startling findings about the climate change impact of seagrasses. Apparently, eelgrass and other seagrasses are unbeatable at soaking up carbon: they remove up to 90 times the amount stored in the equivalent area of forest. In BC, eelgrass beds and salt marshes together take up as much carbon as the entire boreal forest!
These facts sparked my interest but I didn't really fall in love with eelgrass until I met Nikki Wright, who co-chairs the Seagrass Conservation Working Group. Nikki took me to the local eelgrass bonanza - Coles Bay in Saanich - and we waded straight in (in March, too!) to peer and touch and observe. Nikki's group organises local residents up and down the coast to map and restore eelgrass beds - an activity that often inspires participants to develop a stronger connection to their own piece of the coast.
- Andrea makes a peace sign for the eelgrass
So what am I taking home from my rowing adventure? The satisfaction of having found another eelgrass enthusiast and the hope that more people will fall in love with our coastal environment. And a new, polyamorous relationship with canoes and rowboats both!
P.S. Andrea Guyon works for Whitehall Rowing and Sail, a green local business and a supporter of Sierra Club BC.
Nikki Wright co-chairs the Seagrass Conservation Working Group, a BC organization that works on near-shore mapping and restoration in partnership with stewardships groups, First Nations and government agencies. While the Seagrass Conservation Working Group does the vital work of supporting citizens’ groups in developing their “gumboot power”, Sierra Club BC works at the provincial level to educate decision-makers about the importance of conservation, management and restoration of these rich carbon-soaking meadows.
