Passing Cloud – Underwater
On the zodiac
I always had a Hitty in my pocket when we went out in the zodiac. Constance and Tephra came along this trip and were interested to see a sea urchin barrens…
Urchins and pink algae
Sea otters were removed from the inshore ecosystem by human hunting, and this created excellent habitat for urchins.
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Urchin Heaven
But Sea Urchins in turn have clearcut the rich kelp forest habitat, leaving few places for other animals to hide, and not much to eat.
Low tide
We luckily went to Burnaby Narrows (also called Dolomite Narrows) at an extremely low tide, and could see how rich and abundant the salt-water habitat could be…
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Sea Cucumber
The water was so clear that we could see the bottom while sitting in the zodiac, and watch a sea cucumber minding its own business…
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Bat Stars
…and likewise this constellation of Bat Stars!
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snorkeling among moon snail egg masses
One of the crew went for a snorkel, and brought up animals in buckets for us to look at briefly…
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Moon Snail
…like this Moon Snail with its entire foot extruded…
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Sea Anemone
…and this Sea Anemone attached to a small rock, and all curled in on itself…
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Decorator Crab
…and this little decorator crab, who glued algae and weeds to its shell as camouflage.
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Lion’s Mane Jelly
From a distance we admired the giant jellyfish with 3 meter long venomous tentacles,
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Moon Jelly
and the less scary Moon Jelly.
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Calm
The morning that seems so calm and quiet is actually pretty lively, with animals going about the business of their daily lives!
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Thanks so much to our favourite photographer for the animal pictures!
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Please click here to see the website of Outer Shores Expeditions,
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If you want to see where Passing cloud is right now, click here!
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Quimper Hittys 
This is my favorite Passing Cloud post so far…it is just so soothing seeing the water, the beasties, the shore. My feet do shrivel a bit, having trod on an urchin or two…such beauties. And moon jellies!
We loved seeing all the activity below the water – it is such a rich world!
This adventure is a dream come true!!!! Thank you sooooo much for every bit of sharing. I dread the day it comes to an end…we’re getting addicted! You, the talented favorite photographer and the Quimper woodens have such a way with pictures and words…you make our world a better place! When it looks so so threatening out there, you bring such peace and quiet moments…and make us realize how small pleasures really make a difference! Thank you so much for taking us along this grand journey!!!
It certainly was a dream come true for me…I never in a million years thought I would get to go to Gwaii Haanas with my favourite Photographer and a handful of girls! Every moment of every day was incredible.
Amen, to the above comments. I surely do not usually realize that life is going on right beneath my feet in an unheralded way. Being far enough from water like you experienced, it is indeed an eye-opener to view this underwater world. Thanks for expanding my view….and taking the Hittys with you too!
Rich and vast are the tiny and invisible lives we don’t see…I learned so much, and was so happy!
The world is so full of beauty, and I appreciate how you share your experiences of it with us! Thank you!
I am happy to have been in that beautiful place, with people that cared so much and took such good care of us!
How lovely!
I second that Amen!!! To all the above comments. This world you are sharing is mesmerizing. The sea urchins look like flowers and those sea stars in the shallows…. Oh MY…. That’s my kind of heaven. Just hypnotic (in the best kind of way). It’s so serene with the gorgeous islands surrounding this paradise. Plus, there aren’t billions of people trashing this stunning utopia.
No billions! The intake of people is restricted so that human impact on the islands is minimal…we were mesmerised too! There were moments when all I could do was just sit and absorb the beauty.