It has been very slow for sightings. Only splashes and a few dorsal fins of probably Pacific White Sided Dolphins have been spotted right through from Jan 31 to Feb 4 th. with the last sighting on Feb 4th around 1pm near Willingdon Beach area in Powell River.
The only other bit of information of interest I received is the fact that there are Cutthroat Trout appearing in some of our local Powell River ditches.
This is quite significant since these ditches once were the creeks and streams of Powell River. They were culverted to allow for roads and housing many, many years ago. It was thought that without re-stocking with fish, not to mention extensive refurbishing of the creek beds, there would be no runs of any sort. I had heard of the occasional Sea Run Trout, which would be Cutthroat, being caught off the Sliammon reserve over the last two years, but thought that it was a very random event.
When it comes to Resident (fish eating) Orca, Killer Whales, we know they eat salmon and halibut, so can we assume they also eat trout? After all trout is from the salmonoid family of fish.
At this point, I do not want to specify the exact location of these Cutthroat Trout so as to protect the fry. This also raises the point of how to improve and maintain these mini ecosystems. I will keep you all posted when I hear more.
If you are interested in helping to preserve these local areas, please drop me a note by clicking here.
Have You Seen Any of These?