North in the Spring #27: West Coast, Whales and Western Sandpipers by John Neville The West Coast is known worldwide for its rugged natural beauty. Surf boarders ride the big waves year round at Long Beach Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Last summer I followed my granddaughters into the water. They frolicked, swam and screamed for nearly three hours in the waves. I only lasted three minutes because of the cool temperature. The salty tang in the air, the roar and motion of the waves and sharing their joy was all I needed. This spring we camped just beyond Ucluelet on the peninsula amid the trees and Salal. Just across the road above the rocks was a rugged trail leading out to the lighthouse. It winds between old growth cedar and gnarled firs. Below, the waves are close and sometimes deafening! The big rollers crash and roar creating white spume and foam. Before retreating each hissing wave is overwhelmed by the next green roller. Early in the morning I awoke to: Varied Thrush with their referee-like whistles, domestic vocal calls of Bald Eagle (from the nest) and the rattles of Belted Kingfisher. Below the campsite was a nature trail overlooking Spring Cove, with an outlet to Barkley Sound. Its very calm with mudflats, brackish water, Eelgrass, Ribbon Worms which irrigate the mud, ancient Clam Gardens, Dungeness crab and an IBA. The sun came out as we walked the trail. About 20.000 Grey Whales migrate past the West Coast in spring and fall. Most of them travel to the Bering Sea, the main area where they feed. Their yellow baleen plates capture enormous quantities of Plankton, Diotoms and Copepods to sustain their huge bodies. Their approx. 22.000 km round trip is one of the longest animal migrations. Approximately 200 stay in Barkley Sound for the summer and a smaller group in the Salish Sea. Shallow oval depressions up and down the West Coast mark areas where these critters dig out places to feed in the mud. There are hundreds of these hollows around Whidbey Island WA. Lying on their side they suck material off the bottom through the side of their mouth. The baleen plates are suspended from the upper jaw and sift food from the mucky bottom. Filtering is helped by small hairs on the inside of the baleen plates. In addition they may feed on Herring Spawn, krill and small crabs. Good places to see them are Barkley and Clayoquot Sounds, Rose Spit and Sandspit on Haida Gwaii and whale watching trips from Tofino. In the fall, they travel south to lagoons on the coast of Baha California where they give birth and breed. Pregnancy lasts 11 months or till the following year in the Baha. One birth every two years is the norm. We once took a memorable trip in a government approved panga boat to see the whales in Laguna San Ignacio. The contact with the whale was very respectful. It was also very intimate. We went alongside a female: she seemed to fully accept our presence. A lady in the second panga reached out and was able to stroke her rough skin. These monster mammals can reach a length of 14.9 m. and weigh 36 tons. You could just hear the soughing of her breath and smell the dank fishy odour from her twin nostrils, as she expelled just under 1cubic m (or 35 cubic ft) of air! The fountain of mist slowly condensed and spread out above her. If you are trying to identify them: note they have 7 to 14 bumps or knuckles down their spine, but no dorsal fin. The black skin is mottled and blemished by barnacles and whale lice. The increasing number of barnacles in older whales create white patches. I couldn’t help wondering how far back in evolutionary time had our mammalian ancestors diverged? Long Beach and the shoreline around Tofino are also crowded with shorebirds in late April. Prior to the Covid epidemic this phenomena was celebrated by the Shorebird Festival, a popular event in Tofino each year. To reach the Tofino Mudflats Wildlife management Area at Browning Passage, turn onto Sharpes road and drive to the parking lot. See https://raincoasteducation.org One of the amazing spectacles is the large amorphous flocks of Western Sandpipers over the mudflats Western Sandpiper Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology . They can number up to 1000 or more! They appear like a swarm of insects, changing shape constantly in a seamless fashion and beautifully coordinated, like smoke in the wind. The flock swoops and bends with constant twittering calls, as each bird acts in concert with the whole! At the end of April and the beginning of May they stop to replenish their layers of fat before continuing north. We were too early this year for the main migration. Western sandpipers start in Panama and stop at various places to feed on their way to sub-arctic Alaska. They are robin sized weighing, 56.69 g (20 ounces). In springtime they are distinguished by red caps and backs. As soon as the snow melts the males establish territories using their shrill whistles and choosing places where their red spring plumage blends with the environment. Incubation duties are shared by the parents. On April 22nd we counted 60 Western Sandpiper, 40 Dunlin, 3 Black-bellied Plover and a noisy, low flying flock of Snow Geese (our first of the year). Claude Debussy captured some of our pleasure visiting the West Coast, its harmony of sight, sound and smell, with his beautiful music La Mer.