Bounty of the Sea
From the beaches to the dark ocean depths, from microscopic creatures to the world’s biggest animals, and from the life undersea to the things we can see, the Pacific North Coast waters support a richness, abundance, and diversity of life that is truly spectacular.
The combination of complex oceanographic conditions and seafloor characteristics in this region, with its channels, banks, deep troughs, eddies, upwellings, estuaries, and depths ranging from zero to over 2,000 metres, creates a wide range of ecological niches and in turn supports a diverse array of species.
The ocean supports not only marine plants and animals but our terrestrial (on land) forests as well. The low elevation forestlands in this region are generally starved of nutrients because heavy rainfall can wash them away. However, every year thousands of salmon swim from the oceans up rivers and streams to spawn and then die.
Full of nutrients from the ocean, salmon become food for many animals, including bears, wolves, and eagles that live along the creeks and rivers. As the dead salmon decompose, the marine-derived nutrients make their way into the animals, plants, insects, and soil of the terrestrial ecosystems, sometimes hundreds of kilometres upstream.
Source:
William Crawford, Duncan Johannessen, Frank Whitney, Rick Birch, Keith Borg, David Fissel, and Svein Vagle. (2007) Ecosystem Overview Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area - Appendix C: Physical and Chemical Oceanography.
