Waiting for an occupant - crows nest in the Fraser River estuary BC. Spotted in a January 2026 walk.
Waiting for an occupant - crows nest in the Fraser River estuary BC. Spotted in a January 2026 walk.
#addBirder
Thinking back to late summer (August) - moon jellyfish drifting under marine riparian - Douglas fir bough reflection - overhanging the high tide zone. Pender Harbour BC
Thinking back to late summer (August) - moon jellyfish drifting under marine riparian - Douglas fir bough reflection - overhanging the high tide zone. Pender Harbour BC
Very interesting findings. Ecosystems on main stems of big rivers also have a cross channel component as we found with Chinook fry and smolts on the lower Fraser River BC
waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/library-bibl...
Lower Fraser River riparian in autumn
Lena River delta fish food web from. Pirozhnikov P. L. 1955. Questions in Ichthyology Vol 3: 164-185 (in Russian) draft fish names are my scribbles.see right image for codes to names
Codes to draft fish names
Riparian on its way to detritus and food web in lower Fraser R -recalled a 1955 Russian paper on Lena R. delta an early freshwater tidal fish food web. 1 and 2 (fry) is iconic Taimen/Hucho). Draft fish name translations. Pirozhnikov P. L. 1955. Questions in Ichthyology Vol 3: 164-185 (in Russian
Chromatophores were working overtime on this spawned out chum salmon from the Chehalis River. BC. Image from my grandson Erik Levings.
Chromatophores were working overtime on this spawned out chum salmon from the Chehalis River. BC. Image from my grandson Erik Levings. #marinelife
There is nothing as soothing as a tranquil stream flowing through the rain forest. In this case, Anderson Creek near Madeira Park, BC
There is nothing as soothing as a tranquil stream flowing through the rain forest. In this case, Anderson Creek near Madeira Park, BC.
A fine set of bracket fungi seen on an old oak tree in Chaldecott Park, Vancouver
A fine set of bracket fungi seen on an old oak tree in Chaldecott Park, Vancouver
A fine set of bracket fungi seen on an old oak tree in Chaldecott Park, Vancouver
A fine set of bracket fungi seen on an old oak tree in Chaldecott Park, Vancouver
A fine set of bracket fungi seen today on an old oak tree in Chaldecott Park, Vancouver #fungi
Octopus in a ling cod mouth
Moon jellyfish in the marine riparian at high tide - fir tree branches reflected in the image
Shallow and deep ecosystems in the Salish Sea, BC Canada 1. food web in real time - an octopus was still alive in the esophagus of a ling cod (Ophiodon elongatus) after it was caught 2. at high tide, a moon jelly moved into the marine riparian - fir tree branches are reflected in the image.
Really cool paper. You can see the point on the time series where #capitalism was invented!
Purple loosestrife from Wiki Grout, Jeff A., Colin D. Levings, and John S. Richardson. "Decomposition rates of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) and Lyngbyei’s sedge (Carex lyngbyei) in the Fraser River Estuary." Estuaries 20, no. 1 (1997): 96-102. https://doi.org/10.2307/1352723
Knotweed from Wlki
Interesting review paper on non-native plant species and riverbanks. Topic likely relevant to estuaries too.
Hardwick, J., et al. "The role of non-native plant species in modulating riverbank erosion: a systematic review." River Research and Applications (2025). doi.org/10.1002/rra....
📣 Exciting news! The Nippon Foundation and Scottish Association For Marine Science are embarking on a groundbreaking deep-sea research project to study "Dark Oxygen' – a revolutionary discovery of oxygen production in complete darkness on the #oceanfloor.
Homathko River estuary was at the maximum distance re fuel from the CCG base in Campbell River. Survey was for geomorph and marsh studies. 1980 pic
Grumman Mallard (from Wiki). BC Airlines flew us into Ocean Falls where we were doing benthic studies at a pulp mill. See Fournier and Levings 1982. Polychaetes recorded near two pulp mills on the coast of northern British Columbia : a preliminary taxonomic and ecological account Syllogeus (National Museum of Canada) 40: 1- 91.
I have not flown on a Seabee but certainly did on the legendary Beaver. The map at this link shows the places we worked at up and down the coast. https://colinlevings.ca/about/places-ive-studied/ Pic is at Haida Gwaii - Daajing Giids - Queen Charlotte City 1965
Aviation enabled our estuary studies British Columbia coast. Studies of mid coast fjords sometimes required flying to meet a ship eg Mallard from YVR sometimes climbed an hour to get over the mountains. CCG chopper flew us to Homathko R estuary. This is how we collected data in remote areas. 🌊🪸🐛
Black tail deer - 2 spike buck
Blue heron on a precarious perch
Animals of the marine riparian on the Salish Sea
Black tail deer and Blue Heron🦅🦌🌊🌲
Collembola - springtails are frequent food items in juvenile salmon caught at high tide under marine riparian vegetation
Collembola, chironomids and mites are some of the inverts found in the marine riparian zone in the Salish Sea, British Columbia. publications.gc.ca/collections/... gives details on invertebrates&food webs esp re juvenile salmon.
See doi.org/10.1603/0046... for vegetation-invert connections
🐙 🌊
Horizontal profile of the lower tree branches shows the high tide mark. Jervis Inlet BC
Always intrigued by how the high tide marks the edge of the marine riparian zone in the Salish Sea, British Columbia. Read about it here -publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2... - includes food web collections to juvenile salmon.
Squamish estuary -sampling amphipods in the sedge marsh skirt
Squamish estuary 1973 showing dredge spoil pile in upper middle and river training wall. Spoil pile and seaward end of the wall now gone and culverts through parts of it.
Dredge spoil pile
Taking samples of benthic inverts in the marsh
Hello Dr.Allison
Great to see you had a nice tour of restored Squamish estuary. I cut my teeth there 1972 in the EA study of the estuary when it was proposed for a coal port. FYI 2 refs + see amphipod post + my CV
waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/library-bibl...
waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/library-bibl...
OK thank you
Amphipod specific papers
Eogammarus confervicolus
Log and wood waste found to reduce amphipod productivity see Stanhope and Levings 1985
Skirt of sedge rhizomes hanging over shallow embankment was low tide refuge for amphs - "huge" biomass found
British Columbia estuarine gammarid amphipod redux – see attached my past squibs. Scope for new work on indicator G. setosus colinlevings.ca/about/amphip... in BC fjords re changing temp & glacier retreat. Beasts are key estuarine salmon food in north temperate bit.ly/2FrfJoy p 98, 102
#addOcean
🌊
Thanks for the interesting paper. Attach an item which might of interest about Gammarus setosus - also a possible species indicator in BC fjords.
colinlevings.ca/about/amphip...
Hello Dr Nunez - Colin Levings here retired DFO Canada scientist with ongoing interest in invasives and ballast water
cloud sponge from Wiki
cold water coral from Wiki
Cable drum on recovery barge
Undersea cables in the news these days. Way back in the day we sampled a telephone cable being recovered in the Salish Sea British Columbia and found 15 classes of organisms on it. The cable had been laid for 53 y.
waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/library-bibl...
Hello Dr Satterfield
It would be great to join the school - here is my short profile
Retired/active fisheries scientist-oceanographer - interested in estuaries&salmonids, benthos, fjords, nautical history & other things. Author Salmonids in Estuaries bit.ly/2FrfJoy. colinlevings.ca
Thank you.
From ANH 47 (2)
courtesy Chris Rooper
Albatross from NMFS
My side-gig in recent years -writing some West Coast marine ecology history items. It’s been fun -see attached papers on Ed Ricketts (Steinbeck friend) work in British Columbia; My memoir; notable cruise of USFCS Albatross in Salish Sea; History of ocean perch exploitation in the Gulf of Alaska.
thanks
Thank you
Hello Tessa Hill - thanks for this starter pack and would like to join it - I am a retired fisheries scientist but wrote about a few other ocean things eg about Ed Ricketts, friend of Steinbeck; a memoir; a cruise of USS Albatross; Gulf of Alaska history -list on my website.
Hello Dr Borja
Colin Levings here - Retired habitat ecologist still working on estuaries. It would be great to join your starter pack. Thanks
Hello Jenni can you please me to the starter list - I am retired a retired Fisheries and Oceans scientist but still working on salmon and estuary ecology. Thanks for the initiative to bring salmonid folk together.
Off Yakutat Gulf of Alaska
Grenville Channel British Columbia
McNab Creek estuary, British Columbia
Learned so much helping with this review paper on ecology and ocgy of land-ocean links, spearheaded by Brian Hunt @ubcoceans.bsky.social. oceans, small watersheds, mini estuaries, mountains, fjords, food webs #oceanography
@earth2ocean.bsky.social
aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
I would like to be added as a contributor - thanks