SRO News | Updates: Great Bear National Forest

Great Bear National Forest - Sacred Spaces, Day 7

Published Monday, October 15, 2007 by SROmgmt | E-mail this post

Sept 25, 2007 (Early Morning)

I was living it up in the intertidal pools

David took us out to explore the intertidal zone of Laredo Sound. Total ecosystem in balance. Not something you witness every day. There are so many organisms in the tide - We tripled the size of our species list within an hour. My rubber boots were working well until I decided to jump into the water for a fine sea urchin shell. Worth it for shirveled toes for the rest of the day - I managed to bring it back home with me safe and sound.

"The edge of the continent is thick with life, one cubic foot of tidepool can support more than 4,000 living things." - Timothy Egan, The Good Rain: Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest

Dave and Ross pick through an intertidal wonderland

My puffy early morning face with two Purple Stars (Pisaster ochraceus)

An Urticina piscivora!!!!! White-spotted rose anemone

Green surf anemone (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) with Mytilus californianus

Sept 25, 2007 (Early Afternoon)

We took to the hills to find these large cedars in Distu. These standing trees are a good example of what "old growth" is in the Northern rainforests.

Dustin, Dave and I

Native test hole (probably for a totem pole or canoe)

Ross, Dave and I have fun with some found bear ribs

Taking a rest

White Angel Wing Fungus (Pleurocybella porrigens)

Murdered in the woods

Sept 25, 2007 (Afternoon)

Doug from the Kitasoo Nation told us the sacred stories of the cedar and spruce on the beach. His Nation is one that has lost the most cultural relevance out of all the First Nations in Great Bear. Violet, a 94 year-old Kitasoo, is the last surviving member of the band that speaks the Kitasoo tongue fluently. Once she passes, the language and all of the knowledge of oral histories will forever be lost.