Dozens of families converged on Oak Bay’s Kitty Islet on Saturday for an opportunity to learn about the local marine life.
The Friends of Uplands Park Society — with help from volunteers, including Tina Kelly, director of learning at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea — hosted Tide Pool School.
“We’re down here today to introduce this absolutely fabulous ecosystem to people that may have been here before or never been here before, because it’s one of the best places to go and look at how many different adaptations that animals and plants have to solve the challenges of this area,” said Margaret Lidkea, the FOUP Society’s president and the event’s organizer.
The goal: to promote environmental protection through education.
“This is an urban area, and when people come down here, they need to know how they can have the smallest footprint possible,” Lidkea said.
The event featured a tent where participants — of nearly every age — could observe a few of the larger specimens, as well as the opportunity for participants to grab a small net and a container to better explore the creatures living on the islet.
No one was allowed to take anything — including rocks and shells — home, which was part of the lesson, according to Lidkea. Rocks provide valuable hiding spots for several animals. Shells are used by hermit crabs; break down into soluble calcium, which creatures use to create shells; and often include attached barnacles, which Lidkea said can die when brought home.
The event was held between 11 and 12:30, during the day’s low tide.
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