Herring Magic

Earlier this March, Sarah was lucky enough to travel to Hornby Island to see the Herring Spawn. It is the time of year when areas on the coast the water turn milky as the herring come to lay their eggs; bringing an abundance of life to the area. Sea lions, seals, salmons, sea birds, humpbacks and orcas are among some of the species whom come to join the festivities.

Field notes from Sarah:

”I've never seen so many bald eagles in my life, and sea lions floating on their backs fins up in the air. I heard from one local that they are so full from this feast that they just float with their bellies full with their fins up out of the water to stay warm — apparently their capillaries are close to the surface of the skin, and can catch the sunbeams to warm their body.
Pacific Herring are the foundation of the marine food web and most important marine species on the west coast. Herring are a type of forage fish that directly supports smaller predators like chinook and coho salmon — which are primary food sources for larger predators like endangered Southern Resident Orcas. Pacific Herring are an important food for most whales. Fast agile dolphins and porpoise snap up Herring individually. Huge filter feeding baleen whales like humpback whales, swallow herring en masse.

It was a magical sight to be seen.

The annual Herring spawn in the Strait of Georgia around Hornby and Denman Islands is the last of six major Herring spawns on the west coast of Canada — the rest were overfished and have since vanished.

This small silver fish is so important to the health of the ecosystem and as you can understand from the info above, this time is so important for so many creatures.

Check out:

https://www.conservancyhornbyisland.org/ for more details and how to help save the Herring.

There is also a great video called We are the Herring:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOWEaZ-kjjE&t=4s

xo,

Sarah”

We have included the Herring into our second edition of the Messengers from the Great Bear Oracle Deck as one of the four new messengers. We can't believe we missed it for the first edition considering such an important role that the Herring play.

Looking forward to more learning, conservation and adventures,