Long Beach Wildlife
Situated along the Pacific Flyway, the
beaches offer an opportunity for exceptional bird
watching. Mergansers, mallards and other ducks reside in
the park year-round, along with bald eagles, great blue
herons, Brandt's and pelagic cormorants, common loons,
and many other waterbirds.
Other seabirds are seasonal visitors,
including the black turnstone, common goldeneye and
horned grebe (winter), and rufous hummingbirds, western
flycatchers, orange-crowned and Townsend's warblers, and
marbled murrelet (summer). Many transients stop in the
park on their way, north and south.
Whales and Other Wildlife
Bears, cougars and smaller mammals of the
non-threatening kind, including bog animals., are foundf
in the park and in nearby waters. Gray whales migrate
along the beaches, moving north from mid-February on
their journey to the Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. In
late December, the grays are seen heading south to their
breeding grounds in the lagoons of Baja California.
Whale-watching excursions are available in Tofino and
Ucluelet. While most whales are transients, as many as 40
to 50 great gray whales stay along the Vancouver island
coast during the summer; a few regularly stay here
year-round. The optimum time for whale watching is from
late February to early June.
The waters off the park have been
designated the Pacific Rim National Preserve. The
increase in gray whale numbers over the past 50 years
followed the near-decimation of the species. Vancouver
Island had whaling stations, and as far back as the 18th
century, commercial whalers, starting with the Russians,
hunted the great gray along this part of the Pacific. But
the height of the whaling industry was in the late 19th
century. In only 18 years of whaling, the Pacific
population of gray whales was almost annihilated. Today,
the 18,000 or more eastern Pacific herd of whales proves
the resilience of animal species. This is the largest
population of gray whales remaining in the world. A small
number of gray whales (180 total each year) are permitted
to be caught by native peoples, mainly in Alaska and
Siberia.
Intertidal and Green Zones
The intertidal zone, particularly west of
the headlands, provides a rich exhibit of seashells
(mussels, finger limpets, barnacles), sea worms,
anemones, hermit crabs, and several species of small
fish, including tidepool sculpins. At low tide, the
shoreline is crawling with life, in and out of the rocky
pools. Purple shore crabs drag their bodies across the
sand, leaving "tire" marks. Plants including the sea sac
and sea palm are found at the water's edge.
Behind the beaches and headlands lies a
remarkable procession of green zones. With a growing
season of nine months and snow rarely falling, you will
not see remarkable changes in the color of the vegetation
as the annual cycle progresses. However, the shades of
green are varied within the six plant zones in the park.
Considering that the average width of the park is about
one mile, this shows a remarkable diversity in plant
life.
Just above the pounding waves is the spruce
fringe, populated by stunted Sitka spruce -- barely
hanging on in the sandy soil and strong winds -- with
salal underneath. The fall berries of this thick, wiry
groundcover provided a staple food for the local Nootka
Indians, and still are treasured by the park's hungry
bears, although bears are infrequently seen along the
shoreline. Behind the small, stunted Sitka spruce, taller
stands of spruce grow, accompanied by the smaller Pacific
crabapple.
Bogs
Just in from the beaches are several fine
bogs, irrigated by the 118 inches of rain which fall here
each year. The bogs lie in lowland areas behind Long
Beach. These are peat bogs, built up over hundreds of
years, filled with spongy spaghnum moss. There are few
trees in the boggy areas, although one tree, the
shorepine (lodgepole pine) thrives in this stagnant,
soaked environment. In such a wet area, this tree is
exceptionally stunted, but sometimes reaches to your
shoulders. Labrador tea is a resident, exhibiting white
flowers during June and July. You'll also see bog laurel,
which has pink clusters of flowers in the spring.
Several streams bring water from the
eastern hills, flowing across the beaches and into the
ocean. Red alder is the primary tree in this streamside
zone, flanked by willows in a shrub shape. The unusual
small tree with groups of large oval leaves is the
cascara, Under the alders, salmonberry and thimbleberry
grow, with pink and white flowers respectively, followed
by delicious berries. The salmonberry is rounded, varying
in color from yellow to red. The red thimbleberry is
shaped like a thimble, like its relatives, the raspberry
and blackberry. It has large maple-shaped leaves.
Forests
Inland, along the hills, is the typical
Vancouver Island cedar-hemlock forest. The western red
cedar has long been used by the Natives of the region for
many purposes. Spruce is also found among the other
conifers. There is so much rain here that the trunks of
many of these trees are covered with moss.
Closer to the beaches are prime examples of
the climax rain forest, old-growth trees including the
amabilis fir, a member of the balsam family and
considered to be a true fir. It is seen with the western
yew, a smaller tree with thin bark, usually covered with
moss. The understory is typical for the temperate rain
forest: mainly salal, with false azalea and huckleberry,
all three members of the heather family. Blueberry bushes
also grow in this environment. You'll also see western
white pine in smaller quantities within the park
boundaries.
Much of the eastern property now included
in the park was extensively logged before the park was
created in the 1970s. While much of Vancouver Island is
covered with Douglas-fir, there are few specimens in the
park. Too much rain is the cause. Instead, the logged
areas have been re-planted with Sitka spruce, red cedar
and western hemlock, the trees which were previously
logged. There are clear-cut swaths which still are
covered with fireweed, waiting for the new forest to
grow.
