Editor:
I am distressed and concerned about the ecological decline along the White Rock Semiahmoo seashore.
When I first came to the Lower Mainland and visited the community during the sandcastle days, there was an abundance of sea life – mussels hugging the wharf posts, barnacles covering the rocks, crabs at low tide in the ponds, sanddollars, worms, geoducks, clams to dig. The seabirds – the gulls, herons, eagles, sandpipers and occasional pelican – were present in numbers to appreciate and to behold. The green seasonal seagrass that rolls up onto the beaches dried intact and stayed for a long time. It was a favourite for avid gardeners.
Now? Now, there are no starfish clinging to the breakwater, no living barnacles, maybe a mussel or two clinging to the pier. And where are the clam and crab shells, fresh from being feasted upon by the shorebirds?
The weak, grey seagrass disintegrates in about a week. The sand is covered in a slippery green mossy slime.
The birds are suffering from the lack of food. I have seen a Canada goose wandering around uptown on Johnston Road, stubbornly pecking at the fallen cherry-blossom petals in the gutter. It was almost hit by the gas-guzzling SUVs hurrying to the 16 Avenue light a number of times. I discovered its probable mate pecking at the grass in the fenced-in parking lot next the Coast Capital Playhouse.
Mayor, and community-at-large: we need a plan to help our resident wildlife. We need to establish feeding stations along the shoreline, from one end of the beach to the other. We need to respect and protect our birds, whose food source is horribly compromised.
There seems to be strong evidence that the seabirds are relocating out of White Rock. The usual murder of crows and eagles have left due to deforestation practices. Groups of noisy but welcoming gulls have all but gone, as well.
There is not enough food at the shoreline, nor green space up the hill.
Let’s not be ugly global citizens, immune to the silent 911 our seashore inhabitants are sending. We really do need an ecological branch of the city council to take action. We need to motivate our residents to pick up their plastic, aluminum and paper waste consistently.
We have a token couple of refuse wanderers – employed by the city and volunteers – but as the demographics change, the population and racial mix increase sharply, some of the important issues are forgotten in the hustle and bustle of real-estate grabs. This planet has renewable – yet not inexhaustible – resources. Abuse will cause our shoreline life to collapse into a dead zone.
Z. Davis, White Rock