Pacific herring, lingcod, rockfish, sole, Pacific cod and dogfish shark are common, as are shrimp, prawn, oyster and various crabs and clams. Hornby Island is one of the rare places where the unaggressive six-gilled shark comes into shallow waters every year. More than 230,000 pairs of seabirds breed in the area, most notably rhinoceros auklets, with lesser numbers of Cassin s auklets, storm-petrels, gulls and cormorants. More important are the two million shorebirds, grebes, loons, seabirds, diving and dabbling ducks, and geese which use the estuaries and coastal waters as summering, staging and wintering grounds. Easily observed, playful and quite demonstrative, they are one of the region s star attractions.
Harbour seals are also plentiful, with numerous haul-outs throughout the area.
Stellar and California sea lions are primarily winter residents. Marine Environment Shallow banks, deep basins, shoals, sills and narrow channels are prevalent within the region. Upwellings, tidal mixing, tidal rips, whirlpools, eddies, convergence's and slow backwaters are common, resulting from highly variable currents and complex bottom and coastline features. The Fraser River drains about one-quarter of the land area of British Columbia and discharges so much fresh water in the spring that it essentially converts the Strait of Georgia into a huge ecosystem. All of these elements create one of the most productive marine environments on our Pacific coast.