Canadian Council on Ecological Areas

Sea Kayaking Field Trip - Oct 27, 2001

Prince Edward Island National Park, North Rustico Harbour

Participants: Janelle Hancock – Deer Lake, NF; Helios Hernandez – Winnipeg, MB; Bas Oosenbeng – Yellowknife, NWT; John Meikle – Whitehorse, YT; Tony Turner – Ottawa, ON; Sian French – Deer Lake, NF; Dan Paleczny – Peterborough, ON; Adam Sherlock (assistant) – Halifax, NS; Stephane Petis (assistant) – Leon, France; and myself – The head guide and ‘reporter’, Bryon Howard – Rustico, PE.

Experience Level: From beginner to advanced.

Weather: 15 degrees Celsius / blue skies / light wind (8 km) from South West.

Animals: Herring Gull, Ring Billed Gull, Black Bellied Plover, Greater Black Back Gull, Canadian Geese, American Crow, Sanderling (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!), Common Tern, Eider Duck, and Semi-palmated Sandpiper.

Personal Thoughts / Reminders / Memories: Folks gathered from all over the world for the annual Canadian Council Ecological Areas Conference in Stanley Bridge, Prince Edward Island. (Visit http://www.ccea.org for more info on the Canadian Council on Ecological Areas.) After two days of meetings – it was field trip time. While many opted for the East Point and Parabolic Dune Trip at Greenich, we went Sea Kayaking in Prince Edward Island National Park launching from North Rustico.

We met in Rustico Harbour at Outside Expeditions (http://www.getoutside.com) across from the Lighthouse at the Court Brothers at 9 am. After Outside Expeditions guide Bryon Howard figured out where the waiver forms and credit card machine were located – everyone signed in … and were ready to go. But first a washroom stop. “Washrooms are next door in the big yellow building,” claimed Bryon.

“Right there with the big pad lock on the door,” asked Janelle.

“Oops, sorry. Tourism in PEI at the end of October. Are you folks starting to see that we are at the tail end of our season?!”

After 25 minutes of instruction, demonstrations and pointing out the hazards of sea kayaking, life jackets & skirts were donned, rudders were working … and all were sitting in the boat waiting for the tide to come in – in order to get started. In fact, the tide was still ebbing (going out) … so we decided to carry boats to water.

A quick paddle across the channel had us floating among the sand flats and most of the identified birds above. We eventually grouped up discussed bird sightings, spoke more on ‘in the event of a kayak capsize’ and proper paddling techniques. We then headed out the channel of Rustico Bay, and into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. We headed west into a light wind along the Prince Edward Island National Park.

What’s that Rotten Egg Smell?

It’s sulphur-reducing bacteria – look at the ocean floor and you can occasionally see the colors of green, black, blue, white, and pink. Colors in the sand are a result of microorganisms. In green layers diatoms are predominant, as well as cyanobacteria. Pink colours define areas rich in carotinoids, the major pigments of purple sulphur bacteria. Black layers are concentrations of iron sulphide – precipitate from sulfate reducing bacteria.

Guide Bryon Howard explained that at the entrances of many of the Bays around the Island we get that smell. These microorganisms are primitive bacteria that live without oxygen and get their energy from the chemical reactions. What we smell are all sorts of processes going on … this means healthy decomposition of the pollution in our bays.

Why is the smell particularly present at the entrance to our Bays?

While the sulphuring rotten egg smell can occur anywhere, it is particularly prevalent around the entrances of Bays. While tides help in flushing our bays, the sand spits jutting into the entrances of Bays, frequently causes ‘back-eddies’. These back-eddies cause the water to slow dramatically – and therefore allow the build up of algae. Eventually bacteria attack the algae, breaking it down – and producing the smell as a waste product of photosynthesis.

What’s so cool about Eel Grass?

Eel Grass is incredibly adaptable – it is one of the very few vascular plants in the ocean. It is key vegetation that supports the growth and development of cod in this region. This grass acts as a nursery area for juvenile cod, the ‘youngsters’ using the eelgrass for shelter and escape from predators.

Robinson Island - Prince Edward Island National Park

Prince Edward Island National Park is Canada’s 2^nd smallest park, and 3^rd most visited. In the 1950’s it was National Park policy to make our Parks accessible for the enjoyment of all. With this mandate a causeway was built to the east end of Robinson Island and a bridge was constructed from the West end – allowing the visitor to travel through this area by vehicle in just minutes! It was just a few years before the bridge was washed out in a storm, and the cause way has been the cause of incredible erosion problems, algae blooms, and shut down harbours. Locals have been lobbying since the beginning, but especially since the early 1990’s to have the causeway removed. It has become a bureaucratic nightmare of broken promises and missed opportunities.

While PEI looses on average three feet of it’s coastline to erosion each year, Robinson Island has lost as many as three acres in a single year! Be warned, ocean front property may not be a good investment. With the geological sinking of the Island, Global warming causing ocean levels to rise – scientist have predicted that Prince Edward Island will become three islands by 2046.

We eventually paddled just east of Doyle’s Cove where we enjoyed a terrific snack of cheese, crackers, fruit, gorp, candy, and juice. Ground water poured from the cliff above us onto our beach. Beach finds included Irish moss, kelp, corral n’algae, oysters, mussels, periwinkles, and even an Irish moss rake! (Or was that a scallop rake?)

The Return

Paddling back to Rustico Harbour was easy with the slight tail wind. Just as we landed back on shore, the skies clouded over. We rinsed the gear in fresh water, loaded Bryon’s kayak trailer and said good-byes. Just then, the wind picked up and the rain came down horizontally. (“Very unusual for it to be rainy and windy here in October”, says Bryon sheepishly. “Tell all your friends that it is beautiful in Prince Edward Island in October”.)

Future Plans: We all had an excellent time … and everyone promised to tell their friends about Outside Expeditions … and would return for a multi-day camping or inn-to-inn kayaking or biking expedition in PEI, NS or NFLD!