Peter Adams - Guardian of the Bay

2018-Jun-01

Peter Adams - Guardian of the Bay

Go Wild and Protect the Bay

What is your connection to Georgian Bay?

I came from a family of campers. We didn’t have a cottage. This was back in the 1960s and early 70s and Killbear Provincial Park was one of my favourite campgrounds. It’s where I saw my first rattlesnake and caught my first smallmouth bass. I was introduced to the South Channel in the early 1980s when my wife, Beth, invited me to her family cottage. We bought our own property in the late 90s and have made the annual trek from Alberta to Georgian Bay every year since.

Why is being a Guardian of the Bay important to you?

I believe that an individual’s actions are as important as government regulations for protecting Georgian Bay. We are the guardians of our property’s ecological health. Collectively, Guardians of the Bay play a significant role in protecting the ecological integrity and biodiversity of Georgian Bay.

Help protect shoreline ecology

Being an avid snorkeler, I spend many hours observing the shoreline with an underwater view. That narrow zone where water and land meet is often referred to as “the ribbon of life”. Plants, micro-organisms, insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals and fish all call this home. It is estimated that up to ninety percent of lake life rely on this zone during part of their life cycle.

Recent high water levels in Georgian Bay have submerged much of the vegetation that grew along the shoreline during the low water years. It’s not pretty looking at this from the surface but the underwater view is quite different. Water movement associated with wind and waves has slowly washed away the organic material in the soil leaving most of the root network from the vegetation exposed.

In the summer of 2015, I started noticing minnows swimming in these root clusters. The next summer I noted an increase in the number and variety of minnows and a few perch, sunfish, and rock bass. Last summer, I observed schools of perch, bigger sunfish and rock bass and huge schools of minnows. I’ve also heard of people catching sunfish and rock bass off their docks again. It’s been over a decade since that last happened.

Perhaps the exposed roots systems have given a variety of aquatic life protection from predators, and with respect to fish, this could mean protection from cormorants and other feathered feeders. I haven’t read the science on the relationship between the increase in the cormorant population and the disappearance of minnows and small game fish but I suspect there is a correlation.

Exposed root cluster

Cormorants have a hard time penetrating the root clusters and with the high water and submerged vegetation the fish have a new, safer habitat to grow and feed from.

We all use and value the shoreline for different reasons. There can be a clash between how we want to use the shoreline and what is best for its ecological integrity. As cottagers, we can be respectful of shoreline ecology and should consider allowing submerged vegetation and root clusters to remain on beaches or rocky shores. This doesn’t mean letting your shoreline grow completely over or totally changing how you use your shoreline, but could instead guide your choice of what shoreline to keep clear versus what could be left in its natural state.

A Blue heron hunting for minnows and vegetation frogs

Take a balanced approach to shoreline

Spend some time learning about shoreline ecology and what you can do to improve it. There is a lot of literature available about the importance of shoreline vegetation and what cottagers can do to be effective stewards. I’ve provided some links below as a starting point. Our own Township of The Archipelago has some very good material.

If you like snorkeling, take a look at the submerged vegetation on your own shoreline. The water is warmer and it is generally less than a meter deep so it is relatively safe and there is a lot to see!

Create some diversity on your shoreline and enjoy the benefits of a healthier ecosystem. Don’t prune all the meadowsweet and other woody-stemmed shrubs back. Leave some grasses and bulrushes. Allow shoreline vegetation to grow during low water years. Collectively, cottagers can make a positive difference to the success of many plant and animal communities.