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Alberthead
Lagoon in Metchosin, B.C. Bear Cove in Port Hardy, B.C. Bob's Spot in the Plumper Island Group, B.C. Braemar Ave in North Saanich, B.C. Breakwater Island near Gabriola Pass, B.C. Browning Passage near Port Hardy, B.C. Browning Wall near Port Hardy, B.C. China Creek near Port Alberni, B.C. Clover Point in Victoria, B.C. Copper Cliffs near Campbell River, B.C. Daphne Islet near Brentwood Bay Deep Cove near Sidney, B.C. Discovery Island near Victoria, B.C. Dolphin Beach near Nanoose Bay, B.C. Elliot's Beach Park in Ladysmith, B.C. Five Fathom near Port Hardy, B.C. Forest Island (north end) near Sidney, B.C. GB Church [ship to reef] near Sidney, B.C. Gowland Point on South Pender Island, B.C. Henderson Point near Sidney, B.C. Madrona Point in Nanaimo, B.C. Maple Bay near Duncan, B.C. McKenzie Bight near Victoria, B.C. McNeill Point aka Kitty Islet in Victoria, B.C. Neck Point in Nanaimo, B.C. Northeast Pearse Wall, Telegraph Cove, B.C. Ogden Point in Victoria, B.C. Porteau Cove Marine Park, B.C. Port McNeil, B.C. Rocky Point in Nanaimo, B.C. Row & Be Damned near Campbell River, B.C. Saltery Bay near Powell River,B.C. Saxe Point in Esquimalt, B.C. Sidney, B.C. Ten Mile Point in Victoria, B.C. Wall Beach near Nanoose Bay, B.C. Whytecliff Park near Vancouver, B.C. Willis Point near Sidney, B.C. International Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, USA Kaui - an Island of Hawaii, USA Aquatic but Non-Marine Life Vancouver Island, B.C. |
Scuba Diving
Pictures from Madrona Point
in Nanaimo/Parksville, B.C. Canada. These are medium quality jpegs. But I have the RAW images as well. Email tjfidler@telus.net Directions to the dive site located at the bottom of this page. Type of dive: shore dive but the far wall would be best with a boat Rating for this dive site: 8/10 for a combination of easy entry at high tide, some wall structure and variety of life Parking: space for about five cars, trucks,... Boat ramp: none Ease of entry: 9/10 at high tide [Wheel chair access: No] Abundance of life: 7/10 but some spots 8/10 along the walls Accommodations: There are several places in Nanaimo or even Parksville that you could find places to stay at. Attractions: There are two walls here. A shallow one to the west, and a deep one to the north. Bottom and depth: the wall to the north goes as deep as a 100 feet [30 m] Facilities: none Hazards/Obstacles: Best dove at hight tide as the solid rock can be slippery due to the algae on the rocks Sensitivity to tide/current: current can be a challenge on the shallow wall as the bay empties, but deep wall is less sensitive to this. Terrain: mostly solid rock walls near the shore, and sand at the bottom of the walls Tides, transportation and weather: Fisheries and Oceans Canada Tide Page., BC Ferries Schedule and Sailings. , The Weather Network
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The following images are thumbnails. If you click on them a larger image will open up and the picture will take up most of your screen. Again these are medium qualifty jpegs. Higher quality images can be purchased directly from me via paypal using my email address tjfidler@telus.net And many of these photos can be found for sale on Cafepress through the Calendar link and Photo CD link. As well some of these can be found as posters via Cafepress, and some of these ocean life photographs are available as widescreen backgrounds via the widescreen link immediately below some of the photographs.
A few people have already asked me about "What is that pink stuff on the rocks in some of the pictures?" Well, they're usually Pink Rock Crust (aka Encrusting Coralline Algae) or in some cases might even be Encrusting Hydrocorals. They're eaten by a variety of animals - apparently as a good source of calcium.
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| Parking area at the end of
Madrona Drive |
Facing north east - Mountains on
the mainland |
Facing west - Mountains on
Vancouver Island |
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| Where I normally enter the water
- low tide |
Dive only at high tide or just
before - peaks here |
Cephalopods
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| Pacific Giant Octopus? baby -
same individual as shown on right. (Sept 23, 2006) |
Octopus - knuckle walking - have
a small video of this on photo CD01 (Sept 23, 2006) This photo also appears on the marine-life calendar 2009 for Mollusks of the Pacific Northwest. North America 2009 Calendar v01 |
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| Pacific Giant Octopus [?] - baby - same individual as shown on right. (Seppt 23, 06) | Same individual as on left -
could also be a Red Octopus - if so then adult. |
Crustaceans
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| Decorator Crab (?) - If you look closely you can see its legs. ( January 25, 2006) | Northern Kelp Crab ( January 25, 2006) |
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| Two Sharp Nosed Crabs ( January
25, 2006) This photo also appears on the marine-life calendar 2009 for Crustaceans of the Pacific Northwest. North America 2009 Calendar v01 |
Sharp Nosed Crab ( January 25, 2006) |
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| Sharp Nosed Crab ( January 25, 2006) | Red Rock Crab ( January 25, 2006) |
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| young Puget Sound King Crab (April 17, 2006) | young Puget Sound King Crab (April 17, 2006) |
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| Decorator Crab - name ? (April 17, 2006) | Red Rock Crab (Sept 23, 2006) |
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| Black Eyed Hermit Crab (February
26, 2007) |
Golf Ball Crabs (February 26,
2007) |
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| Purple Shore Crab (July 10, 2007) |
Yellow Shore Crab (July 10, 2007) |
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| A juvenile Puget Sound King Crab
- about 5 inches [12.5 cm] across main shhell This is the largest one I've ever seen here. An adult would be 12 inches [30 cm] across the main shell/carapace. (February 17, 2008) |
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Fish
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| Ling Cod ( January 25, 2006) | Painted Greenling ( January 25, 2006) |
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| Scalyhead Sculpin (?) ( January 25, 2006) | Scalyhead Sculpin (?)( January 25, 2006) |
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| Kelp Greenling - female (April 17, 2006) | Kelp Greenling - female (April 17, 2006) |
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| Copper Rockfish or Quillback ? (April 17, 2006) | Copper Rockfish or Quillback ? (April 17, 2006) |
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| (April 17, 2006) | Painted Greenling (April 17, 2006) |
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| Grunt Sculpin (April 17, 2006) | Ronquil or Goby (April 17, 2006) |
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| Irish Lord (September 23, 2006) |
English Sole (September 23, 2006) |
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| Tube Snouts and an Pacific Sea
Peach [tunicate] (September 23, 2006) |
Kelp Greenling - male (September
23, 2006) |
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| Kelp Greenling - male (September
23, 2006) |
Ling Cod (February 26, 2007) |
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| Rough Back Sculpin (September
23, 2006)) |
Black Eyed Goby on Sand Star
(September 23, 2006) |
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| Starry Flounder (September 23,
2006) |
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Mollusks & Nudibranchs [aka Sea Slugs]
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| Red Flabellina Nudibranch ( January 25, 2006) | Not sure of species name. ( January 25, 2006) |
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| Sea Lemon ( January 25, 2006) | Giant Dendronotid (February 26, 2007) |
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| Opalescent Nudibranch (April 17, 2006) | Opalescent Nudibranch and young Sunflower Starfish (April 17, 2006) |
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| Leopard Nudibranch (February 26,
2007) |
Red Dendronotid (July 10, 2007) |
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| Chiton of some kind (February 17, 2008) | Chiton of some kind (February 17, 2008) |
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| Moon Snail - adult (February 17, 2008) | Moon Snail - juvenile (February 17, 2008) |
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| Rock Scallop - usually they have
a laryer of sponge growing on them. Kind of surprising to see one so clean. (February 17, 2008) |
Geoduck Clam (February 17, 2008) |
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| White Lined Dirona -two of them (February 17, 2008) |
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Sea Anemones ( Cnidarians )
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| Pink Tipped Anemones - very common here in the shallows ( January 25, 2006) | Pink Tipped Anemones ( January 25, 2006) |
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| young Gaint Plumose Anemome (April 17, 2006) | Buried Green Anemone (April 17, 2006) |
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| Buried Sea Anemone (April 17, 2006) | name ? (April 17, 2006) |
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| Crimson Anemone (February 26,
2007) |
juvenile Giant Plumose Anemone
(February 26, 2007) |
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| Painted Anemone (February 26,
2007) |
Swimming Anemone (February 26,
2007) |
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| Large group of Short Plumose
Anemones on the western wall - natural lighting (February 17, 2008) |
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Echinoderms ( Sea Cucumbers & Starfish )
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| Brittle Stars - very common here ( January 25, 2006) | Brittle Stars ( January 25, 2006) |
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| Sunflower Starfish - about 3
feet ( 1 metre ) in diameter. (April 17,
2006) Very common here. |
Striped Sunstar - almost 3 feet
( 1 metre ) in diameter. (April 17, 2006) |
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| Creeping Petal Sea Cucumber (April 17, 2006) | Leather Star with six arms
(March 24, 2007) |
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| Sea Cucumber (March 24, 2007) |
Sea Cucumber (March 24, 2007) |
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| Sea Cucumber crawling over a
Spiny Pink Star (February 26, 2007) |
Spiny Pink Star (March 24, 2007) |
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| Spiny Mud Star as you normally
see them - buried (March 24, 2007) |
Spiny Mud Star - on the move
(March 24, 2007) |
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| Spiny Pink Star - with an itch?
(March 24, 2007) |
Two Sunflower Stars - doing
what? (September 23, 2006) |
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| White Sea Urchin (February 26,
2007) |
Painted Star and a group of Brittle Stars (February 17, 2008) |
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| A juvenile Striped Sunstar (February 17, 2008) | Red Sea Urchin - not common here (February 17, 2008) |
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| Creeping Petal Sea Cucumber (February 17, 2008) |
Tunicates
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| Sea Vases - tunicates (February
26, 2007) |
Sea Vases - tunicates (February 17, 2008) |
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| Orange Sea Squirts - about two inches [5 cm] across (February 17, 2008) |
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Sponge
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| Sponge (April 17, 2006) | Same sponge almost a year later.
Some new growth apparent. (Feb 26, 2007) |
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| Yellow Boring Sponge (February
26, 2007) |
Orange Finger Sponge (March 24,
2007) |
Miscellaneous
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| Calcareous Tube Worm (February 26, 2007) | Calcareous Tube Worm and something odd on the left of it. (April 17, 2006) |
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| Orange Sea Pen - quite common in this area (February 26, 2007) | Orange Sea Pen (February 26,
2007) |
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Madrona Point
Follow the Island Hwy north towards Parksville, at Nanoose Bay you will come across Northwest Bay Road at the set of traffic lights. Make a right on to it. Follow Northwest Bay Rd for a few kilometers, and make a right onto Arbutus Drive, then a left onto Madrona Drive and follow it to the end. About a kilometre. The end of Madrona Drive is the parking lot. There is only room for about four cars here.
If you want to print out a map you can user either:
Google Maps : enter Madrona Drive Nanoose Bay BC
or
MapQuest : enter Madrona Drive for the Address, Nanoose Bay for the City, BC for the State/Province