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North Coast Watersheds

Look at the Complexity!!

Along the coast “watersheds” are a maze of small streams and lakes

 

 

 

 

Source for the map is FishWizard site

Wizard page

 

Watersheds layer turned on

 

While it might be useful to speak of the Ecstall Watershed, along the coast there are simply too many islands and streams  for “watershed” to be useful . Below is an interpretation on former MOE site where higher level called Waterbody

 

Waterbody level

This helps simplify things and makes using databases like FishWizard or FISS easier

One could ask for all the sockeye streams in KUMR waterbody (Pitt Island Grenville Channel area)

(Search engine  for waterbody codes or better start here (framed) and choose Waterbody on left)

But look at Bank’s Island, there are still 3 waterbodies NBNK, MBNK, & KEEC

 

Whoever originally formulated these waterbodies was signaling that there is a lot of biological diversity on Banks which we might not have seen at 1st inspection

 

 

Interpretation: Why are North Coast systems so complex??

Coastal Refugia in time

Since the last glaciation the water level of ocean has risen and fallen dramatically. Many of the seemingly blah, uninteresting islands in Hecate Straits share with the Queen Charlotte Islands a much longer emergent, ice free history than the mainland. Many of those populations have been around the North Coast for much longer time than say the Babine River sockeye for example (which may be derived from refugia far to south of here).

Created 9/15/02 by LG;

Last updated at 9/15/02 12:11 PM