“Sponges are not primitive. They are simple, yet sophisticated organisms. The value of sponges to humans is their capacity to build habitats that provide food for other marine life as well as us, and they hold a diversity of chemical structures significant for the development of antiviral drugs. Surely these are reasons enough to protect the sponges and their habitats.”
Tag: howe sound
Nature’s Own Artwork Under Threat
Marine Life Sanctuaries Society (MLSS BC) President, Glen Dennison, along with volunteer divers Greg McCracken and Tori Preddy, recently went back to check on one of the rare glass sponge reefs in Átl’ḵa7tsem/Howe Sound, and invited CBC News reporter, Susana da Silva, along to bring attention to these rare and endangered bioherms under threat of…
Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound Swimming Project – Final Swim
On Friday October 15, marathon swimmer Jessi Harewicz will attempt to swim a 10.1 km ‘skin’ swim in a water temperature of 10-11 C around Smelhmelhélch/Passage Island from Ch’axáý/Horseshoe Bay, finishing at Whytecliff Park. This is the final swim in a series of swims that Jessi started in 2018 with her circumnavigation of Nex̱wlélex̱m/Bowen Island. After an agonizing…
Swimming the Sound for Glass Sponge Reefs: Aětl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound Swimming Project
Jessi Harewicz swims Howe Sound to build awareness of the rare and fragile glass sponge reefs.
Jessi has a deep and abiding love of nature and the marine world. This is her special way to help protect what she loves.
Halloween Sponge and UBC Students
Halloween day, and into the dark forbidding ocean depths the MLSS drop camera descended. It was searching for the sponge bioherms at Kelvin Grove triple seamount. Oceanographic biologist Lena Clayton and MLSS director Glen Dennison hosted the UBC environmental sciences (ENVR 400) student team on an expedition to study glass sponge. The students spent over…
Conservation groups welcome protection for Strait of Georgia’s unique glass sponge reefs
JOINT MEDIA RELEASE Conservation groups welcome protection for Strait of Georgia’s unique glass sponge reefs Vancouver, BC – 5 June 2015 – Local and national conservation groups are welcoming today’s announcement by the federal government of fishing closures for the Strait of Georgia’s glass sponge reefs – a global treasure found nowhere else in the…
Defence Island Bioherm Dive – May 31, 2015
On May 31, 2015 Roy Mulder (MLSS president), Glen Dennison (MLSS director), Adam Taylor (UCBC president & MLSS director) and photographer Diane Reid dove on the Defence Island Bioherm to take photographs for the Vancouver Aquarium sponge research program. In support, were helmsman Alex Askew and divers Dave Park and Paul Sim. The crew was…
New UCBC Mooring Buoy at Brigade Reef
April 18th 2015 The team of Scott Meixner, Mike Barass, and Kim Ansel, installed a brand new Underwater Council of British Columbia (UCBC) mooring buoy over Brigade Reef. The buoy will protect the reef for decades to come and offer a secure mooring and safe dive entry site for all divers. The buoy offers a…
Sound Seal of Approval awarded to Glen Dennison
This fall, the Lions Bay Community News awarded MLSS director Glen Dennison their Sound Seal of Approval for his dedicated work as a citizen scientist mapping out glass sponge reefs in Howe Sound. Congratulations Glen!
Summary of what we know about the seastar die off
A recent talk by Dr. Jeff Marliave and Dr. Martin Haulena of the Vancouver Aquarium summarizes what we know so far about the mass die-off of starfish in our local waters. The exact cause is still unkown, but scientists all over North America are collaborating and exploring a realm of different hypotheses. Another video by…
Marine Life Sanctuaries Society 