Ogden Point gets federal funding boost

Published: November 19, 2009 3:00 PM

The federal government will pump $900,000 into the deep-sea terminal at Ogden Point.

The money, which adds to a previous $1.5 million contribution from the provincial government, will help expand the port and increase the number and size of cruise ships that can dock in Victoria.

The remaining $2.3 million for the $4.7-million infrastructure project will come from the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority.

The announcement was one of 27 infrastructure projects valued at more than $150 million that will stimulate B.C.'s economy through job creation.

Terrestrial Parks of Vancouver Island...

Victoria is located within the Coastal Douglas Fir Biogeoclimatic Zone, which is only found on the southern and southeastern fringes of Vancouver Island and to most of the southern Gulf Islands.

The Coastal Douglas Fir Zone is home to a unique and sensitive group of ecosystems that includes seaside parkland, dry forest, rock outcrop, and wetland habitats and contains many rare plants.

One of the best places to see a remnant old-growth Douglas Fir ecosystem is on the grounds of Royal Roads University, in Colwood. Some Douglas Fir trees at this site are over 800 years old.

East Sooke Park is an excellent place to see Arbutus trees, second-growth Douglas Fir, and coastal bluffs, along the oceanside trail.

Check out a larger image here >

Marine Ecosystems panel at Ogden Point...

A multitude of marine ecosystems together characterize the ocean. The ocean is the largest aquatic system on the planet,
covering over seventy percent of the Earth’s surface. The habitats that make up this system range from very productive
nearshore and shallow water regions to dark abyssal regions more than 4000 metres below the ocean’s surface.

British Columbia’s Pacific coast is a biologically diverse and productive temperate marine environment. Island archipelagos, deep fjords, shallow mudflats and estuaries, kelp and eelgrass beds, strong tidal currents and massive upwellings all contribute to extra-ordinarily high biodiversity. The abundance of coastal marine life not only contributes to the complexity and total biomass of the marine food web but also provides food for terrestrial animals such as otters, eagles, ospreys, bears, raccoons, mink and humans.

See the larger pop-up panel here >

The Interpretive Kiosk...

The Interpretive Kiosk featuring the twelve panels we have been working on for the past year is finally installed and dedicated. Please visit the area and enjoy this wonderful addition to Ogden Point.

Lighthouses and Navigational Aids...

Vancouver Island has 3,400 kilometres of rugged coast, much of it unpopulated. Lighthouses and other navigational aids are necessary to guide and keep all vessels, from large ships to small pleasure craft, safe.

In November 1859, Captain Nagle, Victoria’s Harbourmaster paid one hundred dollars for a lantern and placed it on MacLaughlin Point at the entrance to Victoria Harbour. By October 1860, legislation had been passed to begin construction of the Fisgard Island and Race Rock Lighthouses.

The Fisgard and Race Rocks lighthouses were both built in 1860. They were designed to work together to safely guide ships from the Juan de Fuca Strait into Victoria Harbour.

Today, the British Columbia coast has about forty lighthouses, many of them staffed by with light keepers. Four of these lighthouses, and a variety of navigational aids, located in the Greater Victoria area, are featured here.

Check out the panels here >

Marine Protected Areas...

Marine protected areas are regions of the ocean and its bed that have been set aside to preserve representative and special ecosystems, plant and animal species, or unique features.

There are different types of marine protected areas of either provincial or federal designation including marine conservation areas, marine sanctuaries, marine exclusion zones and marine ecological reserves. They also include formal Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as designated under Canada’s Oceans Act.

The common feature for all types of marine protected areas is that the activities allowed within the protected area boundaries, including access, development and resource extraction, are restricted to some degree for protective purposes. Unlike marine parks and recreation areas, marine protected areas are not created for recreational purposes, and access is often restricted.

To see a larger image of this panel, click here >

Nearshore and Shallow Water Species panel...

Tide pools are unique habitats found on rocky areas of the coast. Rocky depressions on the coast are flooded with water at high tide, which brings fresh oxygen and food to the pools twice a day. Between tides, the pools are exposed to the sun, wind and rain, which cause changes in water level, temperature, salinity and oxygen content. On hot summer days, tide pools can completely dry up between tides.

Organisms that live in tide pools must avoid being washed away by tidal waves, keep from drying out in the sunlight of low tide, and avoid being eaten.

Typical inhabitants of tide pools include sea anemones, barnacles, chitons, crabs, isopods, limpets, mussels, starfish, snails, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and whelks.

All organisms that live in tide pools have adaptations that allow them to survive the fluctuating habitat of the tide pool.

Disturbing a tide pool can be hazardous to the organisms living there. Moving a piece of seaweed can expose organisms to the direct sun, and prying organisms that are held fast to the rocks is almost always fatal to the animal.