The herring spawn that turns the waters around Vancouver Island a turquoise blue came to Nanaimo this week with active spawns in the area around Neck Point Park and Pipers Lagoon Park.
It was a sunny Tuesday afternoon and the wind was brisk but wildlife enthusiasts and families were out to see the herring spawn and all of the birds, seals and sea lions that it attracts.
For Hannah Christie, 7, it was her first time seeing the herring spawn along with her little sister Abby, 2, and her parents Jonathan and Emma.
She told The Discourse that she “loves the animals, especially the seals and eagles trying to catch the fish.”
When asked how she would describe it to her friends she said “it was super cool, it was blue, and we saw lots of seals.”
Her father Jonathan said that seeing the herring spawn is “beautiful” and that he was “overwhelmed by all the life and animals.”
Brittni Panter is a wildlife photographer who moved to Nanaimo 12 years ago from the Yukon and was shooting photos of the herring spawn at Pipers Lagoon Park on Tuesday. For the past two years, she has been busy photographing the herring spawn.
“I’ve been spending some time in Comox for the last couple of weeks,” she said. “I’ve been making day trips up on the weekend to watch the spawning. I was excited to see that it finally made it to Nanaimo today.”
Panter said she loves capturing all the action that happens at the herring spawn.
“Between the seagulls and the sea lions and the eagles, you never know what you’re going to get,” she said.
Tana Boyce and her husband Dave have been going “on the herring hunt” since they moved to Vancouver Island 26 years ago, and have only missed seeing them a few times.
“It’s unreal, the amount of fish and the beauty of the water and the fresh air, the smell of everything. Seeing the eggs, like snow on the shores, and the seaweed — it’s just incredible,” she said.
Like others, Tana follows the Pacific Herring Spawn Reporting page on Facebook that posts updates on spawning locations and aerial photos of the spawn from regular flights to monitor the spawning.
The Facebook page is a community outreach project by the Island Marine Aquatic Working Group, which helps Indigenous communities “report spawn observations in local territories” and share information “to help management of herring stocks.”
Tanna’s husband, Dave, told The Discourse he enjoys being outside, “seeing nature at its finest” and enjoying life on Vancouver Island. He was out at Neck Point Park with his camera.
“Seeing the amount of sea life concentrated in one area is just incredible,” he said. “I really appreciate the herring themselves and seeing them bubbling along the shore and all the way up to the big mammals going after them.”
