MIST projects are carried out by volunteer wardens. The wardens live for a week at a time on the island to protect the nesting birds, contribute to scientific monitoring programs and ensure visitors don’t encroach on protected areas and damage the ecosystem while they’re here. While on Mitlenatch, wardens contribute to eight scientific monitoring programs on the island:

 

1. Bird Counts:

Bird counts conducted by the wardens are added into an eBird database for monitoring as part of a Cornell Lab of Ornithology program. According to the MIST data counts, the number of gull nests on Mitlenatch has increased from 1,152 in 2010 to 1,313 in 2015.

 

2. Beached Bird Survey

Bird Studies Canada’s BC Beached Bird Survey collects baseline information on the causes and rates of seabird mortality by counting the number of seabird carcasses that have washed up onshore.

 

3. Plant Phenology

MIST keeps track of when 25 different plants bloom on the island.

 

4. Intertidal Surveys

MIST volunteers conduct surveys of the intertidal community, in a designated area off Northwest Bay. Their data collection methods follow PISCO (Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies for Coastal Oceans) protocol and and are uploaded into BC Park’s Long-term Ecological Monitoring database that can be used for measuring intertidal community changes over the long-term. Once collected, these data can be used by PISCO and by other members of the scientific community.

 

5. Sea Star Syndrome Surveys

Sea Stars are surveyed and measured, and with the recent proliferation of Sea Star Wasting Syndrome, data were also submitted to the Vancouver Aquarium, who have been tracking distribution and impact of the disease.

 

6. Eelgrass Beds

MIST members are mapping two eelgrass beds in Northwest Bay and Home Bay, to assess potential changes in density and distribution, over time.

 

7. Cetacean and Turtle Sightings

Whale, porpoise, dolphin and sea turtle observations are reported to the Vancouver Aquarium by MIST volunteers.

 

8. Invasive Species

To protect the natural ecology of the island, MIST volunteers remove invasive species, including Himalayan blackberry and sedum acre.

To find out how you can help with these and other MIST projects, contact us.