Home
Taking Stock of Our Lake
Shawnigan’s long-running study of Shawnigan Lake’s fish species and the surrounding ecosystem continued recently with new additions that benefitted the fish being studied as they were captured and other animals after the study was complete.
Science teacher Ms. Alexandra Ballantyne, who organized the study for Environmental Science 11 classes, invited a registered professional biologist to supervise the going-in and ensure the ethics and handling of lethal capture. Once the fish had been captured, killed, identified and dissected, their carcasses were donated to be used as food at The Raptors, a birds of prey rehabilitation and education facility near Duncan, which the students will visit at the end of the year.
By and large, the study followed the same methods that it has since 1997. Students placed gillnets in the water in two locations: one net close to the shore near the campus and another floating net farther out. The nets were left in the water for 24 hours, and the fish captured were identified by species, weighed, measured, and dissected, with the results carefully documented, as they have been for three decades, to be shared with the BC Ministry of Environment and Parks and the local Shawnigan Lake community.
This year, the study found more perch – an invasive species not endemic to Shawnigan Lake – than in previous years. Other invasive species caught include brown bullheads and pumpkinseeds. Endemic fish captured this year included cutthroat and rainbow trout, kokanee salmon (a landlocked form of sockeye salmon), and a coho salmon – one of the first times students have caught a coho, which breeds in local streams, but spends most of its life in the ocean.
“The study compared populations of native and invasive fish,” Ms. Ballantyne said.
“Invasive fish are growing both in size and population numbers.”
In addition to being a terrific learning experience, the study got students out of the classroom and onto the lake, and they got their hands dirty dealing with the fish.
“The students had a blast,” Ms. Ballantyne said. “They had so much fun. Most of them were able to go out on boats, so it was a hands-on opportunity. And they were ethical; I was so impressed by how they handled the fish. They did incredibly well.”
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful Pacific Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
