By Madeleine Dumont
I feel privileged to live in British Columbia, because there are so many different biomes one can visit. This makes our province unique within Canada, and it’s no wonder people from all over the world choose B.C. as a vacation destination.
Recently my family and I traveled to Quadra Island. Quadra Island is a 310-square kilometre island that is shaped like a pork chop and is located off the east coast of Vancouver Island right across from Campbell River.
One of the first things I noticed was how different Quadra Island is from Ashcroft. Because of its location in the Pacific Ocean, Quadra has a lot of marine wildlife that we don’t see in or around our area. On a day trip to a sandy beach, we were able to catch and observe jellyfish, sea anemones, and leather stars, just to name a few.
The sea anemones were fascinating because when I put my finger in the middle, it suctioned on. It was very strange. Perhaps the most impressive animal we saw were humpback whales breaching the water and splashing with their tails. It made me feel excited because it was something I had never seen before.
Another big difference between Quadra Island and Ashcroft is that on Quadra Island there is a lot of dense forest while in Ashcroft it is hot and dry, and the forests we have are not as lush and green. This is because the climate at Quadra Island is much more humid because of the ocean. This allows the trees to grow taller and plants like wild blackberries, scotch thistle, and ferns to grow wild.
If you ever have the chance to go to Quadra, it will be well worth visiting because you can explore a totally different world all within our own province.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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