Denman Shoreline Information Sheet

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Denman Island Shoreline
eelgrass habitats 
How Can We Protect Eelgrass 
Habitats? 
There are many steps you can take to make sure that 
eelgrass habitat remains vital in supporting a healthy 
marine ecosystem.  
•	  Avoid	use	of	vehicles	and	machinery	on	island	
beaches.
•	  Avoid	placing	structures	on	or	over	eelgrass	
beds.
•	  Anchor	outside	eelgrass	beds	and	use	mooring	
cans	and	public	docks.
•	  Use	oil-absorbing	bilge	pads	and	pumpout	
vessel	sewage.	
•	  Manage	upland	water	quality.
Where are eelgrass habitats located? 
Eelgrass grows along protected shorelines of bays, 
inlets and estuaries of Denman Island. Look for the 
long emerald green blades, just within metres of the 
shoreline, draping the ocean surface at lower tides. 
Eelgrass grows close to the low tide line to depths of 
15-20 metres and blades can be up to 2 metres long.
What is eelgrass?
Eelgrass, Zostera marina, is a true flowering plant 
- not a seaweed - and needs clean water and ample 
light. Eelgrass meadows generate food and provide 
habitat for an astonishing diversity of marine life.
Why are eelgrass habitats important? 
Eelgrass beds support hundreds of marine species, 
including crab, salmon and rockfish, which use this 
habitat as a nursery and rearing ground.  In spring, 
eelgrass blades are heavy with herring eggs. Other 
marine animals such as the Bay pipefish and eelgrass 
nudibranch are unique to eelgrass beds. Canada and 
Brandt geese consume eelgrass blades while the Great 
Blue Heron stalks prey hiding within the meadow. 
Eelgrass habitat supports numerous BC fisheries.
Decomposing eelgrass and seaweeds are an ocean 
fertilizer, recycling nutrients to refuel marine food 
webs from the intertidal zone to the deep sea.  
Eelgrass protects shorelines by buffering waves and 
stabilizing sea floor sediments.  Marine vegetation 
like eelgrass is an efficient carbon sink protecting our 
entire planet.
eelgrass bed
Denman Island Local Trust Committee
photo credit: Tom Lightfoot
How are eelgrass habitats vulnerable?
Shading and physical disturbance damage eelgrass. 
Excessive nutrients, polluted water and rising ocean 
temperatures are detrimental to eelgrass health.

Denman Island Shoreline
forage fish habitat
Where are forage fish located?
Surf smelt and Pacific sand lance spawn extensively 
on sand and small pebble beaches around Denman 
Island. They lay tiny eggs (approximately 1 mm) on 
the upper beach near high tide levels, only a few 
metres below the log line. 
Why are forage fish habitats 
important?
Local forage fish are an important part of the diet of 
coastal cutthroat trout, and provide up to 50% of the 
diet of Chinook salmon. Chinook salmon just happen 
to be the favourite food for our beloved Southern 
Resident Orca whales. Research from the Centre 
for Whale Research in Washington State warns the 
Southern Resident orca whales are starving and 
on the brink of extinction. We need healthy local 
beaches if we are to have healthy killer whales.
How

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