Wildlife of the Coastal Marine

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This region highlights the Pacific Ocean beaches and open water along the western coast of North America. This area includes the areas between the spray zone at high tide to tidepools and sub-tidal areas. Wildlife that lives offshore is also included. All beach types are also included. Average water temperatures in areas protected by islands are warmer than the open ocean. The average winter water temperature at the water surface at Departure Bay, BC is 6 degrees Celcius and the average summer water temperature is 15 degrees Celcius.

Click on a wildlife category to find out which plants and animals make their home in this region.

Mammals Birds Fish
Reptiles Amphibians Invertebrates
Plants Ferns & Mosses Fungi

Fish

common name latin name
Tidepool Sculpin Oligocottus maculosus
Eulachon Thaleichthys pacificus
Crested Blenny Anoplarchus purpurescens
Pipe Fish
Sand Sole
Yellow Perch
Three-spined Stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus
White Sturgeon Acipenser
Coho Salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch
Chum Salmon Oncorhynchus
Pink Salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha
Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
Sockeye Salmon Oncorhynchus
Steelhead Trout Salmo gairdneri
Cutthroat Trout Salmo clarkii
Dogfish Squalus suckleyi
Herring Clupea pallasii

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Amphibians
common name latin name
none

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Reptiles
common name latin name
Garter Snake

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Invertebrates
common name latin name
Purple Star Pisaster ochraceus
Sunflower Star Pycnopodia helianthoides
Sun Star Solaster stimpsoni
Leather Star Dermasterias imbricata
Sand Dollar Echinarachnius exentricus
Green Sea Urchin Strongylocentrotus drobachiensis
California Sea Cucumber Stichopus californicus
Edible or Dungeness Crab Cancer magister
Red Rock Crab Cancer productus
Green Shore Crab Hemigrapsus oregonensis
Purple Shore Crab Hemigrapsus nudus
Northern Kelp Crab Pugettia producta
Ghost Shrimp Callianassa californiensis
Oppossum Shrimp Archaeomysis grebnitzkii
Acorn Barnacle Balanus cariosus
Pacific Oyster Crassostrea gigas
Blue Mussel Mytilus edulis
Mud Clam Mya arenaria
Heart Cockle Clinocardium nuttalli
Butter Clam Saxidomus giganteus
Mud Clam Mya arenaria
Native Littleneck Clam Protothaca staminea
Japanese Littleneck (introduced) Venerupis japonica
Screw Shell Batillaria zonalis
Slipper Shell Crepidula fornicata
Turban Snail Tegula funebralis
Dog whelk (oyster drill) Thais lamellosus
Moon Snail Polinices lewisii
Sand Worm Nereis vexillosa
Flat Worm Freemania litoricola
Plume worm (parchment worm) Eudistylia vancouveri
Hermit Crab Pagurus granosimanus
Sand Hopper (Beach Flea) Orchestoidea californiana
Green Sea Louse Idotea wosnesenskii
Green Anemone Anthopleura xanthogrammica
Moon Jellyfish Aurelia labiata
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Mammals
common name latin name
Whales & Dolphins
Grey Whale Eschrichtius robustus
Humpback Whale Megaptera novoeanglioe
Minke Whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata
Sei Whale Balaenoptera borealis
Killer Whale Orcinus orca
Pacific White-sided Dolphin Lagenrhynchus obliquidens
Dall's Porpoise Phocoenoides dalli
Harbour Porpoise Phocoena vomerina
Seals
Harbour Seal Phoca vitulina
Northern Sea Lion Eumetopias jubata
Other
Raccoon Procyon lotor
Sea Otter Enhydra lutris
River Otter Lutra canadensis
Mink Mustela vison
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Plants

common name latin name
Bull Kelp Nereocystis luetkeana
Sugar Kelp Laminaria saccharina
Rockweed Fucus furcatus
Bladder seaweed(introduced) Sargassum muticum
Eelgrass Zostera marina
Sea Lettuce Ulva species

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Birds

common name latin name
Belted Kingfisher Ceryle alcyon
Northwestern Crow Corvus caurinus
Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus
shore birds
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
Short-billed Dowicher Limnodromus griseus
Oyster Catcher Haematopus palliatus
Black Turnstone Arenaria melanocephala
Killdeer Charadrius vociferus
Dunlin Calidris alpina
Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri
Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
Black-Bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola
water birds
Herring Gull Larus argentatus
Glaucus-winged Gull Larus glaucescens
Canvasback Duck Aythya valisineria
Marbled Murrelet(endangered) Brachyramphus marmoratus
Tufted Puffin Fratercula cirrata
Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
Barrows Goldeneye Bucephala islandica
Bufflehead Bucephala albeola
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
Canada Goose Branta canadensis
Surf Scoter Melanitta perspicillata
White-winged Scoter Melanitta fusca
Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus
Pelagic Cormorant Phalacrocorax pelagicus
Tundra Swan Cygnus cygnus
Trumpeter Swan Cygnus buccinator
Brant Branta bernicla
Fork-tailed Storm Petrel Oceanodroma furcata
Greater Scaup Aythya marila

Ferns & Mosses
common name latin name
none
Fungi
common name latin name
none
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