A chlorophyll fluorescence time series was collected at various locations around the coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada for monitoring phytoplankton concentrations. A Wetlabs ECO fluorometer was deployed every few months on a schedule depending on season and sensor availability. The instrument hung by a chain attached to the side of the buoy, or dock, depending on location, and measured chlorophyll using the fluorescence emission at 695nm. The instrument also measured turbidity by detecting the scattered light at 700nm. The units had internal batteries and data storage and were programmed to make a group of 5 measurements every 30 minutes. A copper wiper covered the sampling window between groups of measurements to reduce fouling. Times are in UTC unless otherwise stated.

Daily sea surface temperature and salinity observations have been carried out at several locations on the coast of British Columbia since the early part of the 20th century. Observations started at the Pacific Biological Station (Departure Bay) in 1914; 11 stations were added in the mid-1930s and several more in the 1960s. The number of stations reporting at any given time has varied as sampling has been discontinued at some stations and started or resumed at others. Presently termed the British Columbia Shore Station Oceanographic Program (BCSOP), there are 12 active participating stations. Most of the stations are at lighthouses staffed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, but three (Race Rocks, Amphitrite Point, and Active Pass) are sampled by contracted observers. Observations are made daily using seawater collected in a bucket lowered into the surface water at or near the daytime high tide. This sampling method was designed long ago by Dr. John P. Tully and has not been changed in the interests of a homogeneous data set. This means, for example, that if an observer starts sampling one day at 6 a.m., and continues to sample at the daytime high tide on the second day the sample will be taken at about 06:50 the next day, 07:40 the day after etc. When the daytime high-tide gets close to 6 p.m. the observer will then begin again to sample early in the morning, and the cycle continues. Since there is a day/night variation in the sea surface temperatures the daily time series will show a signal that varies with the14-day tidal cycle. This artifact does not affect the monthly sea surface temperature data.

The Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida Carpenter, 1864) is one of four species of oysters established in British Columbia (BC), Canada, and the only naturally occurring oyster in BC (Bourne 1997; Gillespie 1999, 2009). O. lurida reaches the northern limit of its range in the Central Coast of British Columbia at Gale Passage, Campbell Island, approximately 52°12’N, 128°24’W (Gillespie 2009). First Nations historically utilized Olympia oysters for food and their shells for ornamentation (Ellis and Swan 1981; Harbo 1997). European settlers harvested Olympia oysters commercially from the early 1800s until the early 1930s when stocks became depleted and the industry moved towards other larger, introduced oyster species (Bourne 1997; Quayle 1988). Since that time, Olympia oysters have likely maintained stable populations in BC, but have not recovered to abundance levels observed prior to the late 1800s (Gillespie 1999, 2009). Olympia oysters were designated a species of Special Concern by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) in 2000 and 2010 and listed under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) in 2003 (DFO 2009; COSEWIC 2011). A management plan was developed and posted to the SARA Public Registry in 2009 (DFO 2009). One of the objectives of this plan was to ensure maintenance of the relative abundance (density) of Olympia oyster at index sites. The plan also recommended development of a survey protocol for determining relative abundance (density) estimates. In response, a Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) Research Document was completed recommending a survey method for Olympia oysters (Norgard et al. 2010); a CSAS Science Advisory Report (DFO 2010) for selection of index sites was also completed. Thirteen index sites were chosen from a mixture of previously surveyed sites, and by random site selection. In 2014, a fourteenth site was added at Joes Bay in the Broken Group area in partnership with Parks Canada. The selected sites provided a representative sample of Olympia oyster populations in different geographic zones in the Pacific region and span the much of the range of Olympia oysters in BC. The number of sites was reduced to six in 2018 so that annual surveys could be completed to better understand population dynamics and identify long-term trends.

The Georgia Basin Boundary dataset displays the extent of the Georgia Basin Ecosystem Initiative undertaken by the federal, provincial, and municipal governments. The objectives of the project are to support initiatives for clean air, clean water, habitat and species protection, and improved environmental decision-making in the Georgia Basin. The dataset consists of both a polygon layer and line layer

The Georgia Basin Boundary dataset displays the extent of the Georgia Basin Ecosystem Initiative undertaken by the federal, provincial, and municipal governments. The objectives of the project are to support initiatives for clean air, clean water, habitat and species protection, and improved environmental decision-making in the Georgia Basin. The dataset consists of both a polygon layer and line layer

Sensitive Ecosystems Inventory (SEI) project boundaries (study areas) contains attributes describing each project (project level metadata), and includes links to the locations of other data associated with the project (e.g. reports, polygon datasets, plot files). SEI identifies and maps rare and fragile terrestrial ecosystems in a given area for the purpose of encouraging land-use decisions that will ensure the continued integrity of these ecosystems. This layer is derived from the STE_TEI_PROJECT_BOUNDARIES_SP layer by filtering on the PROJECT_TYPE attribute. Project types include: SEI, TEMSEI, TEMSET, TEMSEW and SEIWHR. Current version: v11 (published on 2024-10-03) Previous versions: v10 (published on 2023-11-14), v9 (published on 2023-03-01), v8 (published on 2016-09-01)