BlueAct Marine Society

Home
Canada
Gibsons, BC
BlueAct Marine Society

Directions Website

BlueAct Marine Society is a non-profit charitable society that operates the Nicholas Sonntag TidePools Aquarium.

Our Mission is to inspire, educate and change behaviour to sustain the health of our ocean.

10/21/2026

2.15 TONNES of trash, 70+ tires, a boat hull, car batteries, toilets, and more… cleared out of Gibsons Harbour!

On Sept 27th, our dedicated volunteers, staff, funders, sponsors, and partners gathered at the Gibsons Landing Harbour Authority Wharf to roll up their sleeves for ocean health. Together, we safely returned local marine life to the water and removed 2,150 kg of marine debris!

A massive thank you to all of our incredible volunteers, as well as our funders, sponsors, and partners who made this day possible:
Town of Gibsons
Gibsons Harbour
Pacific Salmon Foundation
Freedom Diving Systems Ltd
Lincoln Construction Ltd
Sunshine Coast Tourism
Coast Bin Rentals
Karuna funds held at the Sunshine Coast Foundation
Hanson Land and Sea

See you all next year! Be sure to join our newsletter or email [email protected] if you want to be in the loop about our yearly events!💙

10/08/2026

On September 11, BlueAct Marine Society found an invasive European green crab (EGC) at Williamsons Landing during routine early detection & monitoring. This prompted a rapid response trapping effort led by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Loon Foundation, alongside BlueAct Marine Society, Sea Dog Expeditions and dedicated volunteers.

Following a community detection posted to iNaturalist in Long Bay on July 30, the crew set traps around Gambier Island in West Bay, Centre Bay, Long Bay, and North of New Brighton Bay from September 21–25. Meanwhile, an additional DFO-led crew trapped at Williamsons Landing and the McNair Creek estuary from September 22–25.

In total, 14 European green crabs were captured during this response week - 12 on Gambier (2 in West Bay, 10 in Long Bay) and 2 in the McNair Creek estuary.

Think You Found an EGC? Public vigilance plays a critical role in detecting and controlling the spread of European green crab.

1. Know the Difference: Identify the European green crab by looking at its shell structure rather than its colour (which can vary). European green crabs have 5 distinctive spines (marginal teeth) on each side of the eyes.
Unsure? Upload a clear photo to iNaturalist right away. The community and local
researchers can help confirm whether it's an invasive European green crab or a
native species.

2. Report Immediately: Send photos, location details (GPS coordinates), and date to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) via toll-free phone at 1-888-356-7525 or directly by email to [email protected].

For identification guides, Pacific region maps, and more information on European green crab, visit: https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/profiles-profils/europeangreencrab-crabevert- eng.html?utm_source=gemini

https://marinescience.psf.ca/invasive-species/european-green-crab/

A huge thank you to DFO, the Loon Foundation, Sea Dog Expeditions, and all of our incredible, dedicated volunteers who poured their time and energy into making this response effort possible. We couldn't protect our local waters without this amazing community!

Want to Get Involved?

🔹 Field trapping will relaunch in full force this coming spring! If you have any questions or you’d like to volunteer, email us at [email protected] or reach out to the Loon Foundation at [email protected].
🔹 Donate: Too busy to volunteer but still want to make a difference? You can support ongoing marine conservation directly at BlueAct Marine Society.

09/17/2026

Ready to make a real difference in our community? Join us for the 2026 Gibsons Harbour Clean Up on Sunday, September 27th! 🌊

Join us at the Gibsons Landing Harbour Authority Wharf Head where divers will be going subtidal to bring up marine debris—and we need your help on land to sort and process what's recovered!

Refreshments provided! Please remember to bring a refillable water bottle, gloves, and closed-toe shoes. See you there!

📆 When: Sunday, Sept 27th | 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
📍 Where: Gibsons Landing Harbour Authority Wharf Head (611 School Road)
🥤What to bring: Your own water bottle, work/gardening gloves, and sturdy closed-toe shoes.

Refreshments will be provided to keep you energized. Bring your friends, family, and neighbours—let's work together to protect our ocean environment! 💙

Thank you to our amazing funders and sponsors that are helping make this Clean Up possible!

06/04/2026

The BlueAct BioBlitz is On! 🔎 🦀 Why take part in a BioBlitz?

Biodiversity—the variety of life in a given area—serves as a vital indicator of ecological stability and environmental health. Essentially, a higher concentration of diverse species signals a more resilient ecosystem!

To support the assessment of ecosystem health, we can use a BioBlitz as an effective tool for citizen science. A Bioblitz is a focused, collaborative event where community members, amateur nature enthusiasts, and expert scientists come together to document as many living organisms as possible within a specific time and place. Using the iNaturalist Canada app, these crowdsourced observations are compiled into a localized snapshot of biodiversity.

From June 5th to July 5th, we are charting the incredible marine life along our coast, and we need your help!

🔹 Where to search: We are mapping the shoreline all the way from Williamson's Landing to Roberts Creek Pier.
🔹 What to look for: Nudibranchs, sea stars, anemones, fish, kelp, seaweeds, bivalves... you name it! If it lives on our coast, we want to see it.
🔹 How to join: Log your coastal findings under the project name: Gibsons to the Creek: Coastal BioBlitz, using the iNaturalist Canada app.

Win a Prize: To add a little friendly competition, the participant who logs the greatest number of observations will win an exclusive BlueAct prize pack!

Grab your phone, explore the shoreline, and let's see what we can find!

Link to project: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/gibsons-to-the-creek-coastal-bioblitz

06/01/2026

Happy Wild Salmon Day!

Salmon are a vital keystone species in our coastal ecosystems, and protecting them starts with understanding their cultural and ecological importance.

This May, BlueAct Marine Society, in partnership with the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), officially wrapped up another incredible year of the Stream to Sea: Salmonids in the Classroom program!

From eyed eggs to swim-up fry, students across the Lower Sunshine Coast took on the role of salmon stewards, watching the coho salmon lifecycle unfold right in their classrooms.

The Impact:
🔹 394 Coho salmon fry successfully raised and released into Chapman Creek!
🔹421 Students engaged hands-on during our release days at the Chapman Creek Hatchery.

Our release days weren't just about saying goodbye to the fry; students also jumped into real-stream assessments, learning firsthand about ecosystem health and what it takes to give these salmon the best possible chance at life.

Connecting with the Community:
In addition to our school groups, we were thrilled to join Chapman Creek Hatchery for their Annual Salmon Release Day Festival! It was an incredible opportunity to engage the greater public with salmon education.

A Massive Thank You!
We are incredibly grateful to facilitate this program, and we want to extend a huge thank you to:

🔹 Our partners at DFO & the Sunshine Coast Salmonid Enhancement Society for making this collaborative effort possible.
🔹 and the amazing teachers who inspire their classrooms every day to connect with local conservation.

We are already counting down the days until next year! Learn more at blueact.org.

05/29/2026

Want to make a real difference for our local waters? 👋🐟

Join us for our Ocean Action Weekend Celebration June 5th-7th! We have a lineup of great activities happening over the weekend, leading up to our main World Ocean Day celebration on Sunday, June 7th.

✦ BioBlitz launching June 5th for 1 month - winner with most data collected wins a prize!

✦ Conservation Bingo - with prizes - in the aquarium all weekend

✦ Conservation Outreach with our Ocean Action Hub all weekend

✦ Introduction and Beach Clean up at 12pm, June 7th (sign up required - link in our bio!)

✦ Seine net demonstration following the beach clean up

✦ Closing Celebration of Tidepools Art Show & Auction from 3-4pm on June 7th (with happy hour at Emelle’s!)

Gather the family and meet us at the Gibsons Public Market starting at 12:00 PM on June 7th for a day dedicated to protecting our ocean. From learning about marine life to discovering how we can all help, there’s something for everyone.

Visit our website to learn more: https://blueact.org/ocean-action-weekend-2026/

See you there! 🐙💙

05/26/2026

Welcome to the official Facebook of BlueAct Marine Society! We are expanding our digital community to connect you directly with our marine conservation projects.

Deeply rooted in the beautiful Salish Sea and the Átl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound Biosphere Region, our work takes place on the unceded territory of the Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), shíshálh Nation and Tla'amin Nation, and our mission centers on inspiring people to become protectors of our local ocean. As the proud operators of Tidepools Aquarium, we are dedicated to fostering local marine stewardship every single day.

What you can expect from our feed:
✨ Updates on our conservation initiatives
✨ A glimpse into our outreach events
✨ Opportunities to get involved and meet the BlueAct team!

The health of our ocean relies on collective action. Hit that follow button, turn on notifications, and join our community as we work to safeguard our local marine biodiversity. 🐋

Address

473 Gower Point Road
Gibsons, BC
V0N1V0

Website

http://blueact.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when BlueAct Marine Society posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.