Exploring Point Holmes tide pools in May

 By Keith and Heather Nicol

    We like to head down to the Point Holmes shoreline of Comox when there is a very  low tide since it is one of the few places we know of in the local area that has small tide pools and exposed bedrock which can hide sea stars and other organisms. We hadn`t been done this year so we were interested in what we might find. We brought my brother and his wife who were visiting from Victoria with us since they hadn`t seen these tide pools before and the low tide on Friday May 20 was about 0.5 meters.  Plus we had the added bonus of great sunny and warm weather which has been missing this spring.

For those people not familiar with this area it is to the right of the boat launch and there is parking for a number of cars just off of Lazo Road. Because of the large tides in this area the tide pools are 200-300 meters from the parking area and footing can be tricky especially near the rocky outcrops. We wore hiking shoes but some people we saw were wearing rubber boots. Flip flops or similar sandals are not recommended given the slippery, seed weed covered rocks.

We saw many ochre sea stars clinging to the underside of clefts in the rock, in the tidal pools and some just out on the seaweed like the one in the top photo.  We also managed to see 3 leather sea stars whose skin does feel like wet leather. (See photo above) . So check this place out if you like exploring nature in the Comox Valley. Bring your camera and binoculars since you don’t know what you might see.  Also a kneeling pad helps protect your knees if you want to see what is under clefts in rocks.  We look forward to seeing what the low tides in June bring.