30 DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVAL SERVICE 



6 GEORGE V, A. 1916 



An attempt was made to examine the beds along the shores of the Queen Char- 

 lotte islands. I succeeded in reaching Eose Spit in the D.G.S. Malaspina, in a south- 

 easter, but after remaining there for thirty hours without abatement of the weather, 

 the steamer had to proceed south to Esquimalt on the outbreak of the war. 



The observations were carried out in the various steamers and gasolene launches 

 of the Fishery Service, and my thanks are due to Chief Inspector Cunningham, 

 Inspectors Taylor and Williams, and the officers in charge of the boats of that setvice, 

 and to Capt. Holmes ISTewcomb of the Malaspina for rendering me every assistance in 

 their power in order to carry out this work successfully. 



The launch at the Biological Station was also used for local work, and I have to 

 thank Dr. Maclean Fraser, the curator at the station, for continued assistance and 

 valued advice. He also surveyed for me the district from Nanoose bay to the Ballenas 

 islands, included in A. 



In carrying out such work as the above it may be noted that indications given 

 in the Admiralty charts of the presence of kelp are as a rule accurate, kelp seldom 

 being found in quantity except where marked on the charts. The charts give no 

 clue, however, to the extent of the beds 



The results of the examination will now be summarized, district by district. 



Method of Examination. — Only a rough approximation has been attempted; this 

 is undoubtedly a conservative one. Beds were considered as thin, or thick. Thin 

 beds were estimated to contain an r.verage of one plant per square yard. Thick bcd.s 

 were estimated to contain three or more plants per square yard (often the bed's were 

 decidedly thicker than this). The widths of the beds were estimated roughly and 

 noted. 



In addition, fringes close inshore were noted, and were considered about 5 yards 

 wide, and thin or thick as before. Such fringes total to only a small percentage of 

 the whole amount. 



Several typical plants of typical beds were weighed to give the average weight 

 per square yard. The parts weighed included the fronds, pneumatocyst, and 8 or 10 

 feet of the stipe, this being the probable amount removed by any mechanical system 

 of cutting.^ The calculations have been based on the weights and thickness of Nereo- 

 cystis plants only. It is more difficult to estimate the thickness of beds of Macro- 

 cystis. The weights obtainable in any given area are probably of the same order for 

 the two species. In any case the great majority of the kelp beds in British Columbia 

 waters consist of Nereocystis. 



Knowing the extent of the beds, the number of plants per square yard, and the 

 average weight of each plant, the weight of the kelp in any area can then be at once 

 calculated. 



District A. — The actual survey of the district was made between the dates July 

 6 and 10, inclusive, a preliminary examination having been made in the previous 

 week. The results of the survey are shown in Chart II.- Plants were weighed each 

 day with the following results : — 



1 Various measurements indicate that the remainder of the stipe and the holdfast weigh from 

 50 to 70 per cent of the weight of pneumatocyst plus 8 or 10 feet of stipe. 



2 Map II is taken from Admiralty Chart No. 579, to which it should be referred. 



