A pilot program to ban dogs until October on Combers Beach in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is a “last resort” to protect the huge waves of migrating shore birds that rest and feed there twice a year.
Parks Canada said it has tried to educate pet owners about the importance of keeping their dogs on leash while at the reserve, but the rule is often ignored.
Unleashed dogs often rush at birds, interrupting feeding and scaring them away. Wildlife experts worry that if birds are disturbed and use energy to escape, they may not be able to complete their migration.
Migrating birds stop in the Long Beach area to rest and feed to replenish their fat reserves, staying an average of 5.1 days.
Under the pilot program, dogs are not allowed on the 1.5-kilometre stretch of Combers Beach between April 14 and Oct. 1. That includes the area between Sandhill Creek and Green Point Rocks, including Combers Beach Trail and the boardwalk access to Combers Beach from Green Point Campground.
Parks Canada staff and law-enforcement officers plan to patrol to ensure compliance with the dog ban. Tickets for violations start at $58 and can rise for repeated offences to $25,000.
Parks Canada will gauge the pilot program’s effectiveness before any long-term changes are implemented, Jacinthe Amyot, resource conservation manager for the park reserve, said Monday.
Staff will look at factors such as the numbers of shorebirds, whether they are disturbed, visitor numbers, and compliance by the public with the Combers Beach ban and on-leash rules elsewhere in the park.
Combers Beach was selected because it was the most practical location, with shorebird habitat, fewer visitors and a more isolated location than other parts of the park’s waterfront, Amyot said.
Long-term research has found that Combers Beach, which represents less than 10 per cent of the accessible sandy beaches in the Long Beach area, is an important habitat for migratory birds and wildlife, Amyot said.
About 30 species, totalling about 500,000 birds, visit the park’s beaches annually, making it a shorebird staging area of international importance, Parks Canada said.
Those birds include the least sandpiper, western sandpiper, whimbrel, semipalmated plover, dunlin and sanderling. While at Long Beach, their diet includes small insects, bloodworms and invertebrates. The park reserve is on the Pacific flyway — a coastal migratory route used by millions of shorebirds and other birds every year.
Shorebirds head north in spring to breeding grounds in Canada, the U.S., and the Russian Arctic. In the fall, after breeding season, they fly south to spend winters in South, Central and southern North America.
Greater Victoria also has migratory bird sanctuaries — the Victoria Harbour migratory bird sanctuary is managed by the Canadian Wildlife Service.
Amyot said the seasonal Combers Beach dog ban is being introduced and enforced by Parks Canada under the Canada National Parks Act, which is different from dog bans implemented in other jurisdictions and outside of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.
Anyone spotting a dog in the restricted area is asked to call Parks Canada Dispatch 250-726-3604, or toll free 1-877-852-3100.
