Pacific Sand Lance
Have you seen this fish? It’s a Pacific Sand Lance: a tiny thing, just a couple of inches long at most, and skinny.
The Pacific Sand Lance is a common sight on Gabriola’s sandy beaches, especially in summertime. Of course you might see schools of them in the water, but you’re more likely to notice when sand lances are on the beach, flopping around or poking half-way out of the sand. (They burrow into sand to avoid getting eaten, and then pop up later.) Sometimes on a summer morning there are hundreds of them squirming on the sand, all silvery in the sunshine. Sea birds like to eat them, and so does my dog, who pounces on a sand lance with extreme delight when she notices one.
I never see sand lances at the beach in winter. In summer they’re all over the place. And this week? I saw the first one of the season.
For more about this fish, see the sand lance page at The Pacific Wildlife Foundation.
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