Coats Marsh

Filed in Gabriola Island 6 Comments so far
6 Responses to “Coats Marsh”
Posted by Gabriolan on 25 Jan 2012 11:53 pm
Filed in Gabriola Island 6 Comments so far

Gabriolan.ca is a blog from Gabriola Island, BC, Canada.
(Gabriola is one of the Gulf Islands in the Salish Sea, and is a short ferry ride from Nanaimo.)
Vivian on 26 Jan 2012 at 11:47 am #
Absolutely beautiful photo!
nick on 26 Jan 2012 at 5:28 pm #
Future Central Island Mall parking lot? Can’t stop progress you know.
deb on 26 Jan 2012 at 9:31 pm #
I love this picture and the marsh better not be paved into a parking lot;)
rick on 27 Jan 2012 at 11:03 am #
I understand this marsh was created when Clyde Coates dammed (sp?) up the drainage area because he was going to grow cranberries. Would have been an interesting crop for the island.
Gabriolan on 27 Jan 2012 at 3:40 pm #
Thanks, Vivian & deb! It was a gorgeous morning.
nick on 29 Jan 2012 at 12:09 am #
I think the credit for creating the marsh should go to the beavers who live there. It is underlain by a thick layer of clay that must be thousands of years old (for just $300 I could tell you exactly how many thousand — there are traces of rotten vegetation beneath the clay).
I believe the Hoggans blasted a drainage route through sandstone at the lower end and for a time the area was used for growing hay and potatoes. It currently has a weir at the top of the old drainage route sufficiently high to retain water in summer, but not so high that the marsh floods in winter.