Wildlife photographer Mike Yip was out at the rocky beach near the Doehle beach access in Parksville, when he noticed gulls eating something a bit unusual.
The gulls were munching on midshipman eggs, which are normally well-protected under rocks and basically buried in the sand, Yip said.
"I focused the camera on it,” he said. “I was shocked to see them eating eggs off a rock that was overturned.”
Yip realized there were at least three rocks that had been overturned and each had approximately 200 eggs stuck to it.
It's likely the rocks were flipped over intentionally by a person, possibly out of curiosity, he said.
“It was reckless in terms of it did destroy a number of eggs.”
When midshipman spawn they provide a vital food source for creatures such as Great Blue Herons, crows and bald eagles. The fish spawn at the same time that the eagles are looking for food for their young.
“It’s one of these fish that a lot of people aren’t aware of,” Yip said. “It’s not a commercial fish. It’s just one of these parts of nature that is important to birds and other creatures.”
He did not report the incident to the authorities, but said that could be a consideration if the activity continues.
According to the DFO, if the eggs were actually killed, the action would fall under Canada’s Federal Fisheries Act.
Section 34.4 (1) prohibits people from activities, other than fishing, that result in the death of fish, which includes eggs.
Midshipman eggs exposed in the way Yip witnessed will not be viable, according to Sigal Balshine, a professor at McMaster University, who has been working on research study of the fish on the west coast since 2008.
The eggs are laid on a rock bottom, after the fish dig out a cavity for a nest underneath. The males hum to attract a female, who will turn upside down to lay her eggs on the bottom of the rock, Balshine said.
“When they are turned over like that, the male can’t access them anymore and they would die,” she added. “The male keeps them moist, he squirts water on them and fans them and keeps them hydrated and oxygenated so without the care of a parent the eggs would die.”
Midshipman eggs can be exposed for roughly 8 hours, but in humid conditions of a tide pool, or remaining moist from being in the darkness underneath the rock, according to Balshine.
Children will sometimes and be curious and turn over rocks, which can expose midshipman nests, and this can be a teachable moment for parents, she added.
“A midshipman nest could have 3,000 eggs, those are 3,000 babies that are gonna die now,” Balshine said. “It’s just careless, flagrant disregard for life which is very sad.”
