PEIA new guided tour of Basin Head’s marine protected area in eastern P.E.I. gives visitors a chance to learn about carrageenan, green crabs and the importance of conserving Irish moss. It’s a unique learning opportunity for a few reasons, including the access the location provides.Eastern P.E.I. site a ‘rare example’ of an accessible marine protected areaJenna Banfield · CBC News · Posted: Sep 27, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoA new guided tour of Basin Head’s marine protected area features hands-on conservation activities and experiences that highlight the location’s natural and cultural heritage. (Josefa Cameron/CBC)A new guided tour of Basin Head’s marine protected area in eastern P.E.I. gives visitors a chance to learn about carrageenan, green crabs and the importance of conserving Irish moss.It’s a unique learning opportunity for a few reasons, including the access the location provides.”Most times, marine protected areas are inaccessible because they’re in the ocean and you can’t get to them,” said Jason MacNeil, education co-ordinator for P.E.I.’s Museum and Heritage Foundation. “It is one of the rare examples where it’s actually inland.” Not only that, Basin Head is home to a unique strain of Irish moss, Chondrus crispus, that doesn’t grow anywhere else and has been in decline for years. Chondrus crispus, a unique strain of Irish moss, grows only in the waters at Basin Head. It doesn’t anchor itself to a rock or a shell, but instead tangles itself up in clumps of mussels. (Brittany Spencer/CBC)The Irish moss is unique both in its proportions, growing to the size of a dinner plate, and in its lifestyle. It doesn’t have a attachment organ to anchor itself to a rock or a shell. Instead, it tangles itself up in clumps of mussels. The strain has roughly 40 per cent more carrageenan in it compared to other strands of Irish moss around the Island. Carrageenan is a popular thickening agent for sunscreen and many types of food, including ice cream — which guests get to sample on the tour. “If the carrageenan wasn’t in the ice cream, you’d have a pretty slimy ice cream,” said Daniel Bushey, who guides tours of the protected area.”It keeps the ice cream all together, neatly packed together, and keeps it so it doesn’t melt so fast.”Island Morning6:23Basin Head marine protected area guided tour now open for visitorsVisitors can now join guided tours of the Basin Head marine protected area. CBC’s Josefa Cameron spoke with tour guide Daniel Bushey and participants Paul and Lynn Gibb about what makes the experience special.Beyond the museum walls The guided tours were launched earlier this month, and start at the Basin Head Fisheries Museum.”We’re sitting here in the museum right in the middle of this, you know, rare kind of marine protected area,” MacNeil said. “And it just makes sense to kind of expand the story and bring some of the outdoors in, and some of the indoors out.”Jason MacNeil with the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation says it’s not common for marine protected areas to be inland, which makes the Basin Head tour a unique learning opportunity. (Josefa Cameron/CBC)From the museum, participants walk on the beach over Basin Head’s famous singing sands, then to the lagoon and historic cannery.Part of the tour also includes showing participants a green crab trap. Green crabs are believed to be a major culprit in the decline of giant Irish moss. READ | Rare Irish moss threatened, and green crab suspected Bushey said that it’s important for visitors to think about what they can do to give back to the environment, especially as climate change impacts ecosystems. Daniel Bushey, a tour guide at the Basin Head marine protected area, says he hopes visitors leave with a better understanding of the area’s unique species of Irish moss, and the importance of protecting it. (Josefa Cameron/CBC)”There might not be a time where we can reverse a lot of things, so it’s very important to keep it as strong as possible now,” Bushey said.”I just hope that they leave with a better understanding of how important the Irish moss is to the community and, you know, you wouldn’t have a lot of other products without it, really.”‘Think globally, act locally’Lynn and Paul Gibb, who took the tour while visiting from Sudbury, Ont., said they appreciated the opportunity to learn about marine protected areas in such a hands-on way.”I think we lose touch of our natural surroundings. You know, we live in a planet that’s always changing and it’s nice to know how things are changing,” Paul Gibb said.”That whole principle of, you know, think globally, act locally, and these guys are certainly here on the ground acting locally, making a difference.” The tours run until the end of September, Thursday to Monday at 10:45 a.m. and 2 p.m.ABOUT THE AUTHORJenna Banfield is an associate producer for CBC Prince Edward Island. She can be reached at jenna.banfield@cbc.caWith files from Island Morning
New guided tour of Basin Head marine protected area a unique learning opportunity
