Two more abandoned derelict vessels washed up in Cortes Bay on January 15th, 2020. When Jenny Hartwick, Harbour Manager for Harbour Authority Cortes Island (HACI), reported them to the Coast Guard, she was told they were dealing with similar reports from multiple locations. Cortes Island’s adrift vessels are part of a province wide problem.
Continue reading Cortes Island’s Adrift VesselsTag Archives: Beach Clean-up
The Big Spill
(The second in a series of articles from the 2019 Campbell River Emergency Preparedness Trade Show.)
I was immediately drawn to Western Canada Marine Spill Response Corporation (WCMRC) booth. This company founded in 1976 and cleans about 20 spills a year. Most of these are relatively small, like the incident in Gorge Harbour, Cortes Island. I was more interested in the fact they cleaned up the big spill in Burnaby, during 2007 – which gives us some insight into what a major bitumen spill on the West Coast of British Columbia might look like.
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Salvaging On British Columbia’s Central Coast
As I was waiting for the ferry at Quathiaski Cove, my eyes were drawn to a trailer full of rough planking and an antique floating devise. They belonged to a BC Ferry captain from the Quadra to Cortes run. Randall Warnock spends a lot of time salvaging on British Columbia’s central coast.
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Mathilde Gordon’s 2,042 Kilometre Kayak Adventure
By Roy L Hales
They paddled almost every day, sometimes more than fifty kilometres a day. The two women were at sea for three months. They started in the icy waters of Glacier Bay, Alaska, meticulously tabulating the impact of single use plastic everywhere they camped. I heard the story of Mathilde Gordon’s 2,042 kilometre kayak adventure during her recent visit to Cortes Island.
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Stop Recreational Boaters From Polluting Cortes Islands Protected Areas
There are good reasons that boaters are not allowed to dump chemicals, sewage and other debris in Carrington Bay, Cortes Bay, Gorge Harbour, Squirrel Cove, or Manson’s Landing. “[Cortes Island] has the best oysters in the area, [possibly] because it is supposed to have such pristine clean water,” says Julia Rendall, President of the 13 member Bee Islets Growers Corporation. She explained that violations “could close us down and if we are closed down I think we have to have three tests, three weeks in a row, clear. So it could, in theory, close you down for about a month.” Cortes Island’s unique environmental features resulted in the creation of several marine parks. Contamination is a concern for all islanders, whether they are shellfish harvesters or not. These areas are currently designated as “No Discharge Zones” under federal regulations. Never-the-less, violations periodically do occur and a recent incident illustrates the difficulties of trying to stop recreational boaters from polluting Cortes Islands protected areas.
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