Tag Archives: Cortes Island

Animals

European Green Crabs Reach Cortes Island

Originally published, as part 4 of the Cortes Island Resonance series by the Cortes Community Radio Society.

An unwelcome visitor has arrived on Cortes Island’s shores, triggering alarm among scientists and conservationists. The invasive European green crab (*Carcinus maenas*)—considered one of the world’s most damaging marine invaders—was confirmed in Mansons Lagoon in 2024, marking the first documented sighting in the Discovery Islands. The species’ appearance has set off a coordinated response from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), the Klahoose First Nation, and Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI).

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Arts

Folk U: Aspen King Plays at the Village Commons

July 25, 2025 was the fourth week of the Village Commons Music Series, a simultaneously live and live-broadcast show, happening on Fridays from 1 – 2:30pm on the new Pavilion stage. 

Host Manda Aufochs Gillespie was joined by local electronic music star, Aspen King. Aspen plays techno and house influenced music and came home to play this daytime set, and one evening set at the Gorge Marina, between travelling to and from many large festivals over the course of the summer.

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Parks

Three Decades of Stewardship: FOCI’s Ongoing Legacy in Cortes Island Parks

For over 30 years, Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) has played a vital role in preserving and maintaining the natural beauty of Cortes Island’s parks. From humble beginnings to an established organization with year-round maintenance operations, FOCI’s legacy is woven into the very trails, beaches, and forests it cares for.

“There is just a wonderful collection of fantastic places that we’ve protected on this island, and I think we should celebrate that,” exclaimed Helen Hall, Executive Director of FOCI. “The parks are there for people to enjoy and learn about nature. They’re very popular on Cortes.”

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Animals, Environment

30 Years of Foreshore Monitoring on Cortes Island

Originally published, as part 3 of the Cortes Island Resonance series by the Cortes Community Radio Society.

In 1995, standing on a Cortes Island shoreline with fellow environmental advocate Delores Broten, Sabina Leader Mense agreed to launch something that had never been done before on the island: a long-term monitoring project for its rocky intertidal zones. “Delores said, ‘We really need to get onto monitoring the marine environment.’ And I said, ‘Okay,’” Mense recalls.

That conversation marked the beginning of FOCI’s very first marine stewardship initiative, The Cortes Island Foreshore Monitoring Program (CIFMP) and today, nearly three decades later, it remains one of the longest-running environmental monitoring programs in the Strait of Georgia.

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Health

Folk U: Dr Eric Posen talks about Naturopathy, Health, and Healing

On July 21, 2025, host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by Dr. Eric Posen to discuss naturopathy, health, and healing. This conversation unpacks what naturopathic doctors do, illness and alternative medicine, and the future of mental and physical health.

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