Tag Archives: Helen Hall

Summer offerings from FOCI

The Friends of Cortes (FOCI) have just released their summer program of daily offerings for 2022. 

“It’s about educating people about the natural environment, but also really having people getting out there, having fun and enjoying themselves. So whether it’s locals or visitors, we’re really pleased to welcome anyone  who wants to come along,” explained Helen Hall, Executive Director of FOCI.

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Mothers Day Beach Clean-up on Cortes Island

On Mother’s Day (May 8), a dozen volunteers removed two pick-up truck loads of debris, from the beach between Hollyhock and Seaford. 

“We’ve had a winter’s worth of storms, blowing things up, and this beach that we’re working today from Hollyhock, basically up to Seascape Road. this is a huge collector facing the southeast, the open Strait of Georgia with Victoria, east Vancouver Island and all the Sunshine Coast communities. Anything that gets put in the water ends up right about here,” explained Mike Moore, one of the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) volunteers.

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Ministry biologist talks about five threatened bird species on Cortes Island

When Cortes Currents asked the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) who to interview for more in depth coverage of ‘species at risk,’ they responded ‘Jenna Cragg’ from BC’s Ministry of Environment. That was last January, which shows how busy she is. Sabina Leader Mense described Cragg as one of FOCI’s key ‘go to’ species at risk biologists, who provides the facts that FOCI brings into the community. 

In the emails we exchanged prior to this interview, Cragg specifically mentioned five species: the Marbled Murrelet, Great Blue Heron, Double Crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant and Western Screech Owl.

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Friends of Cortes Island Society launches Western Screech Owl research project

By Greg Osoba, CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

With funding from the BC government, the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) conservation and education society is taking part in a “threatened species” field research project aimed at determining the local status of the Western Screech Owl. The launch began with a public notice to Cortes Islanders on February 23rd and includes an evening presentation with a field biologist on March 7th.

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Cortes Island’s latest Citizen Scientist Project: Monitoring Dungeness Crabs 

Cortes Island’s newest citizen science project, monitoring Dungeness crab larvae, was announced last Friday. Local diver Mike Moore,  Helen Hall from the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) and Kelly Fretwell from the Hakai Institute joined Manda Aufochs Gillespie on CKTZ’s Folk U Friday.  

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