Cortes Kayaks bioluminescence tours have been setting out from Mansons Lagoon every Friday and Saturday for the past month.
There were about a dozen people in our group, which was mostly composed of off islanders from Vancouver, Victoria or the Cowichan Valley. The only experienced kayakers were our guides, Jolaine Boucher and Maria Francis. However most of the group had some experience and the only rookie was me.
Continue reading Experiencing Bioluminescence with Cortes Kayaks
Around 30 people trekked around the Spit into Mansons Lagoon, during the July 12 ‘Gumbooting the Lagoon.’ While Jane Newman, from the Cortes Island Museum, explained the site’s human history, marine biologist Deb Cowper and FOCI’s Autumn Barrett-Morgan introduced everyone to intertidal life forms. One of the many topics that arose was the loss of marine life.
Continue reading Perceived Biodiversity loss in Mansons LagoonThe 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.
Continue reading Summer offerings from FOCI
It has been twelve months since billions of marine animals along the West Coast of British Columbia perished during a record breaking heat wave. Temperatures of between 35°C and 40°C were recorded at the Cortes Island School during the last five days of June.
Continue reading One year after the marine die-offUBC marine ecologist Dr. Chris Harley initially told the media that more than a billion mussels, clams, sea stars and other invertebrates may have cooked to death in the area between Campbell River and Washington state. That was a ‘back of the envelope’ estimate, based on his observations among the Lower Mainland’s mussel population and some preliminary reports. Harley has done a great deal more research since then. He now guesstimates that, conservatively speaking, the number of marine fatalities during last June’s heat wave is closer to 10 billion.
Continue reading Heat wave killed far more marine animals than originally thought, says scientist
