By Roy L Hales
The SMURFETTE reached Squirrel Cove about 1 PM on Wednesday, August 21. According to a crew member, it is one of the catamarans battling it out for the lead. The last of the small boats arrived over the course of the next three hours. They are mid-way in the 2019 Barefoot Raid around Cortes Island.
Continue reading 2019 Barefoot Raid Around Cortes IslandBy Roy L Hales
Local historian Jeanette Taylor came to Mansons Hall, on Cortes Island, on April 26, 2019. The Cortes Island Museum invited her to present her slideshow “60 Terrific Historical Spots To Visit On Northern Vancouver Island”. I’ve taken some liberties in adapting Ms Taylor’s talk into a series of radio programs. The first one is tales of Old Quadra Island.
Continue reading Tales Of Old Quadra IslandBy Roy L Hales
Two distinctly different threats and, a variety of methods of dealing with them, were identified at Cortes Islands Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness Program (NEPP) workshop at Mansons Hall on April 16, 2019.
Continue reading Neighbourhood Emergency PreparednessBy Roy L Hales
In light of the wildfire situation in the interior of our province, it seemed like a good time for an update on the Strathcona Regional District’s emergency preparedness. Only there were three humpback whales along the route, as I crossed over to Quadra Island to meet with the district’s Protective Services Coordinator. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen whales along this route, but they were still whales in the area when I returned four hours later. So I asked I asked Jessica Towers, who works on this ferry, if she had any whale tales.
Continue reading Whale TalesBy Roy L Hales
The global phenomenon of algae blooms has reached British Columbia. The BC Northern Health issued an advisory for Prince George area last summer. Severe outbreaks have been reported at St. Mary and Cusheon Lakes on Saltspring Island, and Village Bay Lake on Quadra Island. The Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) recently published a monitoring report. I recently interviewed the author, Rex Weyler, about responses to Cortes Island’s algae bloom problem.
“Hague and Gunflint Lakes are typical lakes and the challenges we are having there are also typical when you have a human community that lives around a body of fresh water … The problem is human septic and livestock concentrating nutrients and then passing that into the water table, which then drains into the lake. Those nutrients are feeding the algae booms,” says Weyler.
