Tag Archives: Seals

Animals

Wolf Tales from Cortes Island

Cortes Island’s wildlife coexistence programs can be traced back to  human/wolf conflicts in 2009. Local biologist Sabina Leader Mense reached out to Bob Hansen, then wildlife-human conflict specialist with Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.  The Cortes Community Wolf Project is modelled on the Wild Coast program that Hansen had been running in the Pacific Rim for more than a decade. Hansen and Conservation Officer Ben York helped Sabina write ‘Learning to Live with Wolves on Cortes Island,’ a five-point primer which FOCI endorses and posts throughout the community.

Hansen returned to Cortes at Sabina’s invitation, for the first time since 2011, on February 3. He gave a workshop on electric fences and a demonstration on using bear spray at Linnaea Farm. There were also a lot of ‘wolf stories’ and new information. 

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Rivers & Oceans

The Quadra Project: Salmon Farming in Perspective

The salmon farming industry in BC is once again challenging the authority of the Minister of Fisheries to make decisions about whether or not its feedlots should continue to be located in open ocean settings. Their first successful court challenge overturned Minister Bernadette Jordan’s 2020 decision to close down open-net operations. Now, in 2023, Minister Joyce Murray’s similar decision is also being challenged. For perspective, this challenge invites a review of the history of salmon farming in BC’s waters.

When corporate salmon farming arrived in a relatively pristine British Columbia, the marine wilderness was already occupied by many native species. The farms were totally incongruous with this ecology, and immediately found themselves in conflict with the seals, sea lions, orcas, whales, eagles, osprey, mink, otters and kingfishers. The result was carnage to wildlife as the farmers tried to defend their salmon from a traditional food that had always been available to the natural predators.

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Indigenous Nations History, Tourism

Experiencing Bioluminescence with Cortes Kayaks

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. 

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Forests

Interview with Bruce Ellingsen p1: What is a sustainable rate of consumption for forestry?

In respect to British Columbia’s old growth trees, “Most of what is left is in the difficult-to-access areas and the not so productive sites. Most of the best and easy to get is gone” – Bruce Ellingsen, one of the founders of the Cortes Community Forest Co-operative. 

In the first of two articles about current forestry practices, Ellingsen looks to dynamics in nature for indicators toward a more sustainable harvesting rate.

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Animals, Indigenous Nations History, Tourism

Environmentalists protect local history and seabirds on Galiano Island

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A new conservation area on B.C.’s Galiano Island with deep cultural significance for local First Nations will protect a pristine shore for a multitude of seabirds and help an increasingly rare ecosystem withstand global warming.

A kilometre of beach in Cable Bay and the adjoining 66 acres of land inside the threatened Coastal Douglas-Fir biogeoclimatic zone (CDF) have been acquired by the Galiano Conservancy Association (GCA) and the Nature Trust of British Columbia.

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