Thanks to the bot onslaught which started late last October, Cortes Currents website’s viewership doubled – going from 43,049 people in 2024 to 90,499 bots and people in 2025. This was despite the fact I was away for three months (May-July) and working less hours than normal for the duration of the year.

Visitors came from 4,034 ‘cities’ and the top 10, in terms of numbers, were:

1. 32,650 bots came from Lanzhou, China, and stayed for a fraction of a second
2. There may have been some humans among the 17,591 visitors from Shanghai, which is why they stayed an average of 6 seconds
3. Up until 2025, hundreds of our most dedicated viewers came from an ‘undesignated‘ location and their visits averaged 4 minutes or more. They are undoubtedly still humans coming, but this route has largely been taken over by bots.  10,219 bots and humans stayed an average of 47 seconds.
4. 5,293 humans came from Vancouver and stayed 2 min 18 sec.
5. 3,235 humans came from ‘Campbell River.’ which includes Cortes Island, Quarda Island and other parts of Greater Campbell River: average visit lasted 4 min 45 sec  
6. There may be some bots among the 1,451 vistors from Toronto who stayed 37 secs 
7. 1,029 people came from Victoria, 1:55.
8. 945 people from Nanaimo: 3:34
9. 757 people from Powell River 1:58

43,049 people made 107,177 pageviews (PV) on Cortes Currents during 2024; 6,365 were returning users; the average visit in Greater Campbell River was 6min 32 sec; 21,244 plays

The Top 6 posts on Cortes Currents were:

1. 4,004 people scanned the homepage 10,554 times, averaging 49 seconds.
2. Where are Germany’s Bears Wolves and Eagles – 1,083 people made 1,208 PV (a 2016 story whose aggregate count is now 61,123 PV)
3. Wrecked Boat on the Rocks Below my Property – 592 people made 917 PV
4. Terminal Upgrade Plan: BC Ferries Consults Cortes Residents – 585 people made 786 PV
5. QXMC Squirrel Cove: The Next Phase – 462 people made 683 PV
6. Demonstration at Access Point to Cortes Airstrip – 482 people made 589 PV

47,194 people made 123,807 pageviews; 6.4K were ‘Returning Users’; average session – 2.36; Podcasts – 33,509 plays

Cortes Currents

The top 5 areas were:

1. Vancouver – 9,120 people (av session 1m 54 secs);
2. CKTZ’s listening area – 6,336 people
   • Greater Campbell River, which includes Cortes & Quadra Islands – 5,250 people (av session 7min 18secs)
   • Powell River – 949 people (av session 1m 50s)
   • Comox – 137 people (av 4m 2s)
3. Undefined (not set) rural area which may, or may not, be partly or wholly within the CKTZ listening area – 3,538 people (av. session 2m 1secs).
4. Victoria – 1,517 people (av session 1m 55s)
5. Toronto – 1,342 people (av session 1m 10s)

A total of 44,165 people visited Cortes Currents during 2022; there were 10,584 plays on our podcast systems.

The top 10 posts, in terms of views were:

1. (3,963 views) – people scanning the opening paragraphs of articles on the site’s homepage from October 23-Dec 31, 2022, average visit 2m 8s..
2. (1,596 views) – Germany’s Bears Wolves & Eagles (2016)
3. (611 views) – Federal Budget: the forgotten seniors aged 65-74
4. (519 views) – (Public Letter) the Dark side of VIHA, Vancouver Island Health Authority 
5. (501 views) – Cortes Island fibre project underway
6. (475 views) – Vessels of Concern, signs of the Times (2020)
7. )466 views) – The Passion behind Wild Water Adventures
8. (424 views) – What can Cortes Island do with its abandoned boats?
9. (424 views) – Farewell to Trudes Cafe
10. (339 views) – Paul Stamet’s anti-dote for colony collapse disorder (2019)

The ECOreport was launched, as an international news website, in December 2013. The website was given a more local focus and registered the domain name ‘Cortes Currents’ on February 27, 2019.

Cortes Currents website

Cortes Currents used a variety of tracking devices until settling on Google Analytics in Feb 28, 2019.