On the wild, forested shores of Cortes Island, a unique relationship has taken root—one of deep respect and mindful coexistence between humans and wolves. At the heart of this ongoing effort is Sabina Leader Mense, a biologist, educator, and champion of wild creatures whose vision helped shape a community-wide approach to living alongside apex predators.
Continue reading Sabina Leader Mense & the Wolves of Cortes: A Story of CoexistenceAn unwelcome visitor has arrived on Cortes Island’s shores, triggering alarm among scientists and conservationists. The invasive European green crab (*Carcinus maenas*)—considered one of the world’s most damaging marine invaders—was confirmed in Mansons Lagoon in 2024, marking the first documented sighting in the Discovery Islands. The species’ appearance has set off a coordinated response from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), the Klahoose First Nation, and Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI).
Continue reading European Green Crabs Reach Cortes Island
UBC researchers found a new virus in farmed Pacific Oysters that perished during a mass die-off in 2020.
During the die-off, researchers collected 33 dead oysters as well as 26 wild oysters from neighbouring sites. Pacific Oyster Nidovirus 1 (PONV1) was only found in 20 of the dead or dying farmed oysters.
Dr Kevin Xu Zhong, a research associate in the UBC department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS), explained this does not mean the virus was the cause of death.
“We found this new virus. There is no indication it is causing the mortality mentioned in the database, the study, or the reporting.”
Continue reading New Virus Associated With (But Not Causing) Mass Oyster Die-OffsIn 1995, standing on a Cortes Island shoreline with fellow environmental advocate Delores Broten, Sabina Leader Mense agreed to launch something that had never been done before on the island: a long-term monitoring project for its rocky intertidal zones. “Delores said, ‘We really need to get onto monitoring the marine environment.’ And I said, ‘Okay,’” Mense recalls.
That conversation marked the beginning of FOCI’s very first marine stewardship initiative, The Cortes Island Foreshore Monitoring Program (CIFMP) and today, nearly three decades later, it remains one of the longest-running environmental monitoring programs in the Strait of Georgia.
Continue reading 30 Years of Foreshore Monitoring on Cortes IslandBelow are seven biological wonders that should help to confirm the sophisticated intelligence of nature. These are merely a sample of what we are discovering about the animals and plants that share this planet with us, a reminder that is particularly appropriate since our behaviour has initiated the sixth major extinction event in Earth’s history.
Continue reading The Quadra Project: Biological Wonders – Part 2
