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Saving Canada’s Pacific Coast

CounterPunch  June 6, 2011

By Chris Genovali, Paul Paquet and Misty MacDuffee

With the conclusion of the international Marine Conservation Congress, recently held on Vancouver island, we cannot help but reflect on the current, and future, status of Canada’s Pacific coast.Our unique coastal region is comprised of a fragile archipelago with a boundary between land and ocean that changes by the hour, by the season, and over the millennia. The fragmented island and inlet nature of this ecosystem, nourished by the waters of the North Pacific, sustain more diversity of plants, wildlife, and people than occurs elsewhere in North America. The distinct assembly of iconic animals such as whales, dolphins, wolves, and bears make the coast of British Columbia qualitatively different from most other exceptional places in the world. Notably, these mammals, together with another 120 species of birds, are tied to the sea.

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Coastal wolf with a salmon in its month.
Photo by Dene Rossouw.