Raincoast is a team of conservationists and scientists empowered by our research to safeguard the lands, waters and wildlife of coastal British Columbia. Read more about Raincoast.
Hecate Strait is one of the roughest bodies of water on earth, but today we can see the reflections of clouds on its surface. We are nearing the end of a long day, which is nearly the last of our field season, which is, in turn, the last summer of our three-year whale survey. But…
A young wolf races along the shore, his gangly legs negotiating the rocky shoreline as effortlessly as an Olympic gymnast performing a tried routine. Only a fleeting glance over his shoulder betrays his fear as he disappears into the forest. We look at each other in awe as a few moments of calm descend on…
The Koeye (K’way) watershed is located about 30 miles south of Bella Bella in Fitz Hugh Sound in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest. Today, there are about three hundred of us gathered on the sandy beach to witness the opening of the Koeye Big House that has been built over the last four…
Raincoast’s dedicated research boat, a 66-foot steel hulled sloop called Achiever, is very close to being operational for 2006. We will launch her from the Shelter Island Shipyard on the Fraser River on July 15 at 10am, and as that day approaches we are ticking off the remaining tasks like items on a grocery list….
Price, M.H.H., C.T. Darimont, N.N. Winchester, and P.C. Paquet. 2005. Facts from Faeces: Prey Remains in Wolf, Canis lupus, Faeces Revise Occurrence Records for Mammals of British Columbia’s Coastal Archipelago. The Canadian Field Naturalist 119(2): 192-196. Facts from faeces.pdf
Chris Williamson, From Bella Bella, BC May 2006 First Days tend to hold a special place in our minds. The feelings, whether they are excitement, nervousness, or anticipation, burn a lasting impression in our brains that can be recalled with a vividness rarely achieved by any day thereafter. Among the First Days etched most deeply…
Briony PennSalt Spring Island, BCMay 2006 In 1916, populations of sandhill crane were pushed to the verge of extinction from overhunting in the United States prompting the introduction of the US Migratory Bird Treaty Act. In Heiltsuk memory, these cranes, called c’idawai, that typically arrived in mid-April from their southern wintering grounds in the lower…
Swan, P.L. 2005. Modelling Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) Distribution and Habitat in Coastal Temperate Rainforests of British Columbia, Canada. MSc. Thesis. University of Calgary. Department of Geography.
As I crouched down to photograph a pure white banana slug, I was taken aback by how incredible it was to find this small, slow moving, salt-intolerant creature on an outer coastal island.
The old saying, “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” has taken on a new meaning here at Raincoast. In an unprecedented move, Raincoast, with the support of coastal First Nations, has successfully purchased one of the largest exclusive commercial trophy hunting tenures in the province. The license area covers over 20,000 square kilometres of…
Inspiration comes in many different forms. With Raincoast, I have found it among schools of migrating salmon and with grizzlies wrestling in the estuaries, and this month I found it in our Victoria office. Raincoast dreams big, and this year we needed the resources to significantly expand our protection efforts with new research, marine resources…
“Canada is a great country much too cold for good sense, inhabited by compassionate, intelligent people with bad hairdos.” Yann Martel, Life of Pi Enter: The Aussie marine mammal scientist One train, two busses, three taxis, and five flights later I arrive in Port Hardy, BC, to meet our expedition vessel, Gwaii Haanas. This is…