What's new // Raincoast updates
Notes, details, updates and miscellaneous thoughts.
Our spring field season has arrived and is led by Dr. Chris Darimont, Raincoast Director of Science by Chris Darimont Possessing only a rudimentary knowledge of gravity, delicate little claws for braking, and pure trust in their momma, brand new grizzly cubs are slip-sliding their way down snowfields this month as they emerge from their…
Letter to the Editor, Financial Post Re: Enbridge Chief Defends Gateway Pipline. April 30 It was fascinating to read how Enbridge CEO Patrick Daniel is advocating for corporate socialism as he flogs his company’s Northern Gateway Pipeline project. Mr. Daniel’s suggestion that Canadians will need to massively subsidize the transport of tar sands crude through…
Special to the Vancouver Sun, Earth day April 22 2010 By Josh Paterson, Jen Lash, Nikki Skuce, Gerald Amos, Pat Moss, Eric Swanson, Jennifer Rice, Julia Hill and Chris Genovali. Federal studies have repeatedly concluded that oil tankers must be prohibited in some sensitive marine areas because of the severe risks. The Campbell government was…
Outpost Magazine, April 2010, by Chris Darimont In one of Nature’s most elegant pas de daux, salmon and bear engage in a delicate dance for survival. The bear is losing… We’re searching for solutions to one of the most critical questions facing coastal B.C. today: how to guarantee grizzlies enough salmon to ensure their survival….
As Raincoast’s research vessel Achiever pulled into the inlet on British Columbia’s north coast I glassed the port side shoreline with my binoculars, checking for wildlife. It was that magical time right before dusk when unexpected and unusual things often manifest in the coastal fall alpenglow.
SPRING HUNT 2010 By Chris Genovali A new decade has dawned, but this month yet another year of grizzly bear hunting will commence in British Columbia. The B.C. grizzly bear hunt has been a source of unrelenting controversy. Both sides are stuck in a continual expert-driven argument in which each camp claims science supports their…
By Chris Genovali Lessons from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska have shown that even after two decades, some species and fisheries still have not recovered. This includes killer whale populations, some seabird populations, shellfish harvesting and the commercial herring fishery. If the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline is constructed from Alberta’s tar sands…
Dan Maclennan, Courier-Islander Wednesday, March 10, 2010 A host of environmental, recreation and tourism organizations are calling on Ottawa to shut down three fish farms to create an emergency corridor for out-migrating wild salmon smolts.
I was on my back on the aft deck of the research vessel. My repose was involuntary as we plied the lumpy waters of Haida Gwaii’s west coast. Not one prone to sea-sickness, I nevertheless felt like my head was virtually nailed down, a result of the interminable chop.
By Ian Jansma, Research Assistant Denny Island Field Station When I signed up as a volunteer on Raincoast’s salmon-carnivore study, I didn’t realize I’d be spending my days up to my armpits in blood. In the moist, pungent darkness of the ‘Blood Shed’, I mix fish oil and cow’s blood into a frothy cocktail with…
Humans have evolutionary impact on animals; our prey is getting smaller, breeding earlier MacLeans Magazine, February, 2010 by Rachel Mendleson As a general rule, it’s tough to get the public engaged in science. Which is why Victoria-based environmental researcher Chris Darimont says he’s “thrilled” about the attention his findings on the evolutionary impacts of hunting…
A version of this article first ran in the Vancouver Province, January 22, 2010. The B.C. grizzly bear hunt has been a source of unrelenting controversy. Both sides are stuck in an expert-driven argument in which both camps claim science supports their positions. It is time that the debate was conducted within the context of…