Calendar of Events

Blessing of the Boats events are held at coastal fishing communities throughout much of the world. The Tonquin Foundation has organized a sail-past procession to bless the 2011 season’s whale watching boats & community fleet.

This is a tradition that began centuries ago in Mediterranean fishing communities to ensure a safe and bountiful season. The ceremony features a blessing undertaken by the Reverend Joan Scandrett, with demonstration and participation from the Canadian Coastguard, RCMP and the Tonquin Foundation. Head down to the docks to watch varied local vessels of all shapes, sizes and styles kick off another safe season on the water!

Sponsored by the Tonquin Foundation.

Come see B.C.'s largest dune complex only steps away from the Wickaninnish parking lot! Learn about this rare and interesting ecosystem, the park's restoration efforts and the endangered plant we are saving from the brink of extinction. Come and get your hands dirty by trying to pull an invasive dune grass with roots that reach meters deep and create habitat for our many rare species. The one that gets the deepest root may win a prize!

Danielle Bellefleur has worked coast to coast for Parks Canada over the last 12 years. Her adventures have taken her from Kejimkujik to the Rockies to the Wet Coast. She has worked as a Park Warden and a Biologist, and is now in charge of dune restoration and monitoring for the park. You may see her monitoring plants, tracking wildlife, working with excavators and pulling invasive dune grass out at the Wickaninnish.

Trip Rates - $79.00/Adults, $75/Students & $65/Youth

Join Jamie's Whaling Station and Matt Maran on a zodiac and learn some photography tips while taking in the beauty of the Clayoquot Sound. No one will believe that you took those pictures after Matt's wildlife photography tips!

Some of the many items covered will be tips on dealing with exposure on the water, anticipation, positioning, angles, getting the animal eye view and so much more!

Matthew Maran has been photographing the wildlife and landscapes of the west coast of Vancouver Island since 2005. Having spent more than 1,000 hours at sea, persevering in some of the area’s most extreme weather conditions, he has gathered a unique body of work covering the breadth of Barkley and Clayoquot Sounds.

(12 spaces), $79/To reserve 250-726-7336

Join local naturalist and marine mammal researcher Wendy Szaniszlo for a fun-filled research trip in Barkley Sound. We will be travelling by zodiac with Brian Congdon, a former Park Warden of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve who has been conducting local tours for over 30 years. Brian is very knowledgeable about the natural and cultural history of Barkley Sound and has supported Wendy with her sea lion research and whale surveys for over 10 years. Together they will introduce you to local marine mammals and involve you in identifying individual whales, discovering what they eat, and investigating sea lion movements. We’ll enjoy the beauty of Barkley Sound and watch for seals, eagles and sea birds along the way. Thanks to Subtidal Adventures and Wendy Szaniszlo.

The Basking Shark is the second largest fish in the world, and one of the most imperiled. Historically, large groupings of this gentle, plankton feeding giant were observed along the coast of British Columbia during summer months. However, historical fisheries (1941-1947) and a directed eradication program (1955-1969) brought about a dramatic decline in abundance of this species. Today, the entire northeast Pacific Ocean population numbers less than approximately 500 individuals. In February 2010, the Basking Shark was listed as endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is now faced with the challenge of bringing a large, little-known shark back from the potential brink of extinction. Only through a greater understanding of this species, and with the cooperation of marine users up and down the coast from Canada to Mexico, will this fascinating creature once again be spotted regularly cruising our coastal waters.

Romney McPhie is a research biologist working on sharks, skates and rays at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, British Columbia. She moved back to the west coast after completing her Masters in Marine Biology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she worked on the life history characteristics of four species of skates on the eastern Scotian Shelf. She has a soft spot for cartilaginous fishes, sun-warmed M&Ms, surfing, and cheesy Samurai movies.

With First Nations weavers Rose Wilson, Molly Haipee & friends – make a take-home cedar creation using traditional techniques and learn about the history, preparation and uses of this coastal art form. Take part in making a community hat! Sponsored generously by the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust.

Activities for all ages! We are excited to welcome back the Vancouver Aquarium's BC Hydro Aquavan, cookie decorating, face-painting, a photobooth, Ucluelet Aquarium, and activities and crafts! Raincoast Education Society and Bamfield Marine Science Centre are just two of the groups providing hands on and interactive fun! A free concert by Bob's and Lolo will wrap up the exciting afternoon!

Thank you to West Coast Aquatic Safaris for making this event happen!

Check out our sponsor's page!

What's happening in the world of marine conservation? Come discovers what's going on in Canada and learn about the newly established Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area Reserve. Last summer marked a significant achievement for marine conservation in Canada when Parks Canada, the Haida Nation and Fisheries and Oceans Canada agreed to protect the rich and spectacular marine waters around Gwaii Haanas. Come and be visually transported to this magical place and learn about the efforts that led to the protection of Gwaii Haanas from mountain top to sea floor.

Megumi Johns is a Consultation and Outreach Officer for Parks Canada in Vancouver. She has worked on the national marine conservation area programs including the establishment of Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area Reserve and the feasibility assessment for a national marine conservation area reserve in the Southern Strait of Georgia.

Bobs & LoLo are dedicated to connecting kids to the natural world with music, movement and make-believe. Sharing musical stories that engage, inspire and educate, they teach kids to care about themselves, their neighbours and the planet.

From up in the trees to down in the seas, get on your feet to the beat of Bobs & LoLo's award-winning songs! Listen to the samples by following the link below and hear music from the Action Packed, Musical Adventures and Sea Notes CD series. Experience a musical world filled with bikes, bugs, recycling and more today!

http://www.bobsandlolo.com/music.html

Wendy Szaniszlo is a marine mammal biologist who started her career volunteering for local marine mammal projects in 1995. She went on to study grey whales and sea lions and completed a graduate degree studying sea lions in Barkley Sound. Wendy has been involved in various grey whale, humbpack whale and sea lion research projects with various government organizations, universities and research groups. Her on-going work involves photo identification of grey and humpback whales in Barkley Sound to monitor their abundance, distribution and habitat use, and conducting sea lion surveys on southwest Vancouver Island. Currently her work focuses on the seasonal abundance and distribution of sea lions in BC's coastal national parks, and assessing the type and frequency of sea lion entanglement in marine debris.

Join Serge Dedina and Jim Nollman for an evening of entertainment in a comfortable, relaxed environment.

6:00 pm

Serge's Wild Sea contains just the right mix of humor and surf lingo, highlighting Dedina’s belief that popular culture makes the environment relevant. Throughout the book, he writes about the first surfers in Baja, the Great Baja Land Rush of the 1990s, Tijuana’s punk music scene, and pop-culture wrestling phenomenon lucha libre, the reasons why ocean pollution must be stopped, and the way HBO took over his hometown. As Dick Russell, author of Eye of the Whale, writes, “Dedina’s account of his ongoing battle to preserve the Baja Peninsula should inspire environmentalists everywhere. With a surfer’s passion and ingenuity, he takes on the corporate powers - and, along the way, gives us a fascinating history of others who ride the waves.”

Find out more about Serge here.

8:00 pm

Jim Nollman plays music with animals! He tried it with ravens, dolphins, bellbirds, frogs, orcas, humpback whales, elk. He's worked for the Smithsonian Institute blowing harmonica among howler monkeys on an island in the middle of the Panama Canal. He's recorded flute music with wolves, produced Thanksgiving day radio shows singing Froggy Went a Courtin' with gobbling turkeys, appeared on 60 Minutes strumming an Indian raga with whales off Vancouver Island. Today he specialize in such musical communication with whales, several times inviting Tibetan lamas onto a boat to sing their prayers with orcas, playing reggae with pilot whales off Tenerife.

Find out more about Jim here.

Hearing Headwater is like listening to the West Coast of Canada in song. Freewheeling, fierce, sentimental and sexy, the Vancouver, B.C., quartet has earned its reputation as one of the finest acoustic roots groups around the old-fashioned way. They worked hard!

Since forming in 2001, the group has logged in thousands of kilometres criss-crossing Western Canada and playing to anyone and everyone willing to give it some love. With hooks, driving rhythms, adventurous steel guitar and mandolin solos, and beautiful three-part vocal harmonies all featured in tight, concise under four-minute songs, they found fans fast. You will be one after tonight if you aren't already!