Latest news with #HaidaGwaii
CBC
21 hours ago
- CBC
Rare leatherback sea turtle spotted off B.C. coast
Social Sharing A B.C. nurse has documented a giant sea turtle swimming off the coast of Haida Gwaii, a collection of islands off B.C.'s northwest coast — a sighting that's being celebrated by conservation specialists, as leatherback sea turtles are critically endangered in Canada. Victoria Bradshaw, who works as a nurse in a remote fishing lodge on Haida Gwaii, was out on the water fishing near Langara Island with her coworker Aidan Horne on July 14 when she saw something pop up out of the water. "I instantly thought sea lion just because we see them quite often, and Aiden, who I was with, kind of announced, 'That's not a sea lion. That's the sea turtle,'" said Bradshaw. "We kind of dropped everything, and I grabbed my phone and this very large creature just decided to hang out with us for a little while." Bradshaw said she was surprised at how gigantic the animal was, estimating it ranging between six and eight feet (1.8-2½ metres in size). At first, Bradshaw says she had no idea how rare it was to spot a leatherback sea turtle, especially on B.C.'s coast. "I didn't know it was an option for my bucket list, but apparently it was." Leatherbacks are the largest turtles in the world but are critically endangered. According to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, there have only been 149 unique sightings of sea turtles on B.C.'s coast since 1931. "Leatherback sea turtles belong off the coast of British Columbia, but they are the rarest of the rare," said Jackie Hildering, a communications and education director for the Marine Education and Research Society. Hildering says they are the only sea turtles that are able to adapt to cold waters and travel thousands of kilometres from as far away as Indonesia to feed on B.C. jellyfish. "Amongst the astonishing adaptations of these living dinosaurs is that they can deal with a really broad range of temperatures," she said. Leatherback sea turtles are recognized as being endangered in Canada and protected under the Species at Risk Act. Hildering says only about five per cent of the Pacific population is left, and threats to their survival include entanglement in fishing gear, collision with boats, and plastic pollution. "You may not have known that these amazingly adapted living dinosaurs are your marine neighbours, but your day-to-day actions do impact them," she said. Bradshaw said she's seen a lot of wildlife while living on Haida Gwaii, but spotting the leatherback sea turtle has shifted her perspective. "This animal was very healthy and safe and was just enjoying his life. It was just so magical," said Brashaw. "I think a little bit more about how important our waters are to so many different marine mammals and every creature that we don't even know about. It's just so important that we protect them and recognize that when we do get those really special moments." Hildering asks those who spot a sea turtle to report it at 1-866-472-9663 or visit the Canadian Sea Turtle Network online.
CTV News
24-06-2025
- CTV News
Man fined nearly $37K for illegal halibut fishing in Haida Gwaii, B.C.
A commercial fisherman has been fined almost $37,000 for illegal fishing in the Haida Gwaii archipelago. Stefan Grega pleaded guilty to multiple violations of the federal Fisheries Act last month, according to a news release from Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The DFO said the offences occurred during the 2022-23 commercial halibut fishery, when Grega 'illegally retained and sold fish' that he caught during a fishery closure. The specific offences to which Grega pleaded guilty are listed in online court records. They are: Two counts of purchasing, selling or possessing illegally caught fish One count of fishing during a closed time One count of catching or retaining fish from closed waters And one count of placing or setting fishing gear during a closed time All of the offences except one of the counts of possessing illegally caught fish occurred on May 4, 2022, according to court records. The remaining count happened on May 5, 2022. Grega, who was born in 1946, is the owner of the commercial fishing vessel the Pacific Sunrise, according to the DFO. The court imposed a total of $30,000 in fines – $10,000 for the placing or setting fishing gear charge and $5,000 for each other count. It also ordered Grega to pay $6,989.35, representing proceeds from the illegal harvest, the DFO said. The federal department said it regulates seven distinct commercial sectors of B.C.'s groundfish fisheries, all of which are 'highly regulated and managed to conserve the stocks.' Commercial groundfish fisheries are 'fully monitored at sea and dockside through either electronic systems or onboard observers,' the DFO said, adding that electronic monitoring video systems, fishing logbooks, dockside monitoring and the 'Groundfish Audit System' were all 'instrumental in identifying and investigating Mr. Grega's illegal activities.' Anyone with information about contraventions of the Fisheries Act and its associated regulations should call the DFO Pacific Region's violation reporting line at 1-800-465-4336, or email the details to the department said.
CBC
13-06-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Lightning strike plunges entirety of northwest B.C. into dark, thousands without power
More than 45,000 customers across northwest B.C. are without power after an outage at about 4:20 p.m. PT. The B.C. Hydro dashboard shows it is impacting the entire region from Vanderhoof, about 100 kilometres west of Prince George, all the way to Prince Rupert, more than 500 kilometres away as the crow flies. Haida Gwaii and parts of the far northwest around Stewart are also impacted. In an update posted online, the power provider says a lightning strike is to blame, with crews working to "restore service as quickly as possible." B.C. Hydro spokesperson Mike Kellett said resotration work would have to be done in stages, staring in Vanderhoof and working westward. He said it was expected power would be back "in a few hours." Kellett said due to the wide scale of the outage, it is likely the sole transmission line supplying power from Prince George to Prince Rupert had been impacted. Northwest B.C. does not have backup transmission lines, which makes the region susceptible to large-scale outages. In 2024, B.C. Premier David Eby announced plans to build new transmission lines between Prince George and Terrace in order to provide more reliable power to industrial customers in the region. There are no current reports of outages from phone or internet providers, though the region has also experienced loss of communications in the past, such as a 2022 incident in which a beaver downed a tree onto some lines, knocking out cellphones and internet for several hours.
CBC
28-05-2025
- Climate
- CBC
B.C. Wildfire Service announces ban on most open fires in coastal areas
The BC Wildfire Service has announced open fire bans that will prohibit most burning activities in most coastal areas of the province, with exceptions for Haida Gwaii. The ban on Category 2 and Category 3 open fires in the Coastal Fire Centre comes into effect at noon Friday, and the service says it's being imposed to reduce the risk of wildfires. The service says the ban will remain in place until Oct. 31 or until it is rescinded. Category 1 campfires that are no more than half a metre high by half a metre wide will still be allowed, as well as cooking stoves. The bans cover west of the Coast Mountain Range from the U.S. border to Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park in the north, including the Sunshine Coast, Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, and the Gulf Islands. Anyone breaching the ban could be hit with a $1,150 violation ticket, an administrative penalty of up to $10,000, or fines of up to $100,000 and one year in jail if convicted in court. The service says that if a wildfire is triggered, the person responsible could have to pay all firefighting costs. On Wednesday, the wildfire service's online dashboard showed 45 active wildfires burning in the province, including 11 sparked in the previous 24 hours, with most activity concentrated in the northeast corner of B.C.
Times
25-05-2025
- Times
Canada tourism is booming — but these enchanting islands remain secret
We are rounding Gangxid Kun (known in English as Cape St James) at the very bottom of Haida Gwaii, an archipelago of about 150 remote islands and over 1,800 islets, 62 miles off the vast northwest coastline of British Columbia. The islands are on the edge of a continental shelf; just below the waters a 2,800m submarine cliff falls away, while above the immense reaches of the Pacific Ocean stretch out until Haida Gwaii brushes up against Antarctica. This is Canada's windiest region, prone to gale-force winds that blow across 600 miles of open sea. It is not for the faint-hearted. As we round the cape, GidinJaad — a Haida woman — calls for our safe passage, lighting sage leaves, wafting the aromatic smoke with a single feather from a bald eagle, which quivers above her tattooed face. I am on board Cascadia, a luxury 138ft, 12-cabin catamaran. Alongside GidinJaad, other members of the team include the dependable hands of the captain, Jeff Harvey, and the mate, Bryn Flanagan. Both men are on the bridge guiding the boat across the cresting waves, while beside them, scouting for humpbacks, colourful puffins, pods of orcas or white-sided dolphins, is the expedition guide Phil Stone and a naturalist, Marlo Shaw, who is scanning the horizon with binoculars, eager to share any sightings with the 16 guests on board. We are on a voyage to discover the breathtaking wilderness of Gwaii Haanas, the southern part of the archipelago, which lies two hours north of Vancouver by plane. These islands, which translate to Islands of Beauty, were named the Queen Charlotte Islands after the ship of an 18th-century British trader, despite being populated by the Haida nation for more than 13,000 years. Before 'first contact' in 1774, tens of thousands of Haida people thrived on these shores. Then European diseases including smallpox and influenza wiped out entire villages until fewer than 600 people were left. The history of the Haida reflects the turbulent and brutal dismantling of the First Nations indigenous peoples across Canada. Oral traditions, homes, land and culture were destroyed from the 18th to the 20th centuries as colonists and government policies enforced bans on culture and language. I grapple with the dark legacies of the British Empire while beyond the boat's windows a perfect panorama of spruce-covered islets drift by, along with great stone rookeries overlaid with fleshy, barking sea lions. A small library filled with naturalist guides, history and art books dedicated to the Haida and the islands is designed to help guests understand this beautiful, wild place. • Read our full guide to Canada Comfortable sofas and the steward Blythe — the best cocktail maker on the KandaliiGwii (the Hecate Strait) — ease my experience of the boat's gentle roll as it navigates the narrow sandbanks and deep blue bays of the archipelago. The chef sends up the latest assembly of still warm cinnamon rolls mid-morning, just in case anyone is peckish between a full breakfast of Canadian pancakes, local berries and bacon, the hearty lunches and the lavish three-course suppers the 16 of us share together. Fresh steaks of salmon or grilled meat are all delicately arranged with linen tablecloths and local wines. 'I have this tattoo on my chin to signify a prayer of oneness, that we all belong,' says GidinJaad. She is on board to answer our questions about the Haida, their beliefs, dark past and brighter future. Her chin features a small dark raven and eagle. 'The raven and the eagle are back-to-back supporting each other, not just for Haidas, but all humanity.' These birds are central to her culture. Every Haida belongs to either the Eagle or Raven Clan, and in this matriarchal society you follow your mother's clan. GidinJaad is Eagle Clan and she, Stone and Shaw carefully unpack Haida history, together with the biodiversity of the environment we are cruising through. • Read our full guide to Vancouver Over seven days Cascadia takes us on an expedition deep into this untamed landscape. We set off from Skidegate, a small town on the largest island, Kiis Gwaay (Graham Island). Stops throughout the week are made at islands and inlets to take in the ecology. We visit ancient forests with red cedar and Sitka spruce trees that are thought to be between 800 and 1,000 years old, untouched beaches where thousands of chanterelles flourish and giant banana slugs the size of mice snuggle among skunk cabbage leaves, and islands whose village fragments, such as SGang Gwaay, a Unesco world heritage site, silently remind us of the rich lives once lived. Rules are strictly observed. Just 12 visitors are allowed ashore at one time in any location, so we visit in shifts. The archipelago is a designated Haida heritage site, national park reserve and national marine conservation reserve following a co-operatively managed agreement made in 1993 between the Council of the Haida Nation and the Canadian government. A handful of islands have 'watchmen', Haida descendants, living on them, protecting the villages and sharing stories with visitors, but many are uninhabited. Decisions about which we see are made by the captain based on the weather and other boats, although we encountered just one the entire week. On these remote islands the remnants of the Haida people, their long houses and poles (the Haida do not say totem), hand carved from the trunks of cedar trees and positioned on windswept beaches, are gradually decomposing. With each passing year the fragments are gently returning to the earth. Once hundreds of poles would have stood, intricately carved with eagles, bears, frogs, clams, ravens or supernatural animals, mapping the villagers' lives and lineage. Many were stolen and today only a handful of poles remain. There is a tangible energy in the air as we walk among these astonishing remains, our path delineated by white clam shells, wind whipping our hair, birdsong trilling and jubilant in the temperate rainforest just metres away. • This is Canada's most vibrant city — and it's perfect for spring The barely perceptible rocking and daily lungfuls of fresh Pacific air pull me into a deep sleep each evening in my warm and elegant wooden-clad cabin. A door directly on to the deck means I can step outside at night to marvel at the galaxies above. One morning we get up at dawn to canoe in the bay in which we anchored overnight. Seals follow us curiously, their sleek speckled bodies slipping under the kayaks, before popping back up to stare at us. Peeping Swainson's thrush and black cap chickadees sing from the shore, while on the ocean floor colourful starfish, sea slugs, mussels, abalone and clams are visible in the clear water. Afterwards I climb to the top deck and sink into the hot tub as Cascadia gently pulls out, heading back into the Pacific. Jumping in the tenders one afternoon, we take a trip down GaysiiGas K'iidsii (Burnaby Strait), buzzing along the narrow waterway, surveying the blissfully empty beaches, home to huge sun-bleached, driftwood trunks. Black bears patrol the edges for crabs and urchins, massive twiggy nests, home to majestic bald eagles, balance high in the Sitka spruces lining the shore. Trills of oystercatchers sweep overhead, and gangs of pigeon guillemots rise as one as we approach, then settle back on the waves from which the glossy bobbing heads of harbour seals pop up, eyes blinking, before silently descending. We have much to learn from the Haida. As Reg, watchman at the village site HIk'yah GawGa (Windy Bay), says: 'The common thread throughout all humanity, whatever colour, creed or religion, is the Earth — we must look after our planet.' Hannah Newton was a guest of Maple Leaf Adventures, which has eight nights' full board from £5,013pp, including drinks with dinner and excursions, departing on June 13, 2026 ( the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel ( and Destination Vancouver ( Fly in to Masset and from Sandspit via Vancouver This article contains affiliate links, which can earn us revenue The First Nations influence runs throughout British Columbia's local cuisine and many restaurants serve smoky cedar plank salmon, candy glazed with maple syrup. But Vancouver's only indigenous-owned and operated restaurant, Salmon n' Bannock is an ideal location to explore First Nations culinary traditions. The dishes showcase food from the land and sea that is traditionally harvested by indigenous people and includes fiddlehead ferns, bison and smoked sock-eye salmon (mains from £22; Granville Island Public Market, a city institution, is where local chefs flock to choose the best produce the province has to offer. Sample briny sea urchins, fresh gooseneck barnacles hand-harvested by First Nations fishermen on Clayquot Sound, sweet crab, juicy salmon berries and blueberries ( Vancouver is a city renowned for its sushi and Miku serves the best Aburi sushi outside of Japan. Working with Ocean Wise, a global conservation organisation working with chefs and restaurants to support sustainable seafood, the restaurant serves exquisitely presented dishes, alongside the finest saké, not to be missed (set menu from £77; • 14 best hotels in Vancouver Delve straight into First Nations history in Stanley Park, Vancouver's thousand-acre urban oasis, once home to 10,000 Coast Salish First Nations people, displaced in the early 19th century. A First Nation guide shares their personal experience and knowledge of the plants and people who lived here, a must-do (£45; Bill Reid's work Spirit of Haida Gwaii is the sculpture that welcomes visitors to the city, on display in the international terminal at Vancouver airport, and is also depicted on $20 bills. Reid is a legendary Haida artist and this gallery in downtown Vancouver at 639 Hornby Street is dedicated to his life's work (£7; The views over the city, Gulf Islands and the Pacific are alone worth the 2,800ft trip to the top of Grouse Mountain via the Skyride cable car. At the top you can also discover ziplines, tree canopy climbs, lumberjacks, skiing, and Grinder and Coola, the peak's rescued grizzly bears (£11; The buzz of seaplanes taking off from the harbour, the mountain backdrop and a cruise ship or two make the Fairmont an ideal base in Vancouver. Cycle to Stanley Park, stroll round the corner to the Bill Reid Gallery and enjoy the lively bars and restaurants on the north shore of the city. Within walking distance to the historical district of Gastown and downtown, this relaxed corner of Vancouver is easy to get to from the airport on the Canada Line B&B doubles from £180 (
