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Viewpoint: World Oceans Day pledge

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Viewpoint: World Oceans Day pledge

by Sheila Malcolmson, MLA Nanaimo

Oceans are vital to the health of the world. For British Columbia, coastal waters are also vital to our culture and our economy. On World Oceans Day, we celebrate those working to protect the waters that are so important to us all.

Clean coastal waters keep us healthy and generate tens of thousands of B.C. jobs, as well as billions in economic activity – from tourism to film to fisheries. However, the waters that give us so much also suffer a lot. Thousands of abandoned vessels are deteriorating in B.C.’s marine waters, dangerously close to sinking, along with all the pollutants they carry. Our ocean floor is littered with marine-sourced debris and plastics. So much of the pollution we create sits just beyond our view, beneath the surface.

That’s why I’m determined to find solutions for the problems of derelict vessels, marine debris and marine-sourced plastics. I have long advocated to include recycling solutions in federal legislation for derelict and abandoned vessels, and thousands of businesses support this idea. This commitment continues in my new role as special advisor on marine debris.

This summer, I’ll travel the coast to find solutions. Conversations are already underway and, despite my 11 years of work in this area, I’m still learning about new, emerging ideas. We need to figure out how to prevent derelict vessels in the first place and how to salvage existing ones before they sink. We need to clean up marine debris and marine-sourced plastics already on the ocean floor. And we must ensure any new solutions do not put additional pressure on landfills.

While these conversations take place, countless British Columbians are already taking action to clean our coast and protect the ocean. For example, the Coastal Restoration Society and Clayoquot CleanUp removed over 1.5 million pounds of marine debris from the ocean last year. Veins of Life and the Dead Boat Disposal Society have pulled hundreds of abandoned vessels out onto dry land, and the Ocean Legacy Foundation is turning marine plastics into fuel. These groups rely on volunteers. Today, I applaud every British Columbian who has given their time to this great cause.

Our West Coast economy depends on healthy and thriving ocean environments. We are all in this together. On World Oceans Day, I invite you to join Minister Heyman, myself and many others in the effort. There are shoreline clean ups happening along the coast, not just today, but throughout the year. Together, we can achieve our common goal of protecting our oceans and protecting our coastal environment.

The writer is special advisor on marine debris protection to George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and a former chair of Islands Trust Council.

Editorial: Dry spell

Driftwood Staff
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Editorial: Dry spell

With May’s warm and dry weather likely to extend through this month, the region’s “Junuary” trend seems a thing of the past.

That’s good news for people who feel offended by the need to wear a sweater just when days are longest and the seasonal calendar is about to turn the page to summer. It’s not so great for water reserves.

The forecast suggests conditions will remain warm and dry for the coming weeks, and dropping water levels have caused the province to announce a level-three drought rating for Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. The most recent North Salt Spring Waterworks data shows water levels at both their drinking water reservoirs at St. Mary and Maxwell lakes are on par with the same time of year in 2018, on the downward trend that usually reaches its lowest point at the beginning of October. But with much lower rainfall received this spring in comparison to the average, the provincial drought announcement has come more than a month earlier than it did last year. NSSWD is following suit by upping its conservation level starting today.

Level three drought conditions call for voluntary water-use reductions for all surface water and groundwater users, including residents, industry, farmers and municipalities.

According to the province, all water users, whether licensed or not, are required to use water as efficiently as practicable. When voluntary conservation measures are not sufficient to meet all water rights, or to protect critical environmental flows or the survival of a fish population, the Water Sustainability Act provides authority to the provincial government to regulate water use by users of stream water and groundwater — even those who have not registered or licensed their private wells.

An observation among local planning authorities is that people tend to get interested in water-related issues only when their own supply is directly threatened.

Residents who subscribe to water district services are already good at following conservation guidelines. Now is the time for everyone else to follow their example, whether their own wells have shows signs of stress or not.

CRAWFORD, James William

Driftwood Obituary
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CRAWFORD, James William

James William Crawford passed away peacefully on June 2, 2019 at Sidney All Care Residence in Sidney, BC at 90 years of age. He did not have children, but he will be well-remembered by his sisters, brother, sister-in-law and nieces and nephews with whom he spent considerable time over the years visiting and sharing his love of the outdoors.

He was a well-respected artist and naturalist on Salt Spring Island where he retired after an extensive career as a professor of geology and as a geological prospector which took him to places all over Northern Canada including the Arctic. He was known for his detailed botanical paintings and his involvement in the Rhododendron Society.

He was the oldest of a family of five children who lived on Salt Spring Island running a dairy farm on Beddis Road with a fruit orchard. Jim was an avid photographer and his family remembers his annual slide show presentations at Christmas of his travels and family holidays.

His brother Richard Alexander Crawford passed away in 2007, and his remaining siblings are Tom, Rosemary and Elizabeth who are now living in Comox, England, and Sooke respectively. His sister-in-law, Ernestine Crawford, continues to live on Salt Spring Island.

The family would like to thank all caregivers for their incredible care of him in his later years along with so many of his dear friends who took their time to make his life a little bit better as things got difficult.

There will be a memorial on July 27, 2019 on Salt Spring Island with details to be announced as we get closer to the occasion.

WHARRY, Stanley Richard

Driftwood Obituary
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WHARRY, Stanley Richard

Sadly, we say goodbye and farewell to our dear Stanley, who passed away very peacefully after a courageous battle with cancer for over a year.

Stan had a huge appreciation for life, and loved so much, but most especially: gardening, biking, harness racing, and  his friends and family.  As anyone who knew him could tell you, his love for and pride in his daughter, Eve, was in a category of love all its own.

A Salt Spring Islander for the past 20 years, Stan was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1949, the third of eight brothers and sisters. He met Maxine there in 1991 and together they  moved west to escape the cold, finally landing on Salt Spring. Stan moved back to Edmonton after that for a few years, but returned to co-parent Eve, which he did whole-heartedly, working together with Maxine and Brian. Stan was especially proud of the good relationship they kept after the break up. He put his daughter’s needs first and went from there.

There were friends, family, cake, a lot of laughs and some tears as we said goodbye during a special Bon Voyage party in the palliative care room at Lady Minto. At the end of the party, we joined hands and Letitia said a beautiful prayer around Stan.

We thank the Lady Minto Hospital staff, and his doctor, for their kindness and professionalism in caring for Stan over the past year, and especially for the last seven weeks of his life. We thank all his friends, family, and the hospice volunteers who called and/or visited him, so very much. Often there were two or three visits a day, and he was so grateful for them. We thank his siblings, who came from far away to see him, and to all his friends who devoted their time and care to making his life better.

One of the last things Stan said was how much he wanted to see his mother again. We know he’s with her now, and although we miss him, we are happy for him.

A Celebration in Stan’s Honour will be held on June 18th, for his friends, at 5 pm at Pat’s place. Please call (250) 537-9989 for details.

Province declares Level 3 drought for islands

Driftwood Staff
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Province declares Level 3 drought for islands

Dry conditions have prompted the Provincial Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development to declare a Level 3 drought for the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island.

The announcement, made on Friday morning, includes a call for voluntary water-use reduction for all surface and groundwater uses in the area. Islanders are asked to conserve water wherever they can, and to keep an eye on changing conditions. 

The recommendations from the ministry for residents include limiting outdoor watering, taking shorter showers and not leaving the tap running. Farmers are asked to consider focusing on high-value crops and scheduling irrigation to match crop needs and soil storage capacity. Businesses should reduce non-essential water use and recycle water as much as possible.

Local bylaws reflect the conditions in the area, and people are encouraged to follow the rules that have been set out locally. The North Salt Spring Waterworks District is at conservation Level 2, and has been since May 1.

Howe Sound Queen makes final B.C. run

Elizabeth Nolan
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Howe Sound Queen makes final B.C. run

It was with mixed emotions that passengers, BC Ferries staff and former crew members said goodbye to the Howe Sound Queen on Tuesday evening.

The retirement of the vessel at the end of the June 4 schedule will mean the end of an era for the Vesuvius-Crofton route. Despite frequent overloads over the past few years, a certain affection often comes with familiarity.

“I’m enough of a ferry geek that this is kind of emotional,” BC Ferries CEO Mark Collins admitted. “Because for us ships are not just things — they’re alive and they have unique personalities. So it’s a big thing.”

BC Ferries executives were on board the ship for two farewell round trips Tuesday afternoon, handing out cake to passengers on the 3:35 and 4:50 sailings out of Crofton and the two return trips from Vesuvius. Also on board were several people who came out for the historic moment, including two former masters of the ship: Dennis Gee and Dan Clement.

“We had an office with killer views. That was my favourite part,” Clement said about his experience captaining the ship.

Current BC Ferries worker Edward Frisch also attended a farewell sailing, stating he would miss the boat even with its tricky loading issues.

“It was like real life Tetris pretty much, with figuring out the weight, balance, list and different vehicles. Sometimes you don’t get everyone on board but you do your best,” Frisch said.

The Howe Sound Queen was built in Sorel, Que. in 1964 to serve the St. Lawrence River. As such it had a heavy hull with ice-breaking capacity, which would create overweight loading difficulties later on the Salt Spring route. The ship was purchased by BC Ferries in 1971 and assigned to the Vesuvius-Crofton run in 1992. A major refit in 2008 included removal of toxic interior finishing such as asbestos and lead paint as well as an engine overhaul.

Collins, who worked on the ferry’s transformation when he was part of the engineering team, said the Howe Sound Queen is being retired not so much because of age but obsolescence. Issues include lack of elevator/mobility access, narrow parking lanes and high vibration that can have long-term effects on employee health.

Some passengers on board Tuesday night said they will miss the Howe Sound Queen’s open upstairs lounge and wooden detailing. Others expressed concern about the transition to the Quinitsa, which has smaller deck capacity.

Collins agreed that some “wobbles” could be expected as the crew gets used to the new ship this week. However, the absence of weight restrictions and an added sailing on the route will mean around the same daily capacity is provided overall, Collins said. Passengers will no longer experience seeing the ferry leave with open deck space because a heavy logging or delivery truck is on board.

“I absolutely get that frustration, but it won’t happen with the Quinitsa,” Collins said. “What you see is what you get.”

The Howe Sound Queen was sold by auction with the final bid coming in at $210,000. BC Ferries is still assessing the bid before the deal is finalized.

Treated effluent discharged into Ganges Creek

Driftwood Staff
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Treated effluent discharged into Ganges Creek

The Capital Regional District posted a notice on a downtown Ganges village beach Wednesday, noting that treated effluent was unexpectedly discharged into the ocean at the outlet of Ganges Creek.

A public safety bulletin explains that an emergency construction project on the wastewater treatment plant outfall pipe has taken longer than anticipated and resulted in fully treated and disinfected effluent bypassing the outfall pipe. The treated effluent entered the storm water system before discharging into the ocean in the vicinity of Ganges Alley.

The CRD said it would post an advisory sign at the beach as a precaution, in consultation with Island Health. Water quality monitoring will be undertaken in the vicinity of the discharge site to confirm that the risk remains low. The advisory sign will be removed following completion of the bypass and after confirmation that the risk is low based on water quality results.

Local sailors on race to Alaska

Gail Sjuberg
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Local sailors on race to Alaska

A team of young sailors from the Gulf Islands are taking part in a 1,200-kilometre sailing race from Port Townsend, Wash to Ketchikan, Ala.

McGuffin Brothers Racing, made up of twins Callum and Cianan McGuffin along with their older brother Finn and friend Duncan MacDonald, set off early on Monday, June 3 for the fifth edition of the Race to Alaska. The event is “winner take all,” meaning the first team that arrives in Ketchikan gets a $10,000 USD cash prize. The second team gets a set of commemorative steak knives worth about $25. Besides a series of side bets that incentivize racers, all other finishers will come home with bragging rights.

“It’s a bit of an unusual race; you’re not allowed to have any motor in your boat at all,” said Callum McGuffin. “You can be human powered or sail powered, that’s all you’re allowed.”

The race is one of the longest such races in North America. Racers must be completely without help, and have to find their own route through the Inside Passage. Often, high winds and bad weather cause boats to drop out of the race. Racers spend much of their time alone, often without sleep.

The team is the youngest team in the event, with an aggregate age that is one-quarter of a year younger than their nearest competitor. Finn McGuffin is 23, Callum and Cianan are 19 and MacDonald is 16 years old. While the twins have spent considerable time on the water competing in sailing races across the coast, the other two members of the crew are relatively new to the sport. MacDonald hails from Wells, B.C., approximately 700 km from Vancouver, and started sailing around six months ago.

“It’s about as far away from the ocean as you could get,” MacDonald said. “I haven’t spent too much time on boats except for training with them, but I think it’ll be good.”

Traveling 1,200 km without a motor is a daunting task. The team will be sailing in a J/24 sailboat, which is 7.3 metres (24 feet) long. They will be using predominantly wind power to make their trek, but also have a human-powered propulsion system for when the wind stops.

“We got a pedal drive system, where we have a little pedestal set up on the side of the cockpit with a flexible driveshaft running to a propeller in the back,” Callum said. “When we’re pedalling hard, we can do around two knots on good days, 1.5 on bad days.”

During the race, the team will need to do all necessary repairs to their vessel, as well as keeping on top of all navigation, food supplies and anything else they may encounter. Despite the challenges, the team is confident in their abilities to finish in good time.

Once they reach Ketchikan, their journey will only be half over. Ketchikan is on a remote island in Alaska and the team will not have a ride home waiting for them. After arriving, they plan on turning back around and making the same trek home.

When asked what they plan on doing with the prize money if they win, the boys said they will use the money to buy a bigger boat. However, if they come home with steak knives, Cianan stands to benefit the most.

“I used to work as a meat cutter, so they said they would hire me back with extra pay if I got the steak knives. So there’s extra incentive.”

Those interested in following the race can do so using the live tracker at https://r2ak.com/.

For more on this story, see the June 5, 2019 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.

New Orca calf spotted with J pod

Elizabeth Nolan
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New Orca calf spotted with J pod

The Center for Whale Research is announcing potential good news with the birth of a calf to the southern resident killer whales’ J pod.

The centre reported Friday that it had received photographs of a calf accompanying J pod, taken by The Whale Centre outfit off Tofino the previous day.

Whale Centre co-owner Jennifer Steven reported in a blog post that she and her partner John Forde had heard orcas were nearby. After going out to check the scene, they determined that the whales were J pod.

“All whale watching companies made the call to stop watching the whales once they knew they were in fact SRKW,” Steven wrote.

“We took a few photos of the whales to send to DFO and the Centre for Whale Research. John noticed a brand new calf with J31. We were both really excited to see the calf was very orange and still had fetal folds.”

She added their community normally sees J pod once a year, the last time being on June 8, 2018.

Researchers at the Center for Whale Research have confirmed the calf is a new addition, and based on its colouration and body condition was likely born some time in the last one to three weeks. The calf was photographed in association with several J pod females, including J31, J46, and J40. More field observations are needed to confirm the identity of the calf’s mother, the researchers said.

The endangered southern resident killer whale population had no documented successful births since 2016, prior to this year. The new calf marks the second birth in 2019, following L124 in January. 

Since 1998, only around 25 per cent of SRKW newborns have survived.

Salt Spring Photofest has premiere

Contributed Article
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Salt Spring Photofest has premiere

By Paul McElroy

Driftwood Contributor

Almost everyone has a camera these days, usually on their phone and at the end of a selfie stick. And why not? Salt Spring is a perfect place to take photographs.

From June 13 to June 26 it will also become the perfect place to see photographs, the work of the finest photographers on the island who have come together to demonstrate just how exquisite the photographer’s art can be.

Forget your snaps of the kids on the beach or the cat being cute, and be inspired by Salt Spring’s first Photofest, a collaboration of the island’s two main photographic organizations, Salt Spring Photography Club and the Photosynthesis group, along with many other photographers on island.

The photo club has more than 100 members and is open to all levels from complete novice to internationally recognized professionals, while Photosynthesis is a smaller group of 20 well established photographers who show their work once a year.

But now the two groups have come together for a two-week photography extravaganza. They have invited all other island photographers to help them turn the island into one massive photo gallery and fill the empty wall spaces of more than 34 island cafés and exhibition spaces. The two largest collections will be in Ganges – at ArtSpring where Photosynthesis takes over much of the wall space and at Gallery 8 where some of the Salt Spring Photo Club’s 100 members will showcase their own superb photos.

Photofest has been neatly timed to coincide with the annual Tour des Îles festival, anticipating that the event will attract locals as well as visitors coming in from the other islands and beyond. There will also be a detailed brochure and map which marks all participating venues available from ArtSpring, Gallery 8 and the tourist info centre.

The festival officially begins on Thursday, June 13 with staggered opening receptions the following evening. Visitors are invited to start at ArtSpring (4:30 to 7 p.m.) and end up at Gallery 8 (5 to 8 p.m.) on June 14.

“We see this as an annual event, not a one-off,” said Salt Spring Photography Club and Photofest chair Pierre Mineau. “Eventually we’d love to extend it to all the southern Gulf Islands so people taking the Tour des Îles could see great photography on all the islands.”

Photosynthesis chair Alane Lalonde added, “We’re trying to get everyone involved in this. And if it encourages people or inspires them to get out there with their phones or whatever they have, that would be great.”

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