INSPIRING EVERYDAY EXPLORERS Through wildlife tales and trails
Residents of British Columbia’s Village of Radium Hot Springs are bragging about their status as the easiest place in the world to see head-banging bighorn sheep each fall. Read more in my latest story for Roadstories.ca here
Watch their headbanging rituals here
A day on the water with Jim Borrowman is like sitting in the forest with Jane Goodall. Jim has been watching whales for over three decades – he launched whale watching on Canada’s west coast – and seems to sense where whales will show up or what they will do next. Standing next to Borrowman on the bridge, I slap on a wool headband as the wind blows over Johnstone Strait chilling my ears.
Even in August the nutrient-rich waters off North Vancouver Island are cool. We chugged out of Telegraph Cove hours earlier with heavy fog making it impossible to see whales on the horizon. Borrowman stops every few minutes, turning off the engines while we strain to hear the distinctive blow of a whale. Read more
Killer whales appear from the mist in Blackstone Strait
All pictures by Carol Patterson
Want to see a killer whale? @stubbsisland will get you there @hellobc
Stubbs Island Whale Watching was the first whale watching company on Canada’s west coast.
You don’t have to take a big boat to see whales in Johnstone Strait.
Kayakers get a thrill as orcas pass near them.
Telegraph Cove offers a unique west coast experience. Visitors can dine, shop and sleep in restored buildings perched over the cold waters of the Inside Passage. Look for bears foraging under the boardwalk in early morning or spot large jellyfish in the clear waters near the boat dock.
To book a room in one of the buildings off the boardwalk contact Telegraph Cove Resort
Telegraph Cove is one of the few remaining west coast boardwalk communities.
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Jim Borrowman does a safety briefing before heading to sea.
Telegraph Cove is a three-hour drive north of Comox airport on Vancouver Island. Keep your eyes peeled along the way for wildlife including cougars (some of the highest densities of cougar in the world are found here).
Killer whales live in matrilines – family groups lead by a mother or grandmother. Males and females stay with their mothers their whole life (breeding happens when groups of matrilines come together each year).
Guides can identify many whales by their saddle patch (the white marking at the base of the dorsal fin) but on your first whale watching trip, it can be hard to understand all the relationships.
Did you know male orcas are mother's boys?Take time to visit the Whale Interpretative Centre and check out the ‘family tree’ for the whales you might see on the water. The visual picture makes it easier to see who’s related to who.
When Tara Stephens, Calgary Zoo Conservation Population Ecologist, offered me a pair of snake guards – leg protection from rattlesnake bites – and explained precautions needed to avoid the plague – yes, that plague – I wondered if I shouldn’t be writing about spas instead of nature tours in Saskatchewan’s Grasslands National Park. But each summer Parks Canada and the Calgary Zoological Society offer a few intrepid travellers the chance to be a prairie dog researcher and I wanted to see if I had the chops to be a squirrel scientist, even temporarily.
Read more at Roadstories.ca
How can you become a squirrel scientist on your vacation?
Have you ever wondered what it would like to be a scientist?
Parks Canada offers people educational tourism opportunities. It’s not for everyone but if you can carry a backpack, don’t mind strong winds, bugs or the possibility of seeing snakes, you will have a front-row seat on conservation science.
Have you ever seen a prairie dog? Do you know what behaviours these charming creatures have in common with people? Learn more in my video
What do whales and free beer have in common?
I think matriarch orcas use the equivalent of a ‘free beer’ call to turn a few dozen whales on a dime. I learned this and so much more on a recent Vancouver Island trip where we had 5 fabulooooooose days on the water with whale watching pioneer Jim Borrowman.
If you have five minutes today enjoy them on the water(virtually) with this video:)
Happy fall!
Carol
“Stop!” I screeched at my husband as he scrambled over granite rocks looking for the perfect place to rest. “There’s a marmot right above you!” Colin looked up at golden-mantled ground squirrel and kept walking, knowing he was far enough away not to startle the squirrel.
My mind started its internal commentary. He can’t possibly think that squirrel is the marmot. Why isn’t he listening to me? I tried again. “The marmot is right above you!” I whispered as loudly as I dared, trying to get my camera out before Colin scared the marmot off.
Riders say a horse is dead-sided when it ignores your leg cues. I was watching the human version of this phenomenon as Colin ignored my verbal cues and proceeded to walk within ten meters of the marmot before finally finding the perfect rock for his rest. I clicked off several pictures of the marmot that surprisingly hadn’t moved from his perch and I sprinted up to Colin.
“Did you see THE marmot?” I squealed, “Why didn’t you stop when I told you to?” Colin
looked up and caught the gaze of the dog-sized squirrel looking down at him. “Oh that marmot!” he shrugged, “I never heard you.”
I wasn’t sure I believed him but I’m pretty sure that marmot was a male following the guy code of having each other’s back. I had my picture, Colin got his rest, and the marmot got a little human drama.
If you go:
The Stanley Glacier hike in Kootenay National Park is an outing that gives maximum value for your time outdoors. From the time you step out of your car in the crowded parking lot until you crest the rock scree below the receding glacier there are dozens of eye-popping views worthy of an Instagram post. There is also a good chance of seeing hoary marmots, the largest species of North American marmot. It is found above tree line which means you have to work for your sightings but at Stanley Glacier you can reach marmot habitat within a couple of hours.
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/bc/kootenay/activ/randonnee-hike/jour-day.aspx