Cruise fleet growing
Squamish-based One Ocean Expeditions is expanding its expedition cruise fleet with the addition of RCGS Resolute.
Named after the HMS Resolute, a British Royal Navy Arctic exploration vessel, as well as the Inuit town of Resolute in Nunavut, the ship will arrive in Canada in November 2018 for its inaugural polar voyage.
“We have been looking for just the right vessel to expand our shipboard operations. For the last two years we have experienced exponential growth and have seasons which have sold out across the breadth of our departures, in Antarctica, the High Arctic and the East Coast of Canada,” said Andrew Prossin, managing director of One Ocean Expeditions in a news release.
With large indoor and outdoor viewing platforms, and good maneuverability, RCGS Resolute is ideally equipped to guide passengers through the world’s most pristine regions, further expanding the company’s expertise in exploration and discovery, the news release says. It can carry up to 146 passengers.
I Heart Carbon exhibit
Stop by the Britannia Mine Museum for an exhibit exploring an element that’s all around us and all through us – carbon. Until the end of August, “I Heart Carbon” takes visitors through our past, present and future relationship with this essential element using interactive exhibits and displays. Discover how much of your body is carbon with the carbon scale, explore carbon-only materials, burn some “carbs” on a bike and design your own robot
Squamish fishing limited
Local anglers hoping to catch some pink salmon this summer may be out of luck. The local pink salmon fishery is restricted in Squamish until further notice.
As of Aug. 1, pink salmon fishing is prohibited in the Mamquam and
Cheakamus rivers above the powerline, at 9 Mile.
The Squamish River below the power line at 9 Mile remains open, though with
a daily limit of one pink salmon per day, until further notice.
Pink salmon stocks, including Squamish
pinks, typically return on a two-year cycle in odd calendar years.
In making the decision to restrict the fishery, the department consults with members of the local recreational stakeholder community, including the Sport Fish Advisory Committee. Earlier this year, the committee requested the daily limit of pink salmon to one per day and limiting parts of the watershed open to pink fishing to protect spawning pink salmon.
Name West Barr site
The Squamish River Watershed Society needs your help. The society wants to rename the Squamish Estuary’s newest restoration area, previously know as the West Barr site. Thanks to the hard work of many volunteers, the once lifeless log sort has become a habitat full of life. There are prizes for the winning name. Email name suggestions to [email protected].
Join the BioBlitz
Want to contribute to the understanding of our region’s biodiversity? Then join the Howe Sound BioBlitz on Friday at the West Barr site in the Squamish Estuary.
This event is family friendly and everyone from scientists to budding naturalists to outdoor enthusiasts are invited.
Participants will document what organisms they see by taking pictures with their smartphones and downloading discoveries to the Howe Sound Science Bioblitz on the iNaturalist app. Bring along food, water, and comfortable shoes or rubber boots.
Directions: From Highway 99, turn onto Cleveland Avenue. Drive past the train tracks then turn right onto Bailey Street. Drive along Bailey Street and keep left at the fork on the gravel road. Follow the road to the end and park. The group will meet at the trailhead signs. The Howe Sound BioBlitz takes place on Friday, Aug. 11 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Call for artists
Artistic types are being recruited by the District to beautify BC Hydro boxes.
The District of Squamish public art committee has launched the new public art project that will transform five downtown hydro boxes into public art. Applications are open to any artist, including students, youth and groups, working with paint, graphic design or photography.
Artists may submit a proposal for up to all five of the project locations: Victoria and Second Avenue (north and south sides), Third Avenue between Pemberton Avenue and Bailey Street, Third Avenue and Bailey Street, and Hunter Place and Buckley Avenue. Submissions will be reviewed by members of the District’s art committee.
The deadline for submissions is Sept. 4. The boxes will be revamped with the chosen art by October. For more information about the project go to squamish.ca/public-art.
Recent rescues
Summer continues to be busy for Squamish Search and Rescue. In the one-week period between July 24 to 30 there were two local incidents, according to the provincial government’s weekly emergency management incident report.
On July 26, seven Squamish SAR members rescued a lost hiker at the Sea to Sky Gondola. The hiker was in good condition so the rescue team walked him out of the area to safety.
An injured hiker was rescued from a mountain bike trail, Entrails, located north of the Garibaldi Highlands, by 13 SAR members on July 29.
The hiker was brought out on a basket stretcher and passed to BC Ambulance Service for care.
New transportation critic
West Vancouver Sea to Sky MLA Jordan Sturdy has been named critic for the Ministry of Transportation in the BC Liberal Caucus.
Newly-minted opposition leader Rich Coleman released the new critic roles on Tuesday.
“I am pleased to serve as the critic for Transportation and Infrastructure,” said Sturdy, in a news release. “Experiencing the difference the upgrade of the Sea to Sky Highway made to this region, I understand the importance to communities across British Columbia of transportation and infrastructure investments, be it on land, water or air. I will work hard to ensure that the NDP government makes decisions that serve all British Columbians.”
