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Vancouver
Island in British Columbia is the largest Pacific island in
North America. It stretches 450 kilometres (280 miles) along
Canada's rugged western coastline. The island is a stark contrast
of lake studded mountains, deep green forests, rolling farmland
and soft sandy beaches. Warmed by the Japanese current, the
climate is gentle but strikingly diverse due to the majestic
range of peaks dividing the island into dense rain forest
on the West Coast and well formed lowlands on the East Coast,
lying in the rain shadow of the mountains. Off shore lie some
of the world's finest fishing grounds, home to several species
of Salmon, which make them natural feeding grounds for Killer
Whales, Sea Lions, Seals and Dolphins.
ADVENTURE
BOUND
I
awoke at dawn to a magnificent sunrise as the generator spluttered
into life. The tantalizing smell of breakfast wafted down
from the galley as I washed and dressed ready for the first
of seven days diving on Exta Sea Charters' "Sea Venture".
The anchor was raised and skipper Bob Robinson nosed the 53'
vessel, with its 285 HP Volvo Penta diesel engine, out of
Port Hardy at the northern end of Vancouver Island. En route
over breakfast we learned that we were bound for Staples Island
for a check-out dive prior to heading further north to the
Deserters.
The
sea was calm and the sun shone down, warming us as we kitted
up on deck that early October morning, the boat lying peacefully
at anchor and surrounded by small cedar covered islets. Once
into our dry suits we transferred to the dive support vessel"
Dive B.C.", a 21' Campion Hull skiff with a 200 HP Yamaha
outboard engine. The rest of our kit had been put on board
the previous evening, each of the ten divers having his own
seat locker for mask, fins, snorkel, weight belt and gauges
and with his tank, BC and DV strapped behind the seat ready
to go.
KALEIDOSCOPE
OF COLOUR
Within
minutes we were in Staples Island Cut and rolling over the
side into the cold clear waters of British Columbia. The scene
that met us was unbelievably rich in marine life. Below the
sparse but massive floating fronds of Bull Kelp (Nereocystis
luetkeana) the wall gave way to a kaleidoscope of colour.
Every available inch was covered, dominated by white and pink
Plumose Anemones (Metridium senile), large yellow Bread
Crumb Sponges (Halichondria panicea), soft fluffy Sea
Strawberries (Gersemia rubiformis) and Giant Acorn
Barnacles (Balanus nubilis). The ]edges were home to
hundreds of Giant Red Sea Urchins (Strongylocentrus franciscanus)
and massive Sunflower Starfish (Pycnopodes helianthoides)
and Leather Starfish (Dermasterias imbricata). Plumose
Anemones, two feet high, and vast Fish-Eating Anemones (Tealia
piscivora), with deep red stems and green and white tentacles,
stood erect in the gentle current on the rocky slopes above
the sea bed where two and a half feet high orange Sea Pens
(Ptilosarcus gurneyi) filtered the sparse plankton
from the water.
Kelp
greenlings (Hexagrammus decagrammus) peered inquisitively
at us, the blue blotched males showing more bravado than the
orange speckled females. Cabezons (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus),
China Rock Fish (Sebastes nebulosa), and Quillback Rock Fish
(Sebastes maliger) hugged the rocky slopes, whilst
small camouflaged Sculpins (Cottidae) darted amongst the anemones
on the walls, pausing frequently to avoid detection by predators.
We found several Orange Peel Sea Slugs (Tochuma tetraqueta)
six inches long and decorated with a lacy white fringe, a
large foot high orange sea squirt known locally as a Sea Peach,
a large moon snail (Polinices lewisi) and, more impressive
still, a very large Puget Sound King Crab (Lipholithodes
mandtii), which despite being more than a foot across
the carapace allowed me to pick it up and reposition it for
a photograph. We also saw Flat Worms, several different small
pretty Sea Slugs, Top Shells (Calliostoma annulatum),
Lined Chitons (Tonicella lineata), bright Orange Cup
Corals (Balanophyllia elegans), Crabs (Decapoda) and
Scallops (Chlamys spp.).
After
an hour, our film exposed and our air on reserve, we surfaced
to be picked up by Dive B.C. Having passed up our cameras
we held onto a purpose built rail at the water line on the
starboard quarter and laid flat on the surface whilst our
weight belts and fins were removed prior to ascending the
stern ladder, where our tanks were removed equally efficiently.
WOLF
EELS
Over
the following days we completed 20 dives including 2 at night.
On every dive we were equally impressed by the marine life,
which has to be the most colourful and diverse in temperate
waters I have ever seen. In addition to Staples Island we
visited the Deserter Islands, Nigei Island (including Browning
Wall) and Hunt Rock. It was at the later site that we encountered
five feet long Wolf Eels (Anarrhichthys ocellatus).
A pair of these amazing predators have been regularly fed
by divers with Giant Red Sea Urchins. As a result they are
very tame, allowing themselves to be stroked and petted like
domestic cats and to be positioned in just the right spot
for a photograph.
DOLPHINS
On
our second day out, as we headed for Hussar Point in the Deserter
Islands watching the horizon for Killer Whales, I spotted
a school of dolphins a mile off the stern. I alerted the skipper
and he turned the boat towards them. As we closed on the school,
one dolphin and then another and another headed towards us.
Suddenly we were surrounded by several dozen, the swiftest
racing to the ship's fore and riding the bow wave. Effortlessly
they kept ahead, breaking the surface momentarily from time
to time to rapidly exhale and inhale before submerging. As
they tired, so they peeled off to one side, their place being
taken by another.
The
boat circled in a wide arc. The beautiful, graceful dolphins
were leaping out of the water all around us. We donned our
wet suits and transferred to the skiff. As soon as we were
all ready, the skiff closed on the mother ship and dropped
us among the school with instructions to stay together as
a group at a maximum of 40' and swim and vocalize like a dolphin.
By
the time I hit the water only one other diver was in sight.
I joined him. By chance he didn't have a camera and was obviously
concentrating on not exceeding 40'. Great, I could use him
as a depth indicator and concentrate on watching and photographing
any dolphins that came along. And come along they didl The
light coloured fins and broad stripes on my companion's suit
were visible from a considerable distance and for this reason
I believe several of the dolphins seemed to find him irresistible
and raced round the pair of us in twos, threes, fives and
more. They came within inches, rolling on their brilliant
white sides as they cruised past, peering inquisitively with
bright intelligent eyes at us strange clumsy neoprene-clad
humans. Periodically members of the group would race to the
surface in ones and twos to replenish their air supply. Silhouetted
against the pale green window of the surface, they made irresistible
subjects for photography. They returned over and over again,
sometimes from directly ahead, sometimes from the side and
sometimes from below, but always slowing as they passed.
We
spent forty unforgettable minutes in the water with these
marvelous Pacific White-sided Dolphins before our air ran
low and we were forced to rejoin the world above. Even as
we bobbed along in the gentle swell waiting to be picked up,
dolphins swam past us, under us and around us, only moving
on when all of us were on board and heading away for the next
dive.
SEA
LIONS
Preparing
for an afternoon's dive amongst Browning Islets we spotted
the large brown muzzle of a Stellar Sea Lion (Eumetopias
jubatus) as it cruised leisurely through the Bull Kelp
on the opposite side of the channel. Regarded as a threatened
species by the U.S., Stellar sea lions range from Japan through
the Soviet Union's Kuril Islands, the Okhotsk Sea, the Bering
Sea, the Gulf of Maska down to southern California. Not expecting
to encounter sea lions underwater, I concentrated on photographing
Hooded Nudibranchs (Melibe leonina), which, anchored
to the kelp, spread their large fringe-lined hood, like a
fisherman casting a net, and then slowly retracted it, simultaneously
closing the fringe, to surround and filter minute organisms
from the water. Back on board after the dive, I learned that
the sea lion we had seen on the surface was accompanied by
two others and these had swam around to be captured on video.
REFLECTIONS
Apart
from some amazing dives and unexpectedly pleasant weather,
we enjoyed the genial company of two groups of Canadian and
American guests and, thanks to Mike Cambell, more food than
we could possibly eat. The second group of guests arrived
complete with a barrel of beer, courtesy of Exta Sea.
GETTING
THERE
To
get to Port Hardy we took a direct 9 hour flight from London,
Gatwick on Canadian Airlines to Vancouver. Canadian have their
own check-in facility at Gatwick, set apart from the other
some what crowded airlines. We flew across to Nanaimo on Vancouver
Island with Pacific Coastal and then spent two nights in Beachcomber
near Nanaimo before traveling the five hours by road to Port
Hardy, although it is possible to fly direct from Vancouver
to Port Hardy or to take a ferry to Nanaimo and then drive
north to experience some of Vancouver's fine scenery. If excellent
cold water diving appeals to you, then you can book a similar
trip through Twicker's World.
Reproduced
from in focus 42 (Nov.
1991) |
