We are enroute now for 2 days of scuba diving at Port Hardy (Queen Charlotte Strait, Browning Pass and Dillon Rock in Shushartie Bay), 1 day diving the wreck of the Transpac at Butedale and then it’s off to Alaska!
Read MoreWe are enroute now for 2 days of scuba diving at Port Hardy (Queen Charlotte Strait, Browning Pass and Dillon Rock in Shushartie Bay), 1 day diving the wreck of the Transpac at Butedale and then it’s off to Alaska!
Read MoreDive #1 was at West Race Wall at Race Rocks. Dropping the scuba divers off in a 25 knot westerly was a bit of a challenge especially considering that we are not allowed to drop the anchor and stabilize ourselves in the Marine Protected Area. Dive #2 was off the Ogden Point Breakwater with the Nautilus Explorer tied up in the Inner Harbour in front of the Empress Hotel. Wrapped the trip with a great dive on the artificial reef G.B. Church off Portland Island.
Read MoreDive #2 was on the wreck of the freighter, Vanlene. This poor old ship was well off course when it crashed into Austin Island with a full load of Dodge Colts. A lot of the cars were salvaged by Okanagan Helicopters but you can still see lots of remains of the Colts that got left behind. Everything from tires and engine blocks lying in the sand to an intact red station wagon with a sticker on the windshield in the front of one of the holds (at least, it was intact last time I dove on the wreck).
Read MoreWe capped the day off with a visit to the Quatsino lighthouse and were given a wonderful tour by the very friendly lighthouse keepers. Quatsino is a beautiful place and I won’t soon forget watching the sun stream through the trees on the steep and heavily wooded hillside beside our anchorage. But without a doubt, the highlight of the day was steaming 1/2 mile offshore from dreaded Solander Island off Brooks Peninsula. It was a spectacular sight in surprising calm seas – calm enough that I actually thought of staging a spontaneous dive off Solander (which is something I am sure nobody has ever done before).
Read MoreIt didn’t take much convincing for me to stage another dive there today. Finished the day off with a shore visit to the old whaling station at Coal Harbour on the far side of the Narrows. Coal Harbour was originally a coal mining town (go figure huh!!). It became a coastal defense station during World War 2 with large hangars, over 700 personnel and a fleet of Stranraer flying boats and Canso (aka PBY or Catalina) amphibious aircraft as well as fleet of high speed RCAF air-sea rescue boats (the dinner charter boat Malecite which still works out of Granville Island was one of these air-sea rescue boats and somewhat famous for trying to rescue the crew of a Stranraer that crashed in open ocean in 1944).
Read MoreOur scuba divers loved it as they found every imaginable sort of nudibranch and “muck” creature. I was a bit skeptical when they surfaced and gleefully told us that it was fabulous British Columbia muck diving but everyone seemed to have a great time. One diver even found the steel hull of a shipwreck on one side of the island. We staged dives 2 and 3 at slack in Quatsino Narrows and very good dives were had by all.
Read MoreI have to state for the record that I stand corrected on all the scuba diving briefings that I have given on this site over the years. Ratfish are indeed a member of the shark “family” as I thought. My mistake was in thinking that the sexual organ of the male ratfish is on it’s forehead (which kind of makes sense in a bit of a twisted way). There is definitely “something” that extends and retracts on the forehead of male ratfish but it turns out to be a “third clasper.” Like other sharks and rays, the male ratfish has 2 claspers underneath and close to their stern. Unlike any other cartilaginous fish, the ratfish has a 3rd clasper on it’s forehead that it apparently uses to latch on to the pectoral fin of a female during mating. One of the guests on this trip has the photographic evidence that clearly shows this. I stand corrected – the male ratfish has a clasper used to facilitate sex on it’s forehead. The sharks’ sexual organ is in the regular place.
Read More