The North Island – Powell River (NIPR) Electoral District Association of the Green Party of Canada is hosting an online movie night on March 26, 2026, from 6:30-8:30 PM. The two short films for this event are by westcoast Canadian filmmakers: It’s Time to Listen (2020) a 7-minute exploration of how whales respond to a quieter underwater world, produced by the Hakai Institute and Stand (2018), a 45-minute film by Anthony Bonello and Nicolas Teichrob, following local adventurer Norm Hann as he paddleboards along the east coast of Haida Gwaii with visits to Haisla, Bella Bella, and Tofino. (The film has amazing surfing footage!)
Continue reading A SILENT OCEAN – Virtual Community Movie Night – FREETag Archives: Hakai Institute
FOCI: Upcoming AGM & Need to Raise $15,000 for Core Operating Expences
The Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) needs to raise $15,000 for core operations, and is also inviting the community to their Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, December 9, at 5 PM, at Manson’s Hall.
FOCI’s Executive Director, Helen Hall, explained, “We all live on this beautiful island which has rich forests, a stunning coastline and a host of endangered species, and I think that’s a big reason why people choose to live here -the natural beauty of the island. FOCI has a really important remit to protect and nurture that natural beauty for future generations.”
Continue reading FOCI: Upcoming AGM & Need to Raise $15,000 for Core Operating Expences
Threat of oxygen-poor ‘dead zones’ surfacing on BC central coast
Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The spectre of low-oxygen “dead zones” is surfacing along BC’s Central Coast, threatening the region’s rich marine ecosystems and fisheries.
Widespread hypoxia — when oxygen levels in the ocean fall below levels required by marine life — is being detected in the deep waters of Queen Charlotte Sound for the first time, said Sam Stevens, an oceanographer at the Hakai Institute and lead author of a new study.
Continue reading Threat of oxygen-poor ‘dead zones’ surfacing on BC central coast
BC’s sunflower sea stars are now endangered, but rays of hope remain
Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Sunflower sea stars clinging to life in BC’s cold-water fjords are officially on the edge of extinction, a scientific advisory panel is warning.
A once-abundant predator of the sea floor along the Pacific coast, stretching from Alaska to Baja California, Pycnopodia helianthoides, has been assessed as endangered by the federal Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).
While disheartening, the decision isn’t unexpected and could offer a margin of hope for the survival of the massive, vibrant sea star, said Alyssa Gehman, marine ecologist with the Hakai Institute.
Continue reading BC’s sunflower sea stars are now endangered, but rays of hope remain
The West Coast’s tidal swamps are supercharged carbon sinks
Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A collaborative cross-border study digging into forested tidal swamps in the Pacific Northwest has determined these ecosystems are carbon storage superheroes.
Found upstream from coastal estuaries and shorelines, but still subject to the flux of ocean tides, the woody wetlands feature a tangle of shrubs, grasses and trees, like willows and Sitka spruce, that can trap about nine million tonnes of organic carbon per hectare — the equivalent to the amount of carbon burned by two million gas-powered cars every year.
Continue reading The West Coast’s tidal swamps are supercharged carbon sinks