The Wild Side Blog

Thank you, Tourism Victoria, for the “Environment Award”

May 4th, 2010

Tourism Victoria recognized the hard work and extra expense that we at Maple Leaf put toward protecting and promoting the natural world on this coast.

It’s a decision we make because this beautiful world provides our livelihood, and provides so much pleasure and rejuvenation to us and our guests. And also just because it is the right thing to do.

But it’s an honour to have that recognized and we thank Tourism Victoria for placing an emphasis on the environment with this award.

You can read about it here:

Posted in Conservation, Ecotourism, Green Business, News | Comments Off

Tall ship bucks tourism trends: Eco-friendly sea voyage attracts the world to B.C.

April 29th, 2010

Kevin Smith and Maureen Gordon in the wheelhouse - Photo by Debra Brash, Victoria Times Colonist

This article appeared in the Vancouver Sun and Victoria Times Colonist business sections this week. Thanks, Darron Kloster, for your interest!

By Darron Kloster, Canwest News Service

Tourism in general may be hurting, but niche operators like Kevin Smith and Maureen Gordon are battening down the hatches for another record season.

The owners and skippers of the Maple Leaf — a former longliner turned tourist tall ship — set sail on their first excursion of the season this week into the Gulf Islands and up the coast.

They’re carrying eight passengers on an eco-friendly journey to the Great Bear Rain Forest and another eight on a return trip. It’s a mix of Canadians and Americans who shelled out more than $2,600 Cdn each for the sailing experience, wildlife viewing, cultural exchanges with first nations, fishing and the perennial highlight of listening to whales through on-board stereo via hydrophone.

Read the rest of the article here.

Posted in Ecotourism, Green Business, News | Comments Off

Recent reports from the ship:

April 29th, 2010

Image (c) Kevin Smith

The ship is away in the wilderness on her spring trips. We’ve received a few occasional reports from crew aboard the Maple Leaf sent in via sattelite. Hope you enjoy these small slices of their day:

“Sailed under mainsail, foresail, staysail, and jib for 2 hours with brilliant sun with a steadily increasing breeze reaching a top speed of 7.5 knots on a beam reach as we rounded the tip of North Thormanby Island! What a day!” - Apr. 21, off Georgia Strait

“Holy! Sea otter bonanza [in a new location]! Wow…looks like somewhere between 50-80 individuals…I lost count with the binos.” - Apr. 27, off northern Vancouver Island

“Maple Leaf currently under reefed main, fore, staysail making 4.9 kts on a beam reach! Afternoon tea is served, sun is shining, sailing our way north to Klemtu.” – Apr. 29, in the Great Bear Rainforest

Posted in Animals, Wildlife Research, Trip Insights & Experiences, Vancouver Island & Broughton Archipelago | Comments Off

April Photo of the Month: Sailing the Great Bear Rainforest

April 1st, 2010

Great Bear Rainforest sailing cruise in BC

Guests photographing Maple Leaf under sail in the Great Bear Rainforest (c) Jose Larochelle

Taken by first mate Jose Larochelle. Beauty!

Sailing the Maple Leaf is a lot of fun, but it’s also great to get out on the water and experience her moving by. You’re sitting still on the water in a zodiac in front of her, and you watch her approach.

Amazingly those giant sails use the wind and send all 95 tons of ship forward, with just the ripple of her wake for sound. It’s an awesome experience.

Visit the Maple Leaf Adventures community for more of our Photo of the Month selections.

Posted in Ecotourism, Great Bear Rainforest, Neat Stuff, Photography, Trip Insights & Experiences | Comments Off

Cool article from Canwest Newspapers’ Ports and Bows column: “28-metre schooner takes small groups to nature reserves”

March 25th, 2010

By Phil Reimer

Sailing cruises by Maple Leaf Adventures

Nature up close and personal aboard the Maple Leaf. Image (c) Kevin Smith

“At one point, cruise ships carried 2,000 passengers, then they grew to 4,000, and now we’re seeing some that sail with more than 6,000 people on board.

Ship sizes keep growing, and they keep adding big-time entertainment, big casinos, and big dining rooms – but let’s take it down a peg, and I mean way down, to eight!

That’s the capacity of the 28-metre schooner, Maple Leaf, based in Victoria. Mind you, if families are involved, they can make room for a few more.

Here’s an example of their schedule for this summer:”
Read the rest of the article here:

And here is Maple Leaf’s schedule of sailing cruises in B.C. and Alaska.

Posted in Alaska, Ecotourism, News, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Photo of the Month: March – Great Bear Rainforest

March 3rd, 2010

Photo (c) Doug Watterson

Visit Maple Leaf Adventures’ Photo of the Month page to see it larger, and to see all beautiful Photos of the Month.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

Spirit bears, salmon forest and the Olympics Opening Ceremony

March 2nd, 2010

Giant spirit bear in the Olympics opening ceremony, British Columbia, Canada, 2010

As people who love the natural wonders of the British Columbia coast, we were delighted to see killer whales, a spirit bear and the “salmon forest” in the opening ceremony for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

It was a spectacular show, and it was refreshing to see this coastal rainforest world portrayed as a part of Canada.

We don’t know if it was a happy accident or with informed purpose, but when the images of the salmon climbed the giant trees during that show, it perferctly represented the “salmon forest”. This is based on recent research by UVic biologist Dr. Tom Reimchen that shows the salmon literally feeds these awesome forests. Check it out here.

Posted in Animals, Wildlife Research, Ecotourism, Great Bear Rainforest, Neat Stuff | Comments Off

Thoughts about the news: Groups call on BC Government to End Trophy Hunting of Bears before April 1st

March 17th, 2009

Posted by Maureen

Bear viewing vs trophy hunting …

Grizzly bear viewing in the Great Bear Rainforest with Maple Leaf Adventures

As a co-founder of the Commercial Bear Viewing Association (CBVA) and also as a company that takes people for amazing bear viewing experiences, we’re very interested in this campaign by conservation groups and First Nations to ban the trophy hunt of bears in B.C.

For one thing, the CBVA has supported this campaign.

For another, we know that bear viewing is a more sustainable and larger part of B.C.’s economy than trophy hunting. Shoot a bear with a gun and that’s it – it’s gone. No-one else will see it. (Or have much chance of getting trust from bears in that area again for a while).

Shoot a bear with your Canon camera and you and anyone else can come back and quietly, respectfully see it again … the next day, the next year, in three years. What’s more, you’ll see its natural behaviour, its interactions with other bears, and the changes it experiences over time.

And that’s not even getting into the ethics of killing very intelligent mammals for fun.

We view bears on almost all of our trips, but prime areas for them are the Great Bear Rainforest, Alaska Adventure and our Vancouver Island’s Wild Side trip.

Here is the press release:

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Coastal-First-Nations-962448.html

And here is an earlier study by Integral Economics and Raincoast about the economics of viewing vs hunting.

Thanks to Maple Leaf Adventures guest Richard Tenney for this photo of bear viewing in the Great Bear Rainforest!

Posted in Animals, Wildlife Research, Conservation, Great Bear Rainforest, News | Comments Off

Coastal Wolves Unique, Merit Protection, Study Conculdes

March 11th, 2009

Posted by Maureen

I just got some interesting news from Chris Genovali at Raincoast Conservation Foundation….

Coastal wolf photo by Dr. Chris Darimont

Coastal wolf photo (c) Dr. Chris Darimont

Those beautiful wolves that we hear (and sometimes see — when they let us) on Maple Leaf’s Great Bear Rainforest trips are in the papers today.

As you may know, Raincoast’s Wolf Project has been working with the Heiltsuk to study these wolves and has uncovered all sorts of amazing things about them: they prefer seafood to deer, they are genetically extremely diverse, they are different in many ways from other gray wolves, they swim up to 10 km from island to island. The list goes on.

Now, based on a recent study, scientists are proposing these coastal wolves be recognized as an Evolutionarily Significant Unit deserving special conservation and protection status.

Read the details about their findings and the upcoming recommendation on the Raincoast Conservation Foundation website.

(And while you’re there, why not take a moment to hunt around and check out all the great work Raincoast does. If you like it, why not send them a donation?)

——

NB: Dr. Chris Darimont and Brian Falconer will be speaking about the wolves and other new findings in the Great Bear Rainforest in a joint lecture series with Kevin and Maureen of Maple Leaf Adventures. Dates are:

Mar. 23 – Nanaimo, Vancouver Island University, 7 p.m.

Mar. 24 – Qualicum Beach/Parksville, Civic Centre, 7 p.m.

Mar. 25 – Comox/Courtenay, Stan Hagen Theatre at North Island College, 7 p.m.

Mar. 27 – Victoria, David Lam Auditorium, UVic, 7:30 p.m.

For information, contact us at MapleLeaf@MapleLeafAdventures.com or 250-386-7245 / 1-888-599-5323.

Posted in Animals, Wildlife Research, Conservation, Great Bear Rainforest | Comments Off

What Do the Whales Think? Recent Research

March 4th, 2009

An orca, thinking about ...? Photo by Kevin J. Smith on a Maple Leaf trip in Alaska

An orca, thinking about ...? Photo (c) Kevin J. Smith from a Maple Leaf trip in Alaska

Posted by Paul

(reprinted from the winter email newsletter)

This winter, on several cold morning walks from my home to Maple Leaf’s winter berth on Victoria’s Inner Harbor, I’ve enjoyed listening to the CBC Ideas broadcast of “Ocean Mind”.

The two-part radio program, from the stellar “Ideas” series, details the latest research into whale intelligence, including some recent findings about the orcas on BC’s coast.

This program is great food for thought for anyone that’s heard whales vocalizing and wondered what type of communication they have with each other, or how they perceive their surroundings.

Fascinating stuff, and I’m sure it will increase your appreciation for our brainy friends beneath the waves. You can catch the whole show online at www.cbc.ca/ideas or click here to listen.

Bonus material – thanks to the whales:

Click here to hear humpback whales recorded at Carpenter Bay on a Haida Gwaii trip on the Maple Leaf
LARGE FILE! (16 MB)
Click here to hear orcas (the northern residents, A12s) recorded in Devastation Channel on a spring Great Bear Rainforest & Kitlope Supervoyage on the Maple Leaf.
LARGE FILE! (10 MB)
- In this recording, you can hear the distinctive 2-note A-clan calls throughout, as well as some echolocation clicks and many other sounds.

Posted in Animals, Wildlife Research | Comments Off