Every year at this time, out the window of Kevin's office, we watch a pair of gulls raise chicks on the roof across Bastion Square.
For us at Maple Leaf Adventures, summertime is very focussed on the next generation ... from the office window and from the deck of the Maple Leaf.
Out the window, we observe both vocal and non-vocal communication by the adults. They seem to train the chicks to pick things up from the rooftop. They call their chicks from the shadows to the roof's edge.
All over the coast, this repeats. The next generation is in training. Bear cubs are learning where to find berries, roots and grubs. Humpback whale calves are practising techniques for corralling krill and small fish.
And in Desolation Sound, we take a two-month hiatus from our adventure cruises, and participate in all of this, too. We are training the youth of the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets. They're learning to sail Maple Leaf together. In the process, they're imbibing lessons about teamwork, leadership, responsibility and the rewards of hard work.
When we head north with the senior cadets this fall, we'll be travelling with leaders of the next generation.
We'll enter the Great Bear Rainforest and the world of other young creatures with hard-earned knowledge under their belts (or under their pelts). We'll all converge at the land's edge to enjoy autumn's great feasts.
We'll operate two months of adventure cruises during fall's peak. Then all of us generations, on wing, on foot, and by sail, will depart for our respective winter homes.
We hope you enjoy the discoveries and opportunities in this newsletter, and wherever you call home.
We received an update from Shannon Hall at Discovery Channel Canada that the BBC's "Grizzly Wilderness" airs this Sunday (July 26) at 9 p.m., across Canada.
If you're around, we highly recommend you check it out.
This is the extraordinary show filmed in the Great Bear Rainforest in 2007 & 2008.
Whales & Totems Oct 5-10 (5 nights):
This trip is sold out, but a couple would like to postpone their trip to 2010. Interested in grabbing these 2 places? Contact Maureen at the Maple Leaf office.
"Is this a lake or the ocean?" someone once asked me half an hour into a Whales & Totems trip.
There aren't many places in the world where someone would feel compelled to ask that question.
This coast is unique on earth: about 1,500 kilometres of protected waterways, from Puget Sound and the Gulf Islands, up the inside of Vancouver Island and the islands of the Great Bear Rainforest and into southeast Alaska as far as Skagway and Sitka.
Because it's unique, a lot of people have trouble comprehending that even if they are sensitive to motion in other areas of the world, they can take a Maple Leaf trip and be fine. (I know this personally: I can make myself dizzy on a kid's swing but I've travelled through the Great Bear Rainforest with ease.)
A Little Geography Explains It
Take a look at the maps below of three of the planet's great marine-based wildlife areas: Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands and the Inside Passage of British Columbia & Alaska.
All of the islands off the coast of B.C. and Alaska create protected water. Why?
First, wind blowing over water creates waves. The longer the distance the wind has to blow over the water, the more it stirs up waves, and the larger they can get. The distance that the wind can blow over water unimpeded is called "fetch".
When you have a large open area of water (the entire Pacific or southern ocean, for example), you have a very long fetch.
The other important thing is that waves (they are energy moving through water) continue to travel until they hit land and break up. So if you have a very large body of water, then you have lots of potential waves being created that continue through it.
In North America's Pacific Northwest, all the offshore islands help in two ways:
They create a barrier that stops incoming waves. Water on their insides doesn't get ocean swells because the islands block them.
The islands and also the contintent's fjords create narrow channels of water. Thus, there is often limited or no "fetch", so large swells can't form.
That's why when you are on the Inside Passage, the water is quite flat. The same happens when you enter many bays and coves.
An additional benefit of Maple Leaf is that she's a very heavy ship with a 40,000 lb. lead keel. This means she is a much steadier ship than small boats or fibreglass boats you may have been on before. Maple Leaf rides slowly and calmly on the sea.
How to Choose Your Trip
On some Maple Leaf trips you don't have to worry about swells or waves at all. Generally these are:
Gulf Islands National Park Reserve
Great Bear Rainforest
Whales and Totems
On other trips, you may have an area or two where there are swells for a couple of hours, depending on the weather. But everything else is protected. Generally these are:
Southeast Alaska
Haida Gwaii/Queen Charlotte Islands
The only Maple Leaf trip that may be exposed to swells for longer periods (but still nothing like the Galapagos or Antarctica!) is the Wild Side of northwestern Vancouver Island. However this is mitigated again by the protection afforded by Checleset Bay, Kyuquot Sound, Quatsino Sound, Brooks Peninsula and Vancouver Island itself.
So, if you have been wondering to yourself, "will I be seasick?" ... the answer is that likely you won't. So come on out and enjoy the coast!
"The adventure exceeded my expectations. Kevin, Paul, Sean, Briony and Lila all did a spectacular job. It truly was a trip of a lifetime. I'm very glad I chose it for our every-five-year adventure."
- Dennis Clark, Washington, USA, after an Alaska Adventure on Maple Leaf
Red tree corals. Rockfish and shrimp hiding among the branches. Fields of white and orange plumose anemones.
These are some of the amazing worlds that a B.C. nonprofit, the Living Oceans Society, filmed on their spring scientific probe beneath the sea.
The "Finding Coral Expedition" took place in areas you visit on our trips - the coasts of Haida Gwaii and the Great Bear Rainforest. Researchers gathered scientific data as well as footage for non-scientific viewers to enjoy.
In places like Burnaby Narrows in Haida Gwaii, we humans at the surface can glimpse how rich the world beneath the water is. Surfaces covered in colourful animals and plants, all in bizarre forms! But this expedition took a submersible with cameras down deep into Juan Perez Sound, the water off Dundas Island and other locations.
Researchers obtained footage of fabulous deep-water corals as well as anemones, sea stars, rockfish and more. They've uploaded them in short easy-to-watch vignettes. You can check them out at the link below.
My overwhelming thought after reviewing them is this: at every level this coast is covered in rich worlds: in the treetops, on land, in the water column, and on the seabed.
Imagine the rainforest with all its complicated glory ... giant cedars, funny fungi, ferns, grizzly bears, birds, berries, wolves, sedges, lilies, insects and more. Now place it beneath the sea and change the predominant colours from green to orange. You can start to imagine the fabulous world of the deep.
This is important because it has very little protection. Trawling in particular destroys it. Not only will the research from this expedition help us learn about the ocean, we hope it will lead to sustainable fisheries on this coast.
Click this link to learn more about the world so deep and yet so connected with the one you experience on Maple Leaf's journeys.
Naturalist Mark Hobson has received two important accolades for his paintings so far this year.
In March the Federation of Canadian Artists awarded him Signature Status. This is the highest category attainable by the federation and recognizes an artist's overall outstanding artistic achievement.
International Artist Magazine awarded one of Mark's paintings, "Lismer Bay in Winter", third place in their international competition on seascapes, rivers and lakes. You can see the painting in the June-July edition of the magazine. Congratulations, Mark!
Naturalist Alison Watt has just returned to B.C. from a year sailing in the Pacific with her husband on their boat, Circadia.
Their journey included visiting the Sea of Cortez, the Tuamotu Archipelago, and French Polynesia, as well as some long open water crossings (18 days) and some big squalls at sea.
Every year at this time, out the window of Kevin's office, we watch a pair of gulls raise chicks on the roof across Bastion Square.
We'll enter the Great Bear Rainforest and the world of other young creatures with hard-earned knowledge under their belts (or under their pelts). We'll all converge at the land's edge to enjoy autumn's great feasts. 
We received an update from Shannon Hall at Discovery Channel Canada that the BBC's "Grizzly Wilderness" airs this Sunday (July 26) at 9 p.m., across Canada. 
Looking for a getaway this fall? 
Planning for 2010?
By Maureen Gordon
"The adventure exceeded my expectations. Kevin, Paul, Sean, Briony and Lila all did a spectacular job. It truly was a trip of a lifetime. I'm very glad I chose it for our every-five-year adventure."
By Maureen Gordon
Naturalist Mark Hobson has received two important accolades for his paintings so far this year.
Naturalist Alison Watt has just returned to B.C. from a year sailing in the Pacific with her husband on their boat, Circadia.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to reach us anytime - we love hearing from you!