Environment

Bill Merilees, a retired B.C. Parks regional information officer, collected mollusk shells from B.C. and Washington state coastlines for 50 years and has donated his 140,000-specimen collection to University of British Columbia’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

Vancouver Island man donates 140,000 mollusk specimens to biodiversity museum

UBC’s Beaty museum grateful for Bill Merilees’s historical record of B.C. marine biodiversity

 

Wylie Thomas with remnants of the tallest camas plant he’s seen, on Kohweechela/Mary Tod Island. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff)

PHOTOS: Crews decimate broom growth on Oak Bay island

A crew of six cut, dragged and bagged 52 cubic yards of broom on Kohweechela/Mary Tod Island

 

The invasive seaweed Japanese sargassum is rapidly spreading in Maple Bay. (Sue Fryer photo)

Event aims to uproot invasive seaweed sweeping through Vancouver Island bay

Japanese Sargasso now taking over from Campbell River to Baja, California

 

The District of Sooke's wastewater treatment plant will receive structural and mechanical upgrades, and the local wastewater collection system will be extended to increase sewer capacity. (File - Sooke News Mirror)

Sooke mayor welcomes provincial funding for upgrades to wastewater treatment plant

B.C. contributing $4.6 million toward $6.6-million project

The District of Sooke's wastewater treatment plant will receive structural and mechanical upgrades, and the local wastewater collection system will be extended to increase sewer capacity. (File - Sooke News Mirror)
The MV Schiedyk is shown in this handout image. Tonnes of bulk fuel has been safely removed from a ship that sank off the west coast of Vancouver Island more than half a century ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Bligh Island Shipwreck Response *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Tonnes of oil, diesel pumped from leaking B.C. shipwreck 53 years after sinking

The 147-metre cargo ship went down in Nootka Sound in 1968

The MV Schiedyk is shown in this handout image. Tonnes of bulk fuel has been safely removed from a ship that sank off the west coast of Vancouver Island more than half a century ago. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Bligh Island Shipwreck Response *MANDATORY CREDIT*
Halfpipe with his mother Split Fluke in 2019. Photo courtesy Kaitlin Paquette.

Death of young humpback shows tragic impact of ship collisions, 2 experts say

Two-year-old ‘Halfpipe’ found dead July 8

Halfpipe with his mother Split Fluke in 2019. Photo courtesy Kaitlin Paquette.
The Habitat Acquisition Trust’s campaign to raise $1.4 million toward the purchase of Mountain Road Forest in Saanich for a new regional park is in its final days. (Black Press Media file photo)

Campaign to buy Saanich’s Mountain Road Forest nears deadline

Habitat Acquisition Trust hopeful of raising final $368,000 of $1.4-million goal by July 20

The Habitat Acquisition Trust’s campaign to raise $1.4 million toward the purchase of Mountain Road Forest in Saanich for a new regional park is in its final days. (Black Press Media file photo)
Margaret Lidkea shows the crow garlic volunteers will start to weed out of Uplands Park. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff)

Crow garlic flies in Oak Bay’s Uplands Park

Invasive plant dimishes camas’ capability to grow

Margaret Lidkea shows the crow garlic volunteers will start to weed out of Uplands Park. (Christine van Reeuwyk/News Staff)
Passersby can now enjoy a view of the ocean along the McNeill Bay bluff with the clearing of invasive species underway. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)

Volunteers beat back invasive species along McNeill Bay bluff in Oak Bay

Massive project follows three decades of ecosystem restoration

Passersby can now enjoy a view of the ocean along the McNeill Bay bluff with the clearing of invasive species underway. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)
A free concert happening July 9 next to the south campus of Lansdowne Middle School will feature Indigenous poet Tanisha Nuttall, jazzist David Santana and vocalist Myriam Parent. (Photo courtesy of Friends of Bowker Creek)

Free Friday concert: Saanich school hosts Bowker Creek friends event

Summer concert series starting July 9 serves as fundraiser, educational opportunity

A free concert happening July 9 next to the south campus of Lansdowne Middle School will feature Indigenous poet Tanisha Nuttall, jazzist David Santana and vocalist Myriam Parent. (Photo courtesy of Friends of Bowker Creek)
A pumpjack works at a wellhead on an oil and gas installation near Cremona, Alta., Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Injection of public funds didn’t increase Alberta oil well cleanups, study suggests

Parkland Institute: Province may have simply replaced money energy companies would have spent anyway

A pumpjack works at a wellhead on an oil and gas installation near Cremona, Alta., Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Volunteers gathered in Colwood’s Pit House Park recently to remove armfuls of invasive Himalayan blackberry and Scotch broom plants. (Courtesy of Greater Victoria Green Team)

Colwood community members band together to remove invasive plants

Estimated 20 cubic metres of broom, blackberry plants removed from Lagoon area park

Volunteers gathered in Colwood’s Pit House Park recently to remove armfuls of invasive Himalayan blackberry and Scotch broom plants. (Courtesy of Greater Victoria Green Team)
FireSmoke Canada predicts light smoke throughout eastern and northern Vancouver Island the night of July 6. (FireSmoke Canada)

Light blanket of wildfire smoke to reach Island by Tuesday; no major events predicted

Western winds, mountains to likely protect coastal B.C. from wildfire smoke: expert

FireSmoke Canada predicts light smoke throughout eastern and northern Vancouver Island the night of July 6. (FireSmoke Canada)
A beautiful Saltair sunset in late June. (Photo by Opie Williams)

Record-breaking heat wave wiped out a wet start to June on Vancouver Island

Surprisingly, precipitation total for the month close to normal for Chemainus and Thetis Island

A beautiful Saltair sunset in late June. (Photo by Opie Williams)
Bob Peart, left, who helped coordinate the Saanich Peninsula Environmental Coalition, stands with University of Victoria co-op student Jerram Gawley, a co-op student who developed a framework to improve environmental governance on the Saanich Peninsula. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)

Peninsula communities appear ready to collaborate on environmental policy

Saanich Peninsula Environmental Coalition looking for implementation of bio-framework

Bob Peart, left, who helped coordinate the Saanich Peninsula Environmental Coalition, stands with University of Victoria co-op student Jerram Gawley, a co-op student who developed a framework to improve environmental governance on the Saanich Peninsula. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)
A tagged deer in Oak Bay, where a deer contraceptive study is underway. Esquimalt will soon follow suit after receiving approval for its own study from the province recently. (Black Press Media file photo)

Esquimalt proceeding with birth control study on deer

Up to 100 does to be vaccinated with immunocontraceptive, tagged and given booster in 2023

A tagged deer in Oak Bay, where a deer contraceptive study is underway. Esquimalt will soon follow suit after receiving approval for its own study from the province recently. (Black Press Media file photo)
Gates Creek, 274-acres of land now in trust with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. (Nature Conservancy)

New conservancy will protect 274-acre corridor B.C. grizzly bears use to meet, mingle

Maintaining connectivity between Stein-Nahatlatch and South Chilcotin grizzly populations essential for species’ survival

Gates Creek, 274-acres of land now in trust with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. (Nature Conservancy)
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra speaks while Ottawa South MP David McGuinty looks on during a press conference at the Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. The Liberal government is speeding up its goal for when it wants to see all light-duty vehicles sold in Canada to be electric.THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Kawai

Liberals say by 2035 all new cars, light-duty trucks sold in Canada will be electric

The government had set 2040 target for when it wants to see all passenger vehicles sold be electric

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra speaks while Ottawa South MP David McGuinty looks on during a press conference at the Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. The Liberal government is speeding up its goal for when it wants to see all light-duty vehicles sold in Canada to be electric.THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Kawai
Crews with the $3.5-million provincially funded Marine Debris Removal Initiative remove discarded and lost gear from B.C.’s central coast in the summer of 2020. (Photo supplied by Simon Agar)

Coastal Cleanup stages sequel of bid to rid B.C. coast of garbage

West Coast cleanup nets over 200 tonnes of marine debris

Crews with the $3.5-million provincially funded Marine Debris Removal Initiative remove discarded and lost gear from B.C.’s central coast in the summer of 2020. (Photo supplied by Simon Agar)
Staff with the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea released Wanda on June 7 near Ucluelet. (Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea/Submitted)

Wanda the octopus says goodbye to Sidney

Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea returned octopus to waters off Ucluelet, received a new one June 8

Staff with the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea released Wanda on June 7 near Ucluelet. (Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea/Submitted)