Ocean Adventures Charter Co. & Great Bear II

Stay tuned for the re-launch of our "Spring in the Great Bear Rainforest" web page, coming soon in which we will share even more photos from these trips. We suggest opening each of these photos for maximum enjoyment. photos: T. Boyum

The first in our series about the companies that worked with the SSTOABC on the #BCCoastalCleanup , the Marine Debris Removal Initiative... _______________________________________________________________ Heiltsuk Horizon Heiltstuk Horizon provided the tug, the barge and both on board and shore crew, some of whom are from the Heiltsuk Nation from Bella Bella, for the Marine Debris Removal Initiative.... Heiltsuk Horizon Maritime Services Limited is a partnership that brings together the millennia-old stewardship and seafaring heritage of the Heiltsuk Nation with the offshore and marine industry expertise of Horizon Maritime. Through our shared values and commitment to protecting the marine environment, we are demonstrating how industry and First Nation communities can work effectively together. https://heiltsukhorizon.ca After the poorly orchestrated and supplied response by the Canadian and BC governments when the Nathan E. Stewart ran aground in Heiltsuk Territory in 2016, spilling more than 110,000 litres of diesel and other contaminants, the Heiltsuk knew that they needed their own Indigenous Marine Response, from which the partnership that formed Heiltsuk Horizon, was created. This partnership between the Heiltsuk and Marine Horizon is ground breaking, helping supply not only the equipment needed for prevention, response and clean up, but the necessary training for Heiltsuk mariners to become Transport Canada certified. All of us at Ocean Adventures including Captain Eric Boyum and crew- members on board our MV Great Bear II for this Marine Debris Removal Initiative, were very honoured to be working with Heiltsuk Horizon during this epic project. We are grateful for the support and communication from the Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department and the Heiltsuk Nation for their approval of this project and for their direction and involvement from the very beginning. Thank you to the Captain and Crew from Heiltsuk Horizon: Lorne Bentley- Tug Captain Robert Johnson - Deckhand George (Rudy) Elluk - Deckhand and to shore Crew: Russell (Rusty) Snow Travis Olinger and in the office, Pierre Theriault The respectful protocol agreement that Heiltsuk have with Ocean Adventures and members of the SSTOABC, is foundational to our successes, says William Housty, Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department Chair iáxsixa to the HIRMD, the Heiltsuk Nation and Heiltsuk Horizon. __________________________________________________________________ Thank you also to Bluewater Adventures Maple Leaf Adventures Mothership Adventures Outer Shores Expeditions Spirit Bear Lodge Airspan Helicopters Ltd Fox Waste Disposal Regional District of Mount Waddington Gitga'at Nation Kitasoo/Xai'xais Nation Photo credit for photo of tug and barge: Eddy Savage Photography Photo credit for photo of Captain Lorne Bentley and Crewman Robert Johnson on tug: Rusty Snow from Heiltsuk Horizon

#BCCoastalCleanup Our amazing crew that have worked long days in often challenging weather on often steep and slippery terrain, still found time to lighten it up. Here you have them demonstrating an idea for the repurposing of a huge rope into a fashion statement. What do you think? Do you think it will become a trend? A huge thank you to (from left to right): Krista, Adam, Captain Eric, and Marjan! #sstoabc #marinedebris #greatbearrainforest #greatbear2 #oceanadventurescharterco

Thank you for your great post Maple Leaf Adventures that we are sharing here as part of #BCCoastalCleanup These are the faces of the Small Ship Tour Operators Association of BC #sstoabc that have ships and crew out on the coast as we speak. We are humbled by and grateful for all of the skills, ingenuity, persistence, resilience, positivity and heart, that you have brought to this project. We are honoured to work along side you and your crews, all of whom have worked SO h...ard and brought so much to this epic clean up. Please take time to open up this post and read all the information shared with us from Maple Leaf Adventures, including Coastal First Nations and the companies that were key to this project. More to come in the weeks ahead about the involvement by First Nations leaders and communities and other companies that were a part of the Marine Debris Removal Initiative. #mapleleafadventures #bluewateradventures #outershoresexpeditions #mothershipadventures #commercialbearviewing #wildernesstourism #heiltsukhorizon #heiltsuk #spiritbearlodge #hirmd #kitasooxaixais #Gitgaat #wuikinuxv #airspan #foxdisposal See more

This is no stroll on the beach, no picnic in the park. This Marine Debris Removal is the "bigger picture". What kind of skills are our crew members using and what kind of debris are they finding? #BCCoastalCleanup Given the massive scale and weights of some of the debris, ( a 1000 kilogram net yesterday afternoon) found wound around huge logs and over rocks, put our crew to the test. It's a good thing we have crew that enjoy rock climbing. Several crew members, trained i...n search and rescue, are putting their skills around ropes and pulleys and the mechanical advantage, to move debris that would otherwise be unmovable. When exhausted, sore and really feeling tested, their resilience keeps them moving... feeling their love and respect for this coast and knowing why they are there, cleaning up the places they care for so deeply. A HUGE thank you to all the crews working so hard out there! We appreciate every single bit of what you are doing. Bluewater Adventures Maple Leaf Adventures Mothership Adventures Outer Shores Expeditions Heiltsuk Horizon Spirit Bear Lodge Airspan Helicopters Ltd Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department Kitasoo/Xai'xais Nation Gitga'at First Nation

#BCCoastalCleanup includes such an amazing group of people, both from the Small Ships Tour Operators Association of BC and locally owned First Nation's companies like the Kitasoo Xai'xais's Spirit Bear Lodge in Klemtu. Staff, crew and community members are removing marine debris from culturally sensitive sites and areas close to their community. A huge thank you to the #Kitasoo Xai'xais Nation for your support , guidance, and involvement from the very beginning of this Marine Debris Removal Initiative. Stay tuned to learn about what other locally owned First Nations company is also involved in this epic project.

Report from the #BCCoastalCleanup from Krista Gooderham aboard our MV Great Bear II "Over the past 21 days I have clambered over slimy wet logs, teetering on the edge of rot. I have crawled through the maze of salal and dug in to the mossy layers of soil. On every venture into the woods I have found garbage; foam, plastic, rope. However, I have also found life growing in the most unlikely of habitats. Here are 3 examples of the tenacity of life to survive on any substrate. Salal growing in a mound of plastic wrap that I dug out between the dirt in a log jam, grass growing into a 3m piece of foam, and finally a Sitka spruce tree growing out of a foam float." Something to think about the next time we buy things with styrofoam and plastic wrap.

Report from Adam Purkis, #oceanadventurecharterco working on board our MV Great Bear II on #BCCoastalCleanup along the outer islands of the Great Bear Rainforest in Heiltsuk Territory. Over 61,000 kilos of debris.. and the project is still going on! Please open photos to really get a feel for where they are and what they are doing....

Report from Marjan Watt in the field during continuing #bccoastalcleanup Our amazing crew, hard at work in some pretty challenging terrain amidst some pretty serious types and amounts of marine debris! Also a photo of the helicopter lifting huge bags of garbage onto the barge... about 61,000 kilos so far! Please open photos to get the full affect.

While we are awaiting new photos from the field (hopefully tomorrow or the next day), the photos on this post are photos I've taken on trips to some of the same areas. As you can see, the terrain is very diverse.. from white sandy beaches to treacherous rock walls with pounding surf. All in a day's work for the amazing teams working on this Marine Debris Removal .. with more than 45,000 kilos picked up in the first 2 weeks! #bccoastalcleanup

A break in our coverage of the Marine Debris Cleanup we are taking part in to bring this important information to you regarding the SPIRIT BEAR... "Multi-year research, led by the Kitasoo/Xai’xais and Gitga’at Nations, shows the white-coated black bear is up to 50 per cent rarer in the Great Bear Rainforest than previously estimated. Also concerning to Neasloss, approximately half of all hotspots where the Spirit bear gene is most prominent are found to be outside of currently protected areas." Please read the full piece.

#BCCoastalCleanUp A huge thank you to all the coastal First Nations who have supported the proposal for this massive undertaking, and have worked with us from the very beginning! "In these trying and uncertain times, the proposal and initiative from the SSTOA provides a rare opportunity and a good news story, says Doug Neasloss, Stewardship Director with the Kitasoo-Xai’Xais Nation. Marine debris is an on-going challenge and a removal initiative of this scale -- to clean... up a large, remote coastline -- is an undertaking that will provide significant environmental benefit to Kitasoo/Xai’Xais territory and beyond." While this project takes our crews from white sandy beaches to some of the most challenging terrain on the coast... in weather that is often a challenge in itself, everyone is happy to be a part of this project! Stay tuned for more updates as this project progresses with crews out until the end of September! We will have more photos to come of places along the coast, places that few people ever get to see.

What can Ocean Adventures and other eco tourism companies do when COVID ends our tourism season, leaving the ships empty and crew out of work? Ocean Adventures and other member companies of the Small Ships Operators Association of BC put together a plan: the Marine Debris Removal Initiative, being funded as part of the province’s COVID-19 stimulus funding, providing needed work for 100+ crew and guides on nine ships, plus another 75 people from local First Nations communiti...es and all the support companies that are a part of this important project, including a barge, a helicopter and others. #bccoastalcleanup Stay tuned to learn more about this epic marine debris clean up and to hear from First Nations leaders who not only support this project, but are an important part of this massive clean up. Stay tuned to learn more about the companies, the small ships and the crews as well as BC's Wilderness Tourism and the many many people making this happen. We suggest opening the photos to see what our crew is dealing with including the challenging terrain they are working in during this project.

Stay tuned on Monday August 31 for an exciting announcement!