FRIDAY NOV 08 2013 VOL. 40, NO. 23
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The long road to peace Islander heads to Democratic Republic of Congo to work with the UN
Remembering Bowen’s fighting men
Time Capsule A young man’s life at war, packed away in a trunk
The stories behind the Cenotaph
There’s more at stake than the Cape Bowen Island Conservancy President says the organization will continue to fight for the protection of public beaches
MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
A sub-adult Quillback Rockfish enjoys the habitat offered by a Glass Sponge Reef in Dorman Bay. Until these reefs were discovered in the Hecate Straight in the late 1980s, scientists believed the sponges had gone extinct in prehistoric times. Diane Reid, photo
Divers explore rare reef off Dorman Point
T
he sun was bright and the wind strong last Sunday as a group of recreational divers cruised across choppy waters to the middle of Dorman Bay to sink into its depths and explore a rare and prehistoric Glass Sponge reef. The group, which included Bowen Island resident Adam Taylor, are all avid divers who are admittedly hooked on their sport, so last weekend’s journey was much about the thrill of seeing life underwater. However, the divers also set out to document their expedition in the hopes they can prove the reef is worthy of protection. “We’re worried that the reef will be destroyed before we even learn anything about it,” says Taylor. Two years ago, he encouraged fellow diver and explorer Glen Dennison to explore Dorman Bay with his depth-sounder.
“My Dad used to tell me stories about, when he was a kid in the late 30s, early 40s, he used to sit on a rock overlooking Dorman Bay and watch these old Portuguese fishermen who’d rowed over from Whitecliff and they’d be handlining without rods, very large, mature Yelloweye Rockfish. The way he described it was that the fish were bigger than the five gallon pails the fishermen were throwing them in. So, that would be a substantial fish that would probably be a hundred, a hundred and fifty years old at the time.” Taylor knew Dennison had noted an abundance of Rockfish in other Glass Sponge reefs in Howe Sound, so thought that might explain the previous abundance in Dorman Bay. Dennison has spent five years charting the waters of Howe Sound in his boat, The Skyliner, guided by a depth-sounder and a computer system that he uses
to chart the under-water geography. He’s found seven of the nine known sponge reefs in the area. Many of these sit at a depth of 150 or 250 feet below sea-level, which is well beyond the limits of the recreational diving. Given these circumstances, Dennison has conducted much of his exploration with a a drop-camera he built and design himself (he’s an electrical engineer). With this, he has acquired hours of video footage of the deep-water reefs and the life that gravitates towards them. After Dennison located what he thought was a reef in Dorman Bay, he and Taylor headed out for a dive. “What we found was not simply a coral garden,” says Taylor. “It’s a whole bioherm, and it appeared to be about the size of the General Store.” continued, PAGE 3
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MERIBETH DEEN
Anyone strolling along the waterfront pathway at Cape Roger Curtis will see that, despite all the public discontent, one large dock already juts into the ocean from the high ground above the foreshore. A trip to the beach at Cape Roger Curtis offers a view of another future dock. These structures are forged from metal and concrete. They’re not going anywhere, the deal is done. Owen Ploughman, President of the Bowen Island Conservancy, says the politics of docks on Bowen is far from over, and there is much more to lose than Cape Roger Curtis. “When the application for construction of the docks at Cape Roger Curtis came in, there was no bylaw regulating dock construction,” says Ploughman. “Which means they could’ve built docks even longer than they did, so long as the Province granted the approval. Cape Roger Curtis is the front and centre issue where this has been brought to a head, but these regulations are about Bowen’s whole shoreline.” Petitions and actions by the Stop the Dock Campaign, which Ploughman says his group is not directly related to, but with which his group shares members and values, forced council to set in motion the process of updating the Municipal Land-Use Bylaw to include dock construction. Ploughman says the purpose of this process is to protect the environment, but also to protect the “public interest.” In this case, he describes the public interest as access to and enjoyment of the island’s shoreline and beaches.
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