Of Eagles, of Men

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An American in Squamish

One of the ironic things about working with many Americans is that none of them have ever seen a bald eagle in the wild (the bald eagle being the national bird of the United States). Ever since moving to Vancouver ten years ago, I have done an annual pilgrimage to Squamish, a location that boasts the largest grouping of bald eagles in North America (if only for the duration of the Holiday period (December-January)).

Eagles and Celebrity Watching

Since a pilgrimage to Squamish was not necessary this year (I moved here last summer!), I decided that I should involve myself with the Eagle Watch Program. This is a community-organized, volunteer-run program made available to tourists and other eagle enthusiasts that come to view the eagles. The dike, built along the Squamish River, makes for a perfect viewing area, and on a good day, a visitor may see up to 600 eagles across the river at any given time. The volunteers are there to adjust binoculars made available free of charge to the public, and answer questions. This year was my first year as a volunteer interpreter. I was highly impressed by both the dedication of the volunteers who organize and run this program, and the visitors, whose wonder and awe reminded me of just how lucky I am to be living here. There are also bonuses. Apparently, the highlight of last year’s volunteers was a chance to chat with Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz as they stopped to see the eagles on their way back from Whistler..!

A Feast of Salmon

The humans come here to see the eagles…but what is it that brings the eagles here? The Squamish River has a few very healthy salmon runs. The eagles congregate here from many different places because the salmon is plentiful, and they can feast on it. Having spawned, the salmon dies, and this very nutritious meal is easy pickings for eagles.

The Old and the New

The most common question I was asked this year was the distinction between the “completely brown” eagles and the ones “with the white head”. Are the brown ones the female? Answer: No! The brown ones are the immature eagles. Until the age of approximately 4-5 years of age, eagles have mottled, brown feathers that make them difficult to see among the branches of the tree (camouflage!), and also signal to other eagles that they are not a threat. I’m going to try to embed two videos in this blog (bear with me, it’s my first time using U-Tube) – one of an immature eagle feeding on a salmon, and one of a mature eagle feeding on a salmon. Can you tell them apart?


If you are having trouble seeing these videos, you may have beeter luck by going directly to the U-Tube website:
HERE || and HERE

Squamish: Eagles Capital

Having traveled up and down the coast on diving trips, I have some serious doubts about the validity of the claim that Squamish holds the largest number of eagles. I recall quite clearly seeing many many many more eagles near Port Hardy at the northern tip of Vancouver Island one summer. However, getting to Port Hardy is no walk in the park. It is probably fair to say that Squamish is the most easily accessible town from which the largest concentration of eagles may be seen… And that is something to boast about…

P.S. All of my American co-workers have now seen an eagle!

P.P.S. Check out this cool site, which contains a link to a live camera aimed at an eagle’s nest.

P.P.S.S. Please, please, please, leave me comments! It would be nice to know I am not just writing to myself... :)

Captivated by the Underwater Realm of BC

Vous trouverez la version française de mon blog en suivant ce lien

Why British Columbia

After graduation, what kept me in B.C. was not the beautiful mountainous landscapes, the serenity of the temperate rainforests, the laid-back life style, or the delicious Vancouver asian cuisine that most people will cite you. As a (somewhat fanatical) SCUBA diver, I feel privileged to have witnessed the dazzling array of colours created by the arrangement of a multitude of critters that colonize every rock and crevice in the coastal waters of the Pacific Northwest.

My First SCUBA Dive

I remember my first dive quite vividly (in the Squamish area, site of my new home, coincidently). What struck me then was how alien the life forms were. Gravity is not a factor in the development of an underwater body plan. Air and food are extracted directly from the surrounding medium, so respiration and digestion systems are radically different. I might as well have been on Mars. I remember thinking that most people, who only get the opportunity to look at the surface of the ocean, had never seen these creatures; most people didn’t even imagined that these bizarre and beautiful animals lurked mere meters away from the surface of the ocean.

I was Hooked

I felt privileged to have caught a glimpse of an unexplored part of our planet. I was hooked, and I wanted to learn more about these weird and amazing creatures. This was the launch of an 8 year quest for me, one that culminated in me authoring a chapter on marine life in a book on Stanley Park ecology.

Underwater Chemists

I’m sure you’ve often heard that one of the reasons to save the Amazonian rain forest is because it may contain some species as yet unknown to science that could hold the key to a cure for cancer. It turns out that the same is true of the marine critters that inhabit our coast. Nudibranchs (sea slugs) and sponges are quite common in our waters (see some representative snapshots I brought back from my little expeditions). Both types of organisms are expert chemists: they produce a lot of novel organic compounds that they use to repel would-be predators.

Fighting Cancer and Other Illnesses

I have a friend whose Ph.D. project involves collecting sponge and nudibranch species, grinding them down, separating the various chemical components that they produce and applying them to cancerous cells (click here to view her laboratory's website). It is her hope that one day, she will find one chemical that will inhibit the growth of cancerous cells, offering a potential treatment for this dreadful disease (everyone in my family eventually succumbs to this disease, so here’s hoping she finds something soon! :) ).

Protecting the Environment

Personally, I would advocate preserving marine habitats for the simple reason that they are beautiful to behold, but for those pragmatics out there, the cure to your future disease may soon come from the ocean. Knowing this, can anyone possibly argue that our oceans are not worth preserving?