May 2020 - Read the latest journal article by Laskeek Scientists, Wildlife Trees and Cavity-Nesting Birds.
30 Years of Laskeek Bay Celebration!
Hello friends and supporters of Laskeek Bay Conservation Society. This year we completed our 30th year of work in Laskeek Bay.
We are celebrating this accomplishment with a fun evening event in the Community Hall in Queen Charlotte on Friday Sept 20 to celebrate this accomplishment. We invite all our volunteers, staff, directors, students, and community supporters and friends to join us.
In addition to the opportunity to share stories and memories, and look at photos, we are also launching a childrens’ book by Tony Gaston, some beautiful original art by Judy Hilgemann, and merchandise designed by Jenna Keshavjee.
Please join us on Friday night at 7 pm, where Edi from Blacktail will be serving canapés, and there will be refreshments available.
On Saturday, we have a family friendly event at Spirit Square, with science-themed booths and games and a reading from Tony’s book. Stay tuned for more information about the daytime event.
Check out our event poster HERE.
Our last Limestone Log of the season: Vol. 30, Issue 6: July 12- 26.
A few rare visitors join us for our last three weeks at camp - who are they?! Read on to find out more.
Limestone Log Vol. 30 Issue 5: June 28 – July 12, 2019
Banding, black oystercatcher surveys and even smellier boxes! Click here to read more about week 9 and 10 out at camp on East Limestone Island!
Limestone Log Vol. 30, Issue 4: June 15 – 28, 2019
Those CAAU burrows and nestboxes are becoming riper and smellier as the season continues! How great is that? Read on to find out why with our fourth Limestone Log of the season.
Limestone Log: Vol. 30, Issue 3: June 1 – 14, 2019
We’ve finished up with Ancient Murrelet chick monitoring for the season, and we’ve spotted a few more characters around East Limestone Island - read on for more information!
https://mailchi.mp/4eb9dbc5ad30/limestone-log-vol-30-issue-3-june-1-14-2019
Limestone Log: Vol. 30, Issue 2: May 17 – 31, 2019
Welcome to the second Limestone Log of the season. Many exciting going-ons, especially a very unusual little Ancient Murrelet who did something we haven’t seen before! Read on for more information…
LBCS has a new Executive Director
Aggie Cangardel has just recently joined our team and will be replacing Jamie Mcdonald as our Executive Director as of this week. We would like to thank Jamie for her services and welcome Aggie to our organization! Aggie has previously worked at Haida Fisheries as Program Biologist and more recently in a corporate environment. She comes from the UK where she obtained degrees in Marine Biology and Oceanography and Molecular Genetics.
Strategic Planning Meeting - December 1st
Laskeek Bay Conservation Society has big plans for the future which we will be discussing at our upcoming Strategic Planning Meeting next Saturday. Stay tuned for more news.
Field Season Summary
After a busy field season which included a complete change of field staff, we have summarized our experience. Check out our new 2018 Field Season Summary to learn all about the projects we worked on this past May to July 2018.
Science Literacy Week
Last week was Science Literacy Week, a week-long celebration of science and space in Canada. This year, SLW partnered up with the Space Agency to highlight the exploration of the cosmos. Here in Haida Gwaii, we thought we would share our knowledge of how birds have inspired us in this exploration. For this occasion, we visited various classrooms and facilitated activities that helped students learn about how birds fly. We also gave a great presentation at our new office in Skidegate on flight and predation patterns.
Missed it? Click here to access the presentation on predation patterns and find lots of cool info on flight patterns here.
Science Odyssey, May 11th - 20th
As part of Science Odyssey - Ten days of discovery and innovation - Canada's largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, we are putting on a variety of events including:
Forest as a Teacher
Wednesday, May 16th @ 5 p.m.
Meeting point: Laskeek Bay Conservation Society office 3201 Ocean View Drive, unit 2, Queen Charlotte, BC (snacks will be served)
Bring your outdoor wear, a pad and paper, and come for a walk & talk with Ola Cholewa at Crab Apple Creek. Ola will share her Masters research findings on what the forest can teach us, how we can use it as a teaching tool and more
FREE EVENT
Also as part of our involvement in this Odyssey, kids from Sk’aadgaa Naay Elementary will be learning about the Backyard Basics for supporting our feathery friends (Wednesday May 16th, 3 to 5 p.m.) and kids visiting East Limestone Island from all over Haida Gwaii will be learning about research methods for conservation work on seabirds and marine mammals (throughout May and June)!
Habour day in Masset
Sunday, May 20th @ 10 a.m.
We will have a tent set up and activities for all ages related to birds and the research we do on East Limestone. Come play with us!!!
AGM - Thursday April 26th, 2018
Curious about Martens? Want to see our new office and hear about what we've been up to this past year and what is in the plans for this upcoming field season? Come join us for our AGM this Thursday, April 26th, from 7 to 9 p.m. at our new office above Rainbow Gallery, 3201 Ocean View Drive, unit 2 (at the corner of Alder street or Rainbow hill). There will be snacks and door prizes. Click on this link to view our poster for more information.
GoFundMe campaign
We are gearing up for our 29th season and need a new motor for our Reef boat! If you can help us out with a donation, we would definitely appreciate it! Visit our GoFundMe page for more info: https://www.gofundme.com/lbcs-new-motor
Looking for interns and volunteers for 2018 field season
For more information, visit Getting Involved @ www.laskeekbay.org/. Volunteer spots are available in May, June and July but spaces are limited and filling up quickly. The deadline to apply for internships is March 31st, 2018.
Every summer since 1990, Laskeek Bay Conservation Society has welcomed a team of local and global volunteers to our research station on East Limestone Island in the K’uuna Gwaay Conservancy. Arriving by boat shuttle from Moresby Camp three at a time, these “citizen scientists” spend a week working with our Lead and Assistant Biologist to monitor and conserve the local marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Similarly, our interns each spend 4 weeks on the island partaking in the same activities.
In a given week, this might mean hiking the trails with a pair of binoculars seeking out wildlife trees that are actively home to cavity nesting red-breasted sapsuckers and hairy woodpeckers. Other days, you might find yourself out on the boat, quickly counting marbled murrelets, rhinoceros auklets and pigeon guillemots along a series of transects. In May, you can probably expect a few late nights as you monitor funnels for ancient murrelet chicks with the help of visiting students, while later in the summer you might spend more days removing debris and pulling out invasive plants.
Late afternoons are reliably spent in the cook cabin, preparing a reliably fantastic meal. From the elevated table, you have a perfect view for observing congregating seabirds and watching for whales. After dinner, you will likely spend some time looking through the scope counting ancient murrelets in their gathering grounds, before heading to your tent to fall asleep to an orchestra of bird song.
Over the past 28 summers, activities such as these have helped LBCS compile some of the longest, continuous-running seabird data sets in Canada. The data gathered through our low-cost and low technology methods has contributed to a wide range of research and conservation plans, and it has helped us and other researchers identify the many links between offshore marine and coastal rainforest environments.
Some volunteers are avid ornithologists, and others are experienced citizen scientists. Most, however, come for the learning and the adventure. Each year, we take delight in the group of Haida Gwaii residents who immerse themselves in our work, and return home with a deeper understanding of our local species, the threats they face, and the difference we can make.
Should you have a spare week this summer, come join us on Limestone. It’s a unique learning experience and transformative adventure – and we only ask for a small donation to help cover the costs of your transportation and food. In joining us, you will become an essential part of our annual field team – we cannot complete all that we do without the support of our volunteers.
For more information, visit Getting Involved @ www.laskeekbay.org/. Volunteer spots are available in May, June and July but spaces are limited and filling up quickly. The deadline to apply for internships is March 31st, 2018.
Biosecurity on Haida Gwaii? Come learn more!
Laskeek Bay Conservation Society is excited to be taking part in an upcoming event hosted by Bird Studies Canada on Oct. 14th - Haida Gwaii Bird Day!
Invasive species threaten many creatures that make Haida Gwaii a renowned, important, biologically diverse area, and are one of the main causes of bird extinctions worldwide. Come join us for an interactive day revolving around seabirds and what is happening on Haida Gwaii to protect them.
We'll be leading kids activities all day, so bring your whole family!
Our lead biologist Vivian Pattison will also be speaking during the afternoon, and will be there with leaders from the CHN, Bird Studies Canada, Haida Gwaii Museum, and Gwaii Haanas/Parks Canada. Discussions surrounding biosecurity can help us tackle the issues that threaten seabirds and their breeding colonies, where 1.5 million individuals breed here on Haida Gwaii.
Open to everyone (and it's free)!
Join us for Science Literacy Week!
This September, we're excited to be taking part in Science Literacy week - a cross-country celebration of science in Canada! After a fantastic 28th field season on East Limestone Island, we're using this week as an opportunity to share our love for seabirds with youth, and to promote some of the incredible research, led by researchers and citizen scientists, happening on Haida Gwaii. There will be activities for all beginning on September 17th, and wrapping up on the 24th.
Exploring the Life of a Bird. Sunday September 17th (Old Massett Youth Centre) and Sunday September 24th (Skidegate Youth Centre) from 9am - 3pm, with lunch provided.
This full day is designed to engage youth (grades 5 - 8) in the life of a bird. Join us for the day to explore the journey of a bird from egg to adulthood, exploring diversity and environmental issues along the way. Please e-mail laskeek@laskeekbay.org to register, as spaces are limited.
Celebrating Science on Haida Gwaii. Tuesday September 19th (Performing House, Haida Heritage Centre) from 7pm - 8:30pm. Refreshments provided.
This evening will celebrate scientific research happening on Haida Gwaii through a series of short presentations. Local researchers and citizen scientists will talk about their research, their findings, and what the process has meant to them along the way.
We are extremely grateful to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for their support.
Arthropod Appreciation: A report from Kalene, Limestone Island Student Intern May 2017
Each summer, a team of interns joins our crew on East Limestone Island for a month at a time. While the goal for this initiative is to provide these undergraduate students with field-based learning experiences, they quickly become essential parts of our team on the island. Kalene Lilico, our first inter, spent the month of May on Limestone and wrote this beautiful post capturing the experience. Than you so much Kalene for your contributions and energy. You're very missed!
Growing up in the lovey but land-locked Alberta, my exposure to the ocean and all the intriguing organisms depending on it were limited to occasional family holidays. Slowly but surely I’ve been delving into the oceanic world more and more since I moved to Victoria 3 years ago, but never have I had the opportunity to be so completely enveloped by it than my time on Limestone.
From a bumpy skiff ride on our first day in, to intertidal explorations and sealion haul-out counts, I have developed a love for the ocean greater even than my love for the mountains! Although it’s not fair to pick favorites, some oceanic critters fascinate me more than others. Despite tough competition from the tenacious fluff-ball of an ANMU chick, the salty, stinging anemone, and the roaring sealions (making it evident how they were named), I found arthropods just a little bit more intriguing.
I had ample opportunity and was encouraged by Viv and Morgan to get to know some of the critters that are often overlooked for the admittedly cuter birds and mammals. As the month progressed, I wound up finding notes from people in camp who had captured (or stunned) a beetle or spider to save for me to look over later! I was very appreciative of my fellow biology nerds who would crowd around as we looked at mites or mandibles on a beetle, or psuedoscorpions on bird skulls. I was more than lucky to be in such interested and knowledgeable company. My curiosity surrounding the critters in the area was fostered in other ways as well; mini bird ID quizzes, bird handling skills, and burrow exploration during the ANMU census only served to increase my rapidly growing interest in seabirds and all the species intricately intertwined with them. Needless to say, Limestone has me hooked and I can’t wait for another opportunity to get back!
We hire interns in March each year, and the internship is available for accreditation through Simon Fraser University. Join our mailing list to receive notice about upcoming opportunities and deadlines.