On the Edge of the Earth

UNSTRESSED WILDLIFE - TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS

We recently returned from a wonderful visit to the coastal corrugations of Gwaii Haanass National Park. This occupies pretty well all of the southern half of Haida Gwaii, a distant group of islands off the Pacific coast of British Columbia, just south of the border with Alaska. Haida Gwaii is a self governing indigenous territory of the Haida Nation and the place to see real “totem “poles. I put that word in quotes because totem pole is not the Haida name for them, properly they are memorial poles. In the late 1800’s over 95% of the Haida people were killed by smallpox and TB - what they have achieved since is simply amazing.

The people of the islands refer to their home as being on the Edge of the Earth and certainly in relation to the North American continent that seems very appropriate.

Getting to the islands from Montreal took us two full days and multiple flights before we arrived. Flights are few in number, accommodation is limited, and most tourists are urged to undertake a cultural orientation session in order to be allowed to visit. This is all right and proper. It was fascinating to learn some of the history of the Haida people before being set loose in the mountains, forests and shoreline at this beautiful place. The forests are dense and unusual, they are rainforests, and this affects the species present. There is very little similarity to the eastern forests we know. These islands are known to be some of the most biodiverse and species rich to be found in Canada, and indeed along the entire North American Pacific coast line. It is often referred to as the Galapagos of the North.

There will be a couple of future posts from me with links to curated albums of selected photographs and information about the places, and the people and the creatures we interacted with, but for now, the intention of this article is simply to consider the creatures of “two different worlds”.

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Just living close to a city does not mean that Nature is nowhere near you. In fact there are 1001 and more species in all cities albeit though they are heavily modified in their presence and their behaviour and viability by the strong influence of human society on their habitat. By contrast, at the far western end of Canada in Haida Gwaii, things are very different indeed. In fact, most locations can only be accessed from the sea, there being no roads and no settlements so the human influence is markedly less than elsewhere.

One of the things that struck us time and again was the apparent ease with which the Gwaii Haanas species allowed us to approach them - indeed they almost approached us on occasion. Fear was minimal - and that’s something we never enjoy in Montreal. Clambering through the edge of the rainforest at one point, the head of a deer peered round a tree trunk maybe ten feet away … “Oh hi” its expression seemed to say. “Welcome to my forest” and it just carried on browsing, quite unconcerned, while I stumbled about. Back home in the east, the deer who live alongside many birds in the arboretum down the road are away like a shot as soon as they hear or smell human presence. One particularly memorable instance was on a very exposed beach with lots of shorebirds … normally these skittish birds will fly away in wheeling flocks if people come within 50 yards but these birds just “shuffled over” a bit as we walked past. They had a personal space limit but it was more like ten feet than fifty-plus and one lonesome Long-billed Dowitcher amongst them practically walked over my feet. Unheard of.

On another day, waiting on a beach for the Zodiac to take us back to the schooner, an Otter poked its head out of the water and stared at me from a few feet away. Down went the head and then popped up again ten feet further along until it had completed a semi-circle of close surveillance. It wasn’t happy about our presence on its beach but equally it showed no apparent fear or urgency to be elsewhere. This was unexpected and very pleasing.

Although it is remarkable how rich and diverse the suburban wildlife of of great cities is, their relationship with humanity is quite different to that which we have just experienced out west on on the edge of the earth. In cities and small towns and villages, wildlife exploits what we leave available to them, and often make a good living in doing so, but the creatures are constantly and wisely wary and usually nervous. Plants are far too often subject to careless cutting, trampling or uprooting. By contrast, in the true wild of these west coast islands, nature really is able to relax and enjoy its wildness pretty well unmolested. The great fear is that commercialization and climate change could too easily, and far too soon, casually destroy these rare and unique places almost without thought. The creation of the Gwaii Haanas national park was quite recent and only carved out at the expense of the logging industry who fought to preserve their cutting “rights”. It is imperative that this and similar wild areas are preserved whatever the cost.

A uniquely special place.

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In due course when my too many photographs have been corralled and edited, there will be a selection that I hope to share, along with further information and commentary. All birds and plants will be identified. For now I leave you with these few … the boat is the Island Solitude on which we explored, the rainforest is by the side of Burnaby Narrows, the most biodiverse intertidal zone in North America, the small bird is a Pacific Wren and the big one with a huge beak is a Black-footed Albatross … and I include a picture of a centuries old Haida Pole, complete with an unconcerned deer.

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