North Island Kayak - News

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nikayak — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:16:04 +0000

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Black Bears

nikayak — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:51:57 +0000

Black Bears in Telegraph Cove Resort Campground

Looks like Black bears are out ! Watched these guys for a little while munching away . They knew we were there but totally ignored us .

Killdeer

nikayak — Sun, 03 May 2009 21:57:23 +0000

Another beautiful day in Telegraph Cove, it just doesn’t seem to want to end. Looks like the killdeer are making their nest in Bauza Cove this spring. I think I walked a little too close to where the nest was because this little guy was keeping a close eye on me. Killdeer make a small depression in the gravel and lay their extremely well camouflaged eggs right on the beach. They will frequently try and deter you from the nest by faking a broken wing and thus leading you away from the nest. You must be very careful where you step as it’s difficult to make out the eggs from the pebbles and could easily crush them ! The babies will have a spectacular view of Johnstone Strait as soon as they hatch !

Killdeer in Bauza Cove, off Johnstone Strait

Cabezon

nikayak — Fri, 01 May 2009 21:40:06 +0000

Took this picture from our kayak. This is a male cabezon guarding the eggs. Great camouflage!

Cabezon gaurding eggs

Cabezon

Sea cucumber

nikayak — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:45:29 +0000

Another spectacular day in the cove! Went kayaking again! This time we mad it a point to paddle the intertidal zone at low tide and saw all sorts of strange and wonderful creatures. Here is a picture of a sea cucumber we spotted lazing around some kelp and other seaweeds. The are quite slimy to touch and if they feel threatened they’ll shoot out some of their internal organs through their anus and re grow new ones. Nice!

Sea cucumber

Barnacles

nikayak — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:28:31 +0000

Yesterday, was such a gorgeous day here in Telegraph Cove , that Steve and I grabbed a tandem kayak and went out for a paddle . It was getting to high tide so we didn’t expect to see much in ways of invertebrates but did manage to get somereally cool pictures of barnacles. Here is picture of a thatched barnacle when it is closed and out of the water and the other is of when the tide comes back in and the tiny animals inside, open up the plates that surrround then and stick out their footlike appendage ( called cirri ) to filter plankton, their food supply .
Our group of guide trainees out in Johnstone Strait , were training on Blinkhorn when a cuople transient Orca were spotted from shore! There’s always something to see, here in the Strait.

barnacle cirri filtering plankton

Thatched barnacles

Purple sea star

nikayak — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 22:09:58 +0000

These purple starfish are abundant and relatively easy to find in Telegraph Cove and Johnstone Strait. They come in different colors of brown , yellow and orange. They often fasten themsleves to rocks or insert thensleves in rock crevices for protection, even though they have very few predators. They eat limpets, chitons, barnacles , crabs, mussels etc. They have strong arms that they use to pry open shells of their prey and then expel their stomach to ingest the soft parts of the animal they captured.
They can live to 20 years , sometimes more!

Painted Anemone

nikayak — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:13:13 +0000

Also known as the Christmas Anemone for obvious reasons. Not all painted anemones are this colorful, however, this one I found while exploring Telegraph Cove Harbor. Seems like a nice ecosystem is starting to take shape here .

Giant Sunflower Star

nikayak — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:18:19 +0000

Sunflower Star

Found this Sunflower Star right here in Telegraph Cove Harbor. Just look at all those legs!

College of the Rockies guide training

nikayak — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:58:12 +0000

What a beautiful day to start the 8 day training of sea kayak guides, here at North Island Kayak in Telegraph Cove.
Every year , College of the Rockies rents boats from us for their guide training that they do in Johnstone Strait and the Broughton Archipelago .
Good luck to all the students!