Join us aboard the schooner Passing Cloud to explore this globally significant protected area within British Columbia’s Salish Sea and Southern Gulf Islands Archipelago. The Gulf Islands National Park Reserve was established here in 2003 to safeguard this ecologically and culturally sensitive region. Through interpretive beach and forest walks, marine mammal viewing, sailing, and sea kayaking, we’ll explore and learn about the natural and cultural history of this unique island ecosystem. Spring, in particular, is a beautiful time of year to witness the blossoming of rare terrestrial plants, including trilliums and fawn lilies. 

The forests here are alive with the calls, croons, and singing of eagles, ravens, and migratory songbirds. And the coastal wildlife here is equally impressive! Purple starfish, lemon nudibranchs, and giant green anemones colour the rocky shores, and seals and sea lions patrol kelp forests in search of their next meal, ever vigilant for the mammal- and fish-eating killer whales that inhabit these waters. We look forward encounters with the abundant populations marine mammal populations found here, including humpback whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, sea lions, and river otters.

And with such abundant land and marine resources, it’s no wonder that Coast Salish First Nations have lived among these islands for thousands of years. Shell middens – mounds of discarded clam and mussel shells and other shellfish, fish bones, and mammal bones – are ubiquitous features of the beaches and forests here, testament to the large numbers of Indigenous people that once thrived among these island ecosystems.