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Rare juvenile sixgill shark sighting off Vancouver is good news for population

Population was thought to have been reduced significantly by an experimental fishery in the 1990s

A rare encounter with several juvenile bluntnose sixgill sharks in waters off Vancouver implies the population may be larger than previously thought, said a marine biologist. Chris Harvey-Clark of Dalhousie University was part of a team of researchers who used a small submarine to explore the waters about a kilometre off the coast and about 100 metres below the surface.…

Running helps local overcome anxiety

Eileen Craig recently completed second sanctioned 50-km run

Eileen Craig’s journey into becoming a long-distance runner happened innocently enough. In advance of the inaugural Whistler Half Marathon in 2011, Craig’s sister, Ironman competitor Christine Suter, asked her to help out with the walk-run program.…

Province to set aside 864 hectares adjacent to the Cerise Creek Conservancy Proposal a result of Lil’wat Nation advocacy

The provincial government is in the process of setting aside a large land preserve adjacent to the recently established Nlhaxten/Cerise Creek Conservancy thanks to advocacy from the Lil’wat Nation. The area—which totals 864 hectares and is located in the shared territory of the Lil’wat and St’at’imc Nations—is used to gather plants for food and medicine, according to Harriet VanWart, director of lands and resources for the Lil’wat Nation.…

Garbage-hauling ship arrives in Vancouver after journey from Philippines

Waste to be incinerated in Burnaby

A ship carrying an infamous load of Canadian trash that had been rotting in the Philippines since as far back as 2013 has arrived at a port south of Vancouver. The Anna Maersk, carrying 69 containers of Canadian garbage and e-waste, docked at Deltaport near the Tsawwassen ferry terminal just after 7 a.m. on Saturday.…

B.C. officials to review records to ensure students vaccinated against measles

Review to take place between August and October

The B.C. government said public health officials will start reviewing school enrolment records of kindergarten to Grade 12 students to ensure children are immunized against contagious diseases including measles. The Health Ministry said officials would do their review between August and October and contact parents if their children are not up to date on the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.…

How the Philips came to Whistler

Working at the Whistler Museum, we sometimes forget that not everyone has heard of the story of Rainbow Lodge and its owners Alex and Myrtle Philip. Every so often we’ll be reminded, sometimes by a student on a field trip fascinated to learn that their school was named after a real person or by a visitor to Rainbow Park who wants to know why there are old buildings in the bushes.…

WORCA holding Dirty 30

Race to help mark major milestone

The Whistler Off-Road Cycling Association (WORCA) is doing a deep dive into its history to bring riders the Dirty 30 in honour of its three decades in the resort. The race, which will be held on July 6, will give riders two options—a thriller or a chiller.…

Get Amped in the Park

Also in Arts News: Tea & Tales is back; painting workshops are set for Art on the Lake; Big Sky to host movie night

If you find yourself in Squamish on a Thursday this summer, swing by Junction Park downtown to check out a variety of performances each week. Amped in the Park kicks off on July 4 with a stage that’s welcome to local musicians, comedians, actors and poets.…

Whistlerite following in flight path of her late father

Alexis Thind, 24, becomes pilot months after losing father to brain cancer

Before her father’s passing last summer, Whistler’s Alexis Thind made him a promise: that she would follow in his footsteps as a pilot and give back to those who needed it most.
A pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force, as well as Air Canada later on, Thind’s father was diagnosed at 59 with Glioblastoma, a terminal brain cancer.…

New study seeks to understand how ‘ice worms’ travel from Alaska to Vancouver Island

Postdoctoral researcher Scott Hotaling thinks it must be the birds

While most people associate worms with the earthworms found in backyard gardens, the animal’s distant cousin can also thrive in much cooler environments. Ice worms can be found on glaciers from Oregon to Alaska—but the species really thrives on the coastal glaciers of British Columbia.…

The annual Canada Day quiz

Whistler What was Whistler Mountain originally called, named so by British naval surveyors in the 1860s?…

RMOW lowers speed limit in Function Junction to 40 km/h

Pilot project part of efforts to improve pedestrian safety in neighbourhood

Not so fast, Function Junction drivers. The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) has just reduced the speed limit in Whistler’s southern-most neighbourhood to 40 kilometres an hour, part of recent efforts to improve pedestrian safety.…

Paddling forward: truth and reconciliation at Capilano University

University commissions Squamish Nation carver to build traditional canoe for school’s 50th anniversary

On a cool March afternoon on Capilano University’s North Vancouver campus, Ses Siyam chips away at a cedar log that began as a sapling in Squamish’s Elaho Valley, perhaps 600 years ago. He is a seventh-generation carver, a hereditary chief and also one of only a handful of Squamish Nation members who still possesses the knowledge to build a traditional dugout canoe.…

Pemberton council gets briefed on community’s childcare challenges

Council briefs: mobile home park development permit; revised place names; loan authorization for new truck

Village of Pemberton (VOP) council was briefed on the community’s acute childcare issues at its Tuesday, June 25 regular council meeting. Lisa McIntosh of Sea to Sky Community Services (SSCS) presented a new report, “Pemberton Child Care Needs Assessment and Strategy: 2019-2023,” which provides data related to childcare needs and guidance on how to create sv more licensed spaces in the community.…

Whistler Writer in Residence program revives scholarships

Hornby Island writer Cornelia Hoogland chosen to lead 2019 program

Stella Harvey has a hard time believing that 2019 will be the 13th year of the Writer in Residence program. “It’s unbelievable,” says Harvey, artistic director for the Whistler Writing Society, which runs the program.…