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Snorkelling with Salmon
Students from the Environmental Science 12 class got a unique perspective on the yearly salmon run earlier this month when they went snorkelling in the Cowichan River alongside the migrating fish.
Instructors Mr. Louis Chancellor, Ms. Aly Ballantyne and Ms. Tracey Bleackley took the eight students to the river on the afternoon of Saturday, October 5, where they floated downstream through pools where salmon were resting during the journey upstream to their spawning grounds.
“It’s something I personally do a lot,” said Mr. Chancellor, “and I’ve wanted to share it with the students.”
The students alternately walked through the shallow portions and floated through pools as deep as three or four metres. It was cool outside – about 12 degrees Celsius – but everyone wore wetsuits, and they only spent a couple of hours in the water.
“The movement and enthusiasm warmed people up,” Mr. Chancellor said.
The snorkelling trip fits seamlessly into the Environmental Science 12 course, in which students learn about environmental stewardship, and salmon and their role in the Pacific Northwest ecosystem, and work in the School’s Mark Hobson Hatchery, raising salmon from eggs to the point where they can be released back into the wild. Mr. Chancellor would like to make the snorkelling trip a permanent part of the program.
“To physically get in the river and visit the salmon in their home can be life-changing,” he said. “It’s inspiring to get up close and personal and experience their world. They usually see them dead, or learn about them in the classroom, but this way they get to see them alive and wild and see how powerful they are.”
While all Pacific salmon species are threatened and numbers have been declining for decades, Mr. Chancellor says this year’s salmon run is seeing “above average” returns. Shawnigan students will help move fish up Shawnigan Creek at Mill Bay this weekend, and the hatchery process will begin in a month with the harvesting and fertilizing of eggs.
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful West Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
