The waters around Yuquot were teeming with life on Tuesday, Jan. 18, as residents Ray and Darrell Williams spotted about 100 eagles eyeing salmon, sea lions, humpback whales and a group of orcas with a newborn riding on one of their backs.

“On the back beach we were with them for quite a while,” said Ray of the boat trip he took with his son, when they spotted a group of half a dozen killer whales. “When we got back out again, they were in front of the cove.”

Despite getting hit by record-breaking rainfall and cold, snowy conditions throughout the fall and winter, the Highway 4 Kennedy Hill Safety Improvement Project remains on track, according to the Ministry of Transportation.

“The project is expected to be substantially completed by summer 2022, with finishing touches continuing throughout the fall,” the ministry said. 

After kicking off in 2018, the construction project was originally slated for completion in the summer of 2020. 

A Port Alberni resident who routinely saves people from fatally overdosing feels governments need to do a lot more than decriminalize to prevent B.C.’s toxic drug crisis from growing worse.

The city’s overdose rate jumped by 41 per cent in 2021, the biggest increase since a provincial health emergency was declared five years ago.

As Canada closes and restricts its fisheries to protect plummeting wild salmon stocks, a new report suggests that boats in southeast Alaska may be intercepting salmon populations as they return to Canadian rivers to spawn. 

Commissioned by Watershed Watch Salmon Society and SkeenaWild Conservation Trust, the report was released in conjunction with the U.S. and Canada’s annual review of bilateral management under the Pacific Salmon Treaty.

The family of Kevin “Bear” Henry, 37, of Penelakut First Nation, continues to search the treacherous tangle of remote logging roads in hopes they will find their loved one, who hasn’t been seen or heard from since Nov. 27, 2021.

A massive undersea volcanic eruption triggered a weekend tsunami alert and sent surges of waves up Vancouver Island inlets on Sunday morning.

Hunga-Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai is an undersea volcano located in the Tonga region of the South Pacific, more than 9,000 kilometres from Vancouver Island. According to reports, the volcano has been active in recent weeks, having previously erupted on Dec. 20 and Jan. 13.

It’s been over three months since 109 shipping containers were knocked from a cargo ship traveling through rough seas off the west coast of Vancouver Island, yet the location of all but four remain unknown.

Ashley Tapp, co-founder of Epic Exeo, said her initial optimism that the ship’s owner would be held accountable for the missing containers has begun to fade. 

“I’m starting to get pretty discouraged,” she said. 

Grieg Seafood BC Ltd. is introducing nine camera sensor units to its fish farm operations along the east and west coast of Vancouver Island. 

Designed by OptoScale, a Norwegian technology company, the sensors and software enable real-time analysis of fish biomass and welfare.

Up until now, Grieg Seafood said the only way to acquire accurate data about farmed salmon populations’ growth and performance was through harvesting. 

British Columbia has plans to expand its inventory and distribution of rapid COVID-19 tests that can be used at home by individuals experiencing symptoms of the virus. 

Case rates from the latest variant, Omicron, have risen to the highest levels seen during the pandemic, according to the BC COVID-19 Modelling Group.

The modelling group, which works on rapid response modelling of the pandemic, estimates that prior to Christmas, Omicron cases in B.C. were growing 21 to 26 per cent each day, doubling every three to 3.6 days.

Mariah Charleson is disappointed she won’t be showcasing her basketball skills in Prince Rupert next month.

But Charleson, who founded the Hesquiaht Descendants women’s basketball squad in 2015, is hoping she will indeed have the opportunity to travel with her teammates to the British Columbia city this spring.

The Descendants had registered to compete in this year’s All Native Basketball Tournament (ANBT), which had originally been scheduled to commence on Feb. 13.