Comox Valley Naturalists Society

March

Sunday, March 16, 2008
7:00 p.m. at the Florence Filberg Centre
Basking Sharks - The Slaughter of BC's Gentle Giants

The regular monthly meeting of the Comox Valley Naturalists Society will be held March 16 2008, at 7:00 pm at the Florence Filberg Centre, 411 Anderton Avenue, Courtenay. The featured speaker will be Mr. S. Wallace, coauthor of “Basking Sharks, The Slaughter of B.C.'s Gentle Giants”.

If B.C.'s (now) rare basking sharks were instead huge old trees, there would be huggers, demos, and petitions. We tried to exterminate basking sharks, starting in the 1940's, and continued until fairly recent times. Basking sharks are the world's second largest fish but are not dangerous. Toothless, they filter feed small plankton through their gills. They once occurred on BC's coastline in large numbers,  are now very rare and have recently been designated as an endangered species in Canada.

Scott Wallace is a Sustainable Fisheries Analyst, with the David Suzuki Foundation. He holds a Ph.D. in Resource Management from the University of British Columbia, and he is currently a member of the Marine Fishes Subcommittee of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). Scott is also an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia's Fisheries Centre. He has never seen a basking shark. Hopefully this will change in the future.

Scott, and Brian Gisborne are authors of  “Basking Sharks, The Slaughter of B.C.'s Gentle Giants” available from New Star Books. Please come and join us to become better informed about these beautiful creatures. Copies of the book will be available for signing by the author.

There will also be a short presentation by Mr. Jack Minard, "The Comox Valley Conservation Strategy”. Mr. Minard, is the Executive Director of the Comox Valley Land Trust. Between 1991 and 2002, 60% of sensitive ecosystems in the Comox Valley were either lost or fragmented. The proposed Conservation Strategy outlines critical ecological areas that need to be protected or restored for biodiversity and species protection.

Click on a link below to view descriptions of previous guest speakers.