Adventure on Saltspring Island
Part 6: Spirit bears and sponge reefs

Tom Reimchen lived in a log cabin on Haida Gwaii for 15 years.

Spirit bears and sponge reefs are two of nature's wonders that live in the Inland Passage of western Canada and Alaska. My knowledge of both was minimal before presentations by Tom Reimchen and Kim Conway at the Western Canada Explorers Club conference on Saltspring Island last September.

Reimchen, who has a Ph.D. in marine ecology, lived in a log cabin on Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands), for 15 years. These islands have been the home of the Haida people since the last ice age, 10,000 years ago. Their history and legends record their respect for the raven, spirit bear, eagle, and salmon. Reimchen collected data from the islands and their 700 lakes in order to determine the evolution of these natural species.

The relationship between the spirit bear, salmon, and forests became his obsession. He discovered that spirit bears caught salmon and carried their carcasses into the forests. Remnants of the carcasses provided nutrients for the vegetation, insects, and birds.

Reimchen discovered that the spirit bear through its feasting on salmon provided nutrients for all living things on Haida Gwaii.

When the British Columbia government granted logging rights along the islands rivers, Reimchen discovered that removal of the trees destroyed the salmon habitat, virtually eliminated the spirit bear, and had disastrous effect on the rest of the wildlife on the islands. This, in turn, had negative effects on the fishing and tourism industries. As a result of his research, there is now a movement to protect the land through co-management by the Haida Nation and the Canadian government.

Kim Conway, a marine geologist employed by the Geological Survey of Canada, is an expert on deltas and fjords of western Canada. Quite by accident in the early 1990s, he discovered sponge reefs in the Inland Passage. Sponge reefs, not coral reefs, are living fossils found as limestone rock formations in Europe. Those in the Canadian deep shelf waters are unique in the world today.

Sponges are among the oldest known multicellular animals dating back 600 million years. The sponge reefs formed when icebergs scoured deep trenches on the western Canada continental shelf. The fast current delivered an adequate supply of nutrients for sponges to grow in these deep water beds. The reef has been growing for 9,000 years and is a habitat for a wide variety of fish and invertebrates.

Conway realized that fishing vessels dragging nets across the seafloor were destroying the sponge reefs. With the efforts of Conway and his colleagues, the Geoscience for Ocean Management Program is providing knowledge for the protection of Canada's offshore resource development. Laws now protect the sponge reefs.

Above: Billions of tiny sponges like this have been living and dying building the sponge reef in the Inland Passage. Left: Kim Conway found sponge reefs in the Inland Passage. Below: The only remaining living sponge reefs are located in the Inland Passage of western Canada.