Gwaii Haanas National Park/Haida Heritage Site

On March 19, 1997, four oil companies relinquished their petroleum exploration rights to areas within the proposed boundaries for the Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area. This clears the way for Parks Canada to move ahead with the establishment of the marine component of Gwaii Haanas. The proposed Gwaii Haanas Marine Conservation Area will be co-managed by the Government of Canada (through Parks Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans) and the Council of Haida Nations.

National Marine Conservation Areas (NMCAs) are marine areas managed for sustainable use, often containing smaller zones designated for high protection. They include the seabed, its subsoil and overlying water column, and may encompass wetlands, river estuaries, islands and other coastal lands. While activities such as undersea mining, oil and gas exploration and extraction, and ocean dumping are not permitted within the boundaries of NMCAs, most traditional fishing activities, managed on a sustainable basis, can continue.

Canada and British Columbia have agreed to cooperate on developing a network of marine protected areas along the Pacific Coast. National Marine Conservation Areas will be managed on a partnership basis. A Marine Conservation Areas Act is currently being formulated. It is under this pending federal legislation that the Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area will be formally established.

Biological diversity throughout the Pacific region is high. The variety of invertebrates along this coast is the richest in Canada, with more than 3,000 species representing 3.5 percent of the world’s marine invertebrates. The 400 species of fish fauna is only slightly less diverse than in the Atlantic.

The Pacific region are critically important to many species of breeding seabirds. It supports a significant proportion of the world’s population of rhinoceros auklet (25 percent), Cassin’s auklet (70 percent) and ancient murrelet (40 percent), as well as some 75 percent of Canada’s tufted puffins. It also provides nesting and feeding areas for large masses of migrating wintering ducks, geese, loons and shorebirds.
Abundant food resources also attract grey, minke, humpback and killer whales, harbour and Dall’s porpoises and Pacific white-sides dolphins. Harbour seals and Steller sea lions are common. Steller sea lions are year-round residents.

Gwaii Haanas takes in the Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Island Shelf regions, the Nass and Skeena river systems. These water bodies support one of Canada’s largest commercial salmon fisheries and are of primary importance to all five species of salmon, as well as to steelhead trout.

More than fifty seabird breeding colonies are found in the region, with ten colonies supporting more than 10,000 pairs of birds each. At least 240,000 pairs of Cassin’s auklets, rhinoceros auklets and ancient murrelets breed here. A strictly marine race of peregrine falcons also nests on the islands. Some 70,000 seabirds and waterfowl winter in the region.

Whales are divided into two groups: toothed whales and baleen whales. Toothed whales are predators and prey on fish, squid and marine mammals. In Gwaii Haanas they include killer whales, sperm whales, Cuvier's beaked whales, short finned pilot whales, Baird's beaked whale, northern right whale dolphin, Risso's dolphin, Pacific white-sided dolphin, Dall's porpoise and the harbour porpoise.

Baleen whales scoop huge mouthfuls of plankton and feed it through a straining apparatus in their mouth called a baleen. Baleen whales in Gwaii Haanas include humpback whales, gray whales, minke whales, fin whales, blue whales, sei whales and right whales.

All the Haida Gwaii cetaceans taken together represent seventeen species.

A large sea lion rookery is located at Cape St. James at the southern tip of Gwaii Haanas. There are also several haul-outs in the Gwaii Haanas area. Sea lions are especially vulnerable from late May to the middle of July when cows (female sea lions), are giving birth. They pick birthing spots high on the rocks to protect the young from being swept away and drowned. Pups are helpless for the first two weeks of their life. Any disturbance that causes the cow to move from its spot puts the pup at risk of falling into cracks in the rocks, or drowning in the ocean. Boats must stay away from the rookery during this time period.

Eagles in Gwaii Haanas tend to nest in locations where there is an abundance of seabirds and marine life for food, and where large trees will support their massive nests that can weigh up to 900 kilograms (2000 pounds).

The rare Peale's peregrine falcons in Gwaii Haanas make up 25% of the bird's British Columbia population. Seabirds (especially murrelets and petrels) are the peregrine falcon's major prey. However, nesting close to their colonies is not a necessity. Falcons will fly considerable distances to obtain food, and will even attack flocks of murrelets several kilometers out to sea.

Along the archipelago’s east coast, sheltered from the open ocean, exists one of the riches life zones in the world. This richness is particularly evident at Burnaby (or Dolomite) Narrows. There, the tidal flow is constricted through a 50-meter wide channel, providing a nearly constant flow of nutrient-rich water. Few, if any, intertidal areas contain the concentration of living organisms found here. Over 200 species of animals have been identified in amazing concentrations. In one survey, bat stars were counted at a density of 74 per square meter; on Vancouver Island, the typical density is seven per square meter. It is the high concentration of life that makes the Narrows one of the most special and vulnerable places in Gwaii Haanas.

The giant kelp and bull kelp found along the coast of Gwaii Haanas belong to the brown algae phylum. Anchored to the ocean floor with a holdfast, their flexible stalks grow towards the sunlight at the water’s surface. There, the plant continues to grow, draping a protective canopy over the sea life that teems below.

Hundreds of species of fish and invertebrates feed on and find shelter in the kelp’s leaves or fronds. Some predators use the concealment of fronds to surprise unwary prey. Marine mammals, like sea lions and harbour seals, rest, play and occasionally hunt in the kelp forest. Bat stars, snails and anemones will feed on drift kelp-fronds that have broken off from the main plant.

Today the sea urchin, whose appetite for kelp was once kept in check by the sea otter, poses a considerable threat to the kelp forests. High concentrations of red sea urchin are found all along the east coast of Moresby Island. The sea otter were almost completely wiped out by the fur trade in the late 1800s. Consequently, the delicate balance of the kelp forest ecosystem was disrupted. The logo chosen for the Gwaii Haanas Archipelago Management Board represents a sea otter and sea urchin. It was designed by Gitsga, a local Haida Artist. Gwaii Haanas is hoping to see the return of the sea otter to its waters in the near future.