Cottage At The Cove

Location

Secluded Telegraph Cove, British Columbia, Canada, on Northern Vancouver Island is the point of departure. Telegraph Cove is a picturesque, boardwalk community with a rich history. The Cove opens up onto Johnstone Strait and the Blackfish Archipelago. This area of great tranquility has one of the richest marine eco-systems in the world and has proven to be the ideal location to study marine mammals.

 The most researched marine mammal has been the killer whale (orca). The Michael Bigg Ecological Reserve at Robson Bight has been established as a sanctuary for the Orca and is 12km from Telegraph Cove. It is an especially important habitat for the Northern Community of Resident Orca due to its concentration of rubbing beaches. The Reserve encompasses 1248 ha of marine area and 505 ha of landmass and is under the protection of British Columbia Parks.

It is in this area, that Dr. John Ford, Graeme Ellis and the late Dr. Michael Bigg have conducted pioneer research into the distinct populations of Orca, their vocalizations and social structure. Their research continues here with further insights into Orca populations’ evolution (DNA) and behaviours being provided by the research of Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard, Volker Deeke and Alexandra Morton, amongst others. It is the work of Dr. Michael Bigg that spearheaded all subsequent research with his having discovered a system for identifying individual Orca.

Dr. Paul Spong and Helena Symonds have established the OrcaLab as a centre of cetacean acoustics research near Johnstone Strait. Here, vocalization samples are collected 24 hours a day. They have booked great success in increasing global awareness about the marine ecosystem with their “Orca-live” website that relays live images and vocals from The area.

Telegraph Cove is also home to a unique collection of marine mammal bones. Jim Borrowman has avidly collected specimens for educational purposes. The collection includes a fully assembled Orca, Pacific white-sided dolphin, Harbour porpoise, Dall’s porpoise, Steller sea lion, Harbour seal, Sea otter, Common otter, Minke whale an 18 meter Fin whale and many others on various stages of repair.