Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Name This Spot!

We have a winner for our very first "Name This Spot!" contest!
Our winner is Sarah who resides in Ottawa and correctly identified the photo at left as Kilbella Bay. She is the lucky recipient of our coveted Pncima "Floats My Boat" ball cap!
Thanks to all the others who sent in their answers.

Kilbella Bay which is situated on the north shore at the upper end of Rivers Inlet has two rivers, the Chuckwalla and the Kilbella flowing into a common estuary. Both river systems support a rich and diverse array of wildlife. The largest grizzly bear I've ever seen was at the confluence of the two rivers. About one hundred years ago there was a large salmon cannery operating in Kilbella Bay. Now there is just an old boiler, some pilings and a couple of derelict cabins left. The logging camp which operated there for a number of years is gone now. It has been over a decade since any commercial salmon fishing has taken place in Rivers Inlet due to diminished sockeye returns, however there is still a viable sport fishery in the area where anglers can catch some of the worlds largest chinook or the feisty coho. There has been some salmon enhancement projects to help build up the chinook stocks on the Chuckwalla and Kilbella rivers in recent years but these efforts are now concerned with the nearby Wannock River (chinook) and Johnston Creek. (coho)
About 7 km away is the First Nations Wuikinuxv Village whose people include Kilbella Bay and the two large watersheds in their traditional territory.
While Kilbella Bay is much quieter these days the salmon, steelhead, bears, wolves and eagles still thrive there. Trumpeter swans and geese still stop by on their annual migrations and the Wuikinuxv people still value the area as they have always done.
I'll post another photo of one of my favourite places on the coast shortly - stay tuned.

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