Mark your Calendar.  Bob Turner will be at the Anglican Hall at St Peter's Church, 4703 Canal Road on Friday, June 10th at 7 PM to show 2 of his films:  “Why is the Salish Sea so rich with life?” and “The Plight of our Herring”.  Bob has created over 40 short movies about wildlife and wild places in the Salish Sea– from orcas and salmon runs to tide pool life and herring spawns. 

Anyone interested in the Salish Sea's geography, oceanography, people, environmental issues, as well as ideas and opportunities to sustain the Salish Sea will want to see these films.

There is a $5.00 charge and a door prize.  

Paddle and Picnic

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Join Bob Turner for a kayak trip from Hope Bay to St John's Point, Mayne Island [weather permitting], on Saturday, June 11th.  Meet at Hope Bay at 10.00 AM (weather permitting) and paddle to St. John’s point for a picnic.  Bring a kayak and picnic! Everyone is welcome.

PenderPod is partnering with Pender Island Conservancy for this special event.

An open letter from PenderPOD 

regarding the Island 2050, the new Trust Policy Statement

April 12th, 2022.

The Pender Ocean Defenders

wish to submit the following comments regarding Islands 2050, the new Trust Policy Statement.
PenderPOD is a non-government organization established in 2014 with
the vision of honoring, protecting and defending the Natural
Environment of the Salish Sea from actions that could harm it. We are
focused on the health of the marine ecosystems of the Salish Sea and
specifically the Southern Resident Killer Whales (Orca), Chinook salmon,
and the herring, which make up the marine food web.
We pursue our aims by a variety of peaceful actions including citizen
science, advocacy, education, art, public discussion and letter writing
campaigns.
As a general statement PenderPOD is very supportive of all the
proposed changes in the Policy Statement that lead to protecting the
long-term health of the Trust area and its stressed and threatened land
and marine ecosystems.
We recognize that we are in the midst of a catastrophe: a triple threat
involving massive loss of biodiversity, widespread pollution of the
natural systems on which all life depends and run away climate change
with all its negative impacts. All based on excessive consumption of the
earth’s resources.
In recognition of these events the revision of the Trust Council Policy is
timely and critical. We cannot maintain business as usual with respect
to land use practices on our fragile Islands. What happens on the

Islands’ land, including private land, and in the sea around us affects all
of us. The services provided by trees, eelgrass meadows, wetlands, and
the Islands’ aquifers affects us all, and only by having the power to
safeguard those systems can the Trust be effective.
It is necessary that the Island Trust has greater jurisdictional powers to
fulfill its preserve and protect mandate.
We applaud the Trust Council for taking on the difficult and
controversial task of revising the Trust Council Policy Statement and
believe this revision represents a unique opportunity for the Islands.
That the Trust already has the expressed mandate to “preserve and
protect the Trust Area and its unique amenities and environment for
the benefit of the residents of the Trust Area and of British Columbia”
this provides the rare opportunity to transform that manated
foundation into a structure that upholds ecological integrity and safe
environments for the people and wildlife that call the Salish Sea home.

Here is the first Installation of whale tiles

The Salish Sea is a tumult of engine roar, artificial sonar and seismic blasts that make it impossible for marine creatures to hunt or communicate. Anchorages also threaten our sensitive ecosystem of the Salish Sea and disrupt the habitat of endangered species, including the southern resident killer whale. A fuel spill would be disastrous for our coastal communities.