Words and Photos by Diego D’Lorm
Our first voyage in the World is Your Oyster: Sustainable Oceans cohort was astounding. The charming sunny day after a few days of restless rain was perfect for our itinerary. We started the day bright and early and headed to the Crothall Arches for our ride to Pacifica Paddle Sports in Brentwood Bay. The next half hour was spent enjoying the gorgeous scenery of rural British Columbia from the inside of a cozy car. We then arrived and boarded our kayaks to begin our 3-hour ocean tour of the bay. The water was lined with pine trees and an immediate whiff of algae wafted up to us. The following few hours were peaceful. We learned to appreciate the ocean and how to preserve its beauty. I can also confidently say that after this experience, everyone was much more comfortable and had learned basic paddling skills. After kayaking, we were en route towards the Maritime Museum where we were informed about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The museums guides told us potential solutions and decisions we ought to make to reduce the amount of waste that finds its way to the ocean. The museum was filled with antique relics of oceanic discoveries and garbage that had been located on the coast of BC. After this short visit, we walked to a local beach to help clean and pick up the trash that had been stranded onto shore. This was a thought-provoking day and left us eager for our next day trip.