This is a journey that begins at a beach.
It is the beach that belongs to all of us, it’s where we first fell in love with the wild west coast, playing tag with the sea foam, and searching for the perfect smooth flat stone to send skipping into the waves. It is the same beach that inspires us still to make BC’s coast our home, and share the joy of the ocean with our children. Our beach is under threat now, by the proposed Enbridge pipeline, connecting Alberta Tar Sands to a supertanker port in Kitimat. To imagine this beach smothered in a thick layer of crude oil is enough to turn our passion into action! We are planning to bike from Victoria to Kitimat, to experience and document the coast untouched by tankers, and to ask the people we meet: what do you love about the coast and what will you do to protect it?
“On my beach, the slip and flow of silky tides has worn a landscape into the rocks. Within these valleys and lakes, life thrives. Anemones bloom, opening their soft green faces to the refracting light above, and the swirl and bubble of water nudges sleeping hermit crabs awake. There is a silver flash of a sculpin disappearing into the seaweed forest, where crabs seek solace from the ever-watchful feathered shadow above. The fluid mosaic of colour dances with my curiosity in the tiny watery world. The ocean makes me realize how interconnected everything is, and how delicate these connections may be. Above the pool, the forest rises majestically towards the sky, the trees cradled in a permanent embrace with the wind. The elements are forever intertwined, old friends on a long journey.” – Hannah
“Our upbringing plays the most important role in who we become, the surrounding shapes and interacting energies sculpting young minds and preparing us for the future. This coast was the playground that entertained my imagination and prepared me for the challenges coming my way. I was always taught to appreciate harmonious landscapes, pay attention to signs and sightings of wildlife, and leave the land as I found it. It is because of this attention to detail that I find myself deeply concerned with the threat tankers pose in these ‘protected’ waters. For me, it’s all about the colors, shapes, and divine proportions working together to form these perfectly synchronized ecosystems. The extent of detail that expands from the tiniest pebbles to the jagged mountaintops is the most amazing template and provides limitless inspiration. In the future, I hope that I will be able call upon these lands to teach my children and their children all of the valuable lessons one learns from living harmoniously with nature. “ – Tyese
So we’re asking you now, what you love about the coast and what you are willing to do to protect it. Our project focuses on creating a conversation about solutions – ways that we can all tread a little lighter on this earth and ask the government for legislation that does the same. We need to see a permanent legal ban on all crude oil tankers traveling in BC waters. Our journey to turn words to actions begins with a beach and two bicycles, what about yours?
