IN THIS EMAIL:
- Read about how four Manitoba First Nations are protecting one of the world’s largest remaining wild watersheds - Learn about painter Robert Bateman's long career of making art, studying mice and more
- Discover what it's like to encounter the carcass of a great white shark and how its remains can help save the living - Ready for your next adventure? Take a look at CMH Summer Adventure's trip Heli-Hiking in the Cariboos |
| How four Manitoba First Nations are protecting one of the world’s largest remaining wild watersheds An agreement with the government says nations can move forward with feasibility study for new Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area in the Seal River watershed
By Brian Banks
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| | Wetland area in the proposed Seal River Watershed Indigenous Protected Area. (Photo: Jordan Melograna / Seal River Watershed Indigenous Protected Area Initiative)
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The 50,000-square-kilometre Seal River watershed in northern Manitoba is one of the largest ecologically intact watersheds in the world. Teeming with biodiversity, its conservation value is almost without parallel. Located in the heart of the northern boreal forest, it is untouched by damming or industrial development. Beluga whales inhabit the mouth of the Seal River where it enters Hudson Bay; inland, the territory supports at least 25 known species at risk, such as barren-ground caribou, wolverines, and polar and grizzly bears. It’s also a critical breeding and migratory staging area for hundreds of species of birds. Roughly the size of Denmark or Costa Rica, permanently protecting it would add 0.4 per cent towards Canada’s goal of protecting 30 per cent of lands and waters by 2030. |
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(Photo: Birgit Freybe Bateman)
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| Regardless of the setting of Robert Bateman’s paintings, from the cold birch woods of Ontario, to the hot plains of Kenya to the adobe walls of New Mexico, they evoke an impression of elegy. The passage of time, as one form passes into another, moves through the shading, brush lines, and the positions of the painting’s natural subjects, whether that be rhinoceros, coyote or brown pelican. Bateman’s scenes are full of curiosity and clever allusions, but they are never innocent or grim, instead imbued with the indifference of natural symbiosis.
The apathy of Bateman’s subject is not mirrored in the artist. He was a close observer of the natural world from a young age; by 12 years old, he had painted every hawk and owl in North America. That age remains a pivotal marker for him — he posits that 12 is the age children stop spontaneously creating art, exchanging it for more communal activities, like sports. |
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| | The carcass of a juvenile great white shark is now part of the marine food chain as lobsters waste no time nibbling away at it.
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A great white shark lying dead on the ocean floor isn’t quite how most scuba divers imagine their first encounter with one of the ocean’s most recognizable fish. Yet, that is exactly how it went for Sara Vanderkaden and two other local divers — unlike the half dozen other divers that have spotted great whites swim past them in the waters around Halifax over the last couple of years.
The divers had been taking part in an underwater cleanup led by the Nova Scotia Underwater Council in Terence Bay, about half an hour’s drive south of Halifax. That is when they were approached by a member of the community, telling them there might be a dead shark in the water nearby. While this kind of information piques any diver’s curiosity, it is also rare and highly unusual. Curiosity overruled the skepticism, so they set off in search of the shark the next day, unsure of what, if anything, they might find.
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Canadian Geographic Adventures
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| | Perfectly placed within Canada’s ‘high country’, CMH Cariboos offers all the comforts of a well-appointed lodge in the middle of absolutely nowhere. Enjoy plush beds at night, and incredible adventure by day.
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Hike among the mighty Cariboo mountains with esteemed Canadian Geographic Ambassador, Scott Forsyth. Receive invaluable photography instruction during these 3-day, small-group travel experiences. Learn how to capture the grandeur of nature through a lens. This is a one-of-a-kind classroom. |
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