Packed week celebrates our ‘big blue back yard’
Ocean Week continues across Greater Victoria until June 11 with more than 40 events to celebrate “our big blue back yard,” says organizer Heather Murray.
“There’s really something for everyone because we live on the Salish Sea,” Murray said.
Ocean Week Victoria was launched in 2020 to connect the community with ocean-inspired events on southern Vancouver Island. There’s a focus on educational and social events that inspire individuals and groups to take action in conserving and protecting the Salish Sea, she said.
Events over the coming days range from building a whale skeleton and creating jewelry from sea glass to making art from algae, beach cleanups and evening paddles.
The theme for this year is Planet Ocean: The Tides Are Changing.
Ocean Week Victoria is connected to the larger national initiative, Ocean Week Canada, and broader international events, including the United Nations World Oceans Day on Thursday.
Some of the events include:
• Today
11 a.m. to 3 p.m. World Ocean Day celebration at Sidney’s Beacon Park with about 15 interactive and educational booths, touch pool, artist demonstrations and low-tide explorations
• Monday
9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Learn about the Salish Sea and its most charismatic marine mammal species with Prince of Whales and Pacific Wild Alliance, a drop-in educational event aboard Prince of Whale’s largest vessel, the Salish Sea Eclipse, docked in the Inner Harbour
1 p.m. Check out the sea otter specimen and tide pool at the Royal B.C. Museum. Feel how dense a sea otter’s fur is, learn the differences between sea and river otters, and check out the live intertidal animals in the tide pool. Event is included with
admission to the museum • Wednesday
3 - 6 p.m. Meet the racers and explore the boats for the Race to Alaska human-powered endurance test, Inner Harbour docks
7 p.m. Film screening at the Vic Theatre of the new documentary, Tsunami 11th Relative. Learn about the history of tsunami resilience on the Pacific West Coast, and how combining traditional Indigenous knowledge with ocean science can better prepare communities for the next big one
• Thursday
10:30 a.m. Virtual event: United Nations World Oceans Day 2023 Live Broadcast. Register at unworldoceansday.org
12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Intertidal walk at Cattle Point, Oak Bay, guided by Seaquaria Ocean Education
1:30 to 2:45 p.m. Nudibranchs and other sensational sea slugs, a webinar for elementary school students by the Marine Detective
6:30 to 9 p.m. Ocean Week trivia night at Bard and Banker Pub, downtown Victoria
• Friday
10 a.m. to noon. First Nations marine stewardship flotilla from Southern Vancouver Island will gather their vessels in the Inner Harbour to demonstrate Indigenous leadership in the blue economy. The public is welcome to witness the event from the causeway
6 - 7:30 p.m. Friday Night Social Paddle in Brentwood Bay is hosted by Pacifica Paddle Sports and Blue Jellyfish SUP Adventures, a chance to connect with the paddling community while enjoying the scenery of Saanich Inlet and Brentwood Bay Saturday
10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Ocean Day at Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites where Parks Canada interpreters, the southern resident killer whale outreach team and several partners are in on the day’s festivities. Join one or all programs offered throughout the day
1 to 3 p.m. Victoria Shoreline Clean Up at Songhees Park, meet at Songhees Park Plaza, Esquimalt Road
3 p.m.-4:15 p.m. Sea glass jewelry workshop at the Maritime Museum of British Columbia. Using locally sourced sea glass, create your own necklace, bracelet, earrings, or other one-of-akind jewelry
6 to 8 p.m. The Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea in Sidney hosts The Art and Science of Seaweed. Meet award-winning artist and author Josie Iselin and University of B.C. professor and seaweed scientist Patrick Martone to hear their seaweed stories.
• Sunday, June 11
11 a.m. to 4 p.m. World Ocean Day at Fisherman’s Wharf is a free, family-friendly event that brings together conservation organizations from around the Salish Sea. Featuring whale exhibits, divers, touch tanks, ocean-related book readings and much more. Participants include Royal B.C. Museum, Ocean Wise, World Fisheries Trust/Seaquaria, Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea, author Mark Leiren-Young, Canadian Orca Rescue Society, Cetus Society, Peninsula Streams Society, Galiano Conservancy Association, Pacific Wild, Ocean Networks Canada, RCM-SAR Unit 35, the Capital Regional District, Canadian Wildlife Federation, Parks Canada and SeaChange Marine Conservation Society
2 to 5:30 p.m. Art and Algae print-making workshop at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea with Josie Iselin