Small Town, Big Picture - TAP Session
2019-05-01 17:00 - 20:00 (America/Vancouver) | Tofino Community Hall, 351 Arnet Road, Tofino, British Columbia, V0R3A0, Canada
This three-hour orientation session delivers the “big picture” of living in Tofino. Learn about local history and basic ecology, cross-cultural understanding, businesses and activities, festivals, host etiquette, and important civic information. This is a great way to get up-to-date locals information about living and working in Tofino.
This course is a suggested prerequisite for other courses.
Location: Tofino Community Hall in the multi-purpose room (351 Arnet Road)
Time: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Dates: May 1, May 8, May 9, May 15, May 22, June 5, June 12, June 13
Participants of the Ambassador course will receive an Ambassador Card. Show your card for discounts and benefits at many local businesses!
This program is offered as a joint initiative of the Tofino Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Raincoast Education Society. Thank you to the District of Tofino for donating this space. Tourism Tofino is the main sponsor of this FREE program, along with the Chamber’s Business Excellence Awards gala event (May 9th).

Marine Ecology - TAP Session
2019-04-30 17:00 - 20:00 | Tofino Community Hall, 351 Arnet Road, Tofino, British Columbia, V0R3A0, Canada
This three-hour session focuses on the rich marine environment that plays an integral role in life on this coast. This course will cover the intertidal and pelagic ecosystems of Clayoquot Sound, including seaweeds, invertebrates, and marine mammals (and more!) as well as local oceanographic conditions.
Small Town, Big Picture is a suggested prerequisite for this course.
Location: Tofino Community Hall in the multi-purpose room (351 Arnet Road)
Time: 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Dates: April 30, May 16, June 3
Participants of the Ambassador course will receive an Ambassador Card. Show your card for discounts and benefits at many local businesses!
This program is offered as a joint initiative of the Tofino Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Raincoast Education Society. Thank you to the District of Tofino for donating this space. Tourism Tofino is the main sponsor of this FREE program, along with the Chamber’s Business Excellence Awards gala event (May 9th).

Birds of the West Coast 2019
2019-04-26 19:00 - 2019-04-28 13:00 | Tofino Botanical Gardens, 1084 Pacific Rim Hwy, Tofino, BC, V0R 2Z0, Canada
This course is now full! Email us to be added to the waitlist in case of cancellation.

The west coast of Vancouver Island features some of the best birding opportunities in North America. Lying directly along the Pacific Flyway, this region hosts huge numbers of migrating birds of all kinds each spring and fall. In the winter, the diversity and abundance of non-breeding birds remains high thanks to wide range of habitats and a mild climate. Tofino in particular is well-known birding hot-spot. Expansive mudflats provide an ideal stopover site used by tens of thousands of shorebirds each spring and fall, highly productive coastal waters sustain several large colonies of seabirds, and a mix of coastal rainforest and deciduous forest habitats attract a wide variety of breeding songbirds.
In this three day workshop (Friday evening until Sunday noon), participants will be introduced to the general ecology and biology of birds with an emphasis on the species commonly found in and around Clayoquot Sound. Topics covered will include basic ID skills, breeding biology, physiological adaptations, migration ecology, and conservation issues. This course is designed as a way to learn more about birds in general rather than how to ID specific species. Although participants will certainly learn how to ID common species, extensive birding experience is NOT required.

Course Registration is $280 per person, and includes Sunday’s boat trip and lunch on Saturday and Sunday.

Course instructor Mark Maftei’s passion for birds has taken him around the globe, from Ellesmere Island in the Canadian High Arctic to South Georgia Island in the Southern Ocean. Although he specializes in Arctic species, Mark’s more recent work with Environment Canada focused on ecological studies of colonial seabirds along the BC coast. Mark has been involved with several projects right here in Clayoquot Sound, and he has a unique insight into the ecology of the region. Mark is also the Executive Director of the Raincoast Education Society.

Weekend Schedule (subject to change):
Friday (7:00 pm – 9:00 pm)
Darwin’s Cafe at the Tofino Botanical Gardens

Introduction to the general biology and ecology of birds.
What makes birds unique?
How have they adapted to the habitats in which they live?

Note: this evening talk will be open to the public. Course participants do not have to pay admission as it is included in the cost of the course.
Saturday (8:30 am – 10:00 am)
Darwin’s Café

· Basic ID skills – what to look for in the field

(10:00 am – 4:00 pm) Field

We will spend the day outside looking at birds in a number of habitats around Tofino

(6:00 pm – 8:00 pm) Darwin’s Café

Life History – what are the strategies and adaptations birds have evolved to thrive in virtually every single habitat on earth?

Sunday (6:00 am – 1:00 pm)
Field

Boat trip! We will spend the day on the water observing and learning more about seabirds, the coolest birds of all!

Recommended Equipment and Reading
Any good bird guide (Sibley’s, Peterson’s, National Geographic)
A decent pair of binoculars
Field notebook and pencil
Camera
Appropriate clothing for all day in the field—rain or shine

Shorebird Shoreline Clean up
2019-04-13 10:30 - 13:30 | Tofino Botanical Gardens, 1084 Pacific Rim Hwy, Tofino, BC, V0R 2Z0, Canada
In preparation for an annual feeding frenzy, and to salute World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD), the Raincoast Education Society, along with partners, the Tofino Botanical Gardens, Surfrider Pacific Rim, and Strawberry Isle Marine Research Society, will be cleaning up plastic pollution from the mudflats shoreline.
The Tofino Mudflat areas and adjacent beaches bustle with busy bills frantically fueling up for a long and arduous journey. With 10’s of 1000’s of these feathered friends due to arrive on the shorelines, and the 22nd annual Tofino Shorebird Festival both quickly approaching, the aim is to help restore this critical stopover site and ensure the success of each bird along its migration route.
If you’d like to learn more, stop by The Tofino Botanical Gardens, on April 13, 2019, from 10:30-1:30. Better yet, grab a bucket and some friends, head to your favourite beach or area of the Inlet, and help us this spring, as we welcome back the birds.

Raincoast Walk
2019-04-05 10:00 - 11:30 | Tofino, Tofino, BC, Canada
Come learn about local ecology and the connection between the land and the sea, with Raincoast Education Society biologist. Meet at the Whale Lot (Lighthouse Loop). Rain or shine!

Orcas at Risk? Culture & Conservation of West Coast Killer Whales
2019-03-14 19:00 - 21:00 | Tofino Botanical Gardens, 1084 Pacific Rim Hwy, Tofino, BC, V0R 2Z0, Canada
The plight of Southern Resident Killer Whales has received international attention in recent years. Too much noise, disturbance and contaminants, and –– perhaps most importantly –– insufficient food, have all played a role in putting this population at serious risk. But while Southern Residents are struggling, other killer whale populations along the west coast are thriving. In this lecture, cetacean research biologist Dr. John Ford describes the importance of cultural traditions in the lives of orcas and how these dictate where they go, who they associate with, what they eat, and, ultimately, how well they can cope with a changing marine environment.
