Recommended Reading
Below are some excellent books often found in our guides' portable libraries. All these books are great resouces for learning about the British Columbia Coast.
Sea kayaking: A manual for long-distance touring.
by John Dowd
"The classic reference on paddling, this goes way beyond the basics for really practical tips and tricks."
British Columbia: A natural history
By Cannings, R. and Cannings, S
"A beautiful and thorough book describing the range of ecosystems and their interactions in BC."
Killer whales
By Ford, John K.B., Ellis, Graeme M and Balcomb, Kenneth C
"Research and genealogy of the resident orcas from the researchers themselves. The ID photos are out of date, but this is still the authority on the whales in our waters."
Listening to whales
By Morton, Alexandra
"Stories and recollections of a whale researcher and all that she's learned from Orcas."
Plants of coastal British Columbia including Washington, Oregon and Alaska.
By Pojar, J. and MacKinnon, A
"This is the bible of plant ID on the coast: portable, useful and packed with notes on the life and traditional uses of plants."
Field guide to the pacific salmon
By Steelquist, Robert
"Great in-a-nutshell but accurate books."
Cedar: Tree of life to the northwest coast Indians
By Stewart, Hilary
"Brilliant descriptions and illustrations of traditional technology by a Quadra Island writer with an international stature."
Totem poles and tea
By Harold, Hughina
"Memories of a non-native woman who taught school on Village Island in 1935."
The curve of time
By Blanchet, M. Wylie
"A classic tale of widow's cruising adventures with her young family."
Heart of the raincoast
By Morton, Alexandra and Proctor, Billy
"The life story of a central figure in the Broughtons, and thus a modern history of the area itself. Very readable."
River City: A history of Campbell River and the Discovery Islands
By Taylor, Jeanette
"A lavishly illustrated survey history of the Discovery Passage region (including Quadra), with lots of anecdotes."
Interesting websites
Whale watching web - A huge database of whale related sites on the web.