Thank you to the Coast Reporter for the splashy feature in last Friday's paper. Our team has been thrilled to work on a Herring Curtain Pilot Project in ḵalpilin (Pender Harbour).

Spring is near and field work is starting to pick up again! We ended last week with a smolts survey in the rain at Irvine's Landing. Still no salmon, but we did catch a stickleback! At Monday's smolts survey in Gerrans Bay, we caught our herring babies again – it's so much fun to watch them grow. We also caught a bay goby, a flat fish, some pipe fish, and a sculpin.

Last Friday, we ended the week with our first juvenile salmon survey of the year. Our youngest volunteer, Calvin, came out for his first survey at only four months old! No salmon yet, but we aim to begin our data set at zero. Thank you to all the volunteers who came out to help and enjoy the beautiful sunny February afternoon.

We’re proud to share that the Loon Foundation is now an Environmental Partner of 1% for the Planet!

On Tuesday, we conducted our monthly water quality sampling in Anderson Creek. We appreciate the volunteer support to assist our team in sampling. We will be expanding our freshwater monitoring program this year, and we are looking for keen volunteers who are interested in becoming environmental stewards of freshwater ecosystems on the Sunshine Coast.

The Loon Foundation is searching for a mission-driven Executive Director to lead our organization into its next chapter.

This week, we checked our herring curtain for the first time after installation last week. No herring spawn yet… but a variety of shrimp, some snails, and an anemone were found! We are very excited about this project and can't wait for spawning to start! A BIG thanks to our volunteers for supporting this work and learning with us.

Brigid is our new Environmental Education and Events Coordinator, with a deep passion for marine and coastal conservation. Growing up exploring the natural world around North Vancouver and now living in Pender Harbour, Brigid has combined their love for nature with hands-on experience in environmental consulting and wildlife monitoring.

We’re excited to share that the Loon Foundation has received $300,000 from Island Coastal Economic Trust, helping move the Pacific Ocean Discovery Stationcloser to opening! Support like this allows us to continue the careful work of building a space dedicated to learning, curiosity, and connection to our coastal ecosystems.

After a significant leadership transition, we have welcomed seven new Board of Directors, bringing together a team of experts in environmental science, business, community leadership, and communications to guide the Loon Foundation and the next phase of the Pacific Ocean Discovery Station (PODS) project.

shíshálh Nation has signed a 15-year relationship agreement with the Loon Foundation, kicking off a landmark collaboration in the development and operation of PODS.