Coming 2025
Some places take a lifetime of preparation to get to. The Goose Group of Islands has been on my radar for a number of years. It is time.
I first heard of the Goose Group of Islands in November 2017 when a barge transporting 3.5 million litres of diesel, and 468,000 litres of gasoline broke away from its tug and almost crashed on Goose shores. It was on that night, as I watched a tiny blip on a screen drift closer and closer to shore, that I decided should the Island survive, I would one day swim there.
This was the second incident in the Great Bear Sea that I had heard of within in a two-year period. Both incidents were in the traditional territory of the Heiltsuk Nation, in waters I have come to know and love. The more time I spend there, learning about the day-to-day lives of the people in the community, the more I understand the devastation an incident like this would bring. It is not just about the ecological impact, it is about the survival of a Nation and their way of life.
The Goose Group of islands is in the Queen Charlotte Sound about 30 kilometres southwest of Bella Bella. The islands are part of a diverse ecosystem with white-sand beaches, abundant seabirds and ample marine-life, including sea otters who live amongst the kelp by the shore.
The islands are part of the Hakai Luxvbalis Conservancy Area.
The swim will be one of my most challenging, as I make my way down Hunter Channel to the sound. The waters will be between 8 and 12 Celsius and the journey may have to be split over 2 days as I battle strong tidal currents throughout this extensive archipelago. The final 15 kilometers of the swim will be in open ocean where large swells rise-up from the ocean as winds make their way across the Pacific Ocean into the sound.
The reward at the end of the journey, however, will be fully worth the effort it will take to swim to the islands shore.
