magazine / ma04
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March/April 2004 issue |
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Watching the weather watchers
Most people try to avoid deadly storms, but the makers of a new Canadian Geographic documentary
on unpredictable squalls called "weather bombs" are actually chasing them.
"We became storm hunters," says Joanne Loton, an associate producer with Summerhill
Entertainment, makers of the CG Presents film, which airs on the Discovery Channel this spring. "It’s
difficult from a production point of view — we’re facing conditions that are
the opposite of what camera people want."
Weather bombs form quickly and move faster than hurricanes, creating huge waves and high
winds. They can arise when warm tropical storms collide with low-pressure ridges in the open
ocean and are occurring with increasing frequency in the waters off Vancouver Island.
Inspired by "Storm coast" (CG Nov/Dec 2002), which
looked at Pacific storm chasers, "Weather Bomb" takes a closer look at the mysterious
storms, those who love them and those who have barely survived them.
"The irony of these storms," Loton says, "is that you have visitors from
all over the world travelling to B.C. to be close to their power and beauty, and then you
have fishermen trying to outrun the storm and fighting for their lives and their ship. It’s
a twisted slice of nature."
Lindsay O’Reilly
 New films look at Pacific storms, sly owls and bear encounters.
And
there’s more. This season, CG Presents has a whole new lineup of riveting documentaries
that will entertain and educate. Among others, "Arctic Diamond Fever" looks at
the frenzied activity surrounding Canada’s new Northern gem industry; "Bear Attacks" investigates
human-bear interactions, and what to do if you become a target; "Eating Wild" tells
viewers what they can and can’t eat from the country’s natural backwoods cupboard;
and "Nature’s Stealth Fighter" delves into the sly and fearsome hunting skills
of the owl.
For your viewing pleasure
Now you can find monthly listings of all your favourite CG television shows on the web. Visit www.canadian
geographic.ca/tv and look for "Airing Schedules" to see what’s on the
networks in your part of the country.
Speaking for grizzlies
 From
Alberta forests to the wilds of Russia, naturalist Charlie Russell has spent 40 years studying
grizzly bears, learning to interact with the misunderstood creatures. If they are treated
kindly, he believes their peaceful nature will emanate. Through his spectacular photography
and heartwarming stories, Russell will share his grizzly passion with audiences in Toronto
and Ottawa in April. See www.rcgs.org for lecture
details.
Dune tracking
Its 47 kilometres of sandy coastline has made Prince Edward Island National Park one of the
country’s most popular parks. But as a result, it has also become the most threatened,
with some 830,000 people visiting it each year.
Ron Gaudet, a geography student in his fourth year at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax,
is classifying and mapping the delicate sand-dune ecosystem for his honours research project.
He hopes that the map resulting from his work will be used in a new brochure the Maritime
park is producing to inform visitors about the critical and fragile state of the sandy formations.
With a research grant from The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Gaudet spent two weeks
last summer surveying 500 dune locations with a GPS device and aerial photographs. Despite
the park’s numerous efforts to curtail human activity on the dunes, he observed people
using blowouts — depressions left by the erosion of weakened dunes — as areas
to lie on the beach for the day. "It was evident," he says, "that educating
park tourists about the dunes is still needed."
Monique Roy-Sole
Christmas on ice
Ottawa high school student Sarah Boteler spent last Christmas a little differently. Around
midnight on Christmas Eve, she was tobogganing in the sun, surrounded by mountains of ice,
rock and snow. Later that night, she slept on a ship with other students, teachers and scientists.
It was, she says, the experience of a lifetime. Boteler won this year’s Canadian
Geographic Polar Bound contest and spent nine days in Antarctica with the Students On
Ice program.
"It seems unreal," says Boteler as she looks back on the trip that was designed
to teach students about the environment and sustainable living. "We were so isolated
there." Her well-researched video entry, "Garbage and Our World," earned her
passage on the voyage to the frozen continent.
The trip had a big impact on the grade-12 student. She is now more environmentally aware
and has applied to environmental science programs at university. "I think I appreciate
how terrible it would be if the Antarctic was negatively affected."
Dynamic atlas
Teachers visiting the websites of the Canadian
Council for Geographic Education and the Atlas
of Canada, will soon find valuable lesson plans that will turn their students into amateur
cartographers.
The plans, created by teachers from across the country, use online maps to teach issues,
such as those facing Canada as a circumpolar nation. Students can zoom in and out and get
other material they couldn’t get from a paper map. "The online atlas adds a dynamic
element," says Kirsten Davel, geography head at St. Michaels University School in Victoria
and a project coordinator. "What better way to explore Canada’s geography?"
The lessons will provide a curriculum-based resource that is ready to use. "It is wonderful," says
Davel, "to have lessons available online that are tried, tested and true."
 Time
to cheer
Up to 50 students from each province and territory have earned a spot in the provincial and
territorial finals of The Great Canadian
Geography Challenge, taking place in April. Almost 1,000 schools across the country participated
in the school-level competition, and only 35 lucky students will make it to the national
finals in May.
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