2010
Webstager
On Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 8AM it was indeed a cloudy day in Campbell
River, BC.
It was so cloudy that my technician and I wondered if bush pilots flew in this type of weather - or if the day would turn out sunny as was the forecast.
We boarded our chartered float plane to fly us up the Bute Inlet, an inland fjord (a long narrow arm of the sea) located on Canada's west coast of British Columbia.
As we got on our way, the pilot turned to the both of us and asked; "Have either one of you been up here before?" 
It turned out that it was the first day on the job and we were his first passengers. Our destination was Orford Valley, a unique river valley biosphere containing a diversity of wildlife, old growth forests and every fall up to 40 Grizzly bears. The Grizzly bears are there to feast on the annual salmon migration.
Starting in late summer, adult salmon return to the streams they started as eggs after a battle against almost all odds to survive. The lucky and the strong have fought for 4 years in the open ocean against numerous predators. Instinct brings them back to spawn, then die. The bears and other wildlife also await their return.
Our trip was to start a survey of the Bute Inlet for the future install of a Broadband Internet network, capable of handling live video and VOIP traffic. In the Orford, we are surveying the surrounding area to install web cams in strategic locations throughout the valley. The web cams will be positioned in areas of high Grizzly bear activity during the annual salmon migration in late summer, early fall. Live footage and stored video libraries will be available to members of the Bears of Bute area of our www.ThemeGreen.com social networking platform.
Members will be able to connect with one another, form groups, write articles and blogs while accessing video and still photos of Grizzlies and other wildlife in the unique and natural biosphere habitat of the Orford Valley. By sharing and exchanging ideas among members the goal is to raise awareness of the delicate Eco system that sustains the Grizzly population not only in the Orford Valley, but the entire Bute Inlet. Salmon are the keystone to an entire Eco system including the Salmon Forests and all the wildlife that depend on the annual migration for their food source.
Prudent management of salmon stocks in the Orford Valley of the Bute Inlet is a key element to saving our entire Eco system. Grizzly bears and other wildlife in the area depend on this as a source of ÔÇ£survivalÔÇØ. Learning from this example may, very well become a model for other areas on the planet to follow.
Additional photos can be seen at this location - http://www.webstager.com/bute_inlet.html