Ahousaht’s Coastal Nations Coast Guard Auxiliary team has extensive search and rescue training and a vessel that’s equipped with the latest marine technology. These are critical assets as they race to find a sinking fishing boat with a man overboard.
Every marine search and rescue mission begins with a catastrophe on the water, from capsized boats to lost kayakers. Ahousaht’s Coastal Nations Coast Guard Auxiliary team searches for a diver who became separated from his diving partner.
Ahousaht’s Coastal Nations Coast Guard Auxiliary team is highly qualified to carry out marine rescues and promote water safety. There are times when their mission is to support the members of their community, including youth who are considered at risk.
The First Nations communities along B.C.’s coastal waterways have been expert mariners and boat builders for thousands of years. This history makes the Ahousaht Nation a formidable search and rescue team on Vancouver Island’s rugged western coastline.
After a long day of patrolling the waterways in Quatsino Sound, the Coastal Nations Coast Guard Auxiliary team is tasked with searching for two missing kayakers. As night falls and temperatures drop, the search for the kayakers becomes an urgent mission.
Under optimal weather conditions, the Coastal Nations Coast Guard Auxiliary’s rescue boat can travel up to 50 knots an hour. With that power, the Quatsino team heads to a remote inlet to check on an Elder whose family is concerned about their wellbeing.
‘Namgis territory covers several islands off of northern Vancouver Island and along the Nimpkish River, making every search and rescue mission challenging. The ‘Namgis team searches for a beachcomber who has been missing from the area for two days.
Training exercises are critical to the success of every search and rescue mission. Quatsino’s Coastal Nations Coast Guard Auxiliary team practices high-speed manoeuvres and crew overboard drills so they are ready for anything the ocean throws at them.
Heiltsuk’s Coastal Nations Coast Guard Auxiliary team uses marine radar, longitude and latitude coordinates and an extensive knowledge of local waters in their rescues. In today’s mission, the team searches for a crab fisherman stranded on his boat.
The Coastal Nations Coast Guard Auxiliary program has created job opportunities for First Nations people in eight coastal communities in British Columbia. In today’s mission, the Heiltsuk team investigates a possible oil spill in their traditional waterways.
B.C.’s coastal waterways are littered with fallen trees and debris that create a serious hazard to boaters. Heiltsuk’s Coastal Nations Coast Guard Auxiliary team is tasked with doing a shoreline search for an overdue fishing boat with one man aboard.
An oil spill from a grounded tug and barge in 2016 proved devasting to the Heiltsuk, who use their waterways for food, transport and cultural practices. Today, Heiltsuk’s Coastal Nations Coast Guard Auxiliary team searches for a missing community member.
In this episode of “Ocean Warriors: Mission Ready,” representatives from the eight Coastal Nations Coast Guard Auxiliary teams travel to Prince Rupert to take part in a friendly skills competition. Who will emerge victorious?
A floatplane with four people aboard reports a hard ocean landing, flipping over in an area of turbulent riptides. The Quatsino Nation Coast Guard Auxiliary joins the Gordon Reid Canadian Coast Guard Ship to search for the downed plane.
Amid training exercises, two Quatsino Nation Coast Guard Auxiliary vessels respond to a frantic “mayday” from people trapped on a small boat with its engine on fire. The environmental threat evokes vivid memories of previous industrial pollution.
As the Quatsino Nation Coast Guard Auxiliary battles shifting tides and looming storms to search for a missing mushroom picker, the legend of Bak’was, Quatsino’s “wild man of the woods,” resurfaces.
The Quatsino Nation Coast Guard Auxiliary heads into an area of dangerous underwater rocks and logging debris to rescue a clam digger. It reminds them of an earlier era when the shellfish harvest was decimated by industrial polluters.
With the help of a search and rescue member from Kyuquot, the Quatsino Nation Coast Guard Auxiliary searches dark waters and hidden coves for signs of a lost paddleboarder.
Struggling against a heavy tide, the Nisga’a Nation Coast Guard Auxiliary pulls close to a civilian boat to help an injured passenger. The area the two vessels are in was once the scene of Canada’s deadliest volcanic event, the eruption of the Tseax Cone.
As Nisga’a community members unite to rescue two fishermen lost at sea, others work on land to reclaim parts of their heritage that have been lost over time or misappropriated by outsiders who are unaware of their cultural significance.
When unlicensed hunters are suspected on their territory, the Nisga’a Nation Coast Guard Auxiliary calls in a compliance and enforcement officer to ensure the protection of their fish, wildlife and timber resources.
Local knowledge of the wind and tides is key to the success of the Gitxaala Nation Coast Guard Auxiliary. The same powerful currents and rugged shores that test visiting boaters sustain the community’s vital sources of seaweed and marine life.
As the Kitkatla search and rescue unit uses their training to board an out-of-control tour boat and aid its incapacitated captain, children in the community strengthen their artistic skills through the lens of their culture and language.
As the search and rescue team races to aid campers in distress, Gitxaala Elders share the deep cultural heritage of their 5,000-year-old community, inspiring youth to learn from the wider world while staying rooted in their traditions.
As a second Coast Guard unit searches Gitxaala’s maze of islands for a lost boater, locals of all ages gather the traditional foods that sustain their community.
As Gitxaala Nation’s Ocean Warriors search for a diver who has failed to return to his boat, the Kitkatla community celebrates the repatriation of cultural artifacts. These sacred treasures bring new hope and fresh insight into the ways of their ancestors.