Our travel NW up the Strait of Georgia was made more circuitous by some vagaries of the weather, which made it convenient to divert eastward back into the general Desolation Sound area we had visited last month. We traveled to the eastern side of Cortes Island to little Squirrel Cove (50deg.07.33N, 124deg.54.32W), arriving just as a brief rain squall petered out – which made locating the narrow entrance and anchoring, that much easier. Word is, Squirrel Cove gets filled with boats during the height of summer, but now in late May it’s relatively uncrowded and nicely quiet even if several other boats are anchored nearby.
Though no squirrels were sighted, the cove’s critter count was satisfying: bald eagles, black oystercatchers, the ubiquitous herring gulls, flotillas of Canada geese with their peeps, and one rufous hummingbird no doubt looking for that special someone. There were fish large and small, sea stars, jellies, and oyster beds surrounding the inner and outer coves.
GB follows the philosophy of Lord Bowler, who said, "Don’t eat what you bring — if you can eat what you find." Ordinarily this would mean that all the Squirrel Cove oysters should run for their little bivalve lives, as we both love us some shellfish. However, these fellas were safe, because (1) it’s illegal to harvest shellfish in Squirrel Cove; (2) shellfish harvesting has been banned in most of the inland BC waters hereabouts; and (3) though we may be scofflaws, this is what we had to travel through to get to Squirrel Cove, and it’s the most terrific deterrent to shellfish dining there is:
In five separate areas, there were large swaths of water that were bright orange – as if someone had dropped dye markers everywhere. These foamy, oily-appearing orange masses followed the current, and when they washed ashore they spread a film across rocks and sand. Feh. Here are the remarks of Rick Harbo in his field guide, "Whelks to Whales" (2002), at p. 201: "The Pacific Northwest is unfortunately an area where toxic marine algae flourish. Most people are aware of "red tides" of microscopic algae….Algae are concentrated by filter-feeding bivalve (two-shelled) shellfish and can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). Over time, many people have become sick and some have died from eating clams…, mussels, oysters, scallops and other bivalve shellfish." Harbo further remarks that other species of toxic algae can sicken and kill fish, seabirds, marine mammals and humans; and the duration and frequency of toxic algae blooms has increased since the 1980s. Other sources report that PSP toxins can remain in the affected bivalves for as long as a year after the bivalve’s first contact with it (whenever that may have been). 
It’s enough to put one off clam linguine forever.
I don’t know what species of algae turns the water bright orange, but I’m calling this one red tide – because "orange tide" sounds too much like a citrus-scented laundry detergent.
Having cheated death once again, here’s GB test-driving the hammock in 80-degree foredeck weather at Rebecca Spit,* our current anchorage:
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* Quadra Island, 50deg.06.15N, 125deg.11.51W
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