With stellar sea lions above and wolf eels, octopus, and six-gill sharks lurking below, the emerald seas that encircle Hornby Island guarantee some memorable undersea thrills.

By Jett Britnell

While I was on my drysuit, I recall thinking how far it seemed I had travelled from the time I stood alone in front of my fifth grade class at Regina Public School in Ottawa to deliver my interest talk on sharks. Yes, back then I knew my sharks all right. I was a virtual fountain of knowledge about tiger sharks, blue sharks, bull sharks, lemon sharks, hammerhead sharks and, of course, what kind of shark expert would I have been if I could not sermonize about the infamous great white shark. And this was all several years before the movie, Jaws, created its own kind of shark frenzy by capitalizing on the general public's inherent fear of sharks.

During my first descent at Flora Islet it dawned on me just before I reached the bottom that I knew very little about six-gill sharks. The underwater visibility was spectacular at about 30 meters, or more. At approximately five minutes into the dive, one of my adolescent dreams materialized into reality. That was the moment I gazed into the bright emerald-green eyes of my first six-gill shark.

What an animal, I thought, it has to be a 10-footer! Cruising slowly along the top of Flora Islets steep drop off, the shark appeared to show no real interest in us. On the other hand, my dive buddy and I were absolutely enthralled with the creature. Keeping a close and yet respectful distance, we were able to keep pace and swim beside the shark for quite some time.

In total, we saw more than twelve different sharks that day. Remarkably, the same scenario repeated itself during our second dive the following day. Little did we know that it was a very rare occurrence to see so many six-gill sharks during one dive. Normally you count yourself lucky if you see only one, let alone two or three sharks. As near as we could figure, there must have been an El Niño or some other unusual phenomena happening since the six-gill shark experience we enjoyed was truly an uncommon one.

Hornby Island's Flora Islet is unique in that it is one of the few places in the world where sport divers can see the seemingly docile six-gill sharks. A sluggish species, six-gill sharks can attain lengths of over six meters (20 feet), though specimens in the range of two to four meters (6-12 feet) are more common. These are deepwater sharks that have been fished off Portugal at depths of over a mile. Curiously, they tend to be caught in deeper water toward tropical latitudes and in shallower water toward colder latitudes. While their appearance within sport diving depths at a few specific locations in British Columbia during the summer months remains a mystery, marine biologists speculate that these sharks ascend from their deepwater environ and move into shallower water to either mate or take advantage of more abundant food sources.

During our most recent trip to Hornby Island we made two dives at Flora Islet with the express hope of seeing a six-gill shark. Alas, the six-gill sharks eluded us.

We were out diving for a few days with Hornby Island Diving, one of British Columbia's oldest scuba diving establishments. Bob Zielinski, who is regarded as being one of British Columbia's diving pioneers, began running scuba diving charters here well over a quarter century ago. These days Bob's son, Rob, runs the business. Since taking the helm from his father, Rob has been instrumental in planning and executing changes designed to ensure that Hornby Island Diving remains in operation for another twenty-five years. With the exception of the top floor observation room which has been wholly maintained, the old dive lodge has been completely renovated and overhauled. The lodge now features two floors of comfortable living space with numerous semiprivate bedrooms that can accommodate up to twenty-four divers with two to four guests to a room. Other amenities include two large bathrooms complete with shower stalls, a large modern kitchen and dining area, a battery charging nook, outside rinse tanks for dive gear, and a traditional cedar sauna. Assisting Rob with the day to day business of running a successful dive operation is his fiancée, Amanda Heath. Together they make a fine duo and clearly demonstrate a sincere regard to satisfying the needs and enjoyment of their guests.

Also long gone are the days when Hornby Island Diving would load a group of divers into a converted aluminum herring skiff. Although such an austere dive platform served divers well in the past, it was clearly not up to snuff by modern dive resort standards. Today, all the diving is conducted from a beamy, custom built, 32-foot aluminum dive boat that is equipped with twin 200 horse-power outboard engines. The comfortable vessel has an aluminum canopy over the dive deck and a small cabin area that can keep surface cameras and other gear dry.

A lot more than just the diving facilities has changed on Hornby Island in the ten years since we last went diving there. While the island residents remain mindfully protective about preserving their idyllic rural atmosphere, the recent emergence of coffee bars, arts and craft shops, pottery studios, and quaint bed & breakfast establishments in no way detracts from Hornby Island's pleasantly pastoral feel. A popular topside highlight for many Hornby Island visitors is the magnificent beaches at Tribune Bay and Whaling Station Bay.

While Hornby Island is perhaps best known for the summer sightings of six gill sharks, there are many other diving attractions nearby. Situated at the south end of Lambert Channel, both Heron Rocks and Norris Rocks boast a variety of diving sites that offer a wide assortment of marine invertebrates and crevice reef dwellers. During our most recent visit here we descended over a steep drop at Toby Islet and came across a giant Pacific octopus that was languishing out in the open upon a silt covered sandstone ledge.

Following this trigger-happy photo interlude, we ascended into the sunlit shallows where we discovered a small school of needlefish. Unfortunately, by this point in the dive I was completely out of film. So we made this shallow portion of our dive into a long safety stop and scoured the submerged boulders that were blanketed with orange cup corals, staghorn bryozoans and floral-like colonies of zoanthids. Sponge encrusted swimming scallops occasionally chattered through the water column like toy false teeth whenever they lifted up from the bottom. Kelp greenlings, juvenile lingcod and wolf eels are also common reef inhabitants.

During the winter months stellar sea lions haul out at Norris Rocks and provide a thrilling distraction from the more than 28 dive sites that are frequented by Hornby Island Diving. I recently saw some fascinating video footage taken of divers and sea lions cavorting underwater together. The curiosity and apparent gentle playfulness of the sea lions was obvious and certainly motivates me to make a return trip here when the sea lions are around.

If you're looking for a refreshing getaway that may include stellar sea lions above and wolf eels, octopus, and six-gill sharks below, the emerald seas of Hornby Island guarantee memorable undersea thrills.

For more information, contact Hornby Island Diving, Ford Cove, Hornby Island, British Columbia, V0R 1Z0, phone/fax: (250) 335-2807, e-mail: 6gill@mars.ark.com website: http://mars.ark.com/~6gill

From Nanaimo, drive north on the Island Highway and follow the road signs to the Denman Island Ferry at Buckley Bay. A 15-minute ferry ride takes you to Denman Island where, after a 15- minute drive, you can take the connecting 10-minute ferry crossing to Hornby Island. From the Hornby Island ferry landing, follow the main road to Ford Cove and Hornby Island Diving. Note: allow extra time for long ferry line-ups during peak season.