• King tides: preparing Canada's coastline for future flooding 
• Why understanding animal behaviour is key for biodiversity conservation
• The 40th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• A trek in Nepal's Annapurna foothills with Canadian Geographic Adventures

King tides: preparing Canada’s coastline for a future of flooding

Winds whipping, waves crashing, seawalls surmounted; parks flooded, piers demolished, escaped logs hurled. The massive damage caused to Vancouver’s coastline in early January was born from what one Vancouver park board director described a “spectacular confluence of events.”  In circumstances where just a few centimetres of water can prove a tipping point with devastating consequences, one phenomenon surges forward: king tide. 

Non-scientific in origin, the phrase emerged from Australia in 2009 as the country faced its highest seasonal tides in over 20 years. Now, the name is gaining popularity with the public, the media and — slowly, grudgingly — the scientific community.

King tides are both naturally occurring and entirely predictable. Simply put, they are the highest of high tides. How they come about, however, involves a conjunction of cosmic proportions — one befitting their regal title. 

Gravity dictates tides — the Moon, Sun and Earth’s rotation all get a say — manifesting in the local rise and fall of sea levels. In a lunar month, the highest tides occur every two weeks — the new and full moons. These tides, called spring tides, are around 20 per cent higher than regular tides.

Why understanding animal behaviour is key for biodiversity conservation

Have you ever heard of great auks? They are flightless penguins about half the height of humans. Although very agile under water, they have been described as having a clumsy and rather awkward way of carrying themselves on land. These peculiar birds established one of their biggest breeding grounds on Funk Island, in Newfoundland. Chances are that you have never seen one — and you never will, since great auks became extinct in 1844 when the last two members of the species were killed. 

Unfortunately, the fate of the great auk is not unique: a staggering one million species are threatened with extinction worldwide. At least 842 species of plants, fungi and animals are at risk in Canada alone. This is about the total number of bee species and four times the number of mammal species that exist in Canada. It is 842 too many. 

Great auks went extinct before we could document their behaviour. We can only glimpse their existence through the journals of travellers. Counts of threatened species often mask what we are really at risk of losing; unique life forms and their complex interactions could disappear before we even have a chance to study and understand them. In Canada, that’s 842 species, each with singular physical attributes, funny behaviours or impressive cognitive skills. 

Proclaimed in 1982 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Canada, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms marks its 40th anniversary this year, intended to ensure that all Canadians can live a life without discrimination of any kind. Mark Bourrie asks whether the goals of the Charter have been met when it comes to Indigenous people living in Canada

This article forms part of Commemorate Canada, a Canadian Heritage program to highlight significant Canadian anniversaries. It gives Canadian Geographic a chance to look at these points of history with a sometimes celebratory, sometimes critical, eye.

On a cold, blustery day in April, 1982, Queen Elizabeth II signed the new Canadian constitution into law in an outdoor ceremony on Parliament Hill. For the first time, this country had a constitution with a Charter of Rights.

Those rights included equality rights for women. A similar amendment to the U.S. Constitution failed to pass the ratification process later that year. And the Constitution enshrined Indigenous rights for the first time.

Douglas Sanderson, a Haudenosaunee scholar who is a professor of law at the University of Toronto, notes that the drafters of the Charter did not put Indigenous rights protection in that section of the Constitution. Instead, Indigenous rights are guaranteed by Sec. 35 of the Constitution.

we offer a higher standard of comfort than is normally available on trek, and this premium tour also includes upgraded accommodation in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan. With comfort in mind, we fly back from Chitwan to Kathmandu. 

Other highlights of this 13-day tour include a dugout canoe ride down Chitwan’s Rapti River in search of crocodiles, a chance to spot rhinoceros and birdlife on a jeep safari and bird-watching walks in Chitwan, and discovering beautiful Pokhara, nestled on the shore of Lake Phewa in the shadow of the Annapurna Range. 

Your Ambassador on this trip is acclaimed photographer and Canadian Geographic’s creative director, Javier Frutos. From the Alps to Antarctica, penguins to porpoises, Javier has explored and photographed many of the world’s most beautiful and often unseen moments. Javier will share tips on how to truly capture that once-in-a-lifetime moment.

Meet your RCGS Travel Ambassador.

Check out these other upcoming trips:

- Belize and Tikal with Myrna Pearman 
- Ultimate British Columbia with Brian Hodgson
- Salish Sea Expedition with Emily Choy