Misty Isles Adventures

About Misty Isles Adventures

Mike Moore - your Captain

From his childhood explorations of coastal tide pools to working as a navigation officer onboard Coast Guard ships, Mike's life has always revolved around the ocean. He is a keen observer of all things marine.

Mike grew up in Victoria, BC and after studying marine biology at the University of Victoria, he worked as a commercial diver fishing for scallops, sea cucumbers and the giant pacific octopus, the world's largest. In 1986, after working as a deck hand during a particularly stormy halibut season, Mike decided to turn his attention to protecting the ocean and it's resources instead of harvesting them. He joined the Canadian Coast Guard and after four years at the officer training college in Sydney, Nova Scotia, he graduated with a Bachelor of Technology in Nautical Sciences. He worked as a navigation officer on search and rescue ships, aids to navigation vessels and icebreakers. His sea voyages took him to all three Canadian coasts, the high arctic and the Panama Canal.

In 1990, his intimate knowledge of the BC coast led Mike to work on various vessels doing ecotourism trips as Captain and naturalist. Since then he has worked on Cortes Island at T'ai Li Lodge as a kayak guide/ instructor, sailing skipper and naturalist. He also teaches seamanship and chart work on the island. Since January 2001 Mike has expanded his field a little further and worked as a naturalist and boat driver in Antarctica, the Falklands, and South Georgia Island.

Samantha Moore

Samantha comes to Cortes Island from Victoria, BC where she spent two and a half years working at Sealand of the Pacific, a large oceanarium. There she followed her dreams of being close to and interacting with large marine mammals including Orca, seals and sea lions. As an assistant trainer, she worked with the animals and helped out with the marine mammal rescue program helping rehabilitate abandoned seal pups back to the wild.

After leaving Sealand, Samantha got a job as a research assistant to David Duffus from the University of Victoria. They studied the effects that pleasure boats have on the northern resident pod of killer whales, camping on an island in Johnstone Strait close by the famous rubbing beaches of Robson Bight (the only place where the whales are known to rub their bellies on the beach). This was truly a fantastic summer, spending their time observing the whales, counting their numbers, identifying individuals and watching their behavior. Samantha is able to identify and trace the genealogy of many of the individual whales that we see on our travels.

Since moving to Cortes Island in 1994, Samantha has worked at Hollyhock Farm for five years as a cook and naturalist. She is an avid birder and loves to lead bird walks and beach talks.

Delphin Moore

Together Mike and Samantha live on Cortes Island with their son Delphin. They try to live as simply and mindfully as possible, producing much of what they need from their own land. The delicious meals that Samantha prepares for Misty Isles trips often have fresh ingredients from her garden. They purchased Misty Isles in 1997 in order to pursue their common dream of getting out there and sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm for the outdoors with others.

Jeanette Taylor is historian and story teller on our voyages around Read and Maurelle Islands, hosted by The Museum At Campbell River. Jeanette has worked in the heritage and cultural field for 20 years; she is the author of 2 books: River City; A history of Campbell River and the Discovery Islands and Exploring Quadra Island; Heritage Sites and Hiking Trails. She is now working on her third book focusing on the history of our coast from Quadra Island to Alert Bay.

Brian Fryer, Misty Isles kayak guide and naturalist, turned a lifelong passion for the outdoors into a wilderness adventure company in 1988 by guiding small groups in whale watching, nature hikes and bear watching into Pacific Rim National Park on Vancouver Island's west coast. He has become a guide/naturalist for both Hollyhock and T'ai Li Lodge since moving to Cortes Island. Being a PADI scuba diver for 30 years, world traveller and private seaplane pilot have given him some unique views on the world. An avid birder and thespian, he spends the off-season in Victoria, BC. Brian says, "I love Cortes Island with its parks and marine environment, but miss the bears."

As a long term resident of Cortes Island, Linda's enthusiasm for the area and it's history is evident as is her humour and joi de vive. She has paddled this area for the past ten years and is keen to share her skills and interest in the natural world.

Misty Isles Sail & Kayak Adventures
Box 137, Manson's Landing, British Columbia, Canada V0P 1K0
(250) 935-6756 mistyis@island.net