When members of the RCMP dive team arrived at the Hakai Institute's Calvert Coastal Observatory, they found more than a convenient base. They found a working environment much like the ones they may encounter on the job: remote, changeable, and rarely predictable.
“You're not going to be able to choose ideal conditions,” says Hakai Institute cofounder Eric Peterson. Poor visibility and rough weather may complicate a training day, but they also make the experience more realistic.
RCMP vessels traveling the coast were already familiar with Hakai when the dive team's inquiry arrived. Asked whether the institute would host a training program, Eric's answer came easily.
“Without a blink of an eye, we said that's a good idea,” he recalls.
The facility offered an unusual combination of infrastructure and access. Its bunkhouses and main lodge allowed participants to live and train together, while its dock, communications systems, and dive compressor supported their daily operations. From Hakai, the team could also reach a wide range of coastal environments, from nearby waters to Rivers Inlet and locations farther north.
That combination closely mirrors what visiting scientific teams find at Hakai. “We built it to match scientific needs, and there's a perfect overlap between the two,” Eric says. “When they're here, they're just like another scientific team in-house.”
For the divers, training together in a remote setting also helped build the trust and familiarity needed when working under pressure. The program included participants with different levels of experience and from different parts of Canada, giving them time to learn from one another, test equipment, and develop as a team.
“Allowing us to train at the facility gives the team a chance to have a different experience and great training opportunity,” says Chris of the RCMP dive team.
Hosting the program also reflects Hakai's broader role on the coast. Although science remains central to its work, Eric does not want Hakai to become an isolated academic enterprise. He sees value in bringing together the many groups involved in understanding, managing, and safeguarding coastal environments—from scientists and Guardian Watchmen to resource managers, parks staff, the coast guard, and RCMP.
“We can offer quite a bit to all of them, and we can gain an awful lot by working with them,” he says.
Photo credit for all images: Courtesy RCMP
