On August 9, 2026, Zach Monteith and the rest of the Hakai Institute's Nearshore team were in the lab, gearing up for a day that was supposed to include dive work and checking green crab traps, when a pan-pan crackled over the marine radio. It was broken up, but two words came through clearly: whale collision.
The caller, a Fisheries and Oceans Canada vessel out in Fitz Hugh Sound, reported taking on water, one person injured aboard, and that he was heading for shore. The Canadian Coast Guard put out a relay, asking anyone nearby to help.
The team could hear both sides of the radio exchange, which told them the vessel in trouble was close. They pulled the coordinates: about 45 minutes away if they left the dock right then. They dropped the day's plans and went.
By the time they arrived, they were second on scene. A fishing boat had gotten there first, and someone aboard was already giving first aid. The stricken vessel was a rigid-hull inflatable (RIB) with twin 300-horsepower engines and a small cabin. One crew member had been injured in the collision; the other was unhurt. Exactly what happened to the hull is less clear. The first radio call reported the boat taking on water; a later one said the hull was dry.
With the injured man already being cared for and the boat holding steady, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) asked the team to stand by as an escort while a coast guard RIB and lifeboat came in from farther away.
Neither the fisheries vessel nor the fishing boat that reached it first was broadcasting on the system that lets boats see each other's live position on a screen (AIS). So the coast guard units were working off the vessel's last known coordinates, even as it continued to move. Zach was watching his own AIS screen as the boat headed up Fitz Hugh when he saw the responding RIB's track stretch clean across the display at 81 kilometers an hour, bearing down on a spot the vessel had long since left. He radioed in to redirect it. At that speed, Zach reckoned the RIB could have been off Cape Caution within another half hour. Twenty minutes later, the same thing happened with the lifeboat, and he radioed again.
The team stayed on as escort for about an hour, until the coast guard boats caught up near Nalau Island and JRCC released them.
Zach says this isn't the first call for help the team has responded to. Asked why Hakai ends up useful in moments like this, he says: “We were just in the right place. Having people that are there on the water, familiar with the boats, competent operators, ready to go without too much thought about it. It didn't take too much to reflect, can I go there? Is it safe? Is the boat capable? It was an easy one to respond to, from our angle.”
Hakai Institute cofounder Eric Peterson says that presence continues year-round. “Later in the year, when the tourists and meeting attendees have all gone home, Hakai continues as a year-round working facility,” he says. “We continue to be one of the few places on this remote coast where the lights are on year-round. We remain ready to provide whatever support we can to travelers in need and to address emergencies as they arise, working with the Coast Guard, RCMP, BC Parks Rangers, and First Nations Guardians.”
