Schools across the province may be letting out for the summer, but as of last long weekend passengers aboard select B.C. Ferries southern routes can get a lesson on the outdoors.

Since the Coastal Naturalists program’s inauguration in 2006, in partnership with Parks Canada, each summer the corporation has recruited a team of seven instructors. They offer hourlong sessions on local ecology and camping etiquette to those travelling between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.

According to B.C. Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall, who spoke to the Georgia Straight while in Vancouver recently, in 2007 about 130,000 people attended onboard talks given on more than 1,300 sailings. That figure squares with estimates offered by Coastal Naturalists such as Carlo Pavan.

When approached by the Straight during a sailing last summer, the Nanaimo native was clearly upbeat about the reception he and his fellow instructors enjoyed. “The response we’ve been given is nothing short of remarkable,” said the professional naturalist and environmental educator. “Even in rough weather, every session has been well attended. It seems to be a real hit with both local passengers and those from farther afield.”

Classes are conducted in sheltered observation lounges on the ferries’ outer top decks, which comfortably seat a hundred or more passengers. With luck, orcas—creatures Pavan classified as “charismatic megafauna”—might appear during your sailing.

Just as magnetic are the expansive views of the Coast Mountains, which open up on both sides of the Strait of Georgia. Not only did Pavan demystify the natural history on view above water, he also presented surprising facts about the lesser-known submarine world, such as a species of coral that only flourishes in the strait.

At this point, he passed out samples of another coral, orange cup, for everyone to touch while addressing the etymology of the strait’s name. Once called the Gulf of Georgia by European explorers, it should more properly be known as the Salish Sea because of its historic connection with local First Nations people, Paven suggested.

The engaging Vancouver Island University student was not above employing hand puppets to up the entertainment ante, particularly with younger travellers in mind. Indeed, as Marshall put it, the aim of the Coastal Naturalists program is “to engage and educate our customers while delivering a more enjoyable and memorable journey”. She pointed to Pavan and his colleagues as possessing the talents to do just that. “They’re passionate about their topics.”

Parks Canada’s role involves training the seven young naturalists, six of whom attend local universities, to deliver the message of conservation to ferry customers, many of whom are on their way to visit Gulf Islands or Pacific Rim national park reserves.

“What impresses me most about the program is the friendliness of the presenters,” Parks Canada spokesperson Alison Manley told the Straight by phone from her Vancouver office. “Their attitude attracts a great crowd of people who we might not reach otherwise, particularly urban dwellers where our profile isn’t as high as we’d like.

"People come away from these sessions more aware of the national parks in their own backyards, such as our new Gulf Islands reserve, than they might otherwise be.”

By turn entertainers, educators, historians, and conservationists, each Coastal Naturalist brings a fresh perspective on how to discover and coexist with diverse life forms, both on water and land. Depending on the route, rarities on passing landmarks are noted, such as the albino “spirit raccoons” Pavan spotted on Newcastle Island in Nanaimo’s harbour, or the Garry oak forests covering a ridge in nearby Pipers Lagoon Park.

He also dropped cocktail-party nuggets of information, such as that the Coast Mountains, not the Rockies, are the tallest chain of peaks in North America.

Neither did Pavan back away from unpleasant facts such as the environmental impact of local industries on marine life. “Toxins magnify the higher up the food chain you go,” he told the crowd, “through a process called biomagnification. Because of that, recent studies have shown that our killer whales, the deadliest predators of all, are the most toxic animals on the face of the Earth.”

A wave of murmured disapproval echoed back from the onlookers. When he spoke of the necessity of a proposed national marine conservation area in the southern strait, he made more than a few converts.

During a portion of the talk devoted to bear awareness, Pavan scored even more points with those who were headed to Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, near Tofino. “Keep your food well stored” was his key message. Throughout the province, problem bears generate more than 16,000 complaints a year.

Among the attendees who Pavan chatted with during his program, a young woman from the Netherlands expressed shock to learn that many such bears were destroyed by conservation officers.

School may be out, but a lesson from the Coastal Naturalists shows there is still plenty more to learn. And there is no better place than an outdoor classroom, where time aboard ship has never passed so quickly—or fruitfully, for that matter. Full marks.

Access: Coastal Naturalists presentations are offered four times daily, Friday through Monday, on B.C. Ferries routes between Horseshoe Bay and Nanaimo, as well as Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay. For more information, visit www.bcferries.com/.