NAKWAKTO RAPIDS, B.C. -- Bubble, bubble, roil and trouble fittingly describes the raging torrent of seawater that surges daily through British Columbia's Nakwakto Rapids. Watching the maximum tidal exchange in Nakwakto's diminutive 300-metre-wide channel is like witnessing a liquid maelstrom.
Standing defiantly in the middle of the channel is a tiny, steep-sided island named Turret Rock. Local legend has it that this islet actually vibrates in the fast-flowing currents, giving rise to its more common nickname: Tremble Island. More likely, this ominous moniker refers to the involuntary shivers that run up and down scuba divers' spines when preparing to make a descent there.
Nakwakto Rapids is about 320 kilometres northwest of Vancouver in a remote section of British Columbia's coastal mainland, just opposite the north end of Vancouver Island. In places along Nakwakto's shoreline, you can see what, at first glance, appear to be small green hills. These mounds are actually shell middens left by an aboriginal tribe known as the Nakwaxda'xw.
This far-flung region was home to the Nakwaxda'xw (pronounced Nak-wah-dah) band of the Kwakiutl First Nation until they relocated to the town of Port Hardy on northern Vancouver Island in 1962. Historically, the Nakwaxda'xw were scattered over a large area and made their homes along the inlets and waterways, living by fishing, hunting and gathering clams, berries and seaweed from the surrounding land. They lived in permanent villages in traditional longhouses that accommodated several families, and built totem poles. The word Nakwakto is the English equivalent of Nakwaxda'xw.
In recent times, The Guinness Book of World Records has acknowledged Nakwakto Rapids as having "the fastest navigable tidal currents in the world" -- up to 30 kilometres an hour during its largest tidal exchanges. These formidable currents arise because Nakwakto's narrow channel is the only avenue of escape for the tidal water that flows between Queen Charlotte Strait and several adjoining glacier-carved fiords. In fact, the tidal range inside nearby Seymour and Belize inlets never has a chance to fluctuate more than 1.2 metres before the outside tide -- more than four metres in range -- comes roaring back in.
However, every five or six hours the water swirling around Turret Rock slows to a dead calm before reversing its tidal course. This brief interval of "slack water" can last anywhere from a few minutes to just over a half-hour. It is during this transitory window of time that experienced divers are able to obtain a fleeting glimpse of Turret Rock's current-swept seascape.
The slack-water interval was approaching as I climbed into my dive gear. Our planned bottom time for this dive was to be a mere 30 minutes. Nakwakto's menacing whirlpools and foaming eddies had ebbed to a relative calm. The dive master skillfully steered the dive skiff closer to Turret Rock and gave the thumbs-up. One by one, 10 divers splashed into the leaden sea.
One would think that nothing could survive the violent scrubbing from the standing waves that routinely assail Turret Rock's undersea perimeter. Yet, as the old saying goes, seeing is believing. What appeared on the surface to be dark and foreboding quickly revealed itself below as an emerald-coloured sea of kaleidoscopic colours. Underwater visibility was an exceptional 24 metres.
"Life growing upon life" is a phrase that aptly describes the scenic wonder of Nakwakto's ocean environment. Swaying, rope-sized strands of bull kelp brandished their amber fronds toward the surface. Dense thickets of pillow-sized feather-duster tube worms, their robust shrub-like stalks freckled with pink brooding anemones, punctuated the rocky substrate.
Among the vast assortment of reef-dwellers one can expect to see here are fist-sized clumps of Day-Glo pink soft corals, flame-tipped sea slugs, ochre sea stars, mustard-yellow sponge, and decorated warbonnets along with several different fish species and sea anemones.
Drifting farther out into the channel, I encountered one of Nakwakto Rapids' biological treasures. Stretching out before me was a species of marine life whose discovery at subtidal depths here during the late seventies baffled marine biologists. Bordering Turret Rock's underwater perimeter is an immense population of crimson-lipped gooseneck barnacles. Once thought to be exclusive residents of the intertidal zone on exposed surf-pounded coasts, these vibrantly coloured relatives of the common acorn barnacle are flourishing at unheard of depths of 15 metres and more. Cemented to the sea bottom, the gooseneck barnacles are growing in such large numbers that they're forming large ridges.
Each clump of the pearly-shelled life forms contains hundreds of individuals that filter-feed nutrients from the plankton-rich waters. Beds of blue mussels are also crammed into these tide-washed gardens.
As I neared the end of my dive, I worked my way around to the opposite side of Turret Rock and tucked in behind the island to finish my last few frames of film. I could feel that the current had reversed and was accelerating in the opposite direction.
Another tell-tale sign was that my exhaust bubbles were now percolating through the water column at a much sharper angle to the surface. The sensation of the current's pull is not unlike that of waving your hand out of a moving car's window.
Realizing that it was time to make my way out, I surfaced and was greeted by a jubilant chorus of whoops and hollers. Clearly, the other divers who had just braved these waters were as thrilled as I was with Nakwakto Rapids' stunning subsea terrain.
Sport divers have been making exploratory descents at Nakwakto Rapids for well more than two decades. Thus far, every diver has made it safely back to the dive boat. While it is true that a few divers have misjudged Nakwakto's trembling tides and tried to remain on the sea floor too long, The Guinness Book of World Records has thus far chosen not to establish an award for "the longest surface distance a scuba diver has nervously travelled down a tidal channel."
Jeff Britnell is a Vancouver-based freelance writer and underwater photographer who specializes in scuba diving and travel
If you go
Dive trips to Nakwakto Rapids can be arranged through several of British Columbia's experienced dive charter operators. Multiday trips depart from Vancouver, Nanaimo or Port Hardy.
The diving season runs from March through October. Water temperatures at Nakwakto Rapids average nine to 11 degrees. A dry suit or a seven-millimetre wet suit are recommended.
Nautilus Explorer: Vancouver; contact Mike and Marianne Lever; phone: (888) 434-8322; e-mail: mike@divebc.com; Web: http://www.nautilusexplorer.com.
Clavella Adventures: Nanaimo; contact John de Boeck; phone: (877) 725-2835; e-mail: info@clavella.com; Web: http://www.clavella.com.
Sea Venturer: Nanaimo; contact Belinda Hall & Chris Miller; phone: (250) 756-8895; e-mail: info@seaventurer.com; Web: http://www.seaventurer.com.
Mamro Adventures: Nanaimo; contact Dan Ferris; phone: (250) 756-8872; e-mail: adventures@mamro.com; Web: http://www.mamro.com.
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