About Us
Kingfisher Wilderness Adventures is actively involved with sea kayaking, tourism, marine mammal, and community associations. For some organizations we volunteer our time and for others we support with financial and/or in-kind donations (or all of the above). Below are some of the organizations we are most active in and feel most passionate about.
Young Naturalists Club
The Young Naturalists Club of BC connects children and nature through a unique program of volunteer-led nature clubs. Kingfisher hosts an annual free introduction to kayaking day for the north island's Young Naturalists Club.
Whale Interpretive Centre
The Whale Interpretive Centre is located in Telegraph Cove, BC and run by the non-profit Johnstone Strait Killer Whale Interpretive Centre Society (JSKWICS). Our guides have helped recover a rare beaked whale carcass, helped in whale necropsies, and collected invertebrate collections for their exhbits.
The Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of BC
The SKGABC upholds high standards for professional sea kayak guides and operators in BC. The SKGABC is Canada’s largest sea kayak guide certifying organization. All Kingfisher guides are certified by the SKGABC. Andrew Jones, the owner of Kingfisher, is the past President of the SKGABC and currently chairs both the Operators and Standards committees.
North Island
Marine Mammal
Stewardship Association
NIMMSA represents the north island marine based eco-tourism industry and ensures its future as well as that of the many marine species the industry is based on viewing. Andrew Jones, the owner of Kingfisher, is the current president of the North Island Marine Mammal Stewardship Association.
Vancouver Island North Tourism
The adventure tourism representative on the Vancouver Island North Tourism advisory committee. Vancouver Island North Tourism focuses on the promotion of tourism on northern Vancouver Island as a whole and represents the communities of Alert Bay, Coal Harbour, Holberg, Port Alice, Port Hardy, Port McNeill, Quatsino, Sointula, Telegraph Cove, Winter Harbour and Woss.
Wilderness Tourism Association
The WTA is an organization of adventure tourism operators. Through involvement with government and public and private enterprise the WTA works to ensure the ongoing viability of nature based tourism by protecting the wilderness tourism land base. Andrew Jones, the owner of Kingfisher, is currently a director of the Wilderness Tourism Association.
Gwaii Haanas Tour Operators Association
The GHTOA was formed to foster quality, ethics and communication among Gwaii Haanas tour operators and to represent the interests of the tour operators, their clients and the public to the Haida Nation, the BC government and the Federal government, regarding issues related to Gwaii Haanas.
Cetacean Sightings Network
The Cetacean Sightings Network collects sightings of all cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) and sea turtles from British Columbia and surrounding waters. Our guides provide sighting reports of whales from our kayak tours, especially in the under reported and less visited areas like the Great Bear Rainforest.
Marine Education and Research Society
The Marine Education and Research Society is a group of dedicated northern Vancouver Island marine biologists and educators. Kingfisher guides often provide whale sighting reports to these researchers and have contributed photos to their humpback whale entanglement study.
The Marine Detective
Local naturalist and educator, Jackie Hildering, blogs about the environment and northern Vancouver Island wildlife. Posts are very educational and run the gamut from the the smallest sea slugs to the largest whales. Prior to the start of every season Jackie conducts a naturalist training session with our kayak guides.
