New Burgee with Tekton
Connections Update Header
 Volume 12 No. 14
High water ramps station
Greetings!

The good news this past week is that the Provincial government has upped the number of people one can mingle with from 5 to 10 ! Please see the article on Stage 2 opening below!

Last week, there was quite the storm with high winds...Neil West took these pictures at the station, the one above at the government landings where islanders and boaters dock and below by the road near CCY across from South Shore Marine (new ownership of McCarthy's Landing).

It was a cool weekend in PaB - near freezing temperatures gave way to warmer temps...may it continue as June rolls on!

And sadly, it's official, the border between the US and Canada will remain closed until at least July 21. See the links below.
High water govt docks
In this eBlast:
  • US/Canada Border to Remain Closed to July 21
  • Stage 2 Opening for North Bay/Parry Sound Area
  • PaBIA Education Committee (EdComm): Water Levels
  • PaBIA Marine Patrol Training 2020
  • PaBIA EdComm: Black Bear Yearlings
  • Ojibway Virtual Art Show
  • WPSHC Summer Clinic for Non Emerg CANCELLED
  • WPSHC Walk, Run & Pole Fundraiser Results!
  • EPA and Canada Highlights Report on Grt. Lakes Ecosystem
  • TOA Large Item Pickup Day Cancelled for June 20
  • Lake Michigan-Huron Water Levels June 15, 2020
  • Lost and Found: Missing Dock Ramp
  • Yearbook Update
Latest Updated Calendars for
July ( 5/30) and August (5/30)
Of Interest
Canadian Got Logo
Canada- U.S. border to remain closed to non-essential travel until July 21
The Canada-U.S. border will remain closed  to non-essential travel for at least another 30 days to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus as confirmed cases in the United States continue to climb past the two million mark.
Wings Under Water
Courtesy of CoCo Brennan through Mike Evans
EDCom Logo
What’s Up (and Down) with
Our Water Levels?

by Janet Irving, PaBIA Education Committee

In the summer of 2013, just seven years ago, we were alarmed by extreme low water levels in Pointe au Baril---forcing us to build new dock ramps, avoid shoals we never noticed before, and take long detours to our cottages when inlets became too shallow to navigate. Now our water is so high that our dock ramps tilt upwards from shore, shoal markers are submerged, and many of our generations-old boat houses are six inches under water. Quite a difference in only seven years.
S Turn
This year, Georgian Bay has broken the record for the highest water levels in history. In Pointe au Baril, during a strong west-wind storm, water lapped over the government docks, and (even on a calm day) many of our “lollipops” seem to be floating on the water. My island has been split in two, with no footpath to our back dock, where a cabin my father built in 1938 is submerged by the encroaching shoreline. But even if our buildings and docks aren’t adversely affected, the shore is in a place we’ve never seen it before, and we see a startling negative effect on the well-being of our fauna and wildlife in our waters and on our shores. What will become of them in their greatly changed environments?

I wanted to know why we experienced a record low, followed by a record high in such a short period of time. So this spring I did a little research and attended several webinars to learn what is up---and down---with our water.  Read on...
Marine Patrol LOGO
PaBIA's Marine Patrol Training
Set to Begin
PaBIA's Marine Patrol team, Tom Wunderlich and Chris Lusty, with Emma Berton as the assistant supervisor, is gearing up for summer 2020!!  We will be on the water performing our duties as usual, with added health and safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The Team will begin their two-week training on June 21 st ever cognizant of PaBIA’s purpose: promote, protect, and preserve our unique and natural region. The training will be taught by representatives of the wide variety of organizations including the BRITT Coast Guard and the stationed EMS Staff in at the Nursing Station as well as PaBIA Directors, the Georgian Bay Land Trust (GBLT), Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve (GBBR), and Georgian Bay Forever (GBF).

PaBIA training will include operation and maintenance of the four PaBIA fire pumps, navigational marker recording/reporting and, of course, the history, purpose and mission of PaBIA.
Tom Wunderlich
The new Patrollers will also train with our partner sponsor – The Georgian Bay Land Trust - to familiarize the team on the responsibilities and duties associated with our work on their behalf to monitor the habitat and use of GBLT’s fourteen local protected islands. This will be especially important while they are closed to visitors this summer.
Chris Lusty
The GBBR is providing training on water testing in Sturgeon Bay to continue measuring temperature and dissolved oxygen profiles while also performing Rattlesnake gestation surveys which were added to the Marine Patrol portfolio in 2018.

GBF will be training the Marine Patrol on when and how to manage the nine major phragmites sites we have in our area. This summer, phragmites cuts will be conducted differently in order to adhere to social distancing regulations. GBF recommends that family groups volunteer together for sites near their cottages and communicate with the Marine Patrol for information and training on timing and cutting.

The Britt Coast Guard will be training the patrollers on the necessary boat safety equipment, towing practices, water rescues, and finally search patterns. It is also good to know that the MP can rely on them and could call them should the situation arise. 

While all our patrollers have up-to-date safety and first aid training, there will also be a training session lead by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to review practical first aid and rattle snake bites procedures.

If you would like to get in contact with the Marine Patrol, send us an email or give us a call at the cell number listed on the right hand side of this eBlast.
EDCom Logo
Striking Out on Their Own:
Black Bear Yearlings
by Trudy Irvine, Education Committee Member

Have you ever seen a small-ish bear foraging on the shore of an island and thought “the mother must be nearby”? Well, she likely isn’t- she has probably just given the youngster their walking papers and is more interested in finding another mate than being with her 17 month old for another summer. Cubs born to mothers in January will spend the summer and following winter season with her, but in the cub’s second late May or June, mothers will force their yearlings to stop traveling with them and begin to look for a mate.

One of the greatest misconceptions about black bears is that they are likely to attack people in defense of cubs. While grizzly bear sows will defend their cubs aggressively, black bear mothers do not display the same level of protectiveness and seldom attack humans when they are in the cub’s vicinity. In fact, black bears much prefer to avoid people and usually limit themselves to making mock charges, emitting blowing noises, and swatting the ground with their forepaws.

Yearlings, like all black bears, are at their thinnest in the early summer. They have likely lost 30% of their body fat during hibernation and their main diet of berries and “mast” such as acorns are still weeks away. But all black bears are well equipped to forage in the following ways:
Black Bear in tree
  • Bears have a sense of smell 1000 times greater than humans and 7 times better than a bloodhound. They have highly developed noses that contain hundreds of tiny muscles that let them manipulate their long noses with the same dexterity as people’s fingers.
  • Bears see in colour and have good close-up vision.
  • Bear lips are free from the gums and very sensitive. Along with a long and agile tongue, they can delicately eat tiny foods like blueberries and ants. They are also highly dexterous, capable of opening screw top jars and manipulating door latches. 
  • Bears are very intelligent, with the largest relative brains the size of any carnivore. Experiments have proven they can “count”, quickly distinguish different geometric shapes, and learn colour discrimination tasks faster than chimpanzees and just as fast as domestic dogs. See page 134 of the PaBIA yearbook for a picture of one trying to figure out how to use the grill on Clare Island!

Everyone on Georgian Bay is aware of what strong swimmers and excellent tree climbers black bears are. As well, their adaptations to surviving harsh winters are fascinating - we’ve all heard about hibernation, but the physiological changes bears undergo to keep their muscles from atrophying or getting “bedsores” are truly amazing. 

Please be careful with your food, bird feeders and garbage so as not to tempt the bears!!! Did you know that 1 cylinder of seed in bird feeders holds a whopping 30,000 calories - just want the bear is looking for especially as it gets toward the fall of the year.

For more information on these remarkable animals, see these sources: Bear With Us ; GBLT ; Black Bear Facts and Wikipedia
Logo Health Unit
North Bay/Parry Sound Health Unit
Declares Stage 2 Openings

As the North Bay and Parry Sound Health Units begin to open up, they provide a list for the type of businesses that are now allowed to open, albeit with
  • physical distancing protocols in place,
  • the use of face coverings when distancing is a challenge,
  • proper techniques for coughing/sneezing,
  • the washing of hands often,
  • the non touching of one's face and
  • gatherings of not more than ten people!
WPSHC Icon 2019
The Health Centre's Annual Summer Clinic Update
Due to the fragile nature of the Health Centre the annual summer clinic for non-emergency issues (in the past, running every afternoon 7 days a week from the July long weekend through to September) is CANCELLED summer 2020. People suffering an emergency are encouraged to visit the Emergency Department.

Walk, Run & Pole Fundraiser
Participants, Sponsors and Pledgers raised $54,300 to buy equipment for cardiac care at the West Parry Sound Health Centre!

Our Pointe au Baril Cottagers team was the team to beat for sure… Together they raised an amazing $27,250! When you add the sponsorship from Desmasdons/Beacon, our Pointe au Baril friends, spearheaded by cottager Helen Bryce (our top fundraiser), raised $32,250 towards our new defibrillators.

We had hoped to top the $1,000,000 mark in revenues in our 13th year of the event. Alas, COVID-19 got in the way.  Our total funds raised through the event since inception stands at $938,121!  Only $61,879 more will have us claiming our hearts are worth a million!
EPA & Canada
The Government of Canada and the US Environmental Protection Agency submitted their  Annual Report Card  2019 on the Great Lakes. Overall, the lakes are in fair health and the trend line is flat. On a more detailed level, the report looks at nine indicators. Trend lines for seven of the indicators were unchanged. Invasive species are getting worse, while toxic chemicals show signs of improvement.
Upcoming Events
TOA Logo
TOA Large Item Pick Up Day CANCELLED for June 20th, 2020
 
The TOA has had to cancel the Large Item Pick-up scheduled for June 20th at Pointe au Baril due to COVID-19 concerns about the ability to ensure social distancing. In its place, Site 9 will accept large items on June 19 and 20th. The August large item pick-up in Pointe au Baril is still going forward.
Ojibway Art Show 2020
Lakes Michigan/Huron Water Levels June 15, 2020
To better read the charts, please  click  on the chart for the
Daily or Six Month Forecast Water level chart and the corresponding websites
Daily Water Level Key 2020
LOST and FOUND
Hunt Missing Ramp
Has anyone seen this ramp? It is made by Kropf and has a pin system attached. It went missing from Steamboat Channel. Please notify Lynn Hunt
Yearbook Update
With each eBlast, we will provide you a list of names for those who provided updated information. The details of all the changes since the Yearbook's came out in April is provided in a printable format for you to print out and insert into your own Yearbook copy!
Advocating for the Island Community,


Your PaBIA Directors
Pointe au Baril Islanders' Association 


PaBIA reserves all rights regarding decisions on communications to its members
in accordance with the PaBIA Policy on Communications
Fire Rating
HIGH

Please click on the logos below for further information on
  • PaBIA Bulletin Bd
  • Hydro Outage App,
  • Coast Guard Environment Canada and
  • Weather for PaB.
PaBIA Bulletin Board
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As of May 30, 2020  

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 xx •  Fish 7.25.18


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