Vancouver Island / Victoria
Canada · British Columbia
Cold, nutrient-rich Pacific waters off southern Vancouver Island host some of the world's largest invertebrates — giant Pacific octopus reaching 14 kg, wolf eels guarding rocky crevices, and massive sunflower sea stars. Kelp forests thick with lingcod and rockfish line the walls of Ogden Point and Race Rocks. Water temperatures hover between 7 and 12 C year-round, rewarding drysuit divers with extraordinary biomass and visibility that often reaches 20 m in winter.
How this reef is doing
ⓘ How we measure thisReef state
Live science signals for this reef are still being gathered.
Coral cover
Fish life
Heat
Fishing
Open to fishing, and the water is busy.
Sources · Global Fishing Watch and reef gravity
What you will see
22 species across the dive sites here
Decorator Crab
Seen 24 days ago
at Ogden Point Breakwater
Purple Sea Urchin
Seen 24 days ago
at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve
Red Rock Crab
Seen 24 days ago
at Ogden Point Breakwater
Plumose Anemone
Seen 25 days ago
at Ogden Point Breakwater
Sunflower Sea Star
Seen 27 days ago
at Ogden Point Breakwater
Critically endangered
Pacific White-sided Dolphin
Seen 28 days ago
at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve
Least concern
Steller Sea Lion
Seen 1 month ago
at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve
Near threatened
Red Sea Urchin
Seen 1 month ago
at Ten Mile Point
Sunflower Starfish
Seen 1 month ago
at HMCS Mackenzie Wreck
Critically endangered
Harbour Seal
Seen 1 month ago
at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve
Least concern
Grunt Sculpin
Seen 1 month ago
at Ogden Point Breakwater
Least concern
Giant Pacific Octopus
Seen 1 month ago
at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve
Least concern
Lingcod
Seen 1 month ago
at Ten Mile Point
Wolf Eel
Seen 2 months ago
at Ogden Point Breakwater
Least concern
Cabezon
Seen 2 months ago
at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve
Kelp Greenling
Seen 2 months ago
at Ogden Point Breakwater
Least concern
Orange Cup Coral
Seen Jun 2025
at Ten Mile Point
Cloud Sponge
Seen Oct 2024
at Ten Mile Point
Strawberry Anemone
Seen Aug 2024
at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve
Boot Sponge
Seen year round
at Ten Mile Point
Dead Man's Fingers
Seen year round
at Ogden Point Breakwater
Pacific Rockfish
Seen year round
at HMCS Mackenzie Wreck
Dive sites
Ogden Point Breakwater
giant pacific octopus · wolf eel · plumose anemone · decorator crab
Race Rocks Ecological Reserve
lingcod · cabezon · steller sea lion · harbour seal
Ten Mile Point
giant pacific octopus · wolf eel · orange cup coral · cloud sponge
HMCS Mackenzie Wreck
giant pacific octopus · wolf eel · lingcod · plumose anemone