A lone arbutus tree perches atop a hill on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia. Home to about 10,000 people, Salt Spring is the largest of Canada’s Gulf Islands. The Gulf Islands comprise about a dozen large islands and hundreds of smaller islets which dot the inland Strait of Georgia south of Vancouver. The island’s sheltered location, relatively dry climate, and strong tides give rise to a number of species unique to this region.

(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, the National Geographic book Traveling the Trans-Canada: From Newfoundland to British Columbia, 1987)