HMCS Saskatchewan

HMCS Saskatchewan is a decommissioned Canadian Mackenzie-class destroyer escort deliberately sunk as an artificial reef near Nanaimo, off Vancouver Island, in the early 1990s. It sits upright on the seabed in Georgia Strait waters, with much of the superstructure penetrable for divers trained in wreck penetration. The hull is around 111 metres long, with a maximum depth on site of about 40 metres, and it is rated an advanced dive over a wreck bottom, reflecting the depth, the overhead environment inside the structure, and silt pockets that can be stirred up during penetration. Divers typically encounter plumose anemones, rockfish, and other cold-water invertebrates encrusting the hull, and some have also reported glassfish and nudibranchs on the wreck. It is part of a small group of sunk naval vessels in the area, including HMCS Cape Breton and HMCS Mackenzie, that together form a well-known wreck diving circuit near Nanaimo.

Confirmed by our research team, reported by independent divers, or observed nearby via iNaturalist — each entry is labelled with its source.

• GlassfishGlassfishReported here · unconfirmed
• North Pacific Spiny DogfishSqualus suckleyiReported here · unconfirmed
• Dock ShrimpPandalus danaeReported here · unconfirmed
• Dungeness CrabMetacarcinus magisterReported here · unconfirmed
• Ochre Sea StarPisaster ochraceusReported here · unconfirmed
• Harbor SealPhoca vitulinaReported here · unconfirmed
• NudibranchNudibranchReported here · unconfirmed