North Cod Reef

North Cod Reef lies off Gooch Island in the Southern Gulf Islands, within the cold waters of the Salish Sea off Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The reef reaches a maximum depth of around 76 metres and is rated a technical dive. Sharks have been reported here, and divers have also noted dock shrimp, red rock crab, yellow shore crab, harbor seal, and North Pacific spiny dogfish, all plausible finds in these waters. Reports of hammerhead shark, manta ray, and tuna have also come up, species well outside the norm for the Salish Sea, so those sightings are best treated as notable outliers rather than typical encounters. The surrounding channels are generally known for rocky reef structure along their shorelines.

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

• Dock ShrimpPandalus danaeReported here · unconfirmed
• North Pacific Spiny DogfishSqualus suckleyiReported here · unconfirmed
• Harbor SealPhoca vitulinaReported here · unconfirmed
• Red Rock CrabCancer productusReported here · unconfirmed
• Yellow Shore CrabHemigrapsus oregonensisReported here · unconfirmed
• Hammerhead sharkHammerhead sharkReported here · unconfirmed
• Manta rayManta rayReported here · unconfirmed
• TunaTunaReported here · unconfirmed