Celebrating 5 Years of Gathering and Sharing Information
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New Webpage
Western Painted Turtle.
The Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii) is the largest subspecies of painted turtle in Canada and British Columbia's only native freshwater pond turtle. If they can get through their threat-filled infancy, these turtles may live for 30 years. Some references state they are living well over 50 years.
These beautiful Western Painted Turtles are living in Hotel Lake and we hope to see them thrive. But their struggle to survive is fraught with peril from many quarters. Thanks, in part, to human intervention in recent years, we hope to see continuing monitoring and assistance for them. As we find out more and learn how to help, we hope to see their survival rate improve.
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But, there is an arch villian in this story! Non-native, invasive red eared slider turtles, popular as home pets, are sometimes released by their human owners and today we are seeing them in Hotel Lake. If left unchecked, they will aggressively challenge, dominate and possibly eliminate the native Western Painted Turtles.
We hope you enjoy our new webpage, Western Painted Turtles.
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Western Painted Turtle
(Chrysemys picta bellii)
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https://www.hotellakeadvisory.com/wstern-painted-turtle
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Here is a new born ,about the size of a “looney”, photographed in May 2026, munching on lake vegetation on the north side of Hotel Lake.
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Lakeview!
There’s something personal about a lake.
Oceans offer their vast expanse, beckoning the heart outward and reminding the viewer that they are but a small piece of something much, much bigger. Rivers are nice but doubtless have their own agenda, a self-determination lurking just upstream that mere mortals are powerless against.
But lakes - and particularly Hotel Lake in Pender Harbour, British Columbia; lakes free the heart to look inward to seek answers from the soul to questions from the heart. You can learn who you are by sitting by a lake… and who you want to be there with. Brad McCannell
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About Us
We are committed to gathering and sharing information. We hope that information will help us all to slow the process of eutrophication, to protect Hotel Lake's water quality, the surrounding watershed, the underlying aquifer and the wildlife and plant life that live here.
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We acknowledge with gratitude the time and effort of volunteers and the outstanding results achieved by our lapsed predecessor, Area ‘A’ Quality Water Association (AAQWA). Realizing the benefits of that organization, we have established a new association to carry on.
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Our association is presently comprised of a small group of volunteers. This website has been developed by our webmaster Brian Croft and contributors include Bob and Carole Stickley, Brian and Sharon Croft, Ron Knight, Tarren McKay, Tony & Kelly Pownall, Dr. Bob Vroom, Dr. Sharon Johnson, Jenn Blancard, Brigid Patterson, Brad McCannell, Joe Harrison, Dr. John Field, Trevor Andrews, Chris Hegele, Theresa McNicholl, Rod Brown, Jim Little, Debra Huffaker, Reni Ducich, Frank Jensen, Peter Boyer, and Twyla Dawn Disney.
Our hope is that anyone who comes to this website will leave it knowing a little more about the Hotel Lake environment and the wildlife and plant life that, live here. We are confident that, in the long term, greater knowledge and understanding will enable better decision making.
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​This website is available to all and we have enjoyed very positive responses. Anyone may ask to be on our mailing list and will recieve our monthly newsletter.
This association is fuelled by volunteerism and our modest operating costs are less than $400 per year. We hope that those who find value in this work will consider becoming contributing supporters. An annual contribution of $20 per family is suggested. All contributions will be used to offset the modest annual costs of administering this website.
New In Our Library
Our Library has been growing for some time and can be accessed via the main menu. We continue to add documents and here is just one recent addition that we are very proud of: Hotel Lake 2024 Year One Report published by BC Lake Stewardship Society; just go to our library to take a look.​​​ Our local volunteer group called Hotel Lake Stewards have been gathering data for this project and in a few years a final report will be published that will describe our lake in greater detail.