Ducklings in the Inner Harbour now have a safe and easy way out of the water.
Six duck ramps have been installed on docks between the Johnson Street Bridge and the causeway marina across from the Empress Hotel.
Ducklings have trouble getting out of the water in harbours, and can end up dying if they don't get out of the water.
Inner Harbour Operations Manager for the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA), Shannon Greenley, says they worked with the maintenance team to provide ducklings with ramps.
"They're approximately 3 feet long, and probably about a foot and a half wide, and they're covered by with anti-slip kind of carpeted material. And they run alongside little parts of our marina that we figured has less traffic coming through. And they have a little sign that says 'Duck Ramp.'"
She adds that the ramps were very inexpensive to make, the maintenance team was able to use some supplies that they had on hand. The GVHA worked with the City, BCSPCA WildArc, and the Victoria Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary, and the groups all agreed that the chosen places for the ramps were suitable.
"All of these folks that we consulted with were very much on board. We showed them the locations that we had picked, thinking that they were the most quiet, kind of out the way of boat traffic as much as possible. Because we don't really want the ducks coming out into high traffic areas, because then they probably won't use the ramps.
The GVHA wanted to have the ramps ready before the ducklings flock to the inner harbour in the late spring.
Greenley says they have staff that are running around the docks all day, and part of their new duties is monitoring the ramps to make sure they're being used. The GVHA will evaluate the efficiency of the ramps at the end of the summer.