The understory here is dense, with lush thickets of Salal (Gaultheria shallon) growing head-high and almost impenetrable. Scattered shrubs of blueberry and huckleberry reach for sunlight, while delicate Bleeding-heart (Dicentra formosa) makes its living in the shade of its companions.

In these dark cathedrals, tiny Winter Wrens live up to their Latin name, Troglodytes troglodytes; it means "cave-dwelling cave-dweller". Their rollicking songs are necessary to advertise the territory of such a minute of a beast in these forests. The ethereal reedy calls of the Varied Thrushes (Ixoreus naevius) carry through the timber, locationless to us, but like a homing beacon to a mate.

In the forest canopy, entomologist Dr. Neville Winchester has discovered not only new species, but also new families of creatures. His research in six canopy stations, dizzyingly far above the forest floor, has shown that each station has its own set of unique species. The canopy is home, too, for the nests of the enigmatic little seabird known as the Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus).

As our knowledge of the biodiversity in these rainforests grows, we learn that there is yet more undiscovered. These are places of great power and beauty, from the lush understory, to the tops of the tallest spruces.

There is access to these west coast rainforests at Carmanah Pacific Provincial Park, and also in Pacific Rim National Park.