Welcome to our website

The Vancouver Island Paleontological Society (VIPS) is a non-profit society of professional and amateur paleontologists based in Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada.

The Society was formed after the discovery of a large marine reptile called an Elasmosaur along the banks of the Puntledge River.

The 80 million year old fossilized skeleton was found by Mike Trask and his daughter Heather in 1988.

Upcoming Field Trips and Lectures for 2025

 To the members of the VIPS: The VIPS plans to have a field trip each month. We also have a VIPS meeting on the second Wednesday of each month. All are welcome.

Most field trips leave from VIPS’s President Dan Bowen’s place. Please call or text Dan at 1-250-897-5026 to confirm, and/or meet at 2120 Stewart Ave., Courtenay, BC. I will update the events periodically based on weather or conflicts. 

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  • ay Hawley, finished preparing Eupachydiscus ammonite
  • Jay and Amy on a field trip to the west coast
  • Betty and Jean at Camp Escalante
  • Hornby Island Field Trip with students
  • James, Pat, Dan & Jay carrying out plaster jacket of juvenile Elasmosaur from Trent River
  • Dan, Cory, Heidi, John, Rod & Ken
  • Kapoose Rocks – Jim & John
  • Dan and Betty social distancing on Puntledge River
  • Kapoose Rock – Cadoceras – Jurassic Period
  • Just fishin’
  • Naomi – Diplomoceras
  • Betty & Pati at Escalante 2022
  • Betty, Pati, Dan & Diana, Escalante Trip 2022
  • Dan & Pati, Escalante Trip 2022
  • Megakos, Eocene Crab Fossil
  • Megakos, Eocene Crab Fossil
  • Quichena, BC
  • Blastoid, Cowichan Lake
  • Grassy Island, West Coast, BC Jurassic
  • Riff Creek, Port Alberni Area First Trilobite found on Vancouver Island
  • Jurassic Cycad Seeds, Haida
  • Jurassic Radiolarians, Haida Gwaai
  • Gastropods, Upper Cretaceous Haslam Formation
  • Pleuramatra sp. Upper Cretaceous, Vancouver Island
  • Diving for fossils – Lake Cowichan – Jean, Betty, and Mike
  • Ben Morin’s first ammonite find from Haida Gwaii
  • Escalante Sunset – Last fossil of the day

    • “Evolution is life to continue”

    Anonymous, November 14, 1999

    Geology of Vancouver Island

    Did you know?
    The oldest rocks on Vancouver Island are Devonian in age (ca. 370 m.y.) and include sea-floor and terrestrial volcanic rocks as well as some limestone of the Sicker and Buttle Lake Groups.

    Introduction to Paleontology
    Courtenay Museum