What to See in Delta - Top Sights and Attractions

Bog in British Columbia, Canada. Burns Bog is an ombrotrophic peat bog located in Delta, British Columbia, Canada. It is the largest raised peat bog and the largest undeveloped urban land mass on the West Coast of the Americas. Burns Bog was originally 4,000–4,900 hectares before development. Currently, only 3,500 hectares remain of the bog.

Burns Bog is habitat to more than 300 plant and animal species, and 175 bird species. Some of these animals are listed as endangered (i.e. red-listed) or vulnerable (i.e. blue-listed) under the BC Provincial Government Species at-risk designations. The bog is also a major migratory stopover for various bird species on the Pacific Flyway.

Burns Bog regulates water as well. The bog prevents flooding, maintains cool water temperatures in nearby rivers, holds water, and releases water in dry conditions. Burns Bog is an estuarine bog since it is situated at the mouth of the Fraser River and next to the Pacific Ocean.^[3]

Theatre in Delta, British Columbia. The Genesis Theatre is a theatre located in Delta, British Columbia right next to Delta Secondary School. The theatre opened in 1990. Genesis Theater has a max capacity of 414 people in 15 rows and 10 removable seats to facilitate wheelchairs. The Genesis Theater complex is a classical proscenium theater with a fly stage and contains:

• two dressing rooms, each with 16 make-up positions, a single shower and an adjoining washroom
• orchestra pit
• lighting and sound control rooms
• drama studio / rehearsal hall
• tiered music room
• Scene Shop
• lobby with box office, coat check / concession, washrooms
• foyer with ample display areas

The theatre has produced plays and musicals such as

• Macbeth (2008)
• The Boy Friend (2007)
• Little Shop of Horrors (2006)
• Two Gentlemen of Verona (2005)
• Crazy for You (2004)
• West Side Story(2003)
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (2002)
• Dracula Spectacula (2001)
• Oliver! (2000)

Island in Delta, British Columbia. Annacis Island is a narrow island under the jurisdiction of City of Delta in Lower Mainland, British Columbia, located just downstream of the south arm of the Fraser River bifurcation between Lulu Island to the north and the Delta peninsula to the south. The island is now mostly an industrial zone, and contains one of Metro Vancouver's secondary wastewater treatment plants, the Annacis Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. The island is also home to the British Columbia Institute of Technology's Annacis Island campus.

The southern part of the island is connected to Delta via the Alex Fraser Bridge, which is part of Highway 91. Connections northward to Richmond and New Westminster are via smaller bridges on Highway 91. At the eastern end of the island there is also the Annacis Island Swing Bridge which connects the island to the Queensborough neighborhood of New Westminster on the eastern end of Lulu Island. Annacis Island is served by a public bus that connects to 22nd Street Station in New Westminster.

The wider part of the Fraser River south of the island is known as Annieville Channel (upstream) and City Reach (downstream), while the more narrow channel north of the island is Annacis Channel. The eastern (upstream) tip of the island is known as Shoal Point, and the western (downstream) tip as Purfleet Point.^[5]

Roberts Bank is home to a twin-terminal port facility located on the mainland coastline of the Strait of Georgia in Delta, British Columbia. Opened in 1970 with Westshore Terminals as its only tenant, Roberts Bank was expanded in 1983–84, and in June 1997 opened a second terminal, the GCT Deltaport container facility.

Part of Port of Vancouver, Roberts Bank is also known as the Outer Harbour of Canada's busiest port. Westshore is the busiest single coal export terminal in North America and is operated by the Westar Group on a long-term contract. It typically ships over 20 million tonnes of export coal a year and early in 2010 completed a $49-million equipment upgrade, bringing its capacity from 24 million to 29 million tonnes per year.

Some of this coal is metallurgical coal from mines in the interior of British Columbia, some of which are operated by Teck Resources. This coal mined within British Columbia pays a provincial carbon tax on its embodied emissions. However, some of the coal exported through the Roberts Bank is mined within the United States, and is exported through Canada to China. Communities along the West Coast of the United States have rejected proposals for coal export terminals for environmental reasons, and so the Roberts Bank Superport is the only way for coal producers in the Powder River Basin to export coal to Asia. The American coal exported through Roberts Bank does not pay a provincial carbon tax. This practice has been criticized by environmentalists in British Columbia.

Like the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal to the southeast, Roberts Bank was built at the end of a long causeway over a shallow bank. Originally created as a 20-hectare pod of reclaimed land for a major coal port, it is now four times that size. In January 2010, Deltaport added a third berth and doubled its capacity. It is now one of the busiest import/export ports in North America and a major hub for container trucking companies.

Roberts Bank is serviced by CN Rail, CP Rail, and BNSF Railway. Seaspan International provides tugboat services to both terminals at peninsula.^[6]

Protected site in Delta, British Columbia. George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary is a protected area in Delta, British Columbia, Canada, and is part of the Fraser River estuary, designated a site of Hemispheric Importance by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network.

The area includes managed wetlands, marshes and dikes. The 300-hectare (740-acre) area has numerous walking trails, bird blinds, lookouts, and a gift shop. It has resident nesting sites for sandhill cranes, bald eagles, mallards, spotted towhees and many others. Migrants include, lesser snow geese, greater and lesser yellowlegs, long-billed dowitchers, and western sandpipers. Over 250 species have so far been recorded in the sanctuary. The sanctuary is open year-round from 9 am to 4 pm local time.^[7]