“MY wastewater?!?”, you might be thinking. It’s true. Anything that runs down the drains of your sinks, showers, washing machines, dishwashers and toilets becomes wastewater. Personal and industrial use of items that contain complex, and sometimes harmful, chemicals means that wastewater contains a myriad of compounds including plastics, heavy metals, nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen, … Continue reading
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Climate Accountability Means Communities of Care: Meet GSA’s Newest Organizer
Hey everyone! My name is Gillian Der and I am so excited to be jumping into this role as community organizer on GSA’s municipal climate accountability efforts. I am looking forward to campaigning to support community members in asking their municipalities around the Salish Sea to send letters to the top 20 carbon producers, holding … Continue reading
Read more »Climate action matters
We are united because we’re living in the beginning of the climate crisis. Together, we are in a collective darkening moment because we’ve operated by the rules that we were given. But now it’s time for a change: corporations, consumers, and decision makers need to define new rules that provide the framework that we all … Continue reading
Read more »Climate accountability and fiscal responsibility
Multi-year summer droughts. Forest fire smoke turning the sun orange. Winter storms increasing erosion of the shoreline. Coastal communities may not face the same dramatic climate impacts as interior residents driven out by wildfires and flooding, but even here the impacts are becoming evident. Climate change is probably the single, biggest threat to the health … Continue reading
Read more »The Whale Guru
Ron Bates, known as the Whale Guru by his loved ones, has spent most of his life with killer whales in the wild. Ron currently resides in Victoria, British Columbia and, although he calls this city his home, he has been a world traveler since he was a young child. Ron sailed to Hong Kong from … Continue reading
Read more »Apex Predators and a Healthy Planet
Large predators often get a bad rap in terms of public outlook and opinion. Large predators in both marine and terrestrial environments has often been one of fear, misunderstanding, and misinformation. It was not until recently that public opinion on orcas began to change from one of a negative monstrous creatures to one of intelligent … Continue reading
Read more »From Machine Guns to Save-the-Whales
A History of Human and Orca Interactions In June 1961, the Department of Fisheries mounted a .50 caliber machine-gun overlooking Seymour Narrows, northwest of Campbell River, with the intent to shoot and kill passing orcas. Deemed a threat to commercial and recreational fishing, killer whales were known in the Pacific Northwest as, at best, dangerous … Continue reading
Read more »Are resident orcas moving on?
Southern resident orcas are one of the most highly studied whale populations in the world. Every individual has a name and is photographed for an annual census that has been conducted for over 40 years by the Centre for Whale Research. We know their family trees, when they were born, who they favour spending time … Continue reading
Read more »The history and how to change the future for orcas
We hope you’ve enjoyed the blogs we’ve shared during Orca Awareness Month, where we’ve been discussing the three major threats to the southern residents: Prey Abundance and Availability (lack of Chinook salmon) Noise Pollution Toxic Contamination In this blog, we outline a bit of the history of orcas in the Pacific Northwest, and share how … Continue reading
Read more »Toxic Waters – Toxic Food
As we continue to celebrate Orca Awareness Month, we acknowledge how lucky we are to live in an area where these amazing whales roam the waters we share. In our previous blogs, we have been discussing the major threats to the survival and recovery of the southern resident orcas, including: low food availability (chinook salmon), … Continue reading
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