“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
Read more »Category Archives: Biodiversity Protection
A Bingo night to remember
Last Saturday night we showed Vancouver our wild side, and girl, it was worth it! Over 80 people showed up at a specially haunted Russian Hall to play a game of mystery and intrigue… Bingo! Our host extraordinaire, dazzling artist Kyle Loven, won everyone over with his humour and charisma. Beer and cider flowed in … Continue reading
Read more »What’s going on with freighter anchorages in the Southern Gulf Islands?
There are 33 freighter anchorages in the Southern Gulf Islands and Cowichan Bay and the federal government is currently considering adding more. The anchorages sites are free, long-term, overflow parking spaces for mostly, internationally owned grain and coal ships, waiting for berths in Port of Vancouver. Because they are outside of the federally regulated Port … Continue reading
Read more »On the interest of the “public” and/or the “nation”
Every time the topic of the Trans Mountain tanker and pipeline expansion hits the headlines, we are subjected to various public pronouncements by politicians, oil companies, and media figures about how it’s in the “public” or “national” interest. I think it’s important to note that this “public” or “national” interest, cast in primarily economic terms, … Continue reading
Read more »$12,700 raised for orca protection!
Thanks to the support of 229 contributors, Rama DelaRosa’s Swim for the Salish Sea Orcas raised $12,700 to save the endangered Southern Resident killer whale, more than meeting the challenge grant of $10,000 contributed by a long-time GSA donor. It was an incredible journey, and Rama and all of us at GSA are so grateful … Continue reading
Read more »Round and round we go … but where to, we don’t know
Prime Minister Trudeau’s government has announced a new National Energy Board process for the Trans Mountain tanker-and-pipeline project. The Federal Court of Appeal made it clear that the first NEB panel got it so wrong in its assessment of marine shipping impacts on Southern Resident orcas that they need to do it again. Georgia Strait … Continue reading
Read more »A Summer with Georgia Strait Alliance
In May, Octavio Cruz and I joined Georgia Strait Alliance’s Species Protection Outreach Team as summer students. Our goal was to organize local events to educate community members about threats to the Strait of Georgia and, specifically, to British Columbia’s beloved Southern Resident killer whales (SRKWs), while encouraging them to take action to ensure the … 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 »Who grew those oysters on your plate?
The story of shellfish from tide-to-table The average seafood eater on BC’s South Coast is probably blissfully unaware that it takes between two and four years to grow the Pacific Northwest clams and oysters that occasionally adorn their plate. That’s something a local Vancouver restaurant is trying to change by encouraging people to learn more … 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
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