Washington State signed new legislation that requires boats to keep 914 metres from orcas, more than doubling the current requirement, beginning in January 2025. Unfortunately, Canada isn’t following suit. Originally published in PostMedia’s The Province on May 18. Endangered southern resident orcas are on the verge of getting a lot more space, but not if … Continue reading
Read more »Posts Tagged: orca
Perspective on change
It’s hard to believe that in all the more than 18 years we’ve been taking annual kayak trips in coastal BC, that we’ve never had the experience of seeing orcas in the water while paddling but we hadn’t. We’d seen orcas in the wild while sitting in camp, but this year we were out on … Continue reading
Read more »Your wastewater is polluting the Salish Sea
“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 »A tale of inaction – signifying nothing good for the orca
The news we received last week was troubling. A young female southern resident orca was found dead in the Strait, the 4th death in a year for a population that now only numbers 77 individuals. Today we found out that this orca was pregnant with a full-term fetus and the bad news is doubled. Photo: … Continue reading
Read more »Orcas in trouble: gov’t plan for inaction
Ever since early 2012 when the federal court made its final ruling mandating that the federal government protect resident orcas critical habitat, we’ve been waiting for the action plan that would clearly lay out how we would act to protect our endangered southern resident orcas and their habitat. With the release last month of the … Continue reading
Read more »Be a Wise Whale and Wildlife Watcher
Exploring the Whale Museum in Telegraph Cove (Photo by R. Spencer) A couple weeks ago, I went up island with my family to do some whale and wildlife watching. Not only did we see belted kingfishers and a pair of sea lions and bald eagles, but we were lucky enough to glimpse a pod of … Continue reading
Read more »Never a better time to give … or win!
You’ve been thinking about it for awhile. Maybe it was after we won an order for Victoria to treat its sewage or when we won a legal victory to gain better protection for our orcas. Whatever the reason, you’ve wanted to support GSA for awhile because investing in the protection of our oceans is always … Continue reading
Read more »Species at Risk on the Atlas
Photo by: Bruce Obee We are pleased to introduce an addition to the Georgia Strait Communities Atlas, a new chapter of our virtual atlas which explores Species at Risk in the Salish Sea. Over the coming year, we will be releasing a series of interactive Google Earth maps that will be featured on our Communities … Continue reading
Read more »Good things come in small packages
Back in the day when I was a school-kid, slogan t-shirts were all the rage – many of them went over my 9 year-old head (and remembering them now, I can’t believe how inappropriate some of those sayings were) but the kernel of truth from my best friend’s “Good things come in small packages” shirt … Continue reading
Read more »Tankers, Thanks and Banks
Adapted from original publication on smallchangefund Blog Oil tankers shipping out of Vancouver Harbour were really not paid much attention to by the general public a couple of years ago, and maybe even just a year ago. The increase seen over the last decade did not get much publicity and the fact that tankers of … Continue reading
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