Defining and defending marine mammal habitat
Marine Mammal Team
Biologist and Project Coordinator - Kathy Heise
Biologist and GIS technician - Des Kawai
Statistical Modeller and PhD Candidate, Duke University - Ben Best
Analyst and PhD Canadidate, Duke University - Erin LaBrecque
Principal Investigator, Duke University - Patrick Halpin
Why Marine Mammals?
The coastal waters of British Columbia are home to over 20 species of marine mammals, including baleen and toothed whales, dolphins, porpoises sea lions, seals and sea otters. Most of these animals are long-lived and reproduce slowly, often with just one offspring at a time. Until a few decades ago, commercial whaling severely depleted many of the blue whales, fin whales, humpbacks and minkes that inhabited our waters. The fur trade had a similar impact on sea otters. Today, our image of whales has changed, and the global moratorium on whaling has given many of these species an opportunity to recover. Our anecdotal observations suggest that more humpbacks and fin whales are returning to BC coastal waters. Even blue whales, the worlds largest mammal hunted to near extinction, were documented in 2007 off the coast of BC. Scientific results of our surveys will be completed in the fall of 2008 and we can speak more accurately to local observations. Today, the greatest threat to marine mammals is still humans, but largely through our impacts on their habitat and food supply. In the coastal waters of the Great Bear Rainforest, such threats to cetaceans and pinnipeds include:
- oil spills from proposed tanker traffic
- oil and gas exploration
- underwater noise
- ship strikes
- toxins in the food chain
- dwindling food supply
- entanglement in fishing nets and garbage
What is Raincoast doing about Marine Mammals?
Raincoast is working towards long term protection of marine mammals and their habitats in British Columbia. Since 2004, we have been conducting boat-based, systematic surveys of British Columbia’s coastal waters to determine the abundance and distribution of these animals. Many of the these animals have not been systematically counted before. Aboard our research vessel, Achiever, a team of scientists and observers work, eat and sleep on rotations for one to two months at a time. Our surveys cover the waters between Dixon Entrance (near the Alaska-BC border) and Vancouver Island. Our pre-set tracklines take us back and forth across Hecate and Queen Charlotte Straits and into inlets along the central and north coasts.
What have our surveys accomplished so far?
- Over 9,000 km of ocean trackline surveyed (more than 600 hours spent scouring the sea)
- In Fall 2008 Raincoast will publish a major report on the results of our surveys for marine mammals and seabirds.
- The moratoria on oil and gas extraction, as well as on tanker traffic, remain in effect.
What can you do?
Learn about the proposed plan to bring oil tankers to British Coumbia’s inside passage. Express your views in letters to the editor, web forums, and to elected officials.
Scientific Papers:
Williams, R., and L. Thomas. 2007. Distribution and abundance of marine mammals in the coastal waters of British Columbia, Canada Journal of Cetacean Research and Management. 9:15-28
Thomas, L., R. Williams, and D. Sandilands. 2007. Designing line transect surveys for complex survey regions Journal of Cetacean Research and Management. 9:1-13
