Oil and chemical spill tracking

Spills of oil and chemicals into freshwater and ocean environments have killed fish, degraded habitat, and led to closures of commercial, recreational, and Indigenous fisheries. Raincoast’s Healthy Waters Program is positioned to collect data at the scene of a spill and collaborate with various organizations and First Nations to understand the impact of a spill. 

Tracker will host a number of rugged analytical instruments, and enable the measurement of several contaminants in the field, including coliform bacteria, nutrients, metals, pesticides, and tracers of wastewater effluent.
Photo by Peter Ross.
Two sockeye salmon swimming in a river.
Photo by Fernando Lessa.

Spills happen

Spills originate from all manner of accidents. The 2005 train derailment that spilled caustic soda into the Cheakamus River that killed 500,000 fish, The 2015 spill of 3,000 L of Bunker C oil from the MV Marathassa into English Bay. The 2020 fire aboard the MV ZIM Kingston in Juan de Fuca Strait that resulted in the loss of 104 mixed cargo shipping containers into the ocean. Each and every accident is bad news, and threatens the health of fish and whales, and contributes to the degradation of their habitats.

Being prepared is key

Given the sudden and unpredictable nature of oil and chemical spills, our oil and chemical spill response work entails being agile and available for support to First Nations, government agencies, and industry during a major spill. We are developing science protocols, and acquiring sampling kits, field equipment, and safety gear, and are poised to deploy our team to the scene of a spill. 

Being prepared on all fronts is key to limiting the damage from a spill. We recognize that with spills, it’s not a matter of if, but when. Research and monitoring to confirm the origin of the spill, track the fate of the spilled product, and monitor the recovery of ecosystem components routinely fails to be a priority. We will deploy expert capacity where and when needed, and work to prevent harm to valued ecosystem components.

Two people working together to collect water samples in a farm field with the mountains in the background.
Photo by Alex Harris.
https://www.raincoast.org/reports/flood

Semá:th X̱ó:tsa (Sumas Lake) Floods of 2021

The catastrophic floods of late 2021 in southern British Columbia (Canada) and neighbouring Washington State (USA) destroyed homes, farms and businesses, with excess water spilling debris, animal carcasses and diesel fuel into historically productive fish habitat. 

We assembled a team to assess water quality in the former Semá:th X̱ó:tsa (Sumas Lake) area of the Fraser Valley over a seven-week period after the floods. We collected water samples from 11 surface water sites and four groundwater sites for comprehensive contaminant analysis and a subsequent risk-based evaluation. We measured 379 analytes (chemical components and bacteria), including 262 anthropogenic contaminants. We examined excess nutrients, metals, fecal coliform, hydrocarbons, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products, perfluorinated compounds, sucralose, and tire-related chemicals.

Read the report

Recent articles

Birds eye view photo of a pod of belugas.

Investigating individual distinctiveness in the calls of wild belugas   

Beluga whales produce a multitude of sounds for a variety of functions. To date, calls used for group cohesion and for mother-calf contact, known as ‘contact calls’, are the best understood 4,6,8,11,13,14.  The fact that contact calls sound nothing like the typical chirps and whistles that are common in  the beluga vocal repertoire, but instead…
Grizzly mother and cub in front of the bighouse on the Koeye river.

A bright-spot for bear conservation

On this episode of the Future Ecologies podcast, Doug (Muq’vas Glaw) Neasloss and Kyle Artelle illustrate the issues with the NAM by telling the story of provincial management of grizzly bear hunting in the Great Bear Rainforest. However, they also illustrate an alternative to the NAM, a decolonial model rooted in Indigenous sovereignty that has made the Great Bear Rainforest a bright-spot for bear conservation .
Southern Resident

A bond through salmon, language, and grandmothers

Spirits of the Coast brings together the work of marine biologists, Indigenous knowledge keepers, poets, artists and storytellers, united by their enchantment with the orca.
Two people walking through a forest.

My time at Raincoast: A Reflection

Paige Griffin shares her experience interning with Raincoast’s Gulf Islands Forest Project.
Four humpback whales swimming in the ocean.

Dr. Valeria Vergara is teaching a course on whale and dolphin culture

Senior Scientist and Co-Director of our Cetacean Conservation Research Program, Dr. Valeria Vergara, is teaching the course, which is part of the SFU’s Continuing Studies Program.
Steep rocky cliffs that go straight into the ocean.

The story of Coastal Douglas-fir forests: All about Gabriola Island

This installment is the second in a series of several articles seeking to explore the ways ecosystems  differ between the islands within the Coastal Douglas-fir (CDF) biogeoclimatic zone. Rob Brockley, President of the Gabriola Land and Trails Trust, explains the ways topography, soil conditions, and increasing development pressure have influenced and continue to shape the…
Salal flowers.

Field Notes from S,DÁYES Flycatcher Forest

Field notes from a group of youth learning about restoration and conservation on Pender Island.
Pascale driving a zodiac boat on a sunny day.

Meet Pascale Campagna-Slater, Education Program Coordinator

We are excited that Pascale Campagna-Slater joined our team this spring!