Wildlife conservation literature and public discourse, too often gloss over the important difference between hunting and the regulation of hunting. This is so common that there is a persistent, misinformed idea that extinctions have been avoided through the act of hunting. Historically, the regulation of hunting, not hunting itself, has averted extinction…
We watch as her three little cubs slowly take to the high water and make their way to mom. They graze on roots, and search for salmon carcasses that simply aren’t there. The cub’s curiosity…
As Raincoast’s Senior Scientist, and a world renowned large carnivore expert, Paul’s input is key to guiding our research and conservation programs in both the Great Bear Rainforest and the Salish Sea. Paul will provide insight into key conservation issues on BC’s coast including…
A theme that underlies our research in the Applied Conservation Lab is that we aim to apply methods that are minimally invasive to wildlife. This ethos emerges in large part from our partners in First Nations communities, who have taught us many important lessons about respecting the people, places, and animals where we work. Our…
Last year the Raincoast lab at UVic marked an important new milestone with the creation of the Raincoast Chair in Applied Conservation Science at the University of Victoria. This five year Chaired Professorship allows us to expand our research, teaching and outreach programs in community-driven applied conservation science. Our long-term vision is to train next…
The reality is that calves like Lucky only have a 40% chance of survival. More sobering still is the fact that no calves have survived in this population in the last three years. This is why we have stopped using images…
Listen to Misty MacDuffee explain some of the context around the recent birth of L124 in the Salish Sea. Declines in Chinook abundance, especially to the Fraser, are affecting killer whale behaviour patterns, fertility and survival…
The Southern Resident killer whales are critically endangered. 1 2 After years of legal, scientific, and public outreach efforts requesting concrete action from federal agencies, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, David Suzuki Foundation, Georgia Strait Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council and World Wildlife Fund-Canada, represented by Ecojustice, filed a lawsuit in September 2018 to compel the government…
Research by scientists at Spirit Bear Research Foundation, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and the University of Victoria, led by Christina Service, shows that salmon species diversity – the number of spawning salmon species available – is far more important and positively related to salmon consumption in coastal black bears than biomass abundance…
As noted, Corexit can also be toxic to wildlife. For some species, such as herring embryos, toxicity occurs because Corexit does what it was designed to do: increase the concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons in the water column. However, there is also a growing body of research, much of it conducted in response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010…
Misty MacDuffee and Adam Stirling discuss the benefits and the shortcomings of Washington’s investment, the problem with dams, aid to Chinook hatcheries and new hatchery production. They discuss the genetic and ecological implications from hatcheries and why MacDuffee believes this makes them a poor investment for salmon recovery and Southern Resident killer whales. …
Raincoast science is contributing to a large and growing body of evidence that shows the current levels of Chinook abundance, ocean noise, vessel disturbance, and pollution, create conditions that make population recovery for the Southern Residents untenable…