What's new // Southern Resident killer whales
If Southern Resident killer whales are to persist in the Salish Sea decisive steps producing substantive reductions in threats must be taken. Southern Resident killer whales are critically endangered. Their salmon food supply is in decline and their waters are noisy and polluted. This declining population of 73 animals (July 2022) has very low birth rates and premature deaths of adult whales. The birth of recent calves offers hope, but threats that impede their successful feeding and access to Chinook must be addressed for calves to survive and population recovery to occur. Learn more.
The federal government has made several announcements designed to reduce threats to Southern Resident killer whales. With the death of another killer whale (L92) last week, are we doing enough? Misty MacDuffee speaks with CFAX’s Adam Stirling about these issues…
The Canadian federal government’s purchase of the Trans Mountain project from Kinder Morgan is financially and environmentally dubious. With this decision, Trans Mountain should now be renamed Taxpayer Mountain…
Last week, the government announced fisheries closures in some key Southern Resident foraging areas. While welcome news, the measures only partially address our concerns over food availability and disturbance to endangered killer whales…
What is the Government of Canada doing to protect Southern Resident killer whales? Misty MacDuffee discusses how the overlapping risks to these whales have not been addressed as of May 2018, with host Adam Sterling at CFAX 1070
The National Energy Board recommended approval of the Trans Mountain expansion knowing the Kinder Morgan project would jeopardize the survival of the Southern Residents…
Conservation groups applaud today’s federal announcement that endangered Southern Resident killer whales face “imminent threats” to their survival and recovery. Prompted by this assessment, the Ministers also announced fisheries closures in key foraging areas …
Is Canada’s national interest best aligned with a Texas pipeline company? The suggestion of bailing out U.S.-based Kinder Morgan and investing tax dollars to access public assets in a sunset industry, while momentous questions of Canadian law are still before the courts, is nothing short of absurd…
Media release: Conservation groups are putting the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister of Fisheries and Oceans on notice as the groups race to secure protection for endangered Southern Resident killer whales…
This week Raincoast will join hundreds of scientists, First Nations and tribal government representatives, policy makers, community members and conservationists at the 30th Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference, in Seattle. As the largest and most comprehensive conference focused on the Salish Sea, the event is an important opportunity to progress this years theme: Ecosystem Recovery in an International Transboundary System…
Will Southern Resident killer whales survive the next one hundred years? Is the Federal government willing to finally implement the measures needed to protect and recover killer whales in the Salish Sea? How do Chinook salmon populations, shipping, fishing, whale watching, vessel noise and disturbance in the Salish Sea impact killer whales? Mark Bennae and Adam Stirling asked these questions and more…
We are requesting an emergency order under Canada’s Species at Risk Act. Southern Resident killer whales were recognized as endangered in 2002. Despite this, the Federal Government has taken no action to date to reduce the threats to these whales…
Only 76 Southern Resident killer whales remain. This is a critical situation. Today, represented by Ecojustice, and in collaboration with other science and environmental organizations, we are calling on the Canadian government to take immediate action to protect these whales…