SRKW | Raincoast Conservation Foundation

Guide government action on Southern Resident killer whales before March 23

Published on 2020 03 18 | by Raincoast | in Conservation update

A researcher puts a breath sampler in the water from a long pole while a killer whale swims in another frame.

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We are headed to the Supreme Court for Southern Resident killer whales

Published on 2019 11 05 | by Misty MacDuffee, Wild Salmon Program Director & Paul Paquet, Senior Scientist | in For the coast

Southern Resident killer whales on the surface of the blue Salish Sea.

Today, Raincoast takes our work to protect Southern Resident killer whales from the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. Working with Living Oceans Society and our legal team at Ecojustice, we have filed an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. We are arguing that the […]

Trans Mountain Expansion project background

Published on | by Raincoast | in Backgrounders

J50 and J42, Southern Resident Killer Whales swim in the Salish Sea.

Ecojustice, Raincoast Conservation Foundation and Living Oceans Society have worked through the courts to protect Southern Resident killer whales from the threats posed by the Trans Mountain Expansion project. Timeline 2013 – Raincoast and Living Oceans, legally represented by Ecojustice, file as formal intervenors in the National Energy Board’s review of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain […]

Increasing salmon hatcheries could do more harm than good for Chinook and Southern Resident killer whales

Published on 2019 08 13 | by Misty MacDuffee, Nick Gayeski, & Chris Genovali | in For the coast

A killer whale chases a chinook salmon in the Salish Sea.

Hatcheries have failed to protect or restore the old ages, big sizes, range of migration times and diversity of wild Chinook salmon. For Southern Residents to recover, the age structure and run timing of wild Chinook runs, along with abundance, need to be restored. This is not the objective of hatcheries…

Interview: Why our latest court challenge to the re-approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline is critical for the Salish Sea

Published on 2019 07 22 | by Raincoast | in Interviews

The Southern Resident killer whales are a small declining population. The increase in tanker traffic associated with the Trans Mountain expansion will have a significant adverse effect on these killer whales in the Salish Sea…

Saving endangered whales: Strategies from above and below the 49th parallel

Published on 2019 07 16 | by Misty MacDuffee, Wild Salmon Program Director | in Backgrounders

Southern Resident killer whales in the Salish Sea.

On May 10, the Canadian federal government announced its first wide-ranging measures to reduce the primary threats compromising survival of the salmon-eating Southern Resident killer whales reliant on the transboundary waters of the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. Although federally listed as endangered in 2003 in Canada and 2005 in the US, little has happened […]

We’re headed back to court for killer whales

Published on 2019 07 08 | by Misty MacDuffee, Wild Salmon Program Director & Paul Paquet, Senior Scientist | in Conservation update

A killer whale in the foreground, with a container ship behind it in the mouth of the Fraser River.

Today we are returning to court with partners Ecojustice and Living Oceans Society to challenge the federal government’s re-approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Our lawyers at Ecojustice submitted a motion to the Federal Court of Appeal this morning, asking for leave to launch a judicial review of Cabinet’s decision. We contend that Cabinet […]

Misty MacDuffee on CFAX 1070 talking about the approval of the Trans Mountain Pipeline

Published on 2019 06 24 | by Raincoast | in Interviews

Two killer whales come to the surface of the Salish Sea.

The day after the federal government approved the Trans Mountain Pipeline yet again, Raincoast’s Wild Salmon Program Director, Misty MacDuffee spoke with Mark Brennae on CFAX 1070 to talk pipelines, whales, and how humans are implicated in the disappearance of species. There is, of course, the risk of an oil spill or a vessel strike, but the noise and disturbance on both inbound and outbound tankers is always a certainty. And that noise can reduce the whales ability to echolocate and communicate…

No half measures for Southern Resident killer whales

Published on 2019 04 30 | by Misty MacDuffee, Wild Salmon Program Director & Ross Dixon, Communications and Development Director. | in Conservation update

A single Southern Resident killer whale surfaces in the Salish Sea.

Right now, as we anticipate the return of these endangered whales to the Salish Sea, the federal government is considering exactly what measures they will take to aid recovery in 2019. They are asking you for your input, and it is critical that you encourage them to make the right choice. Many voices are advocating for less ambitious recovery actions…