Tracking Raincoast into 2025
Photo by Valeria Vergara..
Contents
Hanging by a thread
In 2014, we had an opinion piece published in the Victoria Times Colonist stating that “Southern Resident killer whales are no better off now than when they were listed as endangered 15 years ago.” That endangered species listing by the government of Canada is now a quarter of a century old and the situation for the Southern Residents has not improved.
As we wrote ten years previously, federal fisheries managers still appear unwilling to adequately address the availability of Chinook salmon, an essential food for the Southern Residents. Similarly, substantive action on underwater noise, vessel disturbance, and contaminant pollution has not been forthcoming.
The term ‘dark extinction’ has been used to describe the loss of species where data are limited and threats poorly documented. The case of the Southern Residents is in stark contrast with this; they are, in fact, among the world’s best studied cetaceans. As such, Raincoast scientists and colleagues advanced a new term this year – bright extinction – that illustrates the conservation stalemate we find ourselves in today.
In our op-ed a decade ago, we warned that if future generations are to grow up with Resident killer whales in the Salish Sea, crucial decisions needed to be made immediately. But all these years later, those hard decisions have yet to be made. Instead, the status quo and political inertia largely prevail.
As a result, Southern Resident killer whales are experiencing more deaths than births; it could be argued they are hanging by a thread.
But as we posited, this predicament is not solely a mechanistic one. Highly intelligent, social, and sensitive, with sophisticated communication skills and strong family ties, these whales have an intrinsic right to live their lives.
While the debate regarding the fate of the Southern Residents primarily takes place in the realm of science, management, and policy, it also brings up issues around ethics, morality, and even spirituality. Will we allow the Southern Residents to recover and regain their rightful place in the coastal ecosystem we all share? And if not, what will that ultimately say about us?
We would maintain that what we choose, or do not choose, to do on behalf of this endangered population of killer whales is, for British Columbians and Canadians, one of the existential questions of our time.
Misty MacDuffee
Biologist and Wild Salmon Program Director
Chris Genovali
Executive Director
We would maintain that what we choose, or do not choose, to do on behalf of this endangered population of killer whales is, for British Columbians and Canadians, one of the existential questions of our time.
Watershed partnerships gather momentum
The Healthy Waters program has attracted interest from First Nations, communities, and organizations interested in capacity building around water quality and the health of fish habitat, with nine partnerships in place for 2025. The program has been busy collecting and analyzing water samples, reporting on findings, and building our new mobile water pollution monitoring lab: Tracker.
Our Healthy Waters team has visited watersheds around BC: from Whistler, to Vancouver Island, the Nicola River Valley, and the Sunshine Coast. With each partnership, we apply a simple and comparable approach to collecting water in five categories: source water, streams and rivers, road runoff, tap water, and marine water. A high resolution approach to analyzing these samples provides insight about the activities within the watersheds – and among the watersheds – that impact water quality and fish habitat.
We released three reports that detailed early results from the Green and Cheakamus River watersheds in Whistler, and Sqwa:la (Hope Slough). Our findings suggest that while water quality in these watersheds is relatively good, a few emerging concerns provide fodder for action to protect these waters.
Our new mobile lab Tracker hit the road this past summer for dry season sampling! Tracker is bringing knowledge and technical capacity to our watershed communities, and provides a platform for sample collection, storage, and preliminary analysis. Tracker is poised to provide a vital service in support of healthy fish habitat – but is a project “under construction.” We continue to seek funds to outfit Tracker with additional instruments to increase our capacity to provide on-site results to communities.
Watershed community partners
- Green / Cheakamus Rivers (Whistler Lakes Conservation Foundation)
- Anderson Creek (Pender Harbour Ocean Discovery Station (PODS) and the Loon Foundation)
- Sliammon Creek (Tla’amin Nation and Pacific Salmon Foundation)
- Chemainus River (Halalt First Nation)
- Cowichan River (Cowichan Tribes)
- Tod Creek (Tsartlip First Nation, W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council, and Capital Regional District)
- Sqwa:la / Hope Slough (Pelólxw Tribe)
- Nicola River (Lower Nicola Indian Band)
- Louis Creek (Simpcw First Nation)
Pelagic bird surveys and other research on board Achiever
In 2024, Achiever and crew completed the final year of a multi-year at-sea pelagic bird survey for Environment and Climate Change Canada, culminating in a yearly average of over 15,000 nautical miles traveled while on survey around Vancouver Island. Achiever also continued to support Raincoast scientists and educators in projects ranging from coastal cetacean and wolf research, to youth education, traveling across a vast section of coastal waters throughout BC.
Looking ahead to 2025, Achiever will continue to support pelagic bird research, help to develop a new research project within our cetacean team, work with coastal First Nations youth, while also helping to maintain and manage our guide outfitter tenures.
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Marine operations will also continue with the planning and development process for shifting Achiever into a hybrid electric ship – working with local technicians and experts – the goal being to reduce Achiever’s carbon emissions, significantly reduce the amount of underwater noise (from our engines), and become a leading example for other small ships working and traveling the coastal waters of BC.
Raincoast’s youth program, Salish Sea Emerging Stewards, aims to educate, inspire, and empower the next generation of conservation leaders. Combining land-based learning activities, online education, and immersive sailing expeditions aboard Achiever, our program educates youth on local ecosystems and conservation issues, and provides them with access to nature.
We have built meaningful partnerships with community groups and Nations to engage Indigenous and underserved youth from around the Salish Sea. This past year, we worked with the Red Fox Healthy Living Society to deliver classroom-based and outdoor programming to Indigenous, low-income, and newcomer youth. They joined us on board Achiever for an immersive, week-long trip through the Gulf Islands. We also welcomed the Special Bird Service to our program in 2024, with local BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ+ youth joining us for a sailing expedition focusing on seabirds, whales, and the unique ecosystems of the southern Gulf Islands.
This coming year, we will expand our online offerings to include educational resources. Our first foray has focused on sound and underwater noise, connecting to our cetacean conservation research Underwater Listening Stations. This will help us expand our program reach by bringing interactive STEM activities to Grades 1-12 throughout BC and beyond, while raising awareness on underwater noise.
We look forward to growing our program offerings and engaging new community partners in 2025, so we may continue to inspire youth to become stewards of the Salish Sea.
Confronting bright extinction
For more than a decade, Raincoast has been championing recovery for Canada’s endangered salmon-eating killer whales.
Earlier this year, scientists from Raincoast and our international colleagues, published an updated analysis on the viability of Southern Resident killer whales. It has been eight years since our previous publication on their ability to recover. But instead of improvement, we found this population is slowly slipping away and that we are down to the 11th hour to turn things around. We coined the term bright extinction to describe the plight of these animals.
Within the planet’s current 6th mass extinction, the term ‘dark extinction’ has been used to describe the loss of species where data are limited and their threats poorly described. The concept infers that if we only knew that a population or species were facing extinction, we would take action to halt the decline.
As some of the world’s best studied cetaceans, Southern Residents are in stark contrast with incidents of dark extinction. The conservation stalemate is because hard decisions – those that bump against prioritizing industrial growth over the protection and recovery of endangered killer whales – are not being made.
In our latest study, we examined scenarios that could stop the decline and allow the whales to slowly rebuild. It requires changing the way we fish, addressing underwater noise and disturbance that comes with the growing number of ships and vessels, and stopping the flow of polluted water into their habitat. If implemented, such actions would improve conditions for Southern Residents. We are working inside and outside the Salish Sea to reduce threats and increase their chance of survival.
Donate now and help us save Southern Resident killer whales
Snapshot of Raincoast actions for Southern Resident killer whales
Photo by John Kelsey.
Raincoast has been working to implement adequate recovery measures for endangered Southern Resident killer whales for almost 20 years. We’ve identified flaws in government decisions, delays in their actions, published three viability analyses on recovery potential, petitioned twice for Emergency Orders, and legally challenged decisions that destroy their critical habitat.
Southern Resident killer whales listed as endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA).
With Ecojustice and partners, we launched the first legal challenge on government failure to protect critical habitat of SARA-listed Resident killer whales.
Won critical habitat lawsuit; DFO appealed.
DFO issues final recovery strategy for Resident killer whales.
DFO loses appeal. DFO legally bound to protect all aspects of critical habitat.
We begin long term engagement on prey management in both Canada and US.
We become intervenors in National Energy Board (NEB) review of Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX), making scientific submissions through 2016.
Assemble international science team to examine SRKW recovery under status quo, improved and deteriorated conditions of noise, salmon, and pollutants.
File analysis of SRKW recovery potential with NEB. Underwater noise must be reduced and prey improved, for SRKW to recover.
Raincoast scientists contribute to study that shows Canada’s species at risk rarely recover.
Raincoast becomes an intervenor on review of Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (RBT2) port expansion, making submissions through 2019.
2016: Federal government approves TMX. Raincoast and partners file legal challenge for failure to adhere to SARA obligations.
With our science partners, publish updated analysis of SRKW recovery potential. Whales cannot recover under status quo habitat conditions.
We win our NEB lawsuit on TMX but it is reapproved in 2019. We challenge again.
Raincoast and partners file federal petition for Emergency Order to protect SRKW critical habitat.
J35, Tahlequah, carries her dead calf for 17 days through Salish Sea.
As an outcome of the Emergency Order, government establishes five Technical Working Groups to address threats to SRKW.
Government implements first threat reduction measures for vessels, prey, contaminants, and sanctuaries. Measures (and our analysis of them) continue through 2024.
Raincoast’s appeal of TMX approval is denied by Canada’s Supreme Court.
Federal review panel on RBT2 concludes significant adverse effects to SRKW from port expansion.
Our five years of habitat restoration in Fraser River Estuary shows benefits to Fraser River Chinook salmon, key prey for SRKW.
Federal government approves RBT2 port expansion, Raincoast and partners file legal challenge.
Raincoast letter in Science identifies federal contradiction between protecting economic growth and biodiversity regarding RBT2 decision.
Raincoast and partners publish third update to population viability analysis and coin term bright extinction to describe trajectory of highly studied SRKWs.
From killer whales to humpbacks
Photo taken under SARA Research License XMMS-2-2022.
This summer marked the conclusion of our photogrammetry field research. We are now analyzing our long-term photogrammetric dataset to investigate how salmon abundance affects the fatness – and therefore the health – of Northern Resident killer whales. We are also examining how the age and sex composition of matrilines affects the health of matriline members, and how prey abundance affects this relationship. One of our most striking findings in 2024 was a negative relationship between the health of females and the number of offspring they had given birth to – evidence of the cost of mothering in this highly social species. We also found that the health of matriline members declined as the proportion of juveniles in the group increased, with young males being most affected.
Using the database of aerial images and video collected off northeast Vancouver Island from 2014 to 2024, we began a project to investigate prey sharing strategies among Northern Resident killer whales. Understanding how a limited resource is shared among group members is crucial for species where access to food may be influenced by social factors.
Underwater soundscapes
Our humpback whale research team delved into the seasonal changes in humpback whale vocal behavior across the BC coast. Together with BC Whales, we emphasized data collection in a uniquely quiet soundscape that is expected to see a dramatic increase in LNG shipping traffic in 2025.
Significant progress was made this year with our collaborative acoustic monitoring initiative, NoiseTracker. In partnership with the UBC Cloud Innovation Centre, we developed a working prototype, which we shared at a well-attended partnership development meeting with over 60 participants.
The underwater monitoring station installed in 2023 in the Pender Island Interim Sanctuary Zone (designated for endangered Southern Resident killer whales) has been recording data and livestreaming whale vocalizations and videos. In collaboration with the Saturna Island Marine Research and Education Society (SIMRES), we are studying SRKW acoustic presence and the impacts of noise on their calls. Three students have been stationed on a cliff overlooking the sanctuary zone to monitor whale presence, vessel and fishing violations, and nearby ship traffic.
Lastly, we are finalizing the installation of a second underwater monitoring station on the Sunshine coast.
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Wolves, whales, and water
Expanding partnerships for Raincoast’s conservation programs.
Our Conservation Genetics Lab has had an exciting year working on a wide range of research projects. We have completed our analysis of inbreeding across Resident killer whale populations, yielding some interesting results with important conservation implications. The analysis of wolf diet from scat collected through our Wolf Conservation Program has revealed both expected and surprising prey species.
Our UVic-based Raincoast lab is also utilizing the genetics lab to help process important scat samples from the recent field season. Looking ahead to 2025, we are embarking on a new collaborative project with DFO to help produce a reference genome for Pacific humpback whales, examining what their DNA can tell us about their breeding grounds and migration patterns based on sex.
We are also collaborating with various partners, from universities to conservation organizations, to help them analyze environmental DNA samples and interpret results. Additionally, we continue to work on important long-term studies such as our killer whale fecal analysis, striving to publish these critical findings.
Recently, our research scientist, Adam Warner, co-authored a published study on cetacean eDNA, marking another milestone in our ongoing research efforts.
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Rethinking fisheries
Raincoast has long argued that ocean fisheries removing “yields” of intercepted salmon on migration routes are not sustainable into the future.
Photo by Auston Chhor.
This year we pushed for change in commercial and recreational fisheries management, domestically and abroad. At home, we have been leading a process that brings fishermen, governments, and rights-holders together to identify the fate of “catch-and-release” fish. Some percentage of these releases result in dead fish, but determining that number, and incorporating it into sustainable fisheries management, is challenging. Look for our recommendations on “fisheries-related incidental mortality” in the new year.
Ask an old time fisherman about Chinook salmon today and they will tell you stories about the size of these fish in the past. Nowadays, Chinook are much younger and smaller than a century ago. While several factors are at play, one reason for this is ocean fishing. Unlike other salmon, Chinook can feed and grow in local waters where they can be caught while they are still growing, sometimes years before they would migrate home.
However, moving fisheries from the ocean to rivers can allow big, old Chinook to recover. An increase in their size benefits the fish, terminal fishers, and hungry killer whales that eat Chinook.
In September, along with our SkeenaWild and Watershed Watch partners, we made our final arguments to a UK-based adjudicator for why the wild salmon fishery of southeast Alaska should not be re-certified by the Marine Stewardship Council as “sustainable.” While our objection was dismissed, we will continue to challenge Alaska’s unsustainable fisheries that impact BC salmon and Southern Resident killer whales.
Salmon ecosystems in a changing climate
Determining how climate change, land use practices, and wildfire are affecting salmon habitat through applied research.
Salmon ecosystems in the Interior Fraser region are being impacted by humans on two fronts: climate change at the global scale and land-use practices at the regional level. Climate change is resulting in drier watersheds, yet anthropogenic water demands continue to grow. These factors have combined to result in lower streamflows, high water temperatures, and ultimately, degraded habitat for spawning and rearing salmon.
This past summer, we collaborated with Scw’exmx Tribal Council and Citxw Nlaka’pamux Assembly to study the impacts of drought on salmon habitat in the Nicola Watershed. The Nicola is home to several endangered salmon populations, with worsening drought a key reason for their decline. The results will be used to inform drought planning, habitat restoration, and watershed governance.
Raincoast is also working to understand how our current forest practices, wildfire management, and provincial legislation are fuelling severe wildfires that adversely affect salmon habitat. In 2025, we aim to determine how wildfire impacts endangered Chinook salmon abundance, and how changes to land use practices, such as reducing clear-cut and salvage logging, can help at-risk Chinook salmon populations recover. This emerging research will inform how climate change more broadly affects salmon habitat, and how shifting our land use paradigm can reduce the cumulative effects that are challenging the future of endangered interior salmon populations.
Photo by Alex Harris.
Fraser Estuary research and restoration
Improving our understanding of juvenile salmon in the Fraser Estuary while restoring ecosystem processes and habitats.
Raincoast is undertaking a multi-year initiative that began in 2016 to conduct research and restore habitat in the Fraser River Estuary. In 2025, there are several exciting projects on the go.
In the Lower Fraser, we are examining the effectiveness of previous “habitat compensation” sites. These are projects built in exchange for habitat loss caused by development. We are assessing their value to juvenile salmon.
We have also identified sites where restored marshes no longer function as intended, and places where restoration could have long lasting benefits to salmon. As in the past, our partners in this work include Ducks Unlimited, the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance, and Asarum Ecological Consulting.
We are also working with local municipalities to identify sites in the Lower Fraser River where marsh restoration along the foreshore could improve habitat conditions for juvenile salmon as they migrate toward the ocean. We plan to work with the City of Vancouver and the City of Burnaby to implement marsh restoration projects along the North Arm in 2025.
All this work builds on our successful habitat restoration on the delta of the Fraser River. Here, the implementation of five breaches into the Steveston and North Arm Jetties have greatly improved the access for juvenile salmon between the Fraser River and its estuary marshes on Sturgeon Bank. Our monitoring of salmon movements through these passages has demonstrated their effectiveness, but we will continue to document their use and success in 2025.
Conserving and restoring Coastal Douglas-fir forests
Monitoring, sampling, and action to protect globally rare forest ecosystems.
Photo by Alex Harris
The Raincoast Land Trust, established in 2023, currently co-owns and manages KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest (45 acres) and S,DÁYES Flycatcher Forest (13 acres) in partnership with the Pender Islands Conservancy on S,DÁYES (Pender Island) in W̱SÁNEĆ Territory. With the acquisition of these protected areas and spending time on the land, we’re now establishing long term monitoring and sampling protocols, developing management plans, and carrying out active restoration.
This year, we focused on ecological baselines. At S,DÁYES Flycatcher Forest, amphibian monitoring boards were installed alongside the wetland to measure salamander and other species diversity. Vegetation monitoring began at both properties along with surveying the Flycatcher meadow. Collecting long-term data informs management moving forward.
Active restoration at KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest involved removing dense patches of invasive reed canary grass and replacing it with native species along the shores of Gardom Pond. We’re also decommissioning the gravel road at KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest to build a basin for a wetland.
With the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council on the ȻENEṈITEL (Working together to restore our lands and culture) project, we conducted soil carbon sampling and training with InnovaTree Carbon Group. This work will determine baseline soil carbon levels pre-restoration and build community capacity for climate-adaptive monitoring that can guide ecological restoration activities on W̱SÁNEĆ lands.We came together with the Salish Sea conservation community to discuss wildfire risk, conservation covenants, and building ecological resilience in Coastal Douglas-fir forests. The outcomes of these initiatives will inform the updating of 2023’s Fire risk reduction in the Coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone: A practitioners report.
The science and ethics of wolf conservation
Photo by Robin Briggs
Marked by a long history of persecution and astonishing resilience, wolves continue to be in the crosshairs of both the public and policymakers. To date, BC’s controversial wolf cull has resulted in at least 1,944 wolves shot and killed from helicopters. In February 2024, Raincoast science director Chris Darimont and Raincoast large carnivore expert Paul Paquet responded to these staggering numbers by publishing a letter in the peer-reviewed journal Science. Their central message: wolf control, often presented as a “solution” to stabilize caribou populations, ultimately allows continued approval by governments of resource exploitation, including logging in habitats deemed “critical” to caribou. With another winter upon us, hundreds of more wolves will be killed at the hands of government-sanctioned control programs, not only under the guise of caribou recovery, but also for livestock protection, profit, and recreational purposes.
Guided by the inextricable link between science and ethics, our approach to conservation and wildlife management reform continues to be grounded in doing the most good and the least harm to people, animals, and the environment. Looking to 2025, we will continue to engage decision makers to work toward the implementation of provincial policy that respects the welfare of wolves and their ecological role.
Research remains a crucial element in our efforts to protect wolves in BC. Since 2022, we have been documenting wolf recovery in a tributary of the Fraser River and this year we have expanded our study to neighbouring watersheds. This research uses camera traps, acoustic recorders, and non-invasive genetics to better understand wolf behaviour and ecology while also examining general species dynamics in complex multi-predator, multi-prey ecosystems. In the context of genetic history, a fundamental question we aim to address is “who are these wolves?”
Using DNA extracted from fecal samples, we will improve our knowledge of the genetic origins and diversity of recovering populations, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of conservation strategies. Additionally, we are using GIS mapping to build a wolf habitat suitability model that will provide insights into habitat quality, distribution patterns, impact of human activities, and conservation priorities within the Lower Mainland region. Looking ahead to 2025, we will continue to deepen relationships with our First Nations partners whose knowledge and priorities help guide this work.
Standing our ground and recognizing a broader horizon
Photo by John Kelsey
Applied science in its most productive form requires a commitment to acknowledging – and communicating – difficult realities about contentious and complex conservation issues. Doing so is the right thing to do, even when risking criticism.
At times, members of the Raincoast Applied Conservation Science Lab at the University of Victoria must rise to this challenge. We did so twice this year, and will continue to honour this important commitment.
In one case, we faced criticism from some operators of bear-focused ecotourism, an industry we support enthusiastically. We love the idea that this non-consumptive activity brings people close to nature, and – often – revenue into local communities.
We had studied the influence of ecotourism on grizzly bears in a key watershed, finding that ecotourists can elicit strong and multi-day effects, as reported in the journal, Ecology. While most operators were grateful for this information and viewed it as helpful to their goal of continually improving practices, others publicly declared that our work was flawed.
We stood our ground. The data were clear, and peer-reviewers agreed. We also noted that the effects were limited to the handful of watersheds where ecotourism occurred, and the impact was less among females with cubs. We also illustrated how modest changes to management could mitigate the impacts we had documented.
In another case, high-profile media approached us for comment on a study showing how endangered caribou populations can benefit, in the short-term, from wolf control. Although our earlier work, which drew upon a more limited data set, showed no efficacy of wolf control, this study offered some new evidence. We issued a statement to that effect. Facing blowback from some wolf advocates, we again stood our ground. Critically we also noted that, despite the findings of this study, wolf control is not the right thing to do from either a conservation or ethical perspective.
Both cases illustrate that scientific knowledge is always provisional at some level and that we must update our knowledge with new information, even when conflicting with our worldviews and previously held theories. Simultaneously, we must recognize that science is not the only dimension to consider in the realm of policy debate. Into 2025 and beyond, we commit to both.
Science publishing
Together, members of the Raincoast team have authored hundreds of peer reviewed papers. So far this year we published nine reports, three maps, and 16 peer reviewed articles.
Peer reviewed articles
Adams MS, Levi T, Bourbonnais M, Service CN, Artelle K, Bryan H, Paquet P, Nelson T, Darimont CT. 2024. Human disturbance in riparian areas disrupts predator–prey interactions between grizzly bears and salmon. Ecology and Evolution. 14(3). doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11058.
Booy KV, Vergara V, Loseto L, Mikus M, Marcoux M. 2023. Geographic variation in simple contact calls of Canadian beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas). Marine Mammal Science. 40(2). doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.13095.
Darimont CT, Paquet PC. 2024. Canada wolf cull subsidy damages caribou habitat. Science. 383(6682):489–489. doi:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adn7098.
Dennert AM, Elle E, Reynolds JD. 2024. Nutrients from spawning salmon influence leaf area, tissue density, and nitrogen‐15 in riparian plant leaves. Ecology and Evolution. 14(2). doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11041.
Field KA, Short ML, Moody JE, Artelle KA, Bourbonnais ML, Paquet PC, Darimont CT. 2024. Influence of ecotourism on grizzly bear activity depends on salmon abundance in the Atnarko River corridor, Nuxalk Territory. Conservation Science and Practice. 6(4). doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.13097.
Finn RJR, Ned – Kwilosintun M, Ballantyne L, Hamilton I, Kwo J, Seymour-Hourie R, Carlson D, Walters KE, Grenz J, Martin TG. 2024. Reclaiming the Xhotsa: climate adaptation and ecosystem restoration via the return of Sumas Lake. Frontiers in Conservation Science. 5. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2024.1380083.
Hillis D, Barclay KM, Foster E, Kobluk HM, Vollman T, Salomon AK, Darimont CT, McKechnie I. 2024. Estimating size-at-harvest from Indigenous archaeological clamshell assemblages in Coastal British Columbia. Florin JM, editor. FACETS. 9:1–15. doi:https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2023-0128.
Holbert S, Colbourne K, Fisk AT, Ross PS, MacDuffee M, Gobas FAPC, Brown TM. 2024. Polychlorinated biphenyl and polybrominated diphenyl ether profiles vary with feeding ecology and marine rearing distribution among 10 Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) stocks in the North Pacific Ocean. Environmental Research. 241:117476–117476. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2023.117476.
Jacquet J, Franks B, Godfrey-Smith P, Sanchez-Suarez W, Abrams P, Ainley D, Jose J, Andrews K, Bach MF, Bergstrom CT, et al. 2024. Support US OCTOPUS Act to keep octopuses wild. Science. 385(6710):721–722. doi:https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adr3813.
Kim JJ, Delisle K, Brown TM, Ross PS, Noël M. 2023. Sediment Spatial Distribution and Quality Assessment of Metals in Chinook Salmon and Resident Killer Whale Marine Habitat in British Columbia, Canada. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. 85(1):73–91. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-023-01013-1.
Kussin-Bordo N, Hinch SG, Yeganeh Asadian, Scott DC. 2024 Jul 15. Effects of log booms on physical habitat, water quality, and benthic invertebrates in the lower Fraser River and estuary. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. doi:https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2023-0163.
Scott DC, Chalifour L, MacDuffee M, Baum JK, Beacham T, Rondeau E, Hinch SG. 2024 Aug 20. Variation in estuary use patterns of juvenile Chinook salmon in the Fraser River, BC. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. doi:https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2024-0012.
Short ML, Service CN, Suraci JP, Artelle KA, Field KA, Darimont CT. 2024 Apr 30. Ecology of fear alters behavior of grizzly bears exposed to bear‐viewing ecotourism. Ecology. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.4317.
Simond AÉ, Ross PS, Cabrol J, Lesage V, Lair S, Woudneh MB, Yang D, Peng H, Colbourne K, Brown TM. 2023. Declining concentrations of chlorinated paraffins in endangered St. Lawrence Estuary belugas (Delphinapterus leucas): Response to regulations or a change in diet? Science of The Total Environment. 868:161488. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161488.
Williams R, Lacy RC, Ashe E, Barrett-Lennard L, Brown TM, Gaydos JK, Gulland F, MacDuffee M, Nelson BW, Nielsen KA, et al. 2024. Warning sign of an accelerating decline in critically endangered killer whales (Orcinus orca). Communications Earth & Environment. 5(1):1–9. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01327-5.
White KS, Hood E, Wolken GJ, Peitzsch EH, Yves Bühler, Katreen Wikstrom Jones, Darimont CT. 2024. Snow avalanches are a primary climate-linked driver of mountain ungulate populations. Communications biology. 7(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06073-0.
Reports
Posacka A, Ross P. 2024. Tackling microfibre pollution through science, policy, and innovation: A framework for Canadian leadership. doi:https://doi.org/10.70766/47.9973.
Ross P, Scott S, Blancard J, Noel M. 2024. Anderson Creek watershed: Water quality report for the 2023/24 wet season. doi:https://doi.org/10.70766/126.498.
Ross P, Scott S, Lagimodiere K, Noel Marie. 2024.Cowichan River watershed: Water quality report for the 2023/24 wet season. doi:https://doi.org/10.70766/16804.3.
Ross P, Scott S, Noel M, Kooistra R. Sqwa:la (Hope Slough) watershed: Water quality report for the 2023/24 wet season. doi:https://doi.org/10.70766/81.8319.
Ross P, Scott S, Noel M. 2024. Green/Cheakamus watershed: Water quality report for the 2023-24 wet season. doi:https://doi.org/10.70766/9365.56.
Ross P, Scott S, Noel M, Klasios N. Green/Cheakamus watershed: Water quality report for the 2023 dry season. doi:https://doi.org/10.70766/955.423.
Walters K, Chhor A. 2024. Exploring modes of funding and governance for the Lower Fraser River. doi:https://doi.org/10.70766/3.83528.
Chhor A, Ruggles J, Walters K. 2024. Nature-based solutions for addressing climate risks and fostering biodiversity in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. doi:https://doi.org/10.70766/9.11738.
Chhor A. 2024. Drought Resilience for Nicola River salmon. doi:https://doi.org/10.70766/912.482.
Book chapters
MacDuffee M. 2024. Coastal Connections: Southern Resident killer whales and Chinook Salmon. In: Williams R, Lichatowich J, editors. Managed Extinction: the decline and loss of wild salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest. Caxton Press.
Maps
Gerle B. Where is our research vessel, Achiever? [web map]. Sidney (BC): Raincoast Conservation Foundation. 2024. http://www.raincoast.org/2024/09/where-is-our-research-vessel-achiever/
Gerle B. Fraser Estuary habitat restoration and sampling results. [web map]. Sidney (BC): Raincoast Conservation Foundation. 2023. https://www.raincoast.org/2023/11/fish-passage-habitat-restoration-lower-fraser-river-estuary/
Gerle B. Analysis of contaminants in the Semá:th X̱ó:tsa (Sumas Lake) region following the BC floods of 2021. [web map]. Sidney (BC): Raincoast Conservation Foundation. 2023. www.raincoast.org/2023/11/mapping-semath-xotsa-sumas-lake-region-floods-2021/
Carl H. ‘Savvy’ Sanders, in memoriam
Carl H. ‘Savvy’ Sanders was a dear friend and colleague. His twenty years of volunteer service to Raincoast Conservation Foundation was evidence of his deep commitment to environmental stewardship and protection. He was also a steadfast protector of the Raincoast team, serving on our board, providing leadership and vision.
Outside of his passion for the coast, he was also at home on the high seas. Savvy served as a captain in the US Navy on both destroyers and submarines, he served in Vietnam, and at the Pentagon. He retired from the Navy as a Commander in 1975.
Savvy passed away peacefully at his long-time home on Orcas Island in the Salish Sea, on September 9th, 2024.
He will be greatly missed.
Photo by John Kelsey
Tracking Raincoast artists and photographers
Robin Briggs 22 (wolves)
Auston Chhor 16 (salmon), 16 inset (salmon), 17 inset (salmon), 17 inset (stream)
Alex Harris 4 (Achiever deck), 10 inset (controller), 18 (Fraser Estuary), 20 (tree), 30 (forest)
John Kelsey ii (albatross), 5 inset (Salish Sea Emerging Stewards), 8 (killer whale), 12 (wolves), 14 (Vancouver Island from Achiever), 24 (grizzly), 28 (Aurora), back cover (wolf tracks)
Paul Paquet 1 (Genovali and MacDuffee)
Raincoast Conservation Foundation 6 and 10 (taken under SARA Research License XMMS-2-2022), 23 insets (trail cam)
Miles Ritter iv (SRKW from land)
Valeria Vergara Cover (wolf)
Andy Wright 2 (salmon)