What’s at stake: The cost of oil on BC’s priceless coast
In 2004 Raincoast began 5 years of grueling and expensive boat-based, systematic surveys of BC’s coastal waters to determine the abundance and distribution of marine birds and mammals. This work has been a critical part of our efforts to achieve long-term protection for maritime animals and their habitats. Over 14,000 km of ocean trackline were surveyed between 2004 and 2008, primarily in the waters between Dixon Entrance (Alasks -BC Border) and Johnstone Strait, as well as the inside inlets.
Incorporating data collected on our marine surveys, Raincoast has now published What’s at Stake: the Cost of Oil on British Columbia’s Priceless Coast, a popular report that conveys the ecological implications of oil tankers and oil spills to wildlife on the BC coast. The report stems from the five years of at-sea surveys but places BC’s unique coastline in a broader ecological context.1
Citation
Raincoast Conservation Foundation. 2010. What’s at Stake?
The cost of oil on British Columbia’s priceless coast. Raincoast
Conservation Foundation. Sidney, British Columbia. Ver 02-10,
pp 1-64
ISBN: 978-0-9688432-5-3
Supplemental Material for What’s at Stake

Chapter 1. Why survey for marine animals?
Chapter 2. A changing ocean
Chapter 3. Five years of marine mammal and marine bird surveys
Download the technical report on distribution and abundance estimates (about 5.0 MB): Predictive Marine Mammal Modeling for Queen Charlotte Basin, British Columbia (PDF)
Marine mammal sightings maps (cetaceans, pinnipeds and sea otters)
Whales
Dolphins and porpoises
Pinnipeds and sea otters
Marine bird sightings maps
Seabirds
- Albatrosses: Black-footed Albatross, Laysan Albatross, Short-tailed Albatross
- Alcids: Ancient Murrelet, Cassin’s Auklet, Common Murre, Horned Puffin, , Marbled Murrelet, Pigeon Guillemot, Rhinoceros Auklet, Tufted Puffin
- Cormorants: Brandt’s Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant
- Fulmars and Shearwaters: Northern Fulmar, Pink-footed Shearwater, Buller’s Shearwater, Flesh-footed Shearwater, Short-tailed Shearwater2, Sooty Shearwater
- Storm-petrels: Leach’s Storm-petrel, Fork-tailed Storm-petrel
- Jaegers, Kittiwakes and Gulls: Pomarine Jaeger, Parasitic Jaeger, Long-tailed Jaeger, Black-legged Kittiwake, Bonaparte’s Gull, Mew Gull, California Gull, Herring Gull, Thayer’s Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Sabine’s Gull, Western Gull
Shorebirds
- Oystercatchers: Black Oystercatcher
- Sandpipers and Phalaropes: Black Turnstone, Dunlin, Red-necked Phalarope, Whimbrel,
Marine waterfowl
- Ducks: American Wigeon, Bufflehead, Goldeneye, Greater Scaup, Mallard, Northern Shoveler
- Geese: Brant, Canada Goose, Snow Goose
- Grebes: Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Western Grebe
- Loons: Common Loon, Red-throated Loon, Pacific Loon, Yellow-billed Loon
- Sea ducks: Black Scoter, Harlequin Duck, Hooded Merganser, Long-tailed Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter,
Marine raptors: Osprey, Bald Eagle
Marine-associated birds:
Chapter 4. A fragile labyrinth
Chapter 5. Populations returning from the edge of extinction
British Columbia’s large whales were hunted almost to extinction. Kill locations for large whales by species 1905-1967. These maps represent less than half the whales killed in BC waters during the 1800s and 1900s.
Chapter 6. Lessons from Alaska
Chapter 7. A crude proposal to ship oil through the BC coast
Enbridge’s Northern Gateway proposed Pipeline and Tanker Route. The route proposes a twined pipeline between Kitimat, BC and Bruiderheim, Alberta to ship crude oil west and condensate east. At Kitimat the oil would be loaded onto tankers for markets and Asia and the US.
Potential spill scenario for a 250,000 barrel spill (Exxon size) occurring in Camano Sound prior to Douglas Channel. The path of oil is based on moderate winds that push the oil north. However winds could easily move oil to Haida Gwaii or toward the Scott Islands.
The 3400 sq km area of Prince William Sound, Alaska actually affected by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill overlaid on the BC coast. This is the extent of where oil actually went.
Chapter 8. Petroleum and shipping threats to marine and terrestrial animals in the BC coast

- The technical findings and modelling from this work can found in the report Predictive Marine Mammal Modeling for Queen Charlotte Basin, British Columbia (PDF). ↩
- Broken link: files/WAS_report/birds/Signtings_maps_STSH.png. ↩