Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Autumn is the season of whale song on the Pacific Northwest Coast, says longtime researcher Janie Wray.
Male humpbacks off the B.C. coast are beginning to get vocal — practising and modifying a supernatural and intricate song that is transmitted and almost simultaneously adopted among themselves before and during their winter migration to warmer climes.
Continue reading It’s a new season of whale song on the West CoastEditor’s note: Another example of humans negatively impacting nature, the story of the humpback whale’s comeback and a glimpse into the history of First Nations whaling.
By Alexandra Mehl, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Tofino, BC – On July 22 an entangled humpback whale was reported to be seen off the coast of Leonard Lighthouse, near Tofino.
Since the initial sighting Fisheries and Oceans Canada, alongside Strawberry Isle Marine Research Society (SIMRS), have struggled to relocate the humpback and encourage community members to call the DFO marine mammal incident reporting hotline if seen, while remaining 200 meters away.
Continue reading Entangled humpback whale reported off the coast of Tofino
Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Conservation groups are alarmed that the status of fin whales as a threatened species on Canada’s West Coast is about to be downgraded just as the dangers of LNG shipping and climate change are on the rise.
The global population of the sleek, fast moving whale — dubbed the greyhound of the sea and named for the dorsal fin near its tail — was decimated by industrial whaling, which lasted until the1980s. Canada’s Pacific fin whale population was listed as threatened in May 2005 and was legally protected under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) the following year.
That protection may now be weakened after the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) concluded fin whales numbers are increasing and reclassified it as a species of special concern in 2019.
Continue reading At-risk fin whales are in hot water with protection downgrade, LNG, and climate change
Originally published on Greenpeace International
Editors Note: Rex Weyler is now a resident of Cortes Island
From 1974 to 1982, I served as photographer on Greenpeace campaigns. Here are a dozen photographs from those years and some memories that they evoke.
Continue reading A photographer looks back at Greenpeace’s early years – Part 2
Dr. Kelsey Gil is a postdoctoral researcher at UBC’s department of zoology and the lead author of a paper published in Current Biology that literally peaks down the throat of a lunge whale.
Lunge feeding whales (humpbacks, blue whales and fin whales etc) open their mouths as they accelerate towards their prey.
Continue reading Looking down the throat of a Humpback Whale
