Tag Archives: Humpback Whales

Rivers & Oceans

Lack of regulations leaves humpback at risk despite BC Ferries slowdown, experts say

By Sonal Gupta, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Researchers welcome a slowdown by BC Ferries through one of the region’s key humpback whale corridors, but warn it’s not enough without binding federal rules for foreign cruise lines and surging LNG tankers.

The company will reduce speeds starting June 1, after one of its ships struck and killed a humpback whale named Midnight in Wright Sound last year.

Continue reading Lack of regulations leaves humpback at risk despite BC Ferries slowdown, experts say →
Animals, Rivers & Oceans

Social smarts help BC humpbacks adapt as oceans change

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Whale researcher Janie Wray vividly remembers the first time she saw humpbacks bubble-net feeding on the northern BC coast more than 20 years ago.

First, the mournful calls begin at depth, followed by a perfect ring of bubbles rising through the water. Moments later, herring scatter and flash as they leap from the ocean as up to a dozen humpbacks surge upwards in unison, breaking the surface with their maws agape.

Continue reading Social smarts help BC humpbacks adapt as oceans change →
Rivers & Oceans

Tens of thousands of Canadian marine animals killed or maimed by ‘ghost gear’

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A “shocking” amount of marine life is being ensnared in abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear adrift in Canada’s oceans, internal federal data reveals.

Nearly 86,000 marine animals were caught up in “ghost gear” between 2020 and 2023, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) data obtained by Canada’s National Observer through an access to information request.

Of that total, 85 per cent was classified as a “commercially valuable species,” DFO staff stated in a June 2024 memo to former fisheries minister Diane Lebouthillier.

Continue reading Tens of thousands of Canadian marine animals killed or maimed by ‘ghost gear’ →
Animals

Annual Christmas Bird Count 2025: interview with George Sirk

One of Cortes Island’s longstanding traditions is the Christmas Bird Count; for almost 25 years, local residents have volunteered in a coordinated week-long audit of the island’s bird life. For many years this effort has been coordinated in the field by longtime islander George Sirk, host of CKTZ’s ‘Nature Boy‘ which kicks off a new season at 9:30 AM on Wednesday, January 7, 2026.

Roy Hales interviewed George about this year’s bird count.

Golden-crowned Sparrow
Continue reading Annual Christmas Bird Count 2025: interview with George Sirk →
Animals

Canadian and US regulations are at odds in the Salish Sea, and whales are caught in the middle

Editor’s note: The Orcas that visit Cortes, Quadra and the Redonda Islands are mostly members of the northern resident pod, but there also get visitors from the southern pod.

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Salish Sea is one ecosystem but Canada and the US are playing by different rules when it comes to protecting threatened whales, experts warn. 

Continue reading Canadian and US regulations are at odds in the Salish Sea, and whales are caught in the middle →