Tag Archives: Queen Charlotte Sound

Animals, Rivers & Oceans

Where Killer Whales and Dolphins Hunt Cooperatively

A new study found that Northern Resident Killer Whales and Pacific white-sided dolphins have formed a cooperative hunting relationship to catch Chinook salmon in the Johnstone Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound. The dolphins utilize echolocation to locate fish at depth, but their small teeth are designed primarily to grip prey, and they cannot swallow large species like Chinook salmon whole. Instead, dolphins locate the fish, and then wait for the killer whales move in to tear them apart, scattering bits of tissue and flesh into the water.

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Rivers & Oceans

Threat of oxygen-poor ‘dead zones’ surfacing on BC central coast

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The spectre of low-oxygen “dead zones” is surfacing along BC’s Central Coast, threatening the region’s rich marine ecosystems and fisheries. 

Widespread hypoxia — when oxygen levels in the ocean fall below levels required by marine life — is being detected in the deep waters of Queen Charlotte Sound for the first time, said Sam Stevens, an oceanographer at the Hakai Institute and lead author of a new study. 

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Energy

ExxonMobil cuts bait on exploration rights for B.C. coast

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Fossil fuel giant ExxonMobil is relinquishing its long-standing oil and gas exploration permits that threaten sensitive marine ecosystems on the B.C. coast — a heartening development, a coalition of environmental groups say. 

The move by the oil and gas company is encouraging, say the groups waging a lawsuit against the federal government over historical “sleeper” permits that expose B.C. waters — and marine protected areas in particular — to environmental threats from exploratory drilling. 

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