Tag Archives: The Blob

Environment

Unchecked climate change puts Canada’s West Coast in hot water

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Last year was the hottest on record for the ocean, an upward trend only expected to continue as it wreaks havoc on coastal communities and spurs irreversible losses to marine ecosystems. 

Ocean warming has cascading effects, melting polar ice and causing sea-level rise, marine heat waves and ocean acidification, the United Nations’ panel of climate experts made clear on Monday.

Sea-level rise has doubled in the last three decades, reaching a record high in 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported. Rising seas, coupled with more extreme weather, are setting the stage for a perfect storm of flooding for coastal communities. 

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Rivers & Oceans

No Chum in Basil Creek yet, but the outlook for salmon may be improving

It is November 26 and there are still no Chum Salmon in Basil Creek. Normally they would have returned a month ago, but there was a prolonged drought this year. While the water level has risen, there are still no fish.

“It’s getting to be late for Chum, but we’re seeing other populations come in late. We might see Chum return into the next few weeks, it’s very possible. This year is definitely characterized by a lot of weird conditions,” said Matthew Clarke, DFO’s Head for stock assessment in North Vancouver Island, from Black Creek to Cape Caution (which is actually on the Mainland). His area also includes Cortes and Quadra Islands.    

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Animals, Rivers & Oceans

At-risk fin whales are in hot water with protection downgrade, LNG, and climate change

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.

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Rivers & Oceans

West Coast kelp is in hot water, but scientific insights may help save our underwater rainforests

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

B.C.’s critical kelp forests withered as climate change has triggered marine heat waves along the entire West Coast in recent years. 

But exceptions to the rule may provide insights helpful to saving and restoring our underwater forests, said Samuel Starko, a University of Victoria researcher.

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Opinion, Rivers & Oceans

Fish and Watersheds

In recent weeks, Hyacinthe Creek – one of a handful of  salmon bearing streams on Quadra Island – has experienced a few salmon swimming up its waters. Their arrival has not been an easy journey!

Life for all adult salmon, for millennia, has been a series of survival challenges. Depending upon the species, life cycles range from 2 years (Pinks) to 7 years (Chinook). For new born salmon referred to as fry, making it from their Coastal and or Interior BC birth streams to salt water can require many weeks to months of learning what to eat, while being swept over waterfalls to then crash through rapids for many more kilometers downstream. 

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