Category Archives: Animals

Animals

A very cold but rewarding 2022 Christmas Bird Count

Cortes Island:  The results from this year’s Christmas Bird Count are finally in. As expected, the numbers are down. According to George Sirk, this was because of the weather.

George Sirk: it was really cold and it was the day of the World Cup soccer final. I was at home nice and cozy with Kim, having breakfast and coffee and watching this tremendous finale of the World Cup. I had told Gina Trzesicka at the Cortes Island Museum that I was not going to be available until about 10 o’clock because I had wanted to see this finale

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Animals, Rivers & Oceans

Humpback whales are riding a crosscurrent of hope and concern

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

It was a good news, bad news year for humpback whales residing in the Salish Sea on the West Coast.

Nearly 400 humpbacks were sighted in 2022, the highest number on record, said researcher Tasli Shaw, project lead for Humpback Whales of the Salish Sea (HWSS), which identifies and catalogues marine mammals in the region. 

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Animals

Slugs and bugs are worth saving, too

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Conservationists striving to prevent species from going extinct find it tricky enough to save Canada’s most magnificent and iconic animals, like southern resident killer whales, mountain caribou or grizzly bears. 

But most of the 640 wildlife now listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act are flora and fauna that don’t get time in the spotlight. More than a third of at-risk species are plants, mosses and lichens most people would probably walk past without a second glance. 

Another 30 per cent are slimy, slithery, creepy creatures that folks might well notice but find repellent. But critters like slugs, bugs and snakes are critical to ecosystems, too, and deserve a lot more love. 

So, Canada’s National Observer asked three B.C. biologists to champion a less charismatic creature they think is fascinating and deserves a little public adoration.

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Animals, Rivers & Oceans

Endangered salmon are left to flounder as Canada hosts COP15

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The federal government is touting lofty goals at the United Nations biodiversity conference underway in Montreal, but Ottawa is failing to save iconic salmon and steelhead trout populations on the edge of extinction, B.C. conservation groups say. 

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Animals, Rivers & Oceans

Endangered wildlife committee keeps B.C’s humpback whales on the list

By Kaitlyn Bailey, Prince Rupert Northern View, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The North Pacific humpback whale population is still at risk with a recommended status of “special concern”, announced the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) on Dec. 8.

Since commercial whaling for humpbacks was outlawed in 1966, the North Pacific population has been slowly growing, COSEWIC stated. They added that more than 4,000 whales spend time off the coast of B.C., but there are still risks.

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