Salish Sea

During response activities Tuesday (Aug. 16) U.S. Coast Guard personnel recover most of a seine fishing net that detached from a vessel that sank off San Juan Island near Greater Victoria on Aug. 13. (U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Northwest/Twitter)

Endangered orcas’ close call with fuel spill off Victoria a ‘wake-up call’: researcher

A quicker response was needed to protect marine wildlife, says U.S. institute

 

A fishing boat with thousands of litres of fuel onboard sank between Greater Victoria and Washington state on Aug. 13. A sheen spanning more than three kilometres was reported to have entered Canadian waters by that evening. (U.S. Coast Guard Pacific West Coast district/ Twitter)

Joint response team working on oil spill spreading to B.C. waters

Vessel had 9,400 litres of diesel in its tank when it went down

 

A southern resident killer whale. Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Ocean Wise.

B.C. study finds endangered southern resident killer whales aren’t getting enough to eat

UBC researchers find the orcas haven’t been eating enough since 2018, sea lions partly to blame

 

The Malahat Nation’s environment department is in the process of surveying areas of the Salish Sea to find what is known as ghost gear – abandoned fishing and trapping equipment that has sunk. It’s part of the nation’s ocean cleanup and awareness program. (Photo courtesy of Malahat Nation)

Malahat Nation working to remove ‘ghost gear’ from Salish Sea

Surveying is underway via a remote operated vehicle

The Malahat Nation’s environment department is in the process of surveying areas of the Salish Sea to find what is known as ghost gear – abandoned fishing and trapping equipment that has sunk. It’s part of the nation’s ocean cleanup and awareness program. (Photo courtesy of Malahat Nation)
The most recent Bigg’s killer whale calf, T124A7, breaches the water alongside three adult members of the pod. (Karac Lindsay/Eagle Wing Tours, courtesy of Pacific Whale Watch Association)

2021 brought record whale sightings, including multiple newborns to the Salish Sea

Whale researchers report 21 new humpback calves in the Salish Sea

The most recent Bigg’s killer whale calf, T124A7, breaches the water alongside three adult members of the pod. (Karac Lindsay/Eagle Wing Tours, courtesy of Pacific Whale Watch Association)
A humpback whale calf breaches the ocean’s surface in fall 2021. (Credit: Val Shore, Eagle Wing Tours, PWWA)

Record number humpback calves spotted off B.C.’s south coast in 2021

21 new calves spotted in Salish Sea so far this year in whale baby boom

A humpback whale calf breaches the ocean’s surface in fall 2021. (Credit: Val Shore, Eagle Wing Tours, PWWA)
L47 (Marina) pictured with her youngest male offspring, L115 (Mystic) in 2011. (Courtesy of the Center for Whale Research)

Southern resident killer whale grandma, 47, missing and likely dead: researchers

47-year-old orca Marina leaves three surviving offspring, two in next generation

L47 (Marina) pictured with her youngest male offspring, L115 (Mystic) in 2011. (Courtesy of the Center for Whale Research)
A Bigg’s killer whale seemingly defying gravity near Victoria. (Photo by Paul Pudwell/Sooke Coastal Explorations)

Record transient orca numbers spotted in the Salish Sea this year

Nearly 30 Bigg’s orcas, known as the ‘wolves of the seas’, observed over Labour Day weekend

A Bigg’s killer whale seemingly defying gravity near Victoria. (Photo by Paul Pudwell/Sooke Coastal Explorations)
A small pod of Pacific white-sided dolphins pass by close to shore in Campbell River June 16, 2021. Still capture from video courtesy of Kimberly Hart

VIDEO: Dolphin sunset captured from Vancouver Island shore

Spectacular setting for view of travelling pod of Pacific white-sided dolphins

  • Jun 18, 2021
A small pod of Pacific white-sided dolphins pass by close to shore in Campbell River June 16, 2021. Still capture from video courtesy of Kimberly Hart
Members of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ Marine Mammal Response Program rescued an adult humpback what that was entangled in commercial fishing gear in the waters off of Entrance Island on Thursday, June 10. (Photo courtesy Marine Mammal Response Program)

Rescuers free humpback ‘anchored’ down by prawn traps off Vancouver Island

Department of Fisheries and Oceans responders spend hours untangling whale

Members of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ Marine Mammal Response Program rescued an adult humpback what that was entangled in commercial fishing gear in the waters off of Entrance Island on Thursday, June 10. (Photo courtesy Marine Mammal Response Program)
The leucistic crab found off the coast of Sooke. (Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea/Twitter)

White crab found off Vancouver Island is never seen in Canada

The odds of the crab’s random leucism mutation are as low as one in six million

The leucistic crab found off the coast of Sooke. (Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea/Twitter)