Steller Sea Blog

Orcas Starving and No Laws Protect Them

The other day I received an email from Jen McGuinness. Jen is a friend and fellow kayak guide, as well as begin on the board of the North Coast Cetacean Society and the President of the Canadian Federation of Ocean Kayak Educators. While the subject of her email was the status of the southern resident Orca population she also voiced her concern for threatened species in general.

British Columbia has the highest diversity of native wildlife in Canada, including an estimated 1138 species of vertebrates, 60,000 species of invertebrates, 5250 species of plants, and 10,000 species of fungi. Through the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (1992), and under the National Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk (1996), British Columbia has pledged to conserve this diverse array of life. Yet, as Jen points out, British Columbia has no stand-alone endangered species act. This seems like a major oversight for a government purportedly dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity. If this concerns you as much as it does me, please read Jen’s email (below) and see how you can help.

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Dear Friends & Family,

As some of you may have heard recently on the news 7 Orcas from the Southern Residents have gone missing, which usually means they are dead as they spend their entire lives with their mother & pod. When they die they usually sink to the bottom of the Ocean, it’s very rare for a carcass to wash up on a beach. Observations have been made that Orcas are showing a “peanut-head” which means the fatty tissue on the top of their head is gone, a sign of malnutrition. Researchers fear that the greatest devastation to the Orcas is yet to come over the winter. The cause of the Orcas starving is lack of salmon, which results from Farm Salmon, Over Fishing (Commercial & Sport), Logging, and Pollutants. Pollutants in Orcas is also a significant reason for their declining numbers. [see Killer whales disappearing off southern B.C. for more details]

Although we are seeing the impacts of depleted salmon stocks on Orcas, we can assume Black Bears, Grizzly Bears, Eagles, Sea Lions, etc are also hungry and will be facing a difficult winter.

There are over 3600 species in BC, more than 1600 of them are Threatened or Endangered. There is no Law in BC to ensure we are making appropriate actions to save them. In 4 short years it is estimated by scientists that 90% of Pink Salmon (our hardiest and largest stock of salmon) will be gone (www.adopt-a-fry.org). Not only is this a dangerously low number, but it is dangerous because without diversity amongst a species they are much more susceptible to disease, which will decrease their numbers further.

There are a lot of great people doing a lot of great things to protect our wildlife that need your backing. Alexander Morton (www.adopt-a-fry.org) recently took the government to court to bring reason to the Salmon Farms devastating impacts on Pink Salmon in the Broughton Archipelago. The Wilderness Committee of BC and 5 other environmental groups have launched a lawsuit against DFO for not following its responsibilities under the Species at Risk Act to protect crucial habitat for Southern & Northern Resident Orcas.

Meanwhile BC doesn’t have an Endangered Species Law. There is a great campaign underway to have the BC government to create such a law, enforce, and fund it. You can sign the petition and check out details online: www.lastplaceonearth.ca

I have a really hard time accepting that these amazing creatures, which have given me so much joy, are starving and dying due to our irresponsibility as a province. At the very least we have the responsibility to voice our concerns to our government and not stop till positive change occurs. Please see www.lastplaceonearth.ca to sign the petition for BC to create and enforce a Species at Risk Act. BC has had over 4 dozen species already go extinct, lets see it end there! I don’t want to live in a place without wildlife, without Grizzly Bears and Orcas!

I would be happy to continue this dialogue with you and if you are looking for further resources and ways you can help, please contact me.

Sincerely,
Jen McGuinness
604 898-6608

Friday, October 31st, 2008, by Kris and is filed under "News ". You can leave a response here, or send a Trackback from your own site.