Whales are dying in British Columbia waters — some struck by vessels, others unable to find food because of ship noise.
In May, video captured a person driving a Sea-Doo strike a grey whale off Vancouver, as witnesses watched in horror. Last October a humpback whale was struck by a whale-watching boat. A dead whale washed up dead days later, in the same area. A month earlier, a humpback was struck by a B.C. Ferries vessel, and a whale was found dead the following day.
It’s become something of a growing trend, and could happen more often as ferry traffic increases and Canada pushes to ship more goods to Asia, across those very waters.
That’s why two B.C. groups are trying to help.
One of them is a pilot project out of Simon Fraser University called HALLO — Humans and Algorithms Listening for Orcas, which aims to reduce ship noise to allow the endangered southern resident killer whales to find food.
“[The whales] are just a major part of this ecosystem that we want to protect,” said Lauren Laturnus, a masters student in biology at SFU.
Using a piece of surveying equipment, she tracks whales in the Salish Sea while also monitoring vessel traffic from East Point on Saturna Island, between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.
“We’re trying to see how often they’re here at same time as these big vessels,” said Laturnus.
When she spots a whale she sends a report to the Ocean Wise Whale Alert System, which provides real-time notifications to commercial mariners to allow them to slow down or alter course.
About 100 volunteer citizen scientists have also been trained to monitor whale movements around Saturna, Pender and Mayne Islands and report what they see to the Whale Alert System.
“When a whale gets hit we all feel a little helpless, and being able to collect the information that could inform those vessels is, it feels good,” said Maureen Welton.
HALLO’s aim is to create an environment that allows southern resident killer whales to feed in peace.
“They rely on sound to essentially see their surroundings,” said Laturnus. “This noise from vessels interferes with that.”
Southern resident orcas are one of the most critically endangered marine mammals in Canada, according to the federal government’s Species at Risk Act, and the Centre for Whale Research says there are about 74 left in British Columbia’s waters — as well as a new calf not included in their numbers. Their main food source is the declining chinook salmon, primarily located in the Salish Sea, one of the busiest shipping corridors in North America.
Push for increased protections
HALLO has partnered with the W̱SÁNEĆ Marine Guardians, an Indigenous-led monitoring and conservation initiative in the Salish Sea.
The Marine Guardians say by restoring the sacred bond between First Nations people and the whales, they can ensure their survival and protect ecosystems.
Biologist Rachel Fairfield Checko analyzes hydrophone recordings from underwater microphones to determine the whale species heard. That information, combined with First Nations knowledge, is used to advocate to the federal government for better whale protections.
She says the W̱SÁNEĆ people successfully fought for increased protections in the Tumbo Channel, between Tumbo and Saturna islands, resulting in a voluntary slow down zone from June 1 to November 30, 2026.
“The southern resident killer whales are, they’re here all year so what we have been asking the Government of Canada is why aren’t these vessel restricted zones in place all year?” said Fairfield Checko.
The Government of Canada recently increased the distance vessels can be near the southern resident orcas from 200 metres to 1000 metres.
Protections for humpbacks also needed, say experts
An estimated 20,000 whales are killed worldwide by vessel strikes each year, according to the International Marine Mammal Project. It says large whales like humpbacks, grey, blue and fin whales are most often victims.
“There’s nothing in their evolutionary history that makes them even aware that there can be such a creature out there as a ship that they need to be careful about,” said Andrew Trites, professor and director at the UBC Marine Mammal Research Unit.
He said orcas, seals and sea lions have been able to coexist with vessels, but humpback whales have not.
B.C.’s Salish Sea is home to a variety of marine mammals, including the critically endangered southern resident killer whale. For The National, CBC’s Caroline Barghout takes a closer look at the fight to protect marine life in one of North America’s busiest shipping corridors.
Glenn Jones, founder of Reach Technologies Inc. thinks he can help.
“We’ve developed an optical technology that will distinguish basically any object that penetrates the surface of the the water,” said Jones.
The 360-degree rotating multispectral camera system was initially designed for the Canadian Department of National Defence to detect objects piercing the surface of the water and prevent damage to military ships. Jones has since discovered it also works for whales.
“The whole idea is to automatically detect whales around the vessel along with other objects of interest and put them on the chart plotter for the skipper so they can avoid the whales and stay out of their way,” said Jones.
He says the camera can identify whales 700 to 1,000 metres away, which should give large vessels more lead time to slow down or change course.
Jones hopes his technology gets on commercial vessels and ferries to quickly identify whales. Eventually, he wants to pinpoint highly travelled routes so vessels can stay away.
“The whales are coming back in larger and larger numbers and we get more and more ships and we have to be able to stay out of their way and respect each other’s space.”
