Commercial shipping noise impacts on the critical habitat of the southern resident killer whale (Orcinus orca) ...

• Main Authors: Crystal, Danica, Moseley, Kristina, Paterson, Cassandra, Ryvola, Rebeka, Wang, Shasha
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: The University of British Columbia 2011
• Subjects: Killer Whale; Orca; Orcinus orca; Killer whale
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0074558; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0074558

Southern resident killer whales (SRKWs), found commonly on the south coast of British Columbia, are an endangered species struggling to maintain its population size. The critical habitat of the SRKW, an area important to the recovery of the species, is also an area traversed by commercial ships on a daily basis. Among other challenges to the whales such as habitat destruction and contamination, noise pollution produced by these commercial ships is one of the threats preventing the recovery of the SRKWs, through masking of whale communications. Masking, the interruption of killer whale vocalizations by background noise produced by ships, reduces group cohesion and forces the whales to spend more time and energy foraging, ultimately decreasing their ability to reproduce and sustain their population. The Canadian Federal Court recently established that protection of this endangered species, managed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), must take into account the impact of noise pollution on the ...