Managing disposal at sea in the Salish Sea to protect Southern Resident killer whale habitat

• Main Authors: Seifert, Rebecca, La Rusic, Adam
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Western CEDAR 2018
• Subjects: Salish Sea; Killer Whales; Disposal at sea; Fresh Water Studies; Life Sciences; Marine Biology; Natural Resources and Conservation; Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology; Canada; Killer Whale; Killer whale
• Online Access: https://cedar.wwu.edu/ssec/2018ssec/allsessions/103; https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2538&context=ssec

The Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) population is listed as Endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act. As part of its Ocean Protection Plan, Canada is taking action to protect SRKW and their defined Critical Habitat in the Salish Sea. Identified threats to SRKW include noise from vessels, availability of prey, and contaminants. Through the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) assesses and permits the disposal of waste at sea, including disposal at a designated site in SRKW habitat. As well, ECCC conducts regular, required monitoring at disposal sites. The monitoring program holds several years of scientific data and reports on contaminant levels in sediment, as well as data on sediment physico-chemistry, benthic invertebrate populations, sediment stratigraphy, hydrology and other parameters for its disposal sites. This talk will discuss research findings from ECCC disposal site monitoring, and ECCC activities to protect SRKW habitat from contamination, with a particular focus on findings and management actions with respect to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Emerging Contaminants, managing noise from Disposal at Sea activities, and engagement with indigenous peoples will also be discussed.