A Whale of a Problem
The whale is not the first animal that springs to mind when someone says, “Canadian wildlife.” Beaver, bear, salmon, moose, Canada goose — these are the most common animal icons of our natural heritage. And yet thousands of whales live off all three coasts of this country, more than 30 species in all, from the orcas off British Columbia, with their distinctive black-and-white markings, to the narwhals in Hudson and Baffin bays, with their amazing tusks, and the blue whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the North Atlantic, with their massive slapping flukes.
Like cetaceans everywhere, Canada’s whales are embattled, under siege from human threats. We’ve all seen grim news reports about whales in the last several years: the death of 14 North Atlantic right whales in Canadian waters in 2017, entanglements in the Bay of Fundy, increased shipping in the warming Arctic, and the depletion of crucial salmon stocks in orcas’ Pacific feeding areas.
Working on your behalf, the Canadian Wildlife Federation is active in the effort to protect whales in Canada. Our work is led by Sean Brillant, CWF’S manager of marine programs, a graduate of University of New Brunswick and the Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities at the University of Sydney in Australia.
Among our activities, CWF leads the Canadian Marine Animal Response Alliance, which for the past five years has been supporting work across Canada to release entangled whales. Since 2017, CWF has been working with the Whales, Habitat and Listening Experiment (WHALE) project, using underwater drones to search for Canada’s great whales in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. After all, we can serve them better if we know where they are. CWF’S research on the location and times of year that right whales are entangled in Canada showed opportunity for an immediate 30 per cent reduction in entanglement risk to this endangered species by restricting seasonal fishing in the Grand Manan Basin (Bay of Fundy, N.B.) and Roseway Basin (Scotian Shelf, N.S.) between July and October. This work helped to guide government action to reduce the threat to this species. In 2018, known deaths of right whales in Canada dropped to zero, and so far this year, four new right whale calves have been born in their wintering grounds off the coast of Florida.
Coastal habitat protection is another priority for CWF because this is where humans have the biggest effect on marine wildlife. We are working to reduce the many negative impacts of coastal cities on marine wildlife. This involves working on many levels, helping to educate citizens, youth, business and government, in addition to conducting research to guide actions that will help mitigate these threats. CWF is also ensuring wildlife conservation is an integral part of the management of Canada’s marine commercial fisheries, and we are promoting the use of marine protected areas to both reduce threats to wildlife and enhance our fisheries. To learn more, visit Canadianwildlifefederation.ca and search “whales.”
None of the important work CWF does in the seas and on land would be possible without the support of Canadians like you, from coast to coast to coast. Thank you for support and trust. Together we are making a difference.