There is a resurgence of life happening in our coastal waters. Slowly recovering from centuries of hunting and persecution, humpback whales, fin whales, Steller sea lions and sea otters are beginning to make a comeback. Amid astounding tales of close encounters with humpback whales, naturalist and photographer Ian McAllister writes about the history and recovery of whales on the north coast in his new book Great Bear Wild: Dispatches from a Northern Rainforest:
“We are seeing the first sign of a page turning in our relationship with whales, because each spring brings more and more humpbacks back to the BC coast. In 2013 two separate sightings of a North Pacific right whale were recorded on the BC coast – the first time in sixty-two years since the last one was killed by whalers. Fin whales, the second-largest whales in the world, are also rebounding, albeit much more slowly than humpbacks. Over seven thousand of these fast whales were slaughtered in British Columbia during modern whaling days, as technological advances in sonar and vessel speed caught up to nearly the last of their kind in local waters. Twenty years ago it was rare to see a humpback whale, but a fin whale was almost unheard of. Today humpbacks have become common sightings and fin whales are increasing their presence each year.
Are the whales returning because they are slowly regaining a trust in us since the barbaric days of whaling? Are there more prey fish available? Is this one of the last quiet refuges where they can communicate without shipping traffic and other anthropogenic noise? Or perhaps it’s a combination of these things.”
All of the marine mammals now expanding in number and range are still listed as threatened under Canada’s Species at Risk Act, as are Northern Resident and Transient killer whales. Other whales that inhabit the BC coast, the sei, blue and Southern resident killer whales are listed as endangered. But what does this mean in terms of protections for these populations and their habitat? Very little – the implementation of recovery strategies and action plans for these species is proceeding at a glacial pace, while proposals for oil and gas exports via supertankers plying the north coast are proliferating.
According to a recent Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society report, Canada ranks last among the 10 countries with the largest ocean territories for its record on marine protection, with only 1.3% under meaningful protection. Scientific estimates for conservation of biodiversity indicate that 50% of Canada’s oceans should be protected. We need to push for the establishment of large, representative Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) now, rather than wait for all of the science and attendant policies for individual species to catch up. The Great Bear Sea, where whales, sea otters, sea lions and Pacific white-sided dolphins are returning, should become part of a network of MPAs, free from disturbance caused by tanker traffic, established throughout Canadian waters.
As author J.B. McKinnon wrote in his book The Once and Future World, we live in a ten percent world. The wildlife and natural ecosystems that we take as a baseline now represent roughly 10%, in diversity, number and extent, of what existed prior to human exploitation. It is extremely rare and fortunate to witness in one lifetime the resurgence of large, long-lived, slow-reproducing, far-roaming species such as the humpback whale.
It is estimated that if all the oil and gas projects currently proposed for northern BC were to go forward they would facilitate over 3000 tanker trips a year, right through the same quiet waters where humpbacks are being observed in increasing numbers. In this era of rapid ecological and climate change, taking the precautionary approach to safeguard our coast is critical – for the iconic marine mammals that are making the slow climb back from the brink as well as for those that continue to decline.
Please visit www.pacificwild.org to learn more about how you can help to protect the Great Bear Sea.
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Ian McAllister is co-founder of the wildlife conservation organisation Pacific Wild, award-winning photographer, and author of Great Bear Wild: Dispatches from a Northern Rainforest.
Whale Tail photograph by Ian McAllister
