The following 6 ACTION points were sent by letter dated January 9, 2019 to:
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
The Honourable John Horgan, Premier of British Columbia
Her Worship Lisa Helps, Mayor of Victoria
UPDATE: The Prime Minister delegated which got a little action to increase the distance between Orcas and whale watching boats, but that was already in the works. The BC Premier has never responded to anything sent to him. Mayor helps responded and continues to work on the sewage problem in her city and has opened a UV treatment plant, but at present it cannot handle all the city sewage, but that work continues, so some progress there.
** EXTREMELY URGENT **
SUBJECT: OUR SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS FACE EXTINCTION – DO YOU CARE?
Scientists and other marine mammal professionals, who have studied the Southern Resident Orcas (Pods J, K and L) for years have clearly stated for a long time that:
a) the blubber of the Southern Resident Orcas is laced with PCB’s, pesticides and other chemical toxins.
b) as we have seen, the Orcas in this area cannot reproduce and are expected to survive in area waters that are home to sewage, chemicals, plastics and oil
c) malnutrition and starvation are becoming more common for these area Orcas due to serious declines in their nutritious wild Chinook salmon
d) Orcas have complex dialects and echolocation so they cannot forage for their food or communicate with their family while in growing competition with ship noise.
Federal government websites state they are “working with our partners”, which is why our letter was also mailed to BC Premier John Horgan and Mayor Helps of Victoria whom are assumed to be the stated partners.
It is well known in this area that the below key actions must be taken immediately if the Southern Resident Orcas are to be saved from extinction due to us humans polluting their habitat, reducing their food supply and continually talking, but not decisively acting on the known solutions to save them.
The primary problems for our Southern Resident Orcas, which has been known and stated by marine mammal experts for several years are:
1. FISH FARMS: much evidence has been available for years that fish farms produce weak and parasite filled salmon that often escape the pens to interbreed with wild salmon and thus weaken them. We believe 90% of the fish farms in BC are foreign owned. Processing plants of the fish farms are pumping toxic waste into the Orca habitat which is a well publicized and a proven fact dating back for a long time. Alaska where the Northern Resident Orcas live and thrive do not allow fish farms and WA state is phasing them out due to their known pollution to help Save Our Orcas.
ACTION: Immediately close all fish farms in British Columbia and for those affected, provide subsidies and EI payments while they transition to other employment. Canada took such action on its east coast for years when the Atlantic cod stocks were under threat of extinction.
2. FISH HATCHERIES started out as a good idea in the 1990’s, but over time have shown to produce weaker salmon that also weaken wild populations, due to interbreeding.
ACTION: Phase out all fish hatcheries over 1 year and again for those people affected, provide subsidies and EI as they transition to other income sources.
3. COMMERCIAL AND SPORT FISHING: As is well known, the main food source for our Orcas is wild Chinook salmon, but Commercial and Sport fishing greatly reduces the already dwindling salmon population food supply for the Orcas. It is a fact that wild salmon take 7 years to recycle themselves from birth up river, swimming out to the ocean to grow big and obtain vital nutrients and then swim back to the river of their birth to lay their eggs and die. 7 years is a very long time when we have lost 3 Orcas in 2 years from apparent starvation.
ACTION: Immediately ban commercial and sport fishing for Chinook Salmon until this vital food supply can be restored to meet the needs of our Orcas so they can thrive and produce healthy calves annually.
4. WHALE WATCHING AND PLEASURE BOATS: Underwater noise pollution from these vessels interferes with the Orcas’ sonar system which they use to forage for their food and communicate with their family. Yes, the Federal Government increased the distance between small boats and Orcas from 100 metres to 200 metres, but it took 10 years to follow the Washington State lead on this, who now say the distance should be 400 metres.
ACTION: Immediately increase the distance between whale watching and pleasure boats to 400 metres and hire more DFO officers to enforce the regulations and double the current penalties which must be paid within 60 days of the regulation breach or boats will be confiscated.
5. THE CITIES OF VICTORIA and VANCOUVER between them daily pour over 1 billion liters of raw sewage into area waters that are habitat to the Orcas and their main food supply of Chinook salmon.
ACTION: In this 21st Century, there are known, safe and environmentally ways to process and dispose of sewage without pouring it into the sea to poison the Orcas and other vital marine life. We know the problem is being worked on, but we are told the solution is still a year or more away which is too late for the Orcas. We’re also told the problem could be fixed, or greatly reduced in weeks if the politicians and bureaucrats stop talking and do it!
6. BC FERRIES AND ALL COMMERCIAL SHIPS:
a) Signs in BC Ferries’ ships say the “washroom waste is green”, which sounds good, but how is that checked and accurately maintained to ensure zero pollution?
b) Studies show that a speed reduction of just 1 knot reduces underwater noise for our Orcas by 1 decibel.
c) The twinning of the pipeline between Alberta and the BC coast has been approved which is said will increase cargo ship traffic 3 times in our coastal waters where our Orcas spend most of the year.
ACTION: Immediately slow down all ferries and commercial ships by 20% and enforce the law until it can be reasonably determined what our Orcas can handle noise wise, so their echolocation system is not distracted by all the ferries and commercial ships that travel in the Orca habitat every day.
Recently, it was reported on the CTV News Network that 2 more of our Orcas in J Pod, a female and a male, appear to be in trouble from what looks like malnutrition and/or starvation. Those who study the Orcas say these 2 Orcas will likely die.
Copies of the same letter were also sent to:
The Honourable Andrew Scheer, Leader of the Opposition
The Honourable Jagmeet Singh, NDP Party Leader
The Honourable Elizabeth May, Green Party Leader (Ottawa & Sidney offices)
