Canada announces $12M for killer whale research

(Photo: Valerie Shore/Shorelines Photography).

The Canadian government announced it's putting $12 million towards protecting killer whales from vessel collisions on the ocean through a new Whale Detection Initiative.

The funds will be distributed over five years to develop and test technologies that will help detect whales in real time.

About $9.1 million will go towards developing and testing various acoustic and imaging devices, including underwater microphones.

Fisheries and Oceans Minister, Dominic LeBlanc, says the government will spend another $3.1 million on research projects focused on helping protect the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales located off the Southern West Coast of B.C.

Three researchers from the University of Victoria—Francis Juanes, Rosaline Canessa and Stan Dosso—were awarded $935,000 in federal funds to study the impact of underwater noise on the southern pod, as well as study their main food source, the chinook salmon.

"We're thrilled by this opportunity to undertake important research into human impacts on the southern resident killer whales and their prey,” said Francis Juanes, UVic fisheries ecologist and lead investigator for the chinook salmon research.

“We anticipate contributing significantly to understanding the stressors affecting these magnificent marine mammals and, ultimately, to mitigation measures to help ensure their long-term survival and success."

Coastal geographer, Rosaline Canessa, is leading the vessel disturbance study and marine acoustics specialist, Stan Dosso will head up the echolocation research.

There are about 76 Southern Resident Killer Whales left, causing them to be considered an endangered population under Canada's Species at Risk Act.

The small population also has a low reproductive rate and incurs a variety of threats caused by human activity.

Several conservation groups , have been working to protect the species, calling for the public to sign petitions and have the government control vessel traffic, enforce Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and protect the ocean food chain.

The Government of Canada is working with Indigenous peoples, as well as local stakeholders and communities in six pilot sites to determine the key impacts of marine vessel activity on coastal environments.

The six sites include: Northern B.C.; Southern B.C.; St. Lawrence River, Quebec; Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick; South Coast, Newfoundland and Arctic, Nunavut.

The new initiative falls under the 2016 $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan, with the goal of ensuring whales are around for future generations.

The plan also aims to remove abandoned boats to reduce the risks of shipping on marine animals and the ocean.