Free B.C. course aims to protect whales by better educating boaters
Global News
A B.C. research and conservation group has crafted a new free course aimed at helping protect whales by educating boaters about laws and safety.
A British Columbia research and conservation group has launched a new free course it hopes will reduce deadly conflicts between boaters and whales.
The Marine Education and Research Society (MERS) says it created the Whalesafe Boating program because of the growing risk to whales and other marine mammals from boat strikes, fishing gear entanglements and stress from people getting too close.
“Even with all our knowledge about even who individual whales are, we have had close calls with humpback whales — we see every time we’re on the water, close calls involving boaters,” said Jackie Hildering, spokesperson and whale researcher with MERS.
“We see the (propeller) scars, we see the close calls, and the kind of human injury that is also involved here is that somebody is paralyzed on our coast, somebody has had to get reconstructive facial surgery as a result of a collision, kayaks have been flipped.“
The group says there are a number of points of conflict between whales and boaters that can be addressed through better education.
Whales are often oblivious to both boats and fishing gear, raising the prospect of collisions or entanglements that can lead to painful injury or even death.
Whales often travel in unpredictable patterns and can surface suddenly after long dives, or can be resting or nursing just below the surface and out of sight, it adds.
It’s critical education that MERS says is falling through the cracks because federal agencies are siloed, with Transport Canada focused on boater safety and Fisheries and Oceans Canada focused on species at risk.
Dr. Michael Domeier, director of the Marine Conservation Science Institute, told Global News that they tag the adult females as they are the most interesting.
Regina’s recycling contamination is currently triple the limit and city is urging resident to change sorting habits now to avoid citywide fines and higher resident fees.
The study found that higher ultra-processed food intake at age three years was associated with adverse behavioural and emotional symptoms at age five years.
Edmonton's single-use waste rules were controversial and unpopular when introduced in 2023 — but new data shows the changes are having the intended effect of reducing garbage.
Carney's speech to Australia's parliament highlighted a soon-to-launch Canadian low earth orbit satellite network that experts say could soon compete with Elon Musk's Starlink.
The Pentagon said in a statement Thursday that it has “officially informed Anthropic leadership the company and its products are deemed a supply chain risk, effective immediately.”
Opioid overdose deaths in Canada are falling, but there's growing concerns on a certain veterinary tranquilizer being cut into fentanyl and other opioids.
The product is being recalled in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan due to 'undeclared almonds' being found.
Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Chris Tanev is out for the rest of the season, the NHL team announced Wednesday.
A large swath of southern Alberta is under a snowfall warning, with up to 30 centimetres of snow forecast to fall in some areas before the snow tapers off by Saturday morning.
Coined forever chemicals due to the years it takes for them to break down, PFAS are 'a group of thousands of human-made chemicals' commonly found in everyday items.