Pender Island Cetacean Research

Boundary Pass is a critical foraging habitat for Southern Resident killer whales, West Coast Transient (Bigg’s) killer whales, and humpback whales, but high vessel traffic in the shipping lanes put whales at risk of disturbance from underwater noise and vessel proximity. Since 2019, Transport Canada has implemented two seasonal Interim Sanctuary Zones (ISZ) for whales to reduce the impacts of vessel in their habitat.
This project will assess the effectiveness of the ISZ adjacent to Pender Island, BC. The proposed approach is to detail the spatial use of vessels and cetaceans around Pender Island through land-based observations by a dedicated observer at a vantage point overlooking the ISZ. The observer will monitor the ISZ and document any boat infractions. Land-based whale sightings will focus on killer whales and humpback whales, but sightings of all species will be recorded.
This project will help build the whale observation database for SIMRES, provide Raincoast with scientific evidence on the efficacy of ISZs at reducing vessel disturbances to cetaceans, and contribute to the overall knowledge of whale presence and movement in Boundary Pass. This project will build on the continued whale and vessel monitoring at a vantage point overlooking the Saturna ISZ.

Faculty Supervisor:

Ruth Joy

Student:

Partner:

Saturna Island Marine Research & Education Society

Discipline:

Earth science

Sector:

Education

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program: