

Mark your Calendar. Bob Turner will be at the Anglican Hall at St Peter's Church, 4703 Canal Road on Friday, June 10th at 7 PM to show 2 of his films: “Why is the Salish Sea so rich with life?” and “The Plight of our Herring”. Bob has created over 40 short movies about wildlife and wild places in the Salish Sea– from orcas and salmon runs to tide pool life and herring spawns.
Anyone interested in the Salish Sea's geography, oceanography, people, environmental issues, as well as ideas and opportunities to sustain the Salish Sea will want to see these films.
There is a $5.00 charge and a door prize.

Paddle and Picnic
Join Bob Turner for a kayak trip from Hope Bay to St John's Point, Mayne Island [weather permitting], on Saturday, June 11th. Meet at Hope Bay at 10.00 AM (weather permitting) and paddle to St. John’s point for a picnic. Bring a kayak and picnic! Everyone is welcome.
PenderPod is partnering with Pender Island Conservancy for this special event.
An open letter from PenderPOD
regarding the Island 2050, the new Trust Policy Statement
April 12th, 2022.
The Pender Ocean Defenders
wish to submit the following comments regarding Islands 2050, the new Trust Policy Statement.
PenderPOD is a non-government organization established in 2014 with
the vision of honoring, protecting and defending the Natural
Environment of the Salish Sea from actions that could harm it. We are
focused on the health of the marine ecosystems of the Salish Sea and
specifically the Southern Resident Killer Whales (Orca), Chinook salmon,
and the herring, which make up the marine food web.
We pursue our aims by a variety of peaceful actions including citizen
science, advocacy, education, art, public discussion and letter writing
campaigns.
As a general statement PenderPOD is very supportive of all the
proposed changes in the Policy Statement that lead to protecting the
long-term health of the Trust area and its stressed and threatened land
and marine ecosystems.
We recognize that we are in the midst of a catastrophe: a triple threat
involving massive loss of biodiversity, widespread pollution of the
natural systems on which all life depends and run away climate change
with all its negative impacts. All based on excessive consumption of the
earth’s resources.
In recognition of these events the revision of the Trust Council Policy is
timely and critical. We cannot maintain business as usual with respect
to land use practices on our fragile Islands. What happens on the
Islands’ land, including private land, and in the sea around us affects all
of us. The services provided by trees, eelgrass meadows, wetlands, and
the Islands’ aquifers affects us all, and only by having the power to
safeguard those systems can the Trust be effective.
It is necessary that the Island Trust has greater jurisdictional powers to
fulfill its preserve and protect mandate.
We applaud the Trust Council for taking on the difficult and
controversial task of revising the Trust Council Policy Statement and
believe this revision represents a unique opportunity for the Islands.
That the Trust already has the expressed mandate to “preserve and
protect the Trust Area and its unique amenities and environment for
the benefit of the residents of the Trust Area and of British Columbia”
this provides the rare opportunity to transform that manated
foundation into a structure that upholds ecological integrity and safe
environments for the people and wildlife that call the Salish Sea home.

Tiles are completed. Thank you Pender!
Artists on Pender of all ages are turning hope into lasting art to celebrate these young whales.
Looking for a site to display the whale tiles

Looking for a site to display the whale tiles


The Salish Sea is a tumult of engine roar, artificial sonar and seismic blasts that make it impossible for marine creatures to hunt or communicate. Anchorages also threaten our sensitive ecosystem of the Salish Sea and disrupt the habitat of endangered species, including the southern resident killer whale. A fuel spill would be disastrous for our coastal communities.
write an email to
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra: mintc@tc.gc.ca
Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson: ec.ministre-minister.ec@canada.ca
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Bernadette Jordan: Bernadette.Jordan@parl.gc.ca

Mar. 29, 2021
Demonstrators form red line along Victoria seaside walkway to protest Trans Mountain
Mary Anne Pare and John Allen were there with their grandchildren to show support for youth that have marched in the streets for a livable planet.
picture reprinted from the Oak Bay Times

Many thanks to everyone who commemorated an Orca.

Sasha, a member of the Kawakatoose First Nation, did two prayer flags for the project. Here she is with her little sister holding her flag for Samish (J14). She also did one for Tanya(L5). Go to the prayer flags and click on her flags to read her story.

Natasha and her family completed 7 flags. Here she is holding Luna and Hugo.

Imminent extinction. How much clearer can it be? All over the planet, species facing extinction are treated with love and respect that includes protection--except for here in the Salish Sea. The Southern Resident orcas are unique in their intelligence, their complexity of language, their family loyalty, and their echo-location abilities that enable them to find salmon to eat, to communicate with one another, and to navigate through their waters. So, as a critically endangered species facing extinction, why are they still being harassed by whale-watching tourism? Sadly, like so much of our world--it is money first--over life itself. Please love the SRKWs from land. It is the right thing to do--for their lives and for life itself.
