New calf, J57, with mom, J35
Photo by Katie Jones, Center for Whale Research
A brand new calf in J pod!
On September 5 a very small calf was seen. The mother was identified as J35, Tahlequah. She made world news in the summer of 2018 when she carried her dead calf on her head for 17 days while the pod traveled about 1,000 miles around the Salish Sea on what we termed a “Tour of Grief.” She was still capable of producing a live calf after an approximate eighteen-month gestation! Hooray! Her new calf appeared healthy and precocious, swimming vigorously alongside its mother in its second day of free-swimming life. Its dorsal fin was upright so we know that it is a few days old because it takes a day or two to straighten after being bent over in the womb.
Its birthday has been assigned as
September 4, 2020.
Urgent Action Required
September 30 the Minister of Fisheries has to decide whether to enact or ignore Justice Bruce Cohen's recommendation #19 -
if we want Fraser River sockeye
the salmon farms in the Discovery Islands (off Campbell River) must be removed if they are having greater than minimal impact.
Phone the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
613-996-0877
let her know that you will be watching whether she finds the salmon of the Fraser River worth saving.
“In my opinion, the minister cannot look at the young salmon migrating through the Discovery Islands and honestly say the risk of the salmon farms to them is ‘minimal.’ I believe DFO has been captured by the Norwegian interests operating farms on this coast and what we are seeing is a scandal that will change this coast forever if we don't let her know that we are watching how she responds to Cohen recommendation #19.
-Alexandra Morton
Phone. Bernadette Jordan
Minister of Fisheries, Oceans
Tim Takaro is by himself but insists he isn't alone.
Takaro, 63, is protesting the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project by camping out in a cluster of trees in Burnaby, B.C.
Takaro is a professor of health sciences and environmental health at Simon Fraser University and a former physician, having retired from clinical medicine in December 2019.
He and other environmental activists say trees along the Brunette River near the boundary between Burnaby and New Westminster are slated to be felled between now and Sept. 15 as part of pipeline construction.
He's hoping to delay that work after setting up an aerial sleeping platform on Monday in the trees high above the ground.
Dr. Tim Takaro, a public health doctor who studies the effects of climate change, has been replaced by a YouTuber in a treetop protest camp at the Brunette River, just on the Burnaby side of the city's border with New Westminster.
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.
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.
Dear friends,
These twin crises of COVID-19 and climate breakdown show us one thing: we have to use this moment to transform. We’re living through a societal shift unlike any other in recent memory – and our efforts to rebuild must continue to be bold, imaginative, and restorative.
A major gap in government regulation and oversight is allowing giant international cargo ships to anchor as long as they want in the “protected” waters of the Southern Gulf Islands and Cowichan Bay.
Negative Impacts include:
-
Massive anchor chains scraping the ocean floor, destroying entire marine habitats
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Diesel generators running 24/7 causing air, noise and light pollution
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Acoustic Interference and collision risk to Resident Killer Whales
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Risk of grounding or collisions causing catastrophic oil spills
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Local First Nations and coastal community groups are demanding Transport Canada put an end to this harmful spillover of commercial activity from the Port of Vancouver.
The Seventh Generation Principle is based on an ancient Iroquois philosophy that the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable
world seven generations into the future.
Where is the support for the women defending land and water, Canada?
National Observer
August 23rd 2020
