On March 15, 2018, The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, announced $9.1 million in new science funding to protect Southern Resident Killer Whales through the Oceans Protection Plan.
IOF’s Dr. Andrew Trites and Dr. Brian Hunt received $1.1 million to examine how changes in the food web in areas of the Southern Resident Killer Whale affect the abundance and quality of Chinook salmon. “This funding will help us answer important questions about the availability of Chinook salmon and the nutritional needs of the endangered South Resident Killer Whales. With only 76 of these animals left, every piece of information we can obtain about the threats they face is crucial to their survival,” said Dr. Trites, Director, UBC Marine Mammal Research Unit, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries.
“With only 76 of these animals left, every piece of information we can obtain about the threats they face is crucial to their survival”
Titled, “Impacts of marine ecosystem variability on the Southern Resident Killer Whale population in the Salish Sea”, the project will review access to adequate food sources, which has been identified as a threat to the Southern Resident Killer Whale. Declines in the Chinook salmon population have reduced the availability of this food source, the whale’s primary food source, and the research will examine how changes in the food web affect the abundance and quality of Chinook salmon in critical habitat areas of the Southern Resident Killer Whale.
Tags: Andrew Trites, Brian Hunt, British Columbia, conservation, faculty, killer whales, Marine Mammal Research Unit, marine mammals, Pelagic Ecosystems Lab, salmon, whales