Increasing risk from Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) to whales in Northern BC
November 1, 2024
The marine environment that surrounds the Great Bear Rainforest contains some of the quietest ocean along the coastline of BC and some of the world’s richest cold-water seas. The Gitga’at First Nation’s waters within this region are home to the highest density of humpback and fin whales along BC’s coast and the continued high occurrence of two orca populations.
Ships, Whales & Acoustics in Gitga’at Territory (SWAG) initiative is a collaboration between the Gitga'at First Nation, the North Coast Cetacean Society (NCCS) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Canada. The initiative was formalized between these partners in 2017 and aims to reduce the impacts of commercial shipping on at-risk whale populations, such as acoustic disturbance and vessel strikes. In order to fulfill this aim, the SWAG initiative has been undertaking leading edge work to develop real-time tracking tools for whales and vessels, developing collaborative mitigation measures with industry and local communities, and building local Gitga’at capacity to monitor and manage shipping impacts in the area. Additionally, the SWAG initiative is continuing existing data collection to further improve the collective understanding and knowledge of whales in this area and to understand their behaviour and interactions with vessels in more detail. With a new LNG terminal just starting to gear up locally in Kitimat, this work is of keen importance. There will be a substantial increase in Canadian vessel transits, and this trend is expected to steadily increase over the duration of the project. Each transiting vessel will also need escort tugs, and the source level of both tugs and vessels is currently unknown.
Humpback whale breach (photo taken from land with permit XMMS12022).
Gitga’at First Nation is located in Northern BC with the surrounding coastal waters the focus of the SWAG project and coverage of its four underwater hydrophones in part of the territory as shown above.
SWAG currently monitor whales acoustically in real-time using four coastal hydrophones (see also Whale Sound), as well as land-based and vessel-based surveys. A 2023 paper by Keen et al. predicted regional ship-strike mortalities to increase in the next decade by 2.3 times for fin whales and 3.9 times for humpback whales, which equates to 2 and 18 deaths per year respectively. This is considered an unsustainable increase to these populations and is caused mainly by new LNG vessels. Importantly, the study found that reducing the speed of LNG vessels to 7-9 knots and all other large vessels to 10 knots (18.5 kilometers per hour) or slower would be effective in reducing whale deaths (by 62-71%). Noise from larger vessels is also being tracked, using a real-time predictive noise model, to help track and regionally manage predicted vessel noise increases.
As part of the SWAG Science Advisory Committee, Dr Dom Tollit at SMRUC has been helping develop biologically relevant noise effect metrics. These time-based metrics include quiet time per day and species-specific Listening Space Reduction (LSR), developed in collaboration with Jasco Applied Sciences and currently also used by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s ECHO Program to assess the benefits of voluntary commercial vessel slowdowns in the Salish Sea. In simple terms, LSR refers to how much communication space is lost due to noise from a passing vessel compared to natural (ambient) noise levels.
This summer, with funding from WWF-Canada, two SMRUC scientists (Dr Dom Tollit and Meadhbh Quinn), also deployed two deep-water ST600 SoundTrap hydrophones near the commercial vessel and new LNG vessel routes. These bottom-moored units, around 400 m deep, will track noise levels and potentially whale presence for 8 months. In particular, they will support SWAG’s validation of the real-time noise model (and associated bio-metrics), to increase our understanding of how whales may be affected by vessel noise at the water depths that they feed in.
Dr Dom Tollit (SMRUC) and Meadhbh Quinn (SMRUC) about to deploy the first SoundTrap hydrophone and acoustic release in Wright Sound.
The hydrophone deployments provided Dom and Meadhbh with a chance to visit the remote and welcoming Gitga’at village of Hartley Bay, before travelling to Fin Island where we collaborated with NCCS’s Janie Wray, Grace Baer and their dedicated research group of Annabel, Isaline and Violet to deploy both units and test the acoustic releases that will bring the hydrophones back up to the surface next spring!
Hartley Bay – Heart of the Gitga’at First Nation
Fin Island Research Station looking onto Squally Channel at sunset
During our visit to Fin Island, the weather was exceptional and so was the local whale activity. Looking out over Squally Channel, it was clear to see how important protecting this area is due to the sheer volume of whale blows and splashes from breaching and pec slapping humpback whales. A simple visual scan while sipping a morning coffee would regularly reveal multiple whales travelling by, all of whom were being diligently tracked and recorded by the dedicated research assistant on duty. This was coupled by near constant identification of low frequency calls from Fin whales further away. On our second morning, we were awoken by loud sounds of humpback whale bubble-net feeding calls coming in over the hydrophone feed, which plays at a low level within the station overnight. Rushing outside in bare feet and pyjamas with cameras in hand, we were greeted by the blows of humpback whales surfacing just metres from the station. The whales soon dove again, and shortly after we saw the telltale ring of bubbles beginning to form before the whales lunged to the surface to swallow the contents of their feed, which had been concentrated by the bubble net.
Bubble-net feeding by four Humpback whale just off Fin Island Research Station (photo taken from land with permit XMMS12022)
After the whales stopped actively feeding and began travelling east away from Fin Island, the drone was launched to collect video footage, which helps to better understand what depths these whales are at when they travel and how these animals interact. The drone footage collected under a research permit to NCCS and is being analysed to better understand the surface behaviours of whales and the potential vulnerabilities that may have to vessel traffic. Whale presence, either individual whales, mother calf pairs or other groups, was near constant at this time of year and we both felt very lucky to have had the opportunity to experience this special place and better understand the various methods used to study them.
Being immersed at the research station, we also joined a fin whale photo-ID survey with Grace and Annabel. Using the information from the SWAG hydrophone network, which localizes and identifies the presence of whales, we were able to quickly identify the location of some large whales further out in Squally Channel and launch the research vessel to find them. Within a short period of reaching the vocalizing whales, we had (under permit) photographed and identified 8 endangered Fin whales, all of whom were observed criss-crossing and feeding in the waters of the new LNG vessel route.
Fin whale in Squally Channel (Photo taken with permit XMMS12022)
It is expected that the LNG vessels will travel between 10-12 knots in these waters. Slowing vessels down will help to reduce noise disturbance and may have benefits for reducing ship strikes, but avoiding places or periods with high numbers of whales all together would be more effective, such as in the middle of summer when there are peak whale densities. The Canadian Government’s long awaited Draft Ocean Noise Strategy for Canada was released for public comments this summer. It aims to develop and improve measures to mitigate the impacts of human activities on the health and quality of our oceans, including impacts to whales. The work SWAG is undertaking, and the tools being developed can certainly help inform this critical process. We thank everyone (Hussein, Chris, Janie, Grace, Annabel, Isaline, Violet, Teresa and Mervin, Jorge, Nicole and Jason) that helped make our contributions possible.