Report on whales in eastern Canadian waters shows troubling trend

HALIFAX -

The latest report from the Nova Scotia-based conservation group the Marine Animal Response Society (MARS) is a look back at incidents involving whales in eastern Canadian waters from 2004 to 2019, and the data shows a troubling trend.

According to the report, more than 3,100 cetacean incidents were reported to eastern Canadian response hotlines over the 15-year time span, and 44 per cent of all reported incidents in this region involved an at-risk species.

"What we've seen over the past 15 years is that the number of animals that are reported to our hotlines, both live, distressed, and dead animals is going up," says MARS executive director Tonya Wimmer.

"And of course, it's really important for us to understand why that might be happening."

The information in the report also shows that dead animals represent 70 per cent of reported incidents and that 93 per cent of these, the cause of death is unknown – as many animals could not be examined.

"What we're projected is that if the trend we've seen in the last 15 years continues, that means it's only going to continue going up," says Wimmer.

"Which is a huge concern, especially to response teams and organizations, which rely on a few people to respond to all of these events."

The research also shows that it isn't just government-identified priority species – such as the North Atlantic Right Whale – that are being affected. In fact, it states that 'the limited data suggests human-caused threats are impacting many, if not all, species.'

"Of course (the report) highlights and recognizes the severe stress facing the North Atlantic right whale," says Fundy Baykeeper with the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.

"But it really emphasized that there's a whole host of other species under real stress."

There's hope that now, with the information compiled and detailed in this report, that it will service as a wake-up call – and that the ship can be turned around for the future of these marine mammals.

"We know how bad the situation has been. This is a milestone marker that at least sets a limit that says over the past 15 years, this is the number of incidents, this is the number of whales," says senior conservation biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Federation Sean Brilliant.

"We expect to see when we re-evaluate this again, a decline in these numbers, and if we fail to see that, we really need to reassess how we're continuing to manage our activities."