B.C. Ferries eyeing new technology to prevent whale collisions

B.C. Ferries eyeing new technology to prevent whale collisions

Starting June 1, 2 new regulations go into place to protect whales from vessel strikes

Whale detection devices will be installed on a select number of B.C. Ferries vessels later this year.

Leslie James, director of environmental sustainability at B.C. Ferries, said work is being done to find the right type of device.

"We are just in the last stages of putting out an RFI [request for information] specifically looking for whale detection technology that we can put on our vessels," James said.

The request for information is the first step to finding a vendor with the goal of having them in operation come the fall.

"There's definitely a preference for something that can be mounted on the vessels," James said.

The detection devices would start on northern route vessels servicing Prince Rupert, Haida Gwaii, and Vancouver Island, with the possibility of expanding to other routes.

"We need something that can function in low light, poor weather conditions, and it can sort of withstand our West Coast weather," James said.

The route that will have the detection devices includes Wright Sound, where a humpback whale was struck and killed by a B.C. Ferries vessel in September 2025.

"It's tragic when these incidents happen, thankfully they don't happen very often, but when they do, it's awful," said B.C. Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez.

The Northern Expedition route will be adopting a slower travel speed of 10 knots, down from the previous 18 knots, as of June 1.

"The impact is going to be positive for the marine ecosystem," Jimenez Said.

These are a few of the measures that B.C. Ferries says it is taking to be good stewards of marine mammals. Researchers and biologists admit it's a difficult problem to solve and have suggestions for what more can be done.

One of the biggest threats to marine mammals in B.C. is being struck by a vessel.

"Vessel strike risk for large whales is actually a surprisingly large problem, not only in Canada, but actually globally," said Sean Brillant, a senior conservation biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Federation.

Last year in B.C. waters, a humpback whale was struck by a whale-watching vessel and was found dead off Keats Island. A humpback whale was struck by a Hullo Ferries vessel off Vancouver and a person driving a Sea-Doo struck a grey whale near English Bay.

Even strikes at slower speeds from ferries, tankers, and cargo ships can be deadly.

"Even when they reduce their speed to 10 knots, the collision is often still lethal," Brillant said.

In the last five years, James said there have been five incidents where whales were struck by B.C. Ferries.

Brillant admits it's a difficult problem to solve.

"Enough is not being done. But it's not for a lack of trying," Brillant said. "There are some tools that we have to mitigate these risks."

A new federal measure that requires vessels to not approach within 1,000 metres of southern resident killer whales goes into effect on June 1.

Brillant said captains cannot simply alert the whales to get out of the way.

"Large whales do not react to noise in that way," Brillant said.

Putting in place restriction zones during times of the year when whales are known to travel through the area could be one solution.

"Rerouting, definitely, is the best solution where possible," Brillant said.

More research and education needed

Janie Wray has been studying whales on B.C.'s coast for 25 years and is the CEO of North Coast Cetacean Society and B.C. Whales. She responded to the dead humpback whale named Midnight in Wright Sound and works closely with the Gitga'at First Nation.

"It's always been very quiet up there. There's not a lot of vessel traffic. We've had a huge increase in the number of fin whales and humpback whales, but now we also have LNG traffic, and that is very new to the area," Wray said.

She's calling for more research to be done in B.C.

"To understand the impact of vessel strikes, the impact from region to region, and the impact on different species of whales, because all whales behave differently around vessels," Wray said.

Lindsay Kolb, a co-ordinator with Straitwatch, a non-profit that works to mitigate the risks to marine mammals, said there's a lack of education on the water.

"A big lack of people not knowing the regulations, not knowing the best practices," Kolb said.

She said there is no regulated speed limit for how fast vessels can travel.

"There are often boats speeding by very quickly, really close to whales, either just not aware that there are whales there," Kolb said.

Whale sightings can be reported online through an app, which will alert large vessel operators, Kolb said.

Alanna Kelly is a CBC News journalist based in Squamish, B.C., covering the Sea-to-Sky region, including Whistler, Pemberton and the Sunshine Coast. You can email story ideas to alanna.kelly@cbc.ca.