Mandatory 1,000 m Vessel Buffer

AI summary

Petitioners ask the Minister of Transport to require recreational and commercial whale‑watch vessels to remain at least 1,000 metres from Southern Resident killer whales. They say Southern Residents are an endangered population with legally protected critical habitat in the Salish Sea and contend that vessel noise and disturbance — which they link to shipping expansions at Roberts Bank and Trans Mountain — reduce the whales’ ability to communicate and forage; the petition cites a claim that echolocation range can decline by over 50% near commercial shipping and notes Washington State’s recent Senate Bill 5371 establishing a 1,000‑yard buffer. No federal government response is included in the petition.

AI summaries describe petitioners’ requests and claims. Consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

Petition to the Government of Canada Whereas: Southern Resident killer whales are an endangered population listed under Canada's Species at Risk Act and the United States Endangered Species Act; Legally protected critical habitat for Southern Residents is located within the heavily transited transboundary marine waters of the Salish Sea; Underwater noise and physical disturbance from vessels affect the ability of Southern Residents to communicate successfully and forage effectively; Southern Resident killer whales can lose more than 50% of their echolocation range when foraging near commercial shipping traffic; Increased shipping traffic from container expansions at Roberts Bank and oil tankers for Trans Mountain increase underwater noise in critical habitat. The lost foraging on salmon associated with this noise increases the risk of extinction for Southern Residents; More ships will reduce the quiet time Southern Residents can feed without noise interfering with echolocation and communication; Considering these threats, Washington State recently passed legislation (Senate Bill 5371) that establishes a mandatory 1,000-yard buffer for recreational and commercial whale watching vessels around Southern Resident killer whales; and Canada has committed to halting and reversing biodiversity loss, as declared with the signing of the Kunming- Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. We, the undersigned residents of Canada, call upon the Minister of Transport to implement a mandatory vessel distance regulation where recreational vessels and commercial whale-watch vessels must not be closer than 1,000 metres to Southern Resident killer whales, consistent with vessel distance regulations for these whales in Washington State.

Government response

No government response is available yet.