Ecosystems and Biodiversity The impacts of global warming will be far greater than expected, according to the latest comprehensive assessment from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The IPCC’s review of over 6,000 studies concluded that the “safe” limit of 1.5 °Celsius increase could be reached in as little as 12 years and that we are […]

More than half of seafood consumed globally is farmed. In order to shed some light on the opaque sources of our seafood, I wrote an overview of popular farmed species (see Part 1). Next, let’s address a farmed and controversial species here on Canada’s west coast: salmon. How are BC’s wild salmon populations doing? You […]

Let’s say you love the ocean and one day, whatever you do, you know you’re going to work underwater. But how? The career path to underwater employment is murky, a little like the depths of the ocean. Since 1974, the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society has helped young people gain experience in the field with a […]

Ecosystems and Biodiversity Salmon, sharks, and cod are suffering cognitive problems and disorientation from high carbon dioxide levels. Gases like this dissolve better in colder, deeper waters. The problem is particularly severe in northern estuarine waters, where fertilizer run-off has lowered oxygen levels. Via Phys.org Crawfish, more commonly known as swamp crayfish, have spread from […]

Ecosystems and Biodiversity A new study from Ocean Wise Seafood’s Laurenne Schiller into the economics of deep sea fishing has suggested that the industry isn’t important to global food security, despite what fishers say. Most high-seas fishery catch is destined for upscale restaurants and store counters in America, Western Europe, and Asia and these fishing […]

Seafood is confusing. Have you ever wondered about the difference between steelhead and trout? Chinook and king salmon? Black cod and sablefish? The list goes on, but these pairs of fish are the same species and legally they can be sold in Canada under either name. Frequently, seafood is renamed to sound more appealing and […]

UBC researchers analyzed data from 1,226 Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanups between 2013 and 2016 and recently announced a major discovery: 50 per cent of the waste recovered during cleanups of Vancouver and Victoria shorelines came from cigarettes. This, despite the fact that smoking on beaches has been banned in Vancouver for eight years, and in […]

The Vancouver Aquarium, as part of a cross-border team of organizations and institutions, is on a mission to save an ailing Southern Resident Killer Whale. On August 9, Vancouver Aquarium’s head veterinarian Dr. Martin Haulena was on the response team that reached the ailing Southern Resident killer whale J50, aka Scarlet, in Canadian waters. Dr. […]