Environment

FILE - In this May 30, 2018, file photo, is the Grand Princess cruise ship in Gastineau Channel in Juneau, Alaska. About two-thirds of the scrubber wastewater that enters Canadian waters comes from cruise ships, a World Wildlife Fund says. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

Study blames federal delays for continued marine waste dumping

World Wildlife Fund says billions of litres of wastewater being dumped in Canadian waters

FILE - In this May 30, 2018, file photo, is the Grand Princess cruise ship in Gastineau Channel in Juneau, Alaska. About two-thirds of the scrubber wastewater that enters Canadian waters comes from cruise ships, a World Wildlife Fund says. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)
People who have declared themselves “Land Defenders” sing a song as they guard an area of a logging cut block called “Heli Camp” in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C. Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Second judge to consider stay application of old-growth logging protesters in B.C.

More than 1,100 people have been arrested since Fairy Creek watershed blockade injunction

People who have declared themselves “Land Defenders” sing a song as they guard an area of a logging cut block called “Heli Camp” in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C. Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Container ship MV Kingston was escorted from its anchorage off Victoria to Duke Point in Nanaimo following the loss of several containers and an on-board fire last fall. (Photo: Transport Canada)

MV Zim Kingston’s lost cargo containers still a deep concern for B.C. coast

Coast Guard says it is working with ship owner to investigate and respond to reports of debris

Container ship MV Kingston was escorted from its anchorage off Victoria to Duke Point in Nanaimo following the loss of several containers and an on-board fire last fall. (Photo: Transport Canada)
Anyone who finds a European green crab like this one on Vancouver Island shorelines should report the invasive species to DFO, with photos and the exact location. (Courtesy of Fisheries and Oceans Canada)

Extreme weather could help invasive green crab crawl along B.C. coast

European green crab is identifiable by five spines on the side of each eye

Anyone who finds a European green crab like this one on Vancouver Island shorelines should report the invasive species to DFO, with photos and the exact location. (Courtesy of Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
Researchers aboard the vessel Noctiluca monitor southern resident killer whale behavior. (Photo courtesy of Northwest Fisheries Science Center/North Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries)

US review emphasizes uncertain future for B.C.’s southern resident killer whales

Boats, food decline, pollution threats as researchers recommend continued endangered status

Researchers aboard the vessel Noctiluca monitor southern resident killer whale behavior. (Photo courtesy of Northwest Fisheries Science Center/North Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries)
FILE - Matt Lisignoli walks through an irrigation canal that ran dry in early August after the North Unit Irrigation District exhausted its allocated water on Sept. 1, 2021, near Madras, Ore. The American West’s megadrought deepened so much last year that it is now the driest it has been in at least 1200 years and a worst-case scenario playing out live, a new study finds. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)

Western American megadrought worsens to driest in at least 1,200 years

Study calculated that 42% of this megadrought can be attributed to human-caused climate change

FILE - Matt Lisignoli walks through an irrigation canal that ran dry in early August after the North Unit Irrigation District exhausted its allocated water on Sept. 1, 2021, near Madras, Ore. The American West’s megadrought deepened so much last year that it is now the driest it has been in at least 1200 years and a worst-case scenario playing out live, a new study finds. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)
Fresh cut sawdust is seen from a tree cut near the “heli camp” in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C., Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Crown calls application to stay charges in B.C. old-growth logging case flawed

Lawyer: Fairy Creek protest group’s petition lacks ‘factual foundation,’ not the way justice is done

Fresh cut sawdust is seen from a tree cut near the “heli camp” in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C., Monday, Oct. 4, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
The clouds move among the old growth forest in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C. Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

B.C. forest protest accused ask court to stay charges due to ’ systemic police misconduct’

RCMP have made close to 1,200 arrests enforcing Fairy Creek injunction

The clouds move among the old growth forest in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C. Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Volunteers made a “Plastic Goddess” from some of the debris collected in a 2019 beach clean-up of Baynes Sound and Denman Island. File photo by Gerry Ambury

Coastal communities ‘fed up’ with B.C. shellfish sector’s plastics problem

Feds committed $8 million to ghost gear recovery, B.C. dedicated $18 million to shoreline cleanups

Volunteers made a “Plastic Goddess” from some of the debris collected in a 2019 beach clean-up of Baynes Sound and Denman Island. File photo by Gerry Ambury
Karen Scheffers. (Submitted photo)

B.C. woman making cloth bags out of used t-shirts to reduce reliance on plastic

Karen Scheffers hopes people will think about the impact single-use plastic has on the environment

Karen Scheffers. (Submitted photo)
Nechako River in Vanderhoof, B.C. (Aman Parhar/Omineca Express)

First Nations to appeal B.C. Supreme Court ruling on damages to Nechako River

First Nations to appeal B.C. Supreme Court ruling on Nechako River and fisheries to hold Rio Tinto Alcan mining company accountable for damages

Nechako River in Vanderhoof, B.C. (Aman Parhar/Omineca Express)
The dromedary jumping-slug has a multi-coloured hump concealing a partial shell. The slug is red-listed provincially and listed as threatened under the federal Species at Risk Act. (Contributed - Kristiina Ovaska)

Scientist leaping to the defence of Vancouver Island’s dwindling jumping slug

Mapping project tracks this important indicator of the health of B.C. rainforest

The dromedary jumping-slug has a multi-coloured hump concealing a partial shell. The slug is red-listed provincially and listed as threatened under the federal Species at Risk Act. (Contributed - Kristiina Ovaska)
Part of the 2019 Incubator cohort, Tofino residents Louise Rodgers and Georgina Valk saw a need for composting in their community so they founded Tofino Urban Farm Co. (Westerly File photo)

Project Zero Incubator program aims to support green startups in B.C.

Applications to the 2022 Project Zero Incubator is open to early-stage business ideas across B.C.

Part of the 2019 Incubator cohort, Tofino residents Louise Rodgers and Georgina Valk saw a need for composting in their community so they founded Tofino Urban Farm Co. (Westerly File photo)
The B.C. environment ministry is developing a watershed security strategy to protect wetlands. (B.C. government photo)

B.C. seeks public input on new watershed protection strategy

Groundwater licence program has March 1 deadline

The B.C. environment ministry is developing a watershed security strategy to protect wetlands. (B.C. government photo)
Deep Water Recovery Ltd. owns a ship-breaking company in Union Bay. File photo

Global coalition calls for halt to Vancouver Island shipbreaking operation

Belgium-based group joins lobby concerned about the demolition of old ships in Union Bay

Deep Water Recovery Ltd. owns a ship-breaking company in Union Bay. File photo
The Concerned Citizens of Baynes Sound included this photo of two ships parked in Union Bay in a presentation to the Electoral Area Services Committee. The photo shows the shipbreaking occurring on the water, which CCOBS said violates the Ministry of Forests (FLNR) foreshore lease. Photo supplied

Neighbours call B.C. shipbreaking operation a ‘disaster waiting to happen’

A group dubbed Concerned Citizens of Baynes Sound (CCOBS) is pressing the…

The Concerned Citizens of Baynes Sound included this photo of two ships parked in Union Bay in a presentation to the Electoral Area Services Committee. The photo shows the shipbreaking occurring on the water, which CCOBS said violates the Ministry of Forests (FLNR) foreshore lease. Photo supplied
The remains of a cut block is seen in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C. Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Activists pledge to block Trans Canada Highway off-ramps to protest old-growth logging

Extinction Rebellion is among groups organizing campaign

The remains of a cut block is seen in the Fairy Creek logging area near Port Renfrew, B.C. Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
King tides encroach on Imperial Lane homes in Ucluelet on Jan. 2.

King tides surge along Tofino and Ucluelet coastline

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve urges residents and visitors to be CoastSmart

King tides encroach on Imperial Lane homes in Ucluelet on Jan. 2.
A hungry gull picks away at a dead salmon on the banks of the Goldstream River. The Goldstream Hatchery saw far fewer chum salmon than exected this year due to weather extremes, experts say. (Black Press Media file photo)

Goldstream Hatchery salmon program hit hard by ‘perfect storm’

First drought, then flooding decimate chum numbers in West Shore spawning river

A hungry gull picks away at a dead salmon on the banks of the Goldstream River. The Goldstream Hatchery saw far fewer chum salmon than exected this year due to weather extremes, experts say. (Black Press Media file photo)
Participants of the ghost gear recovery training program in November. Photo courtesy Joan Drinkwin. Participants of the ghost gear recovery training program in November 2021. Photo courtesy Joan Drinkwin.

Diver training helping B.C. get to the bottom of its ‘ghost gear’ problem

Training part of federal government program targeting lost fishing gear in Canadian waters

Participants of the ghost gear recovery training program in November. Photo courtesy Joan Drinkwin. Participants of the ghost gear recovery training program in November 2021. Photo courtesy Joan Drinkwin.