Why Southern Resident killer whales need emergency protection

After six months of urging the federal government to act, Raincoast and our NGO partners filed a lawsuit in late January seeking adequate protection for the remaining 72 endangered Southern Resident killer whales. Represented by Ecojustice, our lawsuit asks the federal government to honour its obligation under Canada’s Species at Risk Act. 

Last fall, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada undertook an ‘Imminent threat assessment’ that concluded these killer whales face threats that make survival and recovery of the population unlikely or impossible. As an outcome of this finding, government ministers are obligated to recommend an Emergency Order under Canada’s Species at Risk Act. This could be a crucial step– but it must be approved by cabinet.

What’s been done so far? 

This isn’t the first time we’ve been here. In 2018, the federal government decided against our request for an Emergency Order, choosing instead to implement conservation measures that could be rolled out  within the existing Fisheries Act and existing policies. For the most part,  these approaches lacked the necessary provisions for whales.  Measures to date have included: 

• Increasing the minimum distance that vessels must stay from killer whales to 400 metres;
• Closing salmon fishing in parts and times of the whales’ foraging habitat;
• Supporting voluntary slow-downs of large ships; and
• Working with commercial whale-watchers to stop directed viewing of the population.

While these efforts have been important, they haven’t been enough to improve the situation for the Southern Residents.  Last November, the government completed an imminent threat assessment that concluded Southern Resident killer whales continue to face imminent threats to their survival– threats that have not only persisted, but have worsened since 2018, when conservation measures began. For example, increased shipping from projects like the Trans Mountain expansion are making critical habitat noisier and more polluted, requiring stronger measures. 

Why an emergency order is needed

An Emergency Order would allow the government to implement necessary conservation measures that address underwater noise, pollutants, and salmon prey. Unlike temporary ministerial orders that typically expire in a year, an Emergency Order could ensure protection measures are in place throughout their recovery.

At 73 individuals, the Southern Residents are approaching their lowest population number ever recorded. At the same time, the highest number of individuals (14) are in poor health. When Southern Residents recovered from aquarium removals in the 1960s and ’70s, their habitat was quieter, it was less polluted, and it had more salmon prey than today.   

A 2024 study warned that without stronger conservation efforts, the risk of extinction is extremely high. But extinction is not inevitable. There are feasible solutions that could reduce the threats from underwater noise and pollution, and improve access to salmon, all of which would help the whales recover. 

But without an Emergency Order,  there aren’t pathways to implement these solutions. 

Our groups have petitioned the federal government to issue an Emergency Order under the Species at Risk Act.  We have proposed 13 science-based measures that are critical for the recovery of the Southern Residents and could help turn the tide for this endangered population. These include: 

• Increasing the minimum approach distance for vessels near the whales from 400 meters to 1,000 meters.
• Establishing an emergency Chinook salmon fisheries management plan that would trigger Chinook fishing closures in key areas if salmon abundance or killer whale body conditions falls below minimum thresholds. 
• Setting vessel-based noise reduction targets and regional noise targets to make the Salish Sea quieter for the whales.
• Banning the discharge of scrubber wastewater from ships in or near the Southern Residents’ critical habitat.

Time is running out 

The science is clear: without stronger, science-based protections, Southern Resident killer whales will remain on a trajectory to extinction. But there is still hope. Public concern for these killer whales has never been greater. Every birth and death makes headlines, and many British Columbians know individual whales by name. The federal government has both the responsibility and the power to act. An Emergency Order isn’t just an option; it could be the last chance to ensure a future for this iconic species.

Check out our action page to send a letter to cabinet ministers.

You can help

Raincoast’s in-house scientists, collaborating graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professors make us unique among conservation groups. We work with First Nations, academic institutions, government, and other NGOs to build support and inform decisions that protect aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and the wildlife that depend on them. We conduct ethically applied, process-oriented, and hypothesis-driven research that has immediate and relevant utility for conservation deliberations and the collective body of scientific knowledge.

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