Every other year, political heavyweights, innovators, investors and adventurers meet at Vancouver’s GLOBE Forum to talk business and the environment. This year focused on sustainability concerns disrupting business-as-usual status quo, while the sub-theme of “Oceans” kicked the conversation up a notch. Despite the myriad problems and solutions in the world today, everything leads back to … Continued
Every week Ocean Wise’s Aquablog combs international headlines to bring you the most important ocean news. This week: the Bank of England’s Governor declares a crisis in the world’s ocean, a video of marine plastic off Indonesia goes viral and so much more — read on! The Ocean Ecosystem Tens of thousands of dead invertebrates and organisms … Continued
Just outside the Vancouver Convention Centre, where global business and government leaders are gathering today to talk the clean economy at GLOBE Sustainability Forum, Ocean Wise’s Dr. Peter Ross sampled the harbour waters for microplastics. Vice-president of research at Ocean Wise, and leading microplastic pollution expert, Ross said his team found 1,258 tiny particles of … Continued
Polar bears sure are getting a lot of attention these days. In fact, today is International Polar Bear Day. We think that’s fine. After all, polar bears are amazing animals, at once cute and deadly, and arguably an icon of the Arctic. But are these unwitting spokesanimals for climate change the only things in the … Continued
Tiny plastic and foam fragments topped the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup’s annual “Dirty Dozen” list, which reports on the types of litter most commonly found on Canada’s marine and freshwater shores. More than 330,000 tiny pieces of plastic and foam debris were collected by Shoreline Cleanup volunteers – from 1,849 cleanups that covered nearly 3,000 … Continued
By Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard For some coastal First Nations in British Columbia, the killer whale is considered the guardian of the sea, but for killer whales on B.C.’s south coast, it’s time for humankind to step into the role of guardian, and do more to protect them. Today, the David Suzuki Foundation, Georgia Strait Alliance, … Continued
As a fierce cold-weather snap passes over Eastern Canada this week, it’s only natural to pine for bygone summer days. And Ocean Wise Seafood had A LOT of fun this summer. We attended sustainable seafood conferences, educated the public on freshwater fish options in Ontario, and took part in new and exciting events, like The … Continued
It’s not every day that we have reason to celebrate good news about the ocean, but this week, we do. A new international fishing agreement protecting the Arctic high seas is a game-changer for marine life and the Indigenous peoples who rely on it for social, cultural, economic and nutritional sustenance. On Thursday November 30, … Continued
Humans are great at responding to immediate, personal risk. Our nervous system is highly attuned to dangers in the environment that could harm us right now. Abstract, geographically diffuse threats occurring in the medium- to long-term are not really our forte — and that is a real problem when it comes to sea level rise. By 2100, the ocean will rise … Continued
This past August, four Ocean Wise divers motored to a remote Arctic islet to conduct a BioBlitz survey. A BioBlitz is a snapshot of Canada’s biodiversity, recorded by scientists and citizen scientists, to mark the country’s 150th anniversary. As one of 35 Bioblitz events coordinated by the Canadian Wildlife Federation, and made possible in part … Continued
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Ocean Wise is based in the traditional and unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. We work across Turtle Island and beyond, supporting Indigenous peoples in their vital work on ocean conservation and biodiversity whenever possible or as we are invited to.