Each year, 20,000 whales are killed by ship strikes. Scientists estimate that for every whale strike that gets reported, there are many more that are not reported. There are at least 7000 humpbacks that move through BC waters annually.

The Salish Sea spans across British Columbia and Washington State, connecting Vancouver, Victoria, and Seattle. As stated by Transport Canada, it “has become a vital route for international, national and local trade.” Without this mode of transport, we would be without many necessary goods, but these whale deaths are not something we can ignore.

We live in a natural Eden on Vancouver Island, but human activity constantly threatens marine wildlife. Between September and November 2025, three humpback whales, which are most at risk, were hit by vessels. All three died upon impact.

BC Ferries vessel struck Midnight, a humpback whale, that was found dead the day after the vessel strike on September 17. Another incident occurred exactly a month later when Hullo ferries hit Skipper, a humpback calf, on October 17. The calf was later photographed with a deep cut on its dorsal fin.

At the end of October, Wisp, a 4-year-old humpback, was hit by a commercial whale watching boat and was found dead by Keats Island. Four passengers of the whalewatching boat received emergency medical treatment for the injuries sustained during the collision.

Another diseased humpback–Polyphemus–a 21-year-old male, was found near Lasqueti Island on November 8.

John K.B. Ford is an emeritus research scientist for Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada. He studied whales for more than 50 years. I spoke with him about this passionate issue.

Cruise ships and container ships are the biggest danger because of their size and speed, as well as ferries—both larger BC Ferries types and smaller, faster passenger ferries—according to Ford.

“When a vessel moves at a speed of seven knots an hour (13 km/hr), the impact is drastically different than, for example, 17 knots an hour (22 km/hr),” Ford says. “It is the large container ships and cruise ships that are most dangerous, and even a strike at five knots (9.4 km/hr) from a large ship, however, would likely cause mortality.”

Humpback whales, orcas, fin whales, minke whales, grey whales, and sei whales all must navigate busy daily marine traffic at the risk of being struck by a human vessel in British Columbia waters.

Marine mammals use sound waves to communicate in deep waters. An extraordinary phenomenon lies in the depth of the world’s ocean—the SOFAR channel (Sound Fixing and Ranging), occurring at a depth of 600-1200 meters, where the conditions are ideal for the sound waves to travel.

Unlike other whales—who use echolocation and clicks—humpbacks utilize Earth’s magnetic field, the position of the sun, and acoustic landmarks to navigate the ocean, producing “some of the most complex and haunting songs in the animal kingdom.”

The Salish Sea is also home to the Southern Resident killer whale, an endangered species.

There are only 74 Southern Resident killer whales left in BC waters.

On November 21, QENTOL, YEN / W̱SÁNEĆ Marine Guardians spotted a Southern Resident killer whale with a suspected vessel strike injury. Young J45 Se-Yi’-Chn (or “younger sibling” in Hul’q’umin’um) was observed to have a wound at the base of his dorsal fin that looks like a propeller cut.

As the number of vessels increases each year, the noise pollution from motors in the ocean affects whales’ overall well-being and their ability to sense their environment through sound.

We can compare this to light pollution affecting our quality of sleep. Since motor sounds do not occur in the natural world, they can disorient marine mammals and disrupt their intricate ways of being. These marine giants learned how to navigate deep waters tens of millions of years ago, when humans posed no threat to their way of life.

In the last 20 years, the world’s shipping volume increased by 300 percent, and the quality of whale communication has significantly decreased. At any time, there are up to 250,000 vessels traveling across the global ocean.

Along with the constant noise of ships, there are noises of construction, military sonar that create intense underwater sounds, oil and gas exploration, and seismic surveys (airguns firing intense bursts of compressed air into water, producing sound that can travel thousands of miles).

Currently, more than 13,000 large vessels travel through the Salish Sea each year. That is 35 large vessels, like giant oil tankers and container ships, per day. There are fines in place for hitting and approaching marine mammals too closely, but enforcing them is a challenge.

Dr. Andrew W. Trites is a professor and director of the Marine Mammal Research Unit, an integrated program with the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and the University of British Columbia. His research program is focused on the conservation and understanding of marine mammals, as well as the resolution of conflicts between people and marine mammals.

“It is going to take time to figure out where whales are most at risk, and then it will take money to develop technology that can warn captains when whales are present,” Dr. Trites says.

There are no mandatory provincial training procedures for whale safety to operate a marine vessel.

Whale-Safe Boating is a short course offered by the Marine Education & Research Society, which was made possible by Transport Canada’s Boater Safety Contribution Program. It is free to take.

Dr. Harald Yurk is a behavioural ecologist and bioacoustician with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and currently works with his team on ship-strike mitigation technologies. They are working on bringing technology that will detect whales at a distance with infrared cameras and thermal imaging.

He explains that only the large vessels, such as cruise ships and container ships, will be able to carry the technology. Smaller boats will have to adopt a lower speed in areas with high whale densities or use warning light systems.

“The most effective method [to avoid fatal incidents] would be limiting the speed and having hours where vessels are restricted in the waterways,” he says. While using lights for monitoring high whale traffic areas has been suggested, Yurk shares the concern that lighting up the area may only attract tourists.

There are two applications that OceanWise—a global organization working to restore and protect the ocean—has created in order to record locations of whales in real time to avoid them.

One app is designed for mariners only and it has the potential to be effective. The other one is open for public input, but does not indicate whale locations in order to avoid public misuse of it to seek whales for personal entertainment.

Jenna Darcie is a former research scientist, now a negotiator and strategist in various fields of law. With more than a decade of photographing whales from shore, she’s passionate about the rights of marine animals.

Darcie launches a nonprofit whale-photography website early next year to help fund advocacy efforts. She hopes to see all sides of the whale debate come together to collaborate on changes that prioritize the welfare of these magnificent sea creatures.

She shares that land-based whale watching is the only risk-free way to appreciate the ancient mammals. “Patience is required for sure,” Darcie says.

“[It is a] perfect opportunity for getting zero impact, zero-harm photos, quietly from human habitat.” 

In our history, humpback whales were hunted into extinction by the 1900s. Since the banning of commercial whaling in Canada in 1967, the humpback whale population has increased to 426 (reported in 2019).

426 is the number of humpback whales that return year after year to the Salish Sea waters and are referred to as seasonal resident humpback whales. The number doesn’t account for any other whales that were hunted for decades, not only in Canada but also in the rest of the world.

It is a big deal that the whales are back, and new challenges arise to keep them protected. It is clear that there is no one solution available.

There is something profound and breathtaking in seeing a whale in its habitat; it leaves us in complete awe at nature and these truly magical beings. They look so different from us, and yet they breathe as we do; their blood is warm, they give birth, raise families, play, and mourn.

While technologies, such as thermal imaging and infrared cameras, are being developed and rolled out on large ships to detect whales from a distance, lower speeds and keeping a lookout are essential to avoid as many fatal strikes as possible.

But going slower is expensive.

Mitigation measures must involve the government—Transport Canada—and various industries, such as oil and gas, cruise ships, ferries, and the recreational fishing industry, because they make a profit on operating vessels in the waters surrounding Vancouver Island while putting whales in danger.

At this time, there are no existing regulations on ocean noise pollution. But the need for such laws is clear. Just as whaling was outlawed, it is our responsibility to press local governments to create a framework for future legislation on ocean noise pollution to help marine mammals live long and healthy lives.