Scientists are calling on the federal government to reduce shipping noise to protect the critically endangered southern resident killer whale population off B-C's south coast.
"It would be like having a diesel tractor in your living room all the time."
The group, including Howard Garrett an Orca researcher and activist, are urging the federal govenment to adopt targets to lower shipping noise in the Salish Sea by three decibels over the next decade and by ten decibels within thirty years. "It overwhelms the sounds they need to hear. They use sounds as we use sight. So they need to use their sonar to find food."
The letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and several cabinet ministers also says constant vessel noise masks or alters the calls of killer whales, affecting communication and inducing chronic stress.
Industrial noise has been linked to reduced foraging among southern resident Orcas.