Kinder Morgan Pipeline – Threat to Southern Resident Orca Whales
Environmentalists have been working hard to hinder the recent approval of the Kinder Morgan Canadian pipeline, which will be a death knell to the Southern Resident orca whales. The Salish Sea orca population is already facing extinction. The pipeline will be a continual threat to all wildlife in these waters. The Trudeau government is not addressing environmental and ecological risks to the Southern Resident orca whales.
According to a Takepart article, written by David Kirby, environmentalists are concerned about the increase of barrels transported daily (300,000 to 890,000), and the increase to tanker and other shipping traffic the pipeline would encourage.
“It would nearly triple the amount of diluted bitumen (a petroleum extract) transported to the Westbridge Terminal in Burnaby, east of Vancouver, from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels per day, creating a nearly sixfold increase in tanker traffic to more than 420 ships per year. Opponents say the additional shipping traffic would increase the chances of oil spills in the seasonal habitat of the endangered Southern Resident killer whale population, which numbers just 80 individuals, and create exponentially more underwater noise in the already cacophonic, vessel-filled waters.” – read the full article here.
Time for a whale protection zone!