December 30, 2025 — The Salish Sea is one ecosystem but Canada and the US are playing by different rules when it comes to protecting threatened whales, experts warn.
Endangered southern resident killer whales and at-risk humpbacks are blind to borders when transiting the transboundary waters in southern BC and northwestern Washington State that encompass the Strait of Georgia, Juan de Fuca Strait and Puget Sound, said Chloe Robinson, director of whales for Ocean Wise.
But an inconsistent patchwork of protection measures on either side of the border means the two whale species are increasingly vulnerable to ship strike, vessel disturbance, pollution, underwater noise and diminishing food sources, she said.
“The threats don’t change just because whales have crossed an invisible line,” Robinson said.
Problematic discrepancies exist between regulations around whale distance rules for boats, fisheries management, habitat protections and pollution standards, said Robinson, who led a comparative study of key conservation measures on each side of the border.
Both countries, along with provincial and state governments, need to align regulations, close protection gaps and reduce confusion for mariners, whale watching operations and vessels transiting the region to reduce cumulative stresses of whales, Robinson said.
There’s a dizzying mix of vessel approach distances and speed regulations for whale watching operators and recreational boaters on either side of the border depending on the type of whale and, in some cases, what they are doing, she added.