Seventeen days.

ThatB次元官网网址檚 how long the world watched as J35, a southern resident killer whale, swam through 1,500 kilometres of the Salish Sea with the body of her dead calf upon her nose, who died the day she gave birth to her, less than a month earlier.

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And thatB次元官网网址檚 how long Gregg McElroy and Eric Pittman of the will carry their homemade orca balloons along VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 Inner Harbour to draw attention to the plight of the 74 remaining killer whales.

B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e starving to death,B次元官网网址� McElroy says, of the orcas, who face extinction because of a rapidly depleting food supply. B次元官网网址淭heir main food source, the chinook salmon, is in peril.B次元官网网址�

With a rotating cast of volunteers, the pair are collecting signatures B次元官网网址� 700 in the first 11 days B次元官网网址� for a petition they will present to both the provincial and federal government requesting emergency measures to be invoked under the Species at Risk Act, legislation designed to protect endangered or threatened organisms and their habitats.

B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e dying, and theyB次元官网网址檙e at their last resort,B次元官网网址� McElroy says. B次元官网网址淛ust like a human would be B次元官网网址� you would go to any length to try to save your child. ThatB次元官网网址檚 what I saw.B次元官网网址�

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Raising funds to increase wild salmon hatcheries is also part of the Canadian Orca Rescue SocietyB次元官网网址檚 goals, particularly the 4 Mile Creek Hatchery in Port Renfrew which releases the fish directly into the orcasB次元官网网址� habitat. The societyB次元官网网址檚 mandate: B次元官网网址渢o bring salmon back to every river and creek in B.C.B次元官网网址�

McElroy likens the ocean to a garden. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e been taking everything out of it, and we havenB次元官网网址檛 put anything back into it.B次元官网网址�

TheyB次元官网网址檙e also calling on the government to increase funding for salmon habitat rehabilitation, regulation of the whale watching industry, and a promise not to increase tanker traffic through the Salish Sea.

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With the purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline in May, that promises to increase tanker traffic 700 per cent, the whales face certain death, McElroy says.

And while the pairB次元官网网址檚 orca balloons have been a steady presence at many anti-pipeline rallies, Pittman says theyB次元官网网址檙e not a protest group.

B次元官网网址淲e want to be a helpful group,B次元官网网址� he stresses. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e here to help restore the ecosystem of the West Coast. WeB次元官网网址檙e here to do some good.B次元官网网址�

The Canadian Orca Rescue Society tour the Inner Harbour every evening from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. until Oct. 17.

@kristyn_anthony
kristyn.anthony@blackpress.ca
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