Canada Doubles Orca Protection Zone

0:00It's March 23rd. Welcome to Vancouver News today, powered by AI. Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans wants to more than double the distance boats must keep from endangered southern resident killer whales, jumping from 400 meters to 1000 meters. This changed targets the critically low population of just 73 orcas in the Salish Sea, down from 96-30 years ago. The rules would kick in by May, right before peak tourist season, and expand to cover the entire island, not just the current zone from Campbell River, south. The proposal also adds specific bands on drone disturbances, and keeps the 200 meter buffer for other killer whale types like northern residents, and transients, since they art in the same peril. Officials say vessel noise and presence mess with the orcas echolocation, which they need for hunting, chatting, and mating, cutting into their basic. Whale watching operators welcome the alignment with Washington State's similar 1000-yard

1:01rule, which helps since these orcas swim across the border, often, but they're worried about spotting southern residents from so far away, especially in narrow channels less than 1000 meters wide, and want. Clear guidance on accidental close encounters. In the U.S., boaters who get too close must idle engines or back off slowly at no more than 7 knots if unsure of the whale type. Canada has handed out fines before, like a $2,500 penalty to a paddleboarder near transients and a $5,000 hit. To a jet skier, too close to dolphins, these updates come during a 30-day public consultation, aiming for better protection and smoother cross-border enforcement to give the struggling. Southern residents a real fighting chance.