Creating the Whale Sanctuary The Whale Sanctuary Project

PROGRESS AT THE SANCTUARY SITE

Over the last two years, our site development team has been working primarily on the water: documenting water depths in Port Hilford Bay, Nova Scotia; testing the water chemistry, salinity, and temperature gradients; and studying currents, tides, waves and surges so that we can understand the environment for the whales and the sanctuary infrastructure, as well as to provide data to government agencies for the many permits required for a project of this magnitude.

This year, our focus is primarily on land and on the seabed. The studies we’re conducting, known as geo-technical engineering, are about understanding the soil and rock so we can determine how best to anchor the nets that will surround the sanctuary waters.

In the following video, the skip loader uncovers layers of sediment and rock so we can take samples and measure the depth of each layer and of the water table. We need secure foundations for the buildings and infrastructure, and we need to know where best to place the net anchors so the perimeter net can withstand tides and currents of every kind.

Local geo-technical engineers work with our net systems designers in British Columbia to align the net systems design with local conditions based on our hydrodynamic model of the currents, water levels, sediment transport and salinity of the bay.

These studies also provide the information that’s required by the Department of Fisheries & Oceans on how our net anchoring system will interface with the subsurface sediment, known as the benthic zone.

Lease for sanctuary waters: We have now received the Offer of Lease from the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables. The Offer of Lease makes available to the sanctuary a total water space of 200 acres. This includes 100-plus acres for the whales, Barachois Island (a small island just off the shore, where one end of the perimeter net will be anchored), a security zone around the sanctuary, and the space needed for the anchoring system.

Work boat: Our new work boat will shortly be on its way to the sanctuary from Ontario. Special thanks to members of the Animal Welfare Institute, who made donations through AWI’s Giving Tuesday appeal last November, and for the additional funding from Whale Sanctuary Project supporters. The boat’s first mission will be to complete the environmental studies of the bay. After that it will be used in setting up the perimeter net and maintaining other structures on the water.

Net and net structure: By the end of this summer, we will have completed our two-year study of tidal flows, water pressure and other conditions, and will be ready to position the anchoring structure and the perimeter net. This net will enclose the 100-plus acres where the whales will live. In the outline below, you see the perimeter net and the structure that holds it in place:

One of the features of this state-of-the-art net and supporting structure is the walkway (colored green) that enables caregivers to walk along the net so that they can approach whales at the outermost edge of the sanctuary without needing to take a boat. The walkway also makes maintenance of the net much easier.

Infrastructure and buildings: Work is proceeding on infrastructure planning (water, power, internet, etc.) and on design development for key sanctuary buildings: veterinary services, animal care, marine operations, net and site maintenance, security, and administration. (For draft layouts of the main buildings, net, net structure and observation tower, go here.)

Fundraising for sanctuary lands: We have completed the funding for the purchase of sanctuary lands. Many thanks to the donors who contributed to this special capital fund.

First Nations consultation: The sanctuary is located in the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people and we have been conducting informal consultation with tribal authorities and Mi’kmaq bands since we were first considering locating a sanctuary in Nova Scotia. Formal government-to-government consultation about the sanctuary project was initiated by the Nova Scotia government in October 2021, and we greatly appreciate the cooperation and encouragement of Mi’kmaq elders and authorities as they continue consultations at that level.

Timeline: Our goal is to welcome the first whales to the sanctuary by the end of 2023. We need to be careful in making predictions, however. Nobody could have foreseen the effects of COVID and the lockdown of government offices and businesses across Canada, along with travel restrictions between the United States and Canada that have only recently been lifted. There is also considerable fundraising to be done toward the capital costs. So, there is no time to lose. With your help, we will complete the sanctuary and be able to welcome the whales as quickly as possible.

Letter from the Executive Director

“Today, all around the world, public attitudes are changing, and the marine entertainment park industry is adapting to the new realities. This creates yet greater urgency for the sanctuary to be ready to accept whales as soon as possible. Our goal is to have the initial facilities ready next year.”

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Letter from the President

“The kind of non-intrusive research we will be conducting at the sanctuary will be of tremendous value to scientists who are involved in conservation projects in the open ocean. The sanctuary will foster a new generation of compassionate marine mammal scientists, veterinarians, and conservationists.”

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Potential Candidates for the Sanctuary

There are 3,000 whales and dolphins in captivity around the world. They include 57 orcas, more than 300 belugas and around 2,600 dolphins. Each of them is an individual – intelligent, emotional, empathic and full of personality – who deserves to be living in an ocean environment free of abuse and exploitation.

Just as the first sanctuaries for elephants, great apes, big cats and other animals paved the way for many more all around the world today, so the sanctuary in Nova Scotia will set the gold standard for more whale sanctuaries to come.

This sanctuary will be the first that can care for both orcas and beluga whales. Here are a few of the whales whom we view as possible candidates for transfer to the sanctuary.

Kiska the orca at Marineland Canada

Video credit: Jenny McQueen

Last year, Kiska became news all over the world when video was posted of her repeatedly bashing herself against the side of her tank. She holds the cruel distinction of being the only orca in North America held in social isolation from any other marine mammal. Captured from the North Atlantic Ocean at an early age, she has given birth five times, and all her children died young.

We began discussions with Marineland last year and we look forward to continuing them whenever Marineland is ready to do so. The first step that we are seeking toward giving Kiska a new life will be a full health and behavior evaluation – as it will be for any whale who is a candidate for the sanctuary.

Beluga whales at Marineland Canada

Beluga whales Bella and LuVi in South Korea

Kshamenk at Mundo Marino in Buenos Aires