A barge tipped its load of logging equipment into the Robson Bight area on Monday. Orcas frequent the waters there, and environmentalists fear they may be harmed.Photograph by : CH News
Judith Lavoie, Times Colonist
Published: Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Killer whales swimming through spilled diesel fuel in the Robson Bight ecological reserve are at risk of health problems ranging from lung lesions to death, says a Department of Fisheries and Oceans research scientist.
Peter Ross, a toxicology specialist at the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, said his main concern is that killer whales will inhale fumes from the fuel, which spilled into the sensitive area Monday when a barge carrying logging equipment flipped.
About six pieces of equipment, including a fuel truck which contained 10,000 litres of diesel fuel, are now sitting in about 350 metres of water, just outside the area where threatened northern resident killer whales feed, forage and rub themselves on the pebbly beaches....
Killer whales swimming through spilled diesel fuel in the Robson Bight ecological reserve are at risk of health problems ranging from lung lesions to death, says a Department of Fisheries and Oceans research scientist.
Peter Ross, a toxicology specialist at the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, said his main concern is that killer whales will inhale fumes from the fuel, which spilled into the sensitive area Monday when a barge carrying logging equipment flipped.
About six pieces of equipment, including a fuel truck which contained 10,000 litres of diesel fuel, are now sitting in about 350 metres of water, just outside the area where threatened northern resident killer whales feed, forage and rub themselves on the pebbly beaches....
