New research finds toxic hydrocarbons in B.C. orca population

For the first time ever, researchers have examined liver and muscle tissues in 12 deceased orcas found in the waters around Vancouver Island between 2006 to 2018. The findings are giving us a better understanding of the health of our oceans.

For the first time ever, researchers have examined liver and muscle tissues in 12 deceased orcas found in the waters around Vancouver Island between 2006 to 2018. The findings are giving us a better understanding of the health of our oceans.

“We call it the canary in the coal mine,” said Juan Jose Alava, principal investigator of the Ocean Pollution Research Unit at the University of British Columbia.

Alava says toxic hydrocarbons produced from fossil fuels were found in every whale sampled.

“So everything goes through the water, the phytoplankton, the herring, the salmon, and then it builds up in the food web until reaching the apex predators, which are the orcas,” said Alava.

Another source of the harmful hydrocarbons is wildfire smoke, inhaled by the surface-breathing mammals.

Also in another first, one of the orcas examined was pregnant at the time of her death. Her fetus also showed traces of the harmful toxins.

“So we observed maternal transfer,” said Alava.