Trans Mountain ‘pipeline is going to get built’: Trudeau dismisses B.C.’s bitumen ban
- Thread starter mentalfloss
- Start date
Ha ha ha that'll show them oil companies by protesting in plastic boats, I was thinking more like this
In plastic kayaks?
Was the traditional higrade aluminum the Injins use unaffordable?
Just gassed up at $1.17L
You got ripped off...………..$1.069 at Coop in Regina East!
Is this still a, 'build it and they will come' program or are there contracts in place? Can it do grain also?
Wipe it with something made by Monsanto and label it,'For export Only'. Not the first time around the block.
If we had a pipe to send the oil through, maybe we might actually have some rail capacity to move grain. Not just costing the Canadian oil sector, but Canadian farmers and lumber exporters as well.
Canadian rail crunch leaving oil, grain stranded, crushing crude prices and farmers pocketbooks.
. . . and the buyer is, .. . . who? China and India have other sources that are involved in other trade deals as well. That leaves South America and we are doing more to suppress development than hooking them on quality and quantity of a variety of Canadian made goods.
Poor LIE-BERALS BLATHERING about nonsense while their political future is mired in an Alberta tar pit!!!!!
Consider:
Here is an article illustrating how the federal LIE-beral party intends to “spin” the tale of the Kinder Morgan pipeline with the intention of deluding Cdns! Some Toronto (RED) Star writers have asked what they think are clever questions and I have answered them! With my comments in brackets):
Key questions asked about Ottawa’s takeover of the Trans Mountain pipeline project
By Bruce Campion-SmithOttawa Bureau
Tonda MacCharlesOttawa Bureau
Alex BallingallOttawa Bureau
Toronto Star
Fri., June 1, 2018
OTTAWA—The federal government launched a rescue plan for the stalled Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, pledging $4.5 billion as a down payment on its political vow to move more Alberta oil to markets. The Star answers key questions about the move:
How much will it actually cost beyond the initial $4.5 billion?
(Since LIE-berals have told us- in 2015 that they want to close down the entire Alberta oil patch and take Canada away from any use of fossil fuel I suggest that there will be NO further pipeline costs once the $4.7 billion bill is paid to Kinder Morgan!)
Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain marine terminal, in Burnaby, B.C. Who would be on the hook for a spill?
(Since LIE-berals do not intend to ever complete the pipeline it means there WILL BE NO OIL TO SPILL! Hence NO COST for clean ups! And since Kinder Morgan was simply trying to expand its EXISTING operations and not starting something new- the same regulations it previously operated under can remain in place! )
The $4.5 billion committed by the federal government simply buys the Trans Mountain pipeline and assets associated with the work done so far on the expansion. Some $1 billion has already been spent on work to twin the pipeline and analysts say it could take another $6 billion to $7 billion to finish. But there are other potential costs, even if Ottawa succeeds in finding another company to take on the project. The Trudeau government will extend indemnity or insurance to cover any “extraordinary” politically-motivated delays caused by any province or municipality, and will even promise to buy back the project if it confronts losses in the courts or cannot complete the project despite “commercially reasonable efforts.”
(AS I mentioned- LIE-berals have NO intention of finishing the pipeline! If they did want the pipe finished they would have cleared away the protestors and allowed Kinder Morgan to proceed with their business! AND- LIE-berals could have saved us $4.7 billion dollars in purchase price by letting Kinder Morgan proceed! And LIE-berals could have saved us a lot of ink and a lot of political postering as they pretend to seek a new buyer prior to the 2019 election!)
(Reality is LIE-berals are just stalling till after the 2019 election! LIE-berals know that the pipeline and their despised carbon crap and trade tax scam will be major election issues! LIE-berals figure that if they win in 2019 that will be mandate enough to KILL Kinder Morgan as they desire! If LIE-berals lose then Kinder Morgan becomes a problem for somebody else- and it looks like LIE-berals WILL NOT be forming a majority govt in 2019- it actually looks like they will be defeated based on current polling!)
Some critics argue that, in addition to actual project costs, the price tag should include the $1.5 billion over five years that Ottawa committed to a new Oceans Protection Plan, which beefs up coastal safeguards for Arctic and Atlantic waters as well as Pacific ones. It was a key demand by the former B.C. provincial Liberal government as a condition of its agreement to the project.
(Again- if LIE-berals kill Kinder Morgan there will b e no need for Oceans Protection plan! But its worth pointing out that NOBODY has complained about implementing strong environmental protections! Nobody whines about Canada having stronger oil production legislation than most other countries!)
In the event that the government does not find a buyer and gets stuck with the pipeline, is it a good investment?
(Generally speaking pipelines are a good and profitable investment- but that assumes govt will actually build it! As it currently stands it is simply a nest of costly pipes stirring up controversy and tax bills- that will NOT be finished!)
Federal officials hope to find another private sector company quickly, one with a greater appetite for risk than Kinder Morgan, to take on the project. If that fails, Canadian taxpayers will be the proud owners of a pipeline. Walid Hejazi, an associate professor at the Rotman School of Management, said that pipelines typically have “enormous returns.” The Trans Mountain pipeline now has a “revenue requirement” of $287 million in 2017, the amount needed to cover its operating costs and produce a 9.5-per-cent return on equity, according to the National Energy Board. But governments have many priorities, and they all cost money, so tying up $4.5 billion may not be the best use of government money over the long-term.
(A 9.5 percent return on pipeline investment? Looks pretty good compared to the 0.08 percent your local bank offers on savings!!!! Assuming the pipeline is built! As for risk- why not simply let Kinder Morgan finish what it started- except LIE-berals would have to clear away protestors so there will be NO new buyer!)
How many jobs for Canadians will be created?
The Canadian government says the project would create 15,000 new jobs during construction, and 440 permanent jobs a year during operation. And, Ottawa says, the pipeline expansion provides support to “thousands of jobs” in Canada’s crude oil production sector and supply chain. The company struck about $300 million in mutual benefits agreements with about 43 Indigenous groups. But a 2015 study done for Metro Vancouver and B.C. said the job prospects were overstated, and construction of the pipeline would produce only around 4,000 new positions in the province.
(But of course LIE-berals DESPISE Cdns who work in the oil industry and want to shut down all those jobs that LIE-berals scorn as primitive and bestial!)
What are the benefits for getting more petrol out to the coast?
About 97 per cent of Canada’s proven oil reserves are located in the oilsands, and 99 per cent of Canada’s oil exports go to the U.S., according to the Canadian government, which says the discounted oil equals a $15 billion a year hit to the Canadian economy. The theory is that if more Canadian oil can be shipped to coastal ports, with the possibility of being sold directly to energy-hungry Asian markets, especially China, Canada would fetch a better price. According to Natural Resources Canada, Canadian oil sells for $26 U.S. less a barrel than U.S. oil, and the price difference is costing Canada’s oil sector up to $40 million a day in lost revenues, says the government, citing market studies. Moving oil by pipeline, rather than by rail, is projected to save companies $1 billion a year. Then there are royalties projected to result from the pipeline expansion, which will triple the capacity to ship heavy, light and refined petroleum products to Vancouver. These are estimated to be about $46 billion.
(All this oil revenue and the tax revenue and jobs generated are at the heart and soul of the federal budget surpluses we enjoyed prior to 2008! Yet LIE-berals would rather ruin us with grotesque debts than make a profit from oil!)
What does this do for the already modest climate targets?
According to a November 2016 report from Environment and Climate Change Canada, the total upstream greenhouse gas emissions of the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline would be between 21 megatonnes and 26 megatonnes per year. Of that, 13 to 15 MTs would come from the expanded pipeline’s extra carrying capacity, the report says.
(Considering that current Cdn emissions are over 700 megatonnes annually and rising steadily anyway another 21-26 megatonnes inst a huge issue! Especially when we CAN drastically reduce Cdn emissions by the simple expedient of cutting back on gravy for civil service union Hogs! There is an increasing body of evidence to indicate that airplane travel- whether hauling passengers or cargo- is the most significant single source of pollution on the planet! Cut back on gravy for our frequent flyer Hogs and air travel shrinks and the air is cleaner! With no need to battle it out with Cdns over idiot Carbon crap and trade deals that only clean cash from wallets and leave the dirt in the air anyway!)
And while department’s projections from last December show Canada is already on pace to fall short of its 2030 emissions target — the projection says it will hit 583 MTs, instead of 517 MTs, that year — Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has repeatedly said extra emissions from the Trans Mountain expansion fit within the government’s climate action plan. That’s because Alberta’s NDP government is proposing a hard cap of 100 MTs of annual emissions from the province’s oilsands to meet the 2030 target. New emissions from the pipeline would have to be offset by reductions elsewhere to fit within Alberta’s cap.
(All this LIE-beral crap is just noise designed to confuse the issue! Cdn carbon emissions are rising anyway! There are ever more cars on the road as Cdns grow disgusted with public transit that is increasingly costly and unreliable even in bigger cities! And cars are more reliable and a better investment than they used to be! Time squeezed Cdns simply do not have the patience needed to deal with over loaded 40 year old transit!!! And yes- Toronto has recently opened up its Eglinton LRT that is an improvement over bus travel but which deliberately SCREWS UP car and truck travel on Eglinton as well!)
What are the environmental risks?
This question lies at the heart of B.C.’s opposition to the project. The expansion would increase the capacity of the pipeline to 890,000 barrels per day, up from 300,000 barrels. There is the risk of a spill along the pipeline route. There is also the risk of a tanker spill, once the oil has been delivered to port. B.C., in particular, is concerned about the possibility of a spill in coastal waters. As noted, the federal government tried to mitigate those concerns with its “oceans protection plan” meant to improve marine safety and respond to spills, but B.C. says that strategy doesn’t go far enough. It says the effects of a bitumen spill are not well known. Once the federal government takes ownership of the project, Canadian taxpayers will be on the hook to pay for the clean-ups of any spill.
(Kinder Morgan was already exporting oil without major problems! And we have been told that Cdn oil is produced under legislation that is already TOUGHER than most other countries anyway! And LIE-berals have not explained why we should be hostile to oil tankers on the west coast while shrugging off oil tankers bringing in oil on the east coast from socialist pest hole Venezuela! But then Our idiot Boy Justin is a hard core socialist just like his father so the socialist oriented Venezuelans MUST be supported while LIE-beral loathing Albertans can be easily screwed over with no loss of votes to LIE-berals!)
What are the implications for federal-provincial relations?
(The implications are already ugly!!! There is main stream hostility in many provinces to any LIE-beral carbon crap and trade tax! With provinces not looking forward to being put on the spot- having to decide whether they should stand by while Alberta oil patch- and all those related jobs and tax revenue are killed by LIE-berals and the price of oil we all use is driven up by deliberate LIE-beral restrictions in supply! Add in the growing cost of dealing with the illegals that LIE-berals are rounding up like crazy cat ladies collecting strays and things look even worse! Then add in the cost of the trade war LIE-berals deliberately picked with Yankees and things look even more grim for LIE-berals!)
(This oil mess will not be resolved by LIE-berals! It will be dealt with by whatever govt replaces LIE-berals! And on a related note: HOW COME NOBODY is asking that NDP imbecile Jagmeet Singh- who aspires to replace Our idiot Boy as prime minister- about HIS opinion on any of this stuff????? )
Get Ready for Canada’s Heavy-Oil Crisis to Worsen
While oil continues its relentless climb higher, the price of Canadian heavy oil and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) continues to diverge. Western Canadian Select (WCS) is trading a discount of US$29 a barrel to WTI, which is approaching levels not seen since the start of 2018, when WCS was selling for 46% less than WTI.
Surprisingly, this is occurring at a time when Canadian oil production has declined because of an outage at the Syncrude facility. The sharp discount applied to Canadian heavy oil is impacting the financial performance of those oil producers focused on the oil sands and negating much of the benefit being generated by higher oil.
Now what?
The divergence between the prices of WCS and WTI can be attributed to transportation constraints, especially on Canada’s crude pipeline network, which is preventing the heavy oil being produced from reaching U.S. refining markets. This is being exacerbated by steep uptick in production among Canadian upstream oil companies, which are frantically ramping up activity to cash in on higher oil.
Growing oil output coupled with insufficient transportation capacity is causing domestic oil inventories to rise at frenetic pace, applying even greater pressure to WCS. There is no sign that the impact of any of these factors will wane any time soon.
You see, according to Suncor Energy Inc., the Syncrude facility is set to become fully operational again by mid-September 2018 after going offline in June because of a transformer outage. That will add anywhere up to an additional 200,000 barrels daily to domestic oil production, further exacerbating existing pipeline capacity issues, which will cause the price differential to widen further.
Another issue is that Canadian oil inventories are expanding at a solid clip and will continue to do so for as long as WTI remains at over US$55 a barrel. This is the magic price for many Canadian oil producers, because it is the point at which they become cash flow positive. In an industry that has been starved of capital as well as cash flow for the last three years, companies are going to rapidly ramp up activity to maximize production in an operating environment where WTI is hovering at close to US$70 a barrel. This is especially the case for those oil companies with massive piles of debt and looming repayments.
You only need to look at Cenovus Energy’s (TSX:CVE)(NYSE:CVE) second-quarter 2018 results to see this. Canada’s third-largest oil sands producer reported a 61% year-over-year increase in production after it loaded up on debt to complete the 2017 $17.7 billion acquisition of ConocoPhillips’s Canadian upstream assets.
Companies such as MEG Energy and Pengrowth Energy are boosting investment in projects they have under development aimed at expanding production because of firmer oil.
Suncor’s partner in the Syncrude facility, Imperial Oil (TSX:IMO)(NYSE:IMO), has also bolstered spending on development and exploration in order to expand production. For the second quarter, Imperial Oil reported that it had almost doubled capital and exploration spending compared to a year earlier to $284 million. It is likely that the integrated energy major will increase spending further on those activities if oil rallies further
Because of higher oil, Imperial Oil reported a second-quarter profit of $196 million compared to a $77 million loss a year earlier. Such a significant increase in net income will provide Imperial Oil with the additional funding required to fund increased spending on drilling and other development activities to bolster its oil output. When this is coupled with Imperial Oil completing its maintenance cycle during the first half of 2018, the company is well positioned to significantly grow production at a solid clip during the second half of the year.
So what?
Until the pipeline capacity constraints are addressed by essentially expanding Canada’s pipeline network, WCS will keep trading at a sharp discount to WTI. This could deepen significantly once operations at Syncrude fully come back online. If that occurs, it will have a marked impact on the financial performance of those oil sands companies like Cenovus that are highly reliant on heavy oil to generate a large portion of their earnings.
While oil continues its relentless climb higher, the price of Canadian heavy oil and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) continues to diverge. Western Canadian Select (WCS) is trading a discount of US$29 a barrel to WTI, which is approaching levels not seen since the start of 2018, when WCS was selling for 46% less than WTI.
Surprisingly, this is occurring at a time when Canadian oil production has declined because of an outage at the Syncrude facility. The sharp discount applied to Canadian heavy oil is impacting the financial performance of those oil producers focused on the oil sands and negating much of the benefit being generated by higher oil.
Now what?
The divergence between the prices of WCS and WTI can be attributed to transportation constraints, especially on Canada’s crude pipeline network, which is preventing the heavy oil being produced from reaching U.S. refining markets. This is being exacerbated by steep uptick in production among Canadian upstream oil companies, which are frantically ramping up activity to cash in on higher oil.
Growing oil output coupled with insufficient transportation capacity is causing domestic oil inventories to rise at frenetic pace, applying even greater pressure to WCS. There is no sign that the impact of any of these factors will wane any time soon.
You see, according to Suncor Energy Inc., the Syncrude facility is set to become fully operational again by mid-September 2018 after going offline in June because of a transformer outage. That will add anywhere up to an additional 200,000 barrels daily to domestic oil production, further exacerbating existing pipeline capacity issues, which will cause the price differential to widen further.
Another issue is that Canadian oil inventories are expanding at a solid clip and will continue to do so for as long as WTI remains at over US$55 a barrel. This is the magic price for many Canadian oil producers, because it is the point at which they become cash flow positive. In an industry that has been starved of capital as well as cash flow for the last three years, companies are going to rapidly ramp up activity to maximize production in an operating environment where WTI is hovering at close to US$70 a barrel. This is especially the case for those oil companies with massive piles of debt and looming repayments.
You only need to look at Cenovus Energy’s (TSX:CVE)(NYSE:CVE) second-quarter 2018 results to see this. Canada’s third-largest oil sands producer reported a 61% year-over-year increase in production after it loaded up on debt to complete the 2017 $17.7 billion acquisition of ConocoPhillips’s Canadian upstream assets.
Companies such as MEG Energy and Pengrowth Energy are boosting investment in projects they have under development aimed at expanding production because of firmer oil.
Suncor’s partner in the Syncrude facility, Imperial Oil (TSX:IMO)(NYSE:IMO), has also bolstered spending on development and exploration in order to expand production. For the second quarter, Imperial Oil reported that it had almost doubled capital and exploration spending compared to a year earlier to $284 million. It is likely that the integrated energy major will increase spending further on those activities if oil rallies further
Because of higher oil, Imperial Oil reported a second-quarter profit of $196 million compared to a $77 million loss a year earlier. Such a significant increase in net income will provide Imperial Oil with the additional funding required to fund increased spending on drilling and other development activities to bolster its oil output. When this is coupled with Imperial Oil completing its maintenance cycle during the first half of 2018, the company is well positioned to significantly grow production at a solid clip during the second half of the year.
So what?
Until the pipeline capacity constraints are addressed by essentially expanding Canada’s pipeline network, WCS will keep trading at a sharp discount to WTI. This could deepen significantly once operations at Syncrude fully come back online. If that occurs, it will have a marked impact on the financial performance of those oil sands companies like Cenovus that are highly reliant on heavy oil to generate a large portion of their earnings.
LIE-BERALS WASTE TONS OF MONEY DESPERATELY PRODUCING DOCUMENTARIES TELLING US WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF OIL!!!!!!!
THEY DO THIS TO MAKE IT EASIER TO TRY TO SELL US THEIR ELECTRIC TOY CARS!!!!!!
LIE-berals tell us they want to destroy the entire Alberta oil patch and force us to stop using fossil fuel so it will be easier to force us to buy their mouldy green electricity at HUGE PRICES so LIE-berals will have LOTS OF GRAVY!!!!
When construction of the Kinder Morgan pipeline was halted by LIE-beral friendly protestors- in the middle of the Trump trade war caused by Cdn LIE-berals ignoring national security border issues of concern to Yankees- LIE-berals told us the pipeline was ESSENTIAL for the Cdn economy so they bought the line!!!!
IT WAS NECESSARY THEY SAID!!!!
But now that LIE-beral LIES are coming home to roost- it is obvious LIE-berals HAVE NO INTENTION OF FINISHING THE PIPELINE!!!!
LIE-berals are just now becoming aware of how angry and disgusted the public is and now they are spewing Fake News in a frantic effort to convince us that the Cdn oil is not wanted or needed!!!!!
But about all the documentaries telling us we are running out of oil??? LIE-berals demand that we be polite AND NOT ASK !!!!!!!
What LIE-berals DO NOT WANT TO DISCUSS is why in hell a private company like Kinder Morgan that operates ONLY on the profit motive would plan to sink SEVEN BILLION DOLLARS INTO A NOT NEEDED PIPELINE!!!!!!
Or should we just do the sensible thing and assume LIE-berals are doing what they do best- spinning BULLSH+T STORIES in Desperate hope of conning Cdns?????
LIE-beral Fake News has reached the point of low comedy and they are insulting our intelligence with their crap!!!!!!!
It is an example of how utterly failed and in disgrace all LIE-beral policy has come to that they believe they can get re-elected while hiding behind a screen of Fake News- even though all Cdns can see clearly when, where and why the LIE-beral gravy train derailed!!!!!!
It is an example of how utterly failed and in disgrace all LIE-beral policy has come to that they believe they can get re-elected while hiding behind a screen of Fake News- even though all Cdns can see clearly when, where and why the LIE-beral gravy train derailed!!!!!!
OH BOY!!!!! A new load of Fake News coming to me from Hoid!!!!!
He says Alberta and B.C. are "BOOMING"!!!!!
And that is classic LIE-beral speak!!!!!!
Consider:
Here is an article illustrating the sort of mad mess LIE-berals and their less intelligent cousins of NDP are making of Canada. With some comments of my own in brackets):
Alberta report on debt shows bleak future for taxpayers.
Global News. By Slav Kornik. May 4/2018
A new report is painting a dark picture for Alberta taxpayers caused by the province's debt.
The University of Calgary's School of Public Policy released Fiscal Policy Trends Thursday morning, which suggests the provincial debt will impose substantial burdens on future taxpayers, with younger age groups paying a disproportionate burden.
(Of course the kids will bear the major burden- given the TOTAL size of Cdn debts- it is quite likely that it will take many hundreds of years to deal with the CURRENT DEBT- much less try to tackle new debts that LIE-berals and their idiot NDP cousins continue to run up as they try frantically to buy enough votes to cling to power at ANY price!)
During the 2018 budget announcement in March, Finance Minister Joe Ceci said the province’s current deficit sits at $8.8 billion. He forecasted it will fall to $7.9 billion, then to $7 billion, down to $4.3 billion, then $4.1 billion and finally to a $700-million surplus by spring 2024.
Alberta Budget 2018: finance minister outlines plan to balance books in five years
Authors of the U of C study suggest that means the public debt will be about $90 billion with annual interest payments of $3.8 billion in 2023-24. Interest payments on the debt will be $1.9 billion this year.
The report states 16 to 25 year olds will take on 19.5 per cent of the burden among Alberta's taxpayers in 2023, while 26 to 35 year olds will cover 27.3 per cent of the cost.
A 16-year-old can expect to pay the equivalent of $42,252 over his or her lifetime as well as additional personal income taxes to pay the interest on the debt, according to the study.
(NOTE THAT WELL: over $42 grand IN TAXES AND INTEREST PAYMENTS ONLY! The money needed to actually pay off th debt is EXTRA! This is why there will be NO separation of any provinces from Canada! And it is also why Yankees will NOT welcome any Cdn province that wants to convert to statehood! There is NO need to buy the sick cow when the milk is FREE!)
The highest burden will be place on individuals who are 36-years-old in 2023, who will pay $49,864. Older age groups will shoulder a lower burden, with a typical 65-year-old paying $20,605.
(Some LIE-berals will immediately cry foul over these numbers and suggest that it illustrates that old folks are getting an unfair deal- THAT IS NOT SO! Old folks simply will not live long enough under the current tax mad LIE-beral regime to receive as many tax bills as the kids- they actually stop billing you after you DIE!)
The authors of the study said the growth of the public debt should be concerning for Albertans, but it should be especially worrisome for the province's youth.
(It should be a concern for ALL KIDS as the same Tax mad nonsense is playing out right across Canada and the entire western world as well!)
When Premier Rachel Notley’s NDP won power in 2015, she inherited an economy that was bottoming out as oil prices crashed and erased billions from Alberta’s coffers.
Rather than ratchet back spending, the NDP poured money into infrastructure and avoided cuts to front-line services.
(This is a convoluted and diplomatic way of saying that civil service union Hogs CONTINUED to get all the GRAVY they wanted- at our cost! Civil service union Hogs live very nicely on our BORROWED money!)
The plan to get back to balance relies on revenue from two pipeline projects approved by the federal government: improvements to Enbridge’s Line 3 into Wisconsin and an expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain line to the West Coast which has faced delays in British Columbia.
(IN other words- ALL LIE-beral policy is FAILING! LIE-berals have sworn to shut down the Alberta oil patch for ever and NDPers and Greens have said “ME TOO” and supported the LIE-beral policy! And now we have Alberta NDPers forced to the ugly realization they MUST HAVE oil revenue to survive! LIE-berals and their idiot socialist allies are going to have to make some TOUGH choices if they truly want to save the environment! WE need to heat our homes and supply lights and power to our work places. And there is NO POINT in making war upon cars until some time in the distant future- meaning AFTER LIE-berals have built a PILE of new transit so that drivers actually have an option regarding how to get to work!)
(Sadly- LIE-berals make NO LONG TERM PLANS for anything - other than to seek out ideas for blaming Mike Harris and Stephen Harper for ALL their troubles! But our kids are seeing through that socialist crap- there is nothing like spending a year or two wrestling with student debt to convince kids that DEBT IS BAD! Hence the sudden nasty change in Cdn weather for our socialist airheads who are finding their Sunny Ways going VERY DARK and stormy!)
Orcas now taking turns floating dead calf in apparent mourning ritual
Members of a pod of endangered killer whales now appear to be taking turns floating the body of a newborn calf that died more than week ago.
As It Happens reported on Friday about J-35, a mother orca from B.C.'s endangered killer whale population that has been balancing her dead calf on her nose near San Juan Island, Wash.
It's now been more than a week and the mother whale is still carrying the calf's remains — sparking concerns among researchers that she'll tire herself out.
"We do know her family is sharing the responsibility of caring for this calf, that she's not always the one carrying it, that they seem to take turns," Jenny Atkinson, director of the Whale Museum on San Juan Island, told As It Happens guest host Piya Chattopadhyay.
"While we don't have photos of the other whales carrying it, because we've seen her so many times without the calf, we know that somebody else has it."
New audio released
The Whale Museum released an audio recording on Monday of the mother communicating with her pod.
More: Orcas now taking turns floating dead calf in apparent mourning ritual | CBC Radio
Gonna see more of this with increased tanker traffic on the wet coast.
Members of a pod of endangered killer whales now appear to be taking turns floating the body of a newborn calf that died more than week ago.
As It Happens reported on Friday about J-35, a mother orca from B.C.'s endangered killer whale population that has been balancing her dead calf on her nose near San Juan Island, Wash.
It's now been more than a week and the mother whale is still carrying the calf's remains — sparking concerns among researchers that she'll tire herself out.
"We do know her family is sharing the responsibility of caring for this calf, that she's not always the one carrying it, that they seem to take turns," Jenny Atkinson, director of the Whale Museum on San Juan Island, told As It Happens guest host Piya Chattopadhyay.
"While we don't have photos of the other whales carrying it, because we've seen her so many times without the calf, we know that somebody else has it."
New audio released
The Whale Museum released an audio recording on Monday of the mother communicating with her pod.
More: Orcas now taking turns floating dead calf in apparent mourning ritual | CBC Radio
Gonna see more of this with increased tanker traffic on the wet coast.
The calf died as a result of being poisoned through the huge amounts of raw sewage that BC dumps into the whale's environment