Ten years ago – in November 2014 – the port authority launched the Enhancing Cetacean Habitat and Observation (ECHO) Program –– a collaborative effort to better understand and reduce the impacts of commercial shipping on at-risk whales off B.C.’s southern coast.
To inform this new effort, the port authority invited individuals from across the marine transportation industry, government agencies, Indigenous communities, and environmental groups to join the program’s advisory working group. Together, this group explored approaches for how to better understand and address impacts from commercial shipping to support the recovery of southern resident killer whales –– an endangered orca population of immense spiritual value to First Nations.
Highlights of the ECHO Program’s first ten years
November 2014 marked the first meeting of the ECHO Program advisory working group, bringing together a diverse group of advisors to brainstorm ideas to reduce the impacts of commercial shipping on at-risk whales. The group began by posing the following questions: what factors are contributing to underwater noise, and what measures can be taken to mitigate them for the benefit of endangered whales?
These questions led the program and its partners to undertake a series of research studies. These studies were aided by the installation of an underwater listening station, beneath busy commercial shipping lanes in Georgia Strait in 2015, with support from JASCO Applied Sciences, Ocean Networks Canada and the Canadian government.
The data from this underwater listening station showed that commercial shipping was a significant contributor to the
underwater soundscape. It also showed that while there are various factors that affect how much underwater noise a ship emits—such as its size and draft—one of the most effective ways to reduce underwater noise from ships is by slowing down.
Based on this finding, ECHO Program advisors devised a radically simple approach to reducing acoustic disturbance to whales. In 2017, they began asking thousands of ships that traveled through southern resident killer whale critical habitat on their way to the Port of Vancouver to slow down.
During this two-month ship slowdown trial in Haro Strait, a majority of ship operators voluntarily participated – despite the fact that slowing down can add extra time to ships’ journeys. As a result, underwater sound intensity was cut in half in key areas of the orcas’ critical habitat.
Following this initial trial, the ECHO Program has introduced additional voluntary initiatives encouraging ship operators to either slow down or move away from key areas of southern resident killer whale critical habitat in Haro Strait, Boundary Pass, Swiftsure Bank, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Today, these measures cover nearly 80 nautical miles of southern resident killer whale critical habitat off B.C.’s southern coast.
Thanks to consistently strong voluntary participation rates by the marine transportation industry, these initiatives have consistently reduced underwater noise intensity by up to 50%, and recently, a co-benefits study found that the program’s slowdowns can also reduce the risk of whale strikes by up to a third.
In recognition of these voluntary measures’ effectiveness, in 2019, the port authority and five marine transportation industry partners signed a first-of-its-kind Species at Risk Conservation Agreement with the Government of Canada and the parties committed to continue to reduce threats to southern resident killer whales over a five-year period.
The marine transportation industry groups that signed the agreement collectively represent nearly all the large commercial ship traffic that travels to and from the Port of Vancouver – including: the Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia; Council of Marine Carriers; Cruise Lines International Association; International Ship-Owners Alliance of Canada; and the Shipping Federation of Canada. Government signatories to the agreement include Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Pacific Pilotage Authority; Transport Canada; and Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
The ECHO Program continues to coordinate threat reduction initiatives for ships while leading important research into underwater noise. Over the last several years, this research has helped shape international policy at the International Maritime Organization, where members of the ECHO Program team and the Government of Canada helped revise the IMO’s underwater noise guidelines, which provide the most up-to-date science on how underwater noise from ships can effectively be reduced around the world.
In 2024, the port authority and marine industry partners extended the Conservation Agreement with the Government of Canada for another five years, renewing their commitment to reduce threats to at-risk whales from commercial shipping. Under this agreement, the parties committed to work together to quantifiably reduce threats to southern resident killer whales from commercial ships, through continued participation in the ECHO Program.
Over the next five years, members of the ECHO Program from across government, the shipping industry, Indigenous communities, and environmental groups will continue to advance efforts to support the recovery of southern resident killer whales. Notably, these efforts will include taking action to advance real-time whale presence notifications to commercial ship operators; supporting the transition to quieter vessels; and convening collaborators to maintain high levels of participation in the program’s voluntary ship slowdowns and route alterations.
Join us in celebrating and thanking our industry and government partners, as well as the many advisors who have been instrumental in achieving the ECHO Program’s first ten years of accomplishments. Special thanks to: