How a huge new LNG plant spells ‘dire’ trouble for whales off Canada’s coast

Humpbacks and fin whales at risk, as study predicts increased ship traffic could cause a 30-fold increase in fatal collisions over the next decade

On a quiet summer evening last month, the crew of the Northern Expedition spotted a dark shape surfacing from the water off Canada’s west coast. Earlier that day, crew on the passenger ferry had made a similar sighting, and only narrowly avoided striking the humpback whale by ordering the ferry’s powerful engines to be reversed.

This time, the momentum of the 150-metre vessel was too much. It struck the hulking cetacean, sending the dull, jarring sound of metal against tissue reverberating throughout the ship. The crew were devastated; the head of BC Ferries called the collision “disturbing”. Nobody knows if the whale survived.