W̱SÁNEĆ Marine Guardians

The WLC is pleased to welcome Leona Peter to the team! Interviewer: Can you tell us who you are and where you’re from? Leona: ‘een’thu Stii ti’ye, Leona Peter tthu nu s-hwunitum’a’lh nu sne. tun’ni tsun ‘utl’ Kwamutsun. My English name is Leona Peter, my hwulmuhw sne is Stii ti’ye, I am from Quamichan, but I have resided in Tsawout for two years. Interviewer: What’s your role at WLC? I work alongside the Marine Guardians as their Marine Clerk. Interviewer: What is your background and experience/ what were you doing before? Leona: I have previous office experience working with Cowichan [...]

WLC Partners with UVIC Computer Science Student to Improve Whale Monitoring Data The W̱SÁNEĆ Marine Guardians / QENTOL, YEN has recently partnered with UVic computer science graduate student Bachan Ghimire to help protect the KELȽOLEMEĆEN / Killer Whales. Shown above: Bachan Ghimire’s final presentation at UVIC on using Data Analytics to preserve Marine Life As part of the Federal Government’s Ocean Protection plan, the Enhanced Maritime Situational Awareness (EMSA) Initiative was developed specifically to provide Coastal  Indigenous Groups with in-depth data on marine activity in their territory. As part of EMSA, David Dick, the Senior Manager of the SRKW [...]

Meet the QENTOL, YEN Marine Guardians Learn more about the Marine Guardians and the work they're doing to help save the KELL̵OLEMEĆEN. Click play to view the short video, or read the transcript below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw_Fl9d6SOU Interviewer: Can you tell us a bit about who you are and where you’re from? Patrick My name is Patrick Elliot, and I'm from Tsartlip First Nation, and my mom's side is from Lheidli T’enneh First nation. Yeah, I've been here my whole life. Maxwell Hi, my name is Maxwell Pelkey. My traditional name is Lemlomelek. I come from Tsawout First Nation. I also carry [...]

Federal Government Announces New Rules To Protect SKRW In an effort to protect the endangered killer whale population in and around the Salish Sea, the Federal Government has released updates to fishing and boating regulations. These 2022 Southern Resident Killer Whale Management Measures are intended to support population recovery, which has been critical for years. New educational materials have been produced and are intended for distribution, educating boaters, and fishing enthusiasts on no-go zones and new mandatory distances from the SRKW. This is welcome news for W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council's QENTOL,YEN / Marine Guardians Program, which has been working hard to [...]

Progress being made at the QENTOL, YEN / W̱SÁNEĆ Marine Guardians Program Progress in monitoring the habitat of the KELL̵OLEMEĆEN / SRKW has recently been made as Maxwell, Patrick and Mathias undertook an expedition to areas where some of the whales are active and where the whale watchers' paths are. Assisted by two Parks Canada people, Winnie and Kirsten, who showed them these areas, they succeeded in capturing footage of how healthy certain ecosystems are. The team used BRUV technology (Baited Remote Underwater Video)to record the images. The crew traveled around Maine Island, Saturna, and Samuel Island. It is their [...]

The 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) is a global forum that brings together ocean conservation professionals and high-level officials to inform, inspire and act on marine protected areas. In advance of their 5th annual conference, IMPAC received more than 700 proposals from 66 countries around the globe. Over the past four months, an extensive review process was conducted to select the presenters at this prestigious conference. Five theme working groups made up of industry professionals, academics, and subject matter experts were assembled to review, deliberate, and score the proposals over a six-week period. The WLC's proposal, New Beginning: [...]

The QENTOL, YEN W̱SÁNEĆ Marine Guardians Program Updates: The QENTOL, YEN W̱SÁNEĆ Marine Guardians program is making remarkable progress in restoring W̱SÁNEĆ people’s sacred relationship and responsibilities to the KELL̵OLEMEĆEN /  endangered whales. In 2021,  The QENTOL, YEN W̱SÁNEĆ Marine Guardians began by hiring Senior Manager David Dick, who has since made great strides in establishing the project’s foundation for success. Among the progress made so far, David has established a community led plan for: monitoring the endangered whales, collaborating with like minded organizations, and re-establishing cultural connections between W̱SÁNEĆ people and the KELL̵OLEMEĆEN / Resident Whales. Establishing a [...]

February 20th marks World Whale Day, a day to raise awareness of these magnificent creatures, their beauty as well as their ecological value to the planet. Click Below to watch the Replay of the World Whale Day Webinar that occurred on February 16th, hosted by the Royal BC Museum. https://youtu.be/JT91d3X_4Ag Presenting was the WLC’s David Dick, SUMÉ,t of the WSÁNEĆ Marine Guardians/ QENTOL,YEN and Molly Fraser, the Marine Biologist for the WSÁNEĆ Marine Guardians. David and Molly shared how we can all be better friends to humpbacks and killer whales when operating small crafts on the water and shared information [...]

February 20th marks World Whale Day, a day to raise awareness of these magnificent creatures, their beauty as well as their ecological value to the planet. Join The Royal BC Museum on an online webinar for World Whale Day, hosted by Steven Davies and Kim Gough. Presenting will be the WLC's own David Dick, SUMÉ,t of the WSÁNEĆ Marine Guardians/ QENTOL,YEN and Molly Fraser the marine biologist for the WSÁNEĆ Marine Guardians. David and Molly will share how we can all be better friends to humpbacks and killer whales when operating small crafts on the water and find out more about [...]

Since David Dick joined the team as the Senior Manager of the South Resident Killer Whale Monitoring program in June, he's been busy working hard to bring the W̱SÁNEĆ Marine Guardian Program to life. Shown above The QENTOL, YEN W̱SÁNEĆ Marine Guardians new logo, by James Jimmy There have been two major accomplishments towards launching the program, the first is the announcement of the SENĆOŦEN name of the program. The second, the successful completion of the logo design contest, resulting in a visual identity created by a W̱SÁNEĆ Community member. After several discussions with the W̱SÁNEĆ  Language Committee members; [...]