More boats from Washington state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife will patrol the U.S. side of the Juan de Fuca Strait to look for boaters who disturb southern resident killer whales. The increased patrols are an effort to protect the endangered whales, whose numbers have dipped to their lowest in more than a decade. On the B.C. side, however, there will be fewer eyes on the water. Straitwatch, the group tasked with watching and educating boaters, was told last month it would not receive Environment Canada funding this year, meaning its Salish Sea and Alert Bay boats will remain beached. Judith Lavoie reports.
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/whale-patrol-cut-in-b-c-boosted-in-u-s-1.545640