Demanding Ocean Protections: Burrard Bridge Takeover

Earlier this week, Stand.earth projected a video message onto Vancouver’s Burrard Bridge that called on Canada’s federal government to enact stronger regulations that protect marine life and coastal communities from ocean pollution, and also shared the video outside the Vancouver Convention Centre on the opening day of IMPAC5.

The kelp forest of the Salish and Great Bear Seas are home to the last 73 southern resident killer whales. They are in danger. Even in the United States, ocean protection laws prohibit blatant and destructive dumping practices. In fact, ships from the U.S. cross the maritime border simply to dump waste into Canadian waters.

Canada’s weak shipping laws give cruise ships the greenlight to use the ocean as their personal toilet – dumping waste and raw sewage along the B.C. coastline – putting this fragile ecosystem at further risk. April kicks off the cruise ship season in Vancouver. Billions of liters of sewage will endanger the kelp forests and the critically endangered species that depend on them. There simply are not enough protections in place.