Background Articles

A closeup view of a bottlenose dolphin shows signs of skin lesions associated with a deadly skin disease known as ulcerative dermatitis. The increasing frequency and severity of storm systems drastically decrease the salinity of coastal waters, causing fatal skin disease in dolphins worldwide.

Researchers have identified an invasive blood-sucking parasite on mud shrimp in the waters of British Columbia's Calvert Island. The discovery represents the northern-most record of the parasite on the West Coast and is likely an indication of its ability to spread without human transport.

Wild salmon have higher rates of the parasites when ocean fish farms are near, research shows

Feather, fur or fin, all creatures contend with viruses.

Even those athletes of our rivers, Atlantic salmon, usually aren’t as healthy as they look.

A study of tissue samples taken from 150 Atlantic salmon found 14 separate infectious

Just at a time when crab stocks in the central Gulf of Alaska are taking off, likely in part due to crashing cod populations, a new study funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that ocean acidification is damaging the shells of young Dungeness crab in the Pacific Northwest, an impact that scientists did not expect until much later this century.

BRUNY ISLAND, TASMANIA (WASHINGTON POST) - Even before the ocean caught fever and reached temperatures no one had ever seen, Australia's ancient giant kelp was cooked.. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Scientists have made a new discovery they hope will provide more insight into declining salmon populations in our province.

We isolated Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) from brain samples of 2 seals with lethal encephalitis at Weihai Aquarium, Weihai, China, in 2017. We confirmed our findings by immunohistochemical staining and electron microscopy. Phylogenetic analysis showed this virus was genotype I. Our findings suggest that JEV might disseminate though infected zoo animals.

Nick Major, a martial arts instructor, died Saturday after he had a random brush with a bat on Vancouver Island in May.

A rare whale skull discovered by an Inuit hunter in Greenland has been confirmed by a Canadian scientist to be the hybrid calf of a beluga father and a narwhal mother — otherwise known as a narluga.

The ‘persistent and widespread decline’ of the province’s official tree is due to drier, California-like summer droughts of two to three months.

Fish and Game says tularemia is showing up early this year in snowshoe hares around the Interior and areas south of the Alaska Range. Tularemia is a bacteria that can pass to pets and people, causing serious illness.

A female adult Southern resident killer whale and her three-and-a-half-year-old calf are rapidly declining in health in what appears to be a troubling situation for the creatures.

Some Western red cedars are struggling after repeated bouts of drought conditions and experts say expect the tree to vanish for good in spots with shallow, dry, rocky soil.

The Ranavirus virus has been found in a turtle in Hamilton's Cootes Paradise wetland. It generally leads to organ failure and death within four weeks.

Warming ocean waters are an invitation to all sorts of pathogens with the potential to remake ocean life.

Rabies reported in three towns in eastern Essex County

After years of hearing concerns from fishermen about the prevalence of “chalky” halibut, the International Pacific Halibut Commission is planning an investigation.

Norman Yakeleya is calling for an emergency meeting with the federal and territorial governments to discuss the threat of chronic wasting disease (CWD) with the potential to decimate northern caribou herds.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada confirms the findings of independent research that says sea lice on salmon farms are becoming resistant to SLICE, a pesticide used to kill sea lice.