Climate change is driving a gray whale “catastrophic mortality event” in the Pacific Ocean as melting sea ice depletes food sources and the animals starve, environmental groups warn. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Pacific gray whales facing ‘catastrophic’ die-off as climate crisis hits food supply

Trump administration urged to relist a species in ‘very, very serious trouble’ under Endangered Species Act

theguardian.com

#PhycologyFriday

Blue Futures Kelp@bluefutureskelp.bsky.social · last mo.

Checking in on this bio-banked Giant Kelp gametophyte cell culture, everyone's looking happy and healthy under the microscope 😌

Had a blast today at Victoria's Prawnfest, talking kelp & urchins for @bluefutureskelp.bsky.social along with Pacific Urchin Harversters Association! Brought along some kelp gametophytes to show what culturing for restoration looks like #yyj #vanisle #kelp #urchin #prawnfest

Right beforehand was the Pacific Seaweed Summit hosted by Wei Wai Kum FN, Pacific Seaweed Ind. Assoc., N. Island College, & Heiltuk Climate Action. It was an inspiring & connective gathering, reconnecting with many phyco-friends & appreciating this coast’s diverse community of mariculturists+more!

What a week! Blue Futures Kelp was at the Huu-ay-aht First Nations Three Star Dark Sky Festival, joining a panel on mariculture & ocean science. Thank you to HFN & Foundry Events for hosting, highly recommend this festival for anyone else with a love of stars & sea! 🌊🪐

Real petrostate shit

Canada's National Observer@nationalobserver.com · 3mo ago

NEW: The Canadian government has unveiled two new oil and gas subsidies as part of its Spring Economic Update, including a carbon capture tax credit that aims to boost production from the Alberta oil patch.

This is really troubling and a bad sign for this government’s approach to managing wild salmon @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2026/04...

Salmon Scientists Warn the DFO Is Killing a Crucial Lab | The Tyee

The genomics program opened up the ‘black box’ of wild fish research. Former and current staff say it’s been gutted.

thetyee.ca

“When contacted by The Tyee, B.C’s Public Safety Ministry declined to say which climate groups or treaty negotiations it monitors and whether they are linked to protests or illegal activity. It also refused to explain how the secretariat’s work monitoring protests overlaps with treaty negotiations.”

Amanda Follett Hosgood@amandafollett.bsky.social · 3mo ago

A bi-weekly meeting of several BC ministries, industry regulators and the RCMP's CRU-BC protest policing unit has been keeping tabs on "ongoing climate action initiatives and treaty negotiations," according to a January update. My latest for @thetyee.ca. thetyee.ca/News/2026/04...

social housing units built by year in Canada, 1972-2010 - by number of units - as % of all housing built

Ximena González@ximenaka.bsky.social · 4mo ago

A friendly reminder that having house prices drop in one segment of one market doesn’t equate to affordability improving across the board. Few are building homes that target the needs of half of the population, or those whose income sits below the median.

I’m excited to be a panelist at this year’s Three Stars Dark Sky Festival, happening May 8-10 in my old home on Huu-ay-aht territory! 🌌 📍Pathways: Between Land & Sky | House of Huu-ay-aht | 📆 Sunday, May 10 👉🎟️ Plan your visit: hgb.tickit.ca/events/34302... #vanisle #explorebc #kelp #darksky

Thread detailing Mark Carney’s war on libraries, knowledge, and culture throughout so many parts of society. His deep cuts to the public service are not in line with the vision he presents of a bold and more independent Canada.

Mary Grace@emgeekay.bsky.social · 4mo ago

🧵 The Canadian federal government’s 2025 budget has allocated: More business tax breaks including for fossil fuels sector $925 million for AI $81.8 billion over 5 years for military However, this comes at the expense of cultural heritage.

First Nations leaders are condemning Premier David Eby’s plan to suspend parts of #DRIPA as a step backward that will increase uncertainty for all British Columbians and create political problems for the NDP. Andrew MacLeod reports. #bcpoli

DRIPA’s Deadlock. ‘We Will Not Back Down’ | The Tyee

First Nations vow to fight the BC NDP in a showdown that could topple the government.

thetyee.ca

This is a massive warning sign. Plus continued delusions this government has over the economics of further oil and gas expansion in Canada. Plus the erosion of the public sector etc. that protects democracy, & prioritization of corporate interests closely aligned with the U.S. government. #CDNpoli

Paris Marx@parismarx.com · 4mo ago

Mark Carney wants the fantasy of AI to be reality, despite the evidence it’s not coming, but ignores how AI creates an antisocial world where more people suffer mental health challenges, do not think critically, are addicted to screens, have their work degraded, and can’t tell fact from fiction.

Here’s the story of one of them. Awful www.thestranger.com/forced-out/f...

Forced Out: The Electrical Engineer

Anti-Trans Laws in Florida Forced a Woman to Quit Her Dream Job with NASA

thestranger.com

Takaichi’s Castle@discographette.online · 4mo ago

congratulations to the astronauts who get credit for a moon mission using rocket development work by trans women who had to quit their job and flee the state of florida and can’t celebrate this win with their coworkers

8/This is a war brought to you by the fracking boom. Transitioning away from fossil fuels will not guarantee peace, but it may be our best chance to break free from cycles of conflict, coercion + instability fossil fuels perpetuate + build a more secure/resilient future oilchange.org/blogs/trumps...

Trump’s Appalling Address to the Nation Exposed Yet Another Dark Side to the U.S. Oil and Gas Boom: War - Oil Change International

Last Wednesday evening, the world watched as the sitting president of the United States delivered yet another rambling and cruel tirade. We witnessed another example of how low this administration…

oilchange.org

The days of Britain’s fish and chip shops might be numbered. Rising temperatures and overfishing have seen the U.K.’s iconic cod decline for over a decade. Now, consumers are warned to “completely avoid” eating the fish.

Some beautiful new seaweed growth in the shallows here in Lekwungen territory, south Vancouver Island ☀️ #PhycologyFriday #vanisle

These updates have in turn bumped up my annual projection for 2026 temperatures to 1.53C (±0.11C), which puts it on track to be somewhere between the 1st and 4th warmest year on record, with a best estimate of second warmest:

I've updated my El Niño forecast plume with the latest April data (ECMWF, NMME, CFSv2, Canadian models). Its now looking like it might end up giving 2015/2016 a run for its money in terms of strength, with a peak of ~2.6C in the ENSO3.4 region by end of year: dashboard.theclimate...

We’ve tried nothing, and we’re all out of ideas!

Scott Robertson@sarobertson.bsky.social · 4mo ago

PM Mark Carney says Canada isn’t considering sanctions on Israel over its continued bombing of Lebanon, but adds that “the ceasefire needs to include Lebanon, and it needs to include it now.”

I’ve recently been harvesting sea urchins with the crew of Seaworthy, a small fishing boat that sells our catch directly to customers on the dock! It’s been awesome to learn the ropes of a fishery that has huge potential to help kelp forests threatened by urchin overgrazing #urchin #kelp #vanisle

26. Though this article doesn't mention specific instances, it reports that tech giants have recently abandoned construction of a number of multi-billion dollar data centres in the face of community opposition. www.reuters.com/sustainabili... #MovementWins2026

Investors press Amazon, Microsoft and Google on water, power use in US data centers

Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet's Google ​have each recently abandoned construction of multibillion-dollar data centers over community opposition and now the companies are coming under shareholder pres...

reuters.com

Years before Alberta even became a province, First Nations signed Treaties guaranteeing their rights to the land in perpetuity. A century later, and First Nations are in court this week, using their Treaties to mount one of the strongest challenges to Alberta separatism, writes @readtheorchard.org

How First Nations’ Treaties can hold back the tide of Alberta separatism ⋆ The Breach

Danielle Smith pledged to hold a referendum on separating Alberta from Canada. First Nations in the province are going to court this week to argue that she has no legal right to do that

breachmedia.ca

For #PhycologyFriday, some (submerged) intertidal seaweeds here in Lekwungen territory (south Vancouver Island). Watching a sunlight dance on the Iridescent Seaweed (which has one of my fave Latin names, Mazzaella splendens) was a real treat!

Today in AI: Canada rejected the PR application of a McMaster postdoc from the Sorbonne who works in the immunology of aging because the generative AI being used to process applications (😱) entirely hallucinated her credentials. Everyone involved should be fired. archive.is/ELrCI#select...

There exists a structural tension at the heart of Colombia’s energy transition strategy.

Will the Iran War Derail Colombia’s World-First Energy Transition?

An economy dependent on fossil fuels planned to wind down, rather than expand, extraction.

foreignpolicy.com

Research suggests many #highseas #fisheries would be unprofitable without public support, raising questions about whether some “productive” #fishing activity exists largely because of #subsidies. news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-... @drrashidsumaila.bsky.social @seaaroundus.org @ubccoru.bsky.social

The hidden cost of fisheries subsidies

In public finance, some costs are politely kept off the books. The ocean has long been one of them. Governments often speak of “blue growth” and “sustainable use,” yet many policies still treat marine...

news.mongabay.com

City officials and policy wonks have mostly sought to respond to rising rents by building new housing, arguing that increased supply is the only way to bring down rental costs. But that idea, according to a major new housing study, is dead wrong. hellgatenyc.com/take-that-ez...

'No Amount of Housing We Build Is Going to Make Prices Drop'

A major new housing study is challenging the idea behind the "abundance agenda."

hellgatenyc.com

NEW: Canadian troops deployed in occupied Palestine as part of Operation Proteus attended a “seminar” showcasing Israel’s genocidal methods in Gaza. www.readthemaple.com/israeli-mili...

Israeli Military Showcased Its Gaza Tactics To Canadian Troops

“When people talk about Canada as part of the problem, not part of the solution, it’s precisely this kind of thing that we’re talking about.”

readthemaple.com

The government’s latest energy futures report drops modelling for a 1.5C scenario and assumes Canada remains a major oil and gas supplier for decades to come. More climate denial dressed up as serious analysis to invent a rationale for Carney’s fossil fuel expansionist plans.