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Oceana Canada

@oceanacanada.bsky.social
225 followers 51 following 435 posts

Save the oceans, feed the world. 🐠 Oceana Canada is an independent charity established to restore Canadian oceans to health & abundance.

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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 10h
New Species: Researchers at University of British Columbia (UBC) have documented two new sea spider species in the Salish Sea, the first described there in almost a century. Meet Callipallene pilosuspedes and Tanystylum kiixin! 🕷️ Learn more: oceanographicmagazine.com/news/meet-th...
oceanographicmagazine.com
Meet the hairy-legged, red-eyed sea spiders new to science - Oceanographic
Two new sea spider species have been discovered in the Salish Sea by UBC researchers - the first described there in almost 100 years.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
#FASTFACTS: The ocean covers about 70% of our planet, and it's working overtime for the climate. It is our planet’s largest active carbon sink. It absorbs roughly 90% of the excess heat from greenhouse gases. Learn more: oceana.ca/en/blog/the-...
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Coral exists in Canada's waters — and it's evolved an adaptation to survive here. Unlike tropical coral, it lacks symbiotic algae living inside its cells, meaning it doesn't rely on sunlight to produce energy. This lets it thrive in dark, deepwater environments.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Fun fact: a sea otter pup's fur is so dense with air that it can't dive underwater 🦦 So it spends its early life balanced on its mother's chest — and when she goes off to forage, she wraps her pup in kelp to keep it safe and floating nearby.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Juvenile prowfish have a dual relationship with jellyfish: they shelter underneath the medusae for protection, and jellyfish also make up their diet. The camouflage is so effective that young prowfish are often mistaken for a different species, the medusafish.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Sea otters rest in groups called "rafts," and researchers have spotted rafts of more than 1,000 otters floating together at once. To keep from drifting apart, they hold onto one another and wrap in seaweed. Have you ever seen a sea otter raft? 🦦
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
It's officially fall 🍂 While most animals rely on layers to stay warm, sea otters depend entirely on their fur — the densest of any animal, with an estimated 100,000 hairs per cm2. Learn more about sea otters: oceana.ca/en/marine-life/sea-otter
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Reposted by Oceana Canada
Sailors for the Sea Powered by Oceana @sailorsforthesea.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
#SeaOtterAwarenessWeek is here! 🦦 Sailors and boaters know better than most that a healthy ocean means a healthy coast, and #SeaOtters play an important role in keeping coastal ecosystems in balance. This week is for sea otters and the waters they call home. 💙 #ProtectWhatYouLove
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
New research reveals first-of-its-kind footage of a female humpback whale appearing to grieve her stillborn calf. Learn more: www.theguardian.com/environment/202…
theguardian.com
Do whales grieve? Rare footage of humpback alongside stillborn calf suggests they might | Olaf Meynecke for the Conversation
The behaviours we observed could represent grief, but they could also reflect maternal attachment, confusion or instinctive caregiving
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
New research published in the journal PLOS One has revealed that critically endangered North Atlantic right whales feed near the surface at night when ships have the hardest time spotting them, exposing a gap in current ship-strike protections. Learn more: www.earth.com/animals/crit...
earth.com
Critically endangered right whales face a nighttime protection gap
North Atlantic right whales change their feeding depth after sunset, bringing them closer to ships when crews are least able to see them.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Humpback whales have the longest pectoral fins (relative to body size) of any whale. 🐋 Their scientific name, Megaptera novaeangliae, even means "large-winged From New England"! Learn more: oceana.ca/en/marine-life/humpback-w…
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Bycatch, plastic pollution, habitat loss, vessel strikes — these are threats faced by loggerhead sea turtles, a species currently listed as Endangered in Canada. Learn more: oceana.ca/en/marine-life/loggerhead…
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Ever heard of a "puffing pig"? 🐷💨 That’s the nickname for the harbour porpoise, Canada's smallest cetacean. It’s inspired by the loud exhale you can hear when it surfaces for air.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Meet one of Canada's deep-diving seabirds! The Thick-billed Murre dives to depths of 100 metres in pursuit of prey such as fish, squid, crustaceans, polychaetes, and molluscs. Learn more: oceana.ca/en/marine-life/thick-b Oceana.ca/seabirds
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Did you know? The Bluntnose Sixgill Shark has six gill slits (most sharks have five) and just one dorsal fin, unlike the two-finned sharks typically seen on Canada's Pacific coast. Also known as the mud shark, cow shark, or requin griset in French.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
DID YOU KNOW: 87% of Canadian plastic waste ends up in landfills or the environment, and Canada recycles only 9%. Reuse, not recycling, is how we actually fix plastic pollution. Learn more: oceana.ca/en/2026/07/30/why-reuse-n…
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
It's back to school season! Test your knowledge with our ocean trivia below and drop your answers in the comments! Learn more and explore our educational resources: oceana.ca/en/resources-for-parents-…
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Humans get just two sets of teeth in a lifetime: baby teeth, then permanent teeth. Sharks? They constantly regenerate their teeth throughout their life. Depending on the species, a shark can lose and replace 20,000 to 35,000 teeth over its lifetime.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
DID YOU KNOW: September marks the beginning of one of the periods when sockeye salmon spawn. Males turn bright red with an emerald-green head and a hump on their back. Females look similar but slightly less bright, with no hump. Learn more: oceana.ca/en/marine-life/sockeye-sa…
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Did you know not all crabs get around the same way? The Atlantic blue crab, also known as the Chesapeake blue crab, is a strong swimmer thanks to its fifth pair of legs, shaped like paddles instead of walking legs. They're widely distributed along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The Cuvier's beaked whale holds the record for the deepest plunge by a marine mammal. The deepest & longest recorded dive of a Cuvier's beaked whale is 2,992 metres and 222 minutes — descending roughly the height of five and a half CN Towers stacked on top of each other.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
DID YOU KNOW: The mantis shrimp's punch accelerates as fast as a .22 caliber bullet leaving the barrel! It's so violent it boils the water on contact, creating a shockwave from the collapsing bubble that can kill prey even if the shrimp's initial strike misses.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Canada's cold marine waters host over 250 species of nudibranchs (sea slugs) 🐌 — and one of our favourite facts: some species literally steal their prey's weapons. They eat stinging cells (nematocysts) from jellyfish-like prey, then repurpose them on their own backs as defense.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
In the Northwest Atlantic, the Acadian redfish is one of the longest-lived fish species — with an average lifespan of 45 to 65 years. They're also incredibly slow-growing, not reaching sexual maturity until age 8-12. Learn more: oceana.ca/en/marine-life/redfish-ac…
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Watch this hagfish tie itself into a knot! It's not just a party trick — hagfishes do this to scrape off their own slime when they get tangled in it, and to brace themselves while tearing off pieces of food.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Ever wonder just how big "biggest animal on Earth" really is? A blue whale's tongue can weigh as much as an elephant. Its heart, as much as an automobile. And yet these giants survive on some of the smallest creatures in the ocean: krill.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Forage fish are less than 2% of Canada's landed fish value but they feed or provide bait for the salmon, lobster, and crab fisheries worth $3 billion. Pacific herring just got legal protection. It's time Atlantic herring got the same. Learn more: www.timescolonist.com/opinion/comm...
timescolonist.com
Comment: Canada has protected Pacific herring, but lets Atlantic herring be overfished
The federal government has taken important steps this year to protect Pacific herring populations; now, the same standard should be carried across the country to protect this important fish.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
What happens if right whale protections are delayed for nearly a decade? A newly released internal memo shows Canada's Fisheries Department already knows the answer — and it's not good. Learn more: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
cbc.ca
Internal DFO memo warns Trump-backed bill threatens right whale survival | CBC News
Staff at the federal Fisheries Department are worried the United States government is about to adopt legislation jeopardizing the survival of the North Atlantic right whale, according to an internal g...
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
The pacific electric ray can generate up to 45 volts of electricity to subdue prey or defend itself — that's roughly the output of three to four car batteries, all packed into one fish.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
NEW RESEARCH: Scientists have solved the mystery of how sperm whales sleep upright: they blow bubbles to adjust their buoyancy, allowing them to remain floating vertically. Learn more: oceanographicmagazine.com/news/sper…
oceanographicmagazine.com
Sperm whales blow bubbles to sleep floating vertically
Until now, scientists haven’t understood how it was possible due to sperm whale's exceptionally buoyant heads
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
DID YOU KNOW: Canada was once the largest importer of shark fins outside Asia. In 2019, it became the first G20 country to ban the import and export of shark fins through an amendment to the Fisheries Act.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
#WATCH Scientists document a porbeagle shark in the Laurentian Channel, Gulf of St. Lawrence. The porbeagle shark is often mistaken for a great white — and for good reason, since it's actually one of the great white's closest living relatives.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
#GOODNEWS: Two humpback whales are swimming free after Fisheries and Oceans Canada responders successfully completed two separate disentanglement operations in a single day off Vancouver Island. Learn more: www.cp24.com/news/canada/...
cp24.com
Two humpback whales rescued in one day off Vancouver Island
Two humpback whales are swimming free after Fisheries and Oceans Canada responders completed two separate disentanglement operations in a single day off Vancouver Island.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Basking sharks and great white sharks are both known to swim near the ocean's surface with their dorsal fin visible, but there are a few key differences. Basking sharks have a broader, more rounded dorsal fin, while great whites have a more pointed fin that may appear jagged.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Greenland sharks, the longest-living vertebrates on Earth, were long thought to be visually impaired because parasites latch onto their eyes. However, a study published in @natcomms.nature.com this year revealed they are not blind after all, thanks to a DNA repair mechanism.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Happy Shark Week! Did you know that 28 different species of shark spend some or all of their time off Canada's coastlines? Learn more: oceana.ca/en/sharks-rays
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
WATCH: Flatfish like flounders and halibut swim vertically. Their unusual way of swimming isn't a flaw—it's a brilliant adaptation that helps them blend into the seafloor, making it easier to hide from predators and ambush unsuspecting prey. Learn more: oceana.ca/en/marine-li...
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
This year marked 40 years since the global moratorium on commercial whaling. Humpback whales have rebounded to over 80,000 but right whales remain endangered, threatened by entanglement and ship strikes. Join us to protect them from extinction: act.oceana.org/page/157585/action/1
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Green sea turtle breeding season occurs in late spring and early summer. A few weeks after mating, females will lay about 100 eggs per clutch and nest several times over a few weeks. Learn more: oceana.ca/en/marine-life/green-sea-…
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Capelin, sardines, sand lance, and mackerel feed the seabirds that keep our coasts thriving. When forage fish populations decline, the effects ripple through the entire ecosystem. Protect forage fish. Protect ocean life.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
The Southern Resident orcas are the most at-risk population in Canada. In 1995, there were 98 individuals. As of July 2026, only 74 remain. Learn more: oceana.ca/en/marine-life/orca
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
WATCH: Scientists capture a longnose skate on camera in British Columbia. Often found partially buried in sand or silt, this bottom dweller is easily identified by its long, pointed snout. Learn more about the sharks and skates found in Canadian waters. oceana.ca/en/sharks-rays
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Oceana Canada is calling the federal government's decision to increase Atlantic mackerel and herring quotas an irresponsible move that will jeopardize stock recovery. Learn more: www.saltwire.com/newfoundland-labra…
saltwire.com
NL harvesters, conservationists take exception to increased mackerel and herring quotas
The province’s fisheries union wants to see a commercial fishery, while Oceana Canada calls the allocations irresponsible
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Single-use cups are used for minutes but can pollute our environment for generations. Tell the Canadian government you want a world with less harmful plastics and more refill and reuse solutions. act.oceana.org/page/190870/action/1…
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Minister Thompson just tripled the mackerel bait quota — a decision that could set the recovery of this depleted stock back years . That's not a plan to rebuild. That's leaving recovery to chance. Tell the Minister to rebuild mackerel 👉 act.oceana.org/page/191335/action/1
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Green sea turtles are what they eat! They're primarily herbivores, feasting on seagrasses and algae. Their diet gives their cartilage a greenish tint — not their shells — which is where their name comes from. Learn more: oceana.ca/en/marine-life/green-sea-…
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
#GOODNEWS: Two weeks ago, Banc-des-Américains Marine Protected Area received a Blue Park Award at the 11th Our Ocean Conference, recognizing it for meeting a globally accepted, science-based standard for effective ocean conservation. Learn more: marine-conservation.org/blueparks/20...
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Atlantic puffins are remarkable birds — and their nesting sites are natural climate shelters. They nest in cool underground burrows or rocky crevices, where the soil helps protect eggs and chicks from temperature swings.
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
As heatwaves make headlines across Canada, another is unfolding in the Pacific Ocean. It's called "The Blob." Find out what this marine heatwave means for ocean wildlife, fisheries, and coastal communities in @oceana.bsky.social's new blog. usa.oceana.org/blog/how-mar...
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Oceana Canada @oceanacanada.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Ocean Action Month may be coming to an end, but protecting our oceans is a year-round commitment. We've rounded up five simple ways you can help protect the ocean all year long. Learn more: oceana.ca/en/2026/06/29/5-ways-cana…
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