Commercial Shipping Impacts and Risks in the Salish Sea

Commercial shipping in the transboundary Salish Sea are sources of underwater noise and disturbance and pollution discharges that impact the endangered Southern Resident killer whales and other marine species and humans. Commercial shipping risks include ships strikes, accidents, and oil spills. 

This presentation will summarize the 2024 Salish Sea Vessel Traffic Projections, which documents 23 new or expanding terminal and refinery projects that have been proposed or permitted or were recently completed. Ten of the 23 projects would potentially add at least 2,005 annual ocean-going vessel transits to and from Salish Sea ports; an 18% increase in large, ocean-going commercial vessel traffic, as compared with 2023 transits. The focus of the presentation will be shipping impacts and risks, potential solutions, and the two projects in Canada that account for over 60% of the projected increase in vessel traffic: the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project and Roberts Bank Terminal 2.

About the Speaker

Lovell Pratt with a joyous smile, long silver hair, and scarf. Conifer tree extends across the background.
Lovel Pratt
Marine Protection and Policy Director - Friends of the San Juans

Lovel Pratt is the Marine Protection and Policy Director at Friends of the San Juans whose mission is to bring people and nature together to protect the San Juans Islands and the Salish Sea through education, science, policy and law. A San Juan Islander for 34 years, Lovel has been a leader in protecting the Salish Sea with Friends of the San Juans for 12 years. Lovel is the environmental representative on the Puget Sound Harbor Safety Committee and Marine Mammal Subcommittee and a member of the Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve Implementation Committee and the San Juan County Marine Resources Committee. Lovel served on the San Juan County Council for one term, represented Washington State counties on several regional and state-wide oil spill prevention committees, and served on the VTRA (Vessel Traffic Risk Assessment) 2010 and VTRA 2015 Working Groups. 

Environmental Speaker Series

The Environmental Speaker Series is hosted by the College of the Environment at Western Washington University.

The Series is free and open to the public. Talks are held each Thursday at 4:30 pm in Academic Instructional Center West room 204 - AW-204. Talks will also be streamed via Zoom. Register with The Foundation for WWU & Alumni for the zoom link. Parking is available in lot C.

Learn more about the Environmental Speaker Series

Email Alumni@wwu.edu to be added to a mailing list to hear about upcoming events.