Port Hilford, Nova Scotia, and the next steps in creating the sanctuary
The selection of Port Hilford as the location for our whale sanctuary launches the next phase of activity for the Whale Sanctuary Project – site development – with every aspect of our work directed towards construction and future operations. These are the days we have all anticipated and they are very exciting.
We can now stand on the banks of the bay and visualize all the opportunities we have to create an authentic sanctuary. Port Hilford is a wonderful site. It offers expansive space and good depth for the whales to swim, dive and experience a natural sea-side environment. They can explore the sea-floor, chase birds on the surface and spend their time in nature. For all of us, it is no longer hypothetical. It’s real. And we have no time to lose to bring the sanctuary plan to fruition.
They can explore the sea floor, chase birds on the surface and spend their time in nature.The work ahead requires our team to be working on many fronts simultaneously. We are truly privileged in these difficult times of travel restrictions and required social distancing that much of our work can be done with video conferencing and the communication tools that enable our staff in the U.S. to be in constant contact with our Canadian colleagues, initiating the activities that are necessary in this phase of sanctuary development.
Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture has been designated as the lead provincial agency for our permit, lease and license to operate the whale sanctuary. With their leadership, we will be working with many other provincial and federal agencies including the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Transport Canada, the Department of the Environment and many others.
We have initiated on-site environmental data collection to document the water chemistry, measuring and analyzing everything from salinity to temperature gradients, water flow transfer rates and fresh water egress into the bay. All of this data feeds into the scoping program for our permit.
None of this work can be done in a vacuum. During the two years of the site selection phase of our work, we held numerous community meetings, initiated talks with the Mi’kmaq Nation, and sought input from interested people and organizations throughout Nova Scotia.
Now, as we move into this site development phase in Port Hilford, we will be doing more formal consultation with all of these individuals, groups and organizations.
Simultaneously, we are initiating the engineering analysis of the site and planning for on-site and off-site infrastructure and facilities, all of which leads to the design of the sanctuary, which we will do hand-in-hand with the community. These include the animal care center with full-time veterinary services, freezers for the fish the whales will eat, offices for researchers and staff and security personnel, as well as the kinds of behind the scenes planning that is so necessary for water service, electricity and road access.
As we consider all the elements that provide high quality life for the whales, we are also planning for the interpretive center where children and adults can learn about the whales in the sanctuary as well as about cetaceans more broadly. What kind of facility should this be? What makes it unique? Should it be adjacent to the sanctuary or will it better serve the community at an off-site location? These are the kinds of questions we are studying with our planning teams.
Picture yourself standing on the banks of Port Hilford. Until now the whale sanctuary has been a vision, imagined in our mind’s eye. Now, with every passing day, it is becoming real.
Your support has sustained the vision and we hope you will now invest in bringing the vison to reality.