FRASER ESTUARY SCIENCE LETTER

Southern Resident killer whales are a distinct transboundary population of Resident killer whales that are listed as endangered under Schedule 1 of Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA) and the US Endangered Species Act (ESA). As of Fall 2021, there are only 73 individuals remaining in this population, a drop of 25% in only 2.5 decades. Legally protected critical habitat for Southern Resident killer whales is located within the transboundary marine waters of the Salish Sea from the Juan de Fuca to Southern Georgia Strait... There is a clear biological rationale for rejecting the RBT2 project if the recovery of at-risk species is a priority for the Government of Canada.