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Pollutants Affecting Whales and their Prey Inventory Tool

PAWPIT

Pollutants Affecting Whales and their Prey Inventory Tool

Reducing the threat of contaminants to Endangered Whales
Map

Explore and Discover

One of the key threats to the recovery of endangered and threatened whale populations is contaminants, which affect whales directly or through their prey. As the lead for the Government’s action plan to identify and evaluate sources of these contaminants, Environment and Climate Change Canada has developed the Pollutants Affecting Whales and their Prey Inventory Tool (PAWPIT). The current map uses data on pollutants in Northern & Southern Resident Killer Whale habitat and distribution areas of their primary prey, Chinook salmon.

Documentation

Research and Methods

PAWPIT includes a map of estimated annual releases and their sources, as well as ambient loads of pollutants, making it possible to:

  • Visualize how pollutants affecting whales change over time, as more data becomes available Identify contaminant sources
  • Filter by pollutant-type
  • Filter by source-type (e.g. wastewater treatment, pulp and paper effluent, seafood and fish processing, solid waste leachate, etc.)
  • Filter by location or region
  • Filter certain sources by proximity to surface water
  • Identify hotspots by pollutant-type (e.g. see where pollutant releases are highest)
  • Identify which contaminants have the highest annual loads
  • Assess contributions from area sources such as urban surfaces and agricultural areas
  • Compare concentrations in ambient freshwater to environmental quality guidelines
  • Evaluate how pollutants affecting whales change over space (and time, as data become available)
As data becomes available, this tool would allow the modeling of impacts of additional mitigation measures and controls. For more information on how to use PAWPIT, consult “Using PAWPIT” and “Interpreting PAWPIT Data” on the Documentation page, or download the PAWPIT Report and the User Guide.