Larry Pynn

Vancouver

Environmental Journalist at Freelance

Veteran environmental journalist, recipient of 30+ awards, including eight Jack Webster Awards. Author of two non-fiction books. Explorers Club. Hakai Magazine.

Articles

The Destructive Legacy of Failed Aquaculture | Hakai Magazine

Dec 5, 2024 | hakaimagazine.com | Larry Pynn

Aquaculture is big business in Canada. In 2023, open-net-pen salmon farming in British Columbia alone produced 50,000 tonnes of fish worth just over US $350-million. But on June 30, 2029, the federal government’s long-looming ban on open-net-pen salmon farming is set to take effect. On that day, 63 operations will be forced to shut down.
It Costs a Lot to Save a Whale

Sep 3, 2024 | thetyee.ca | Larry Pynn

[Editor’s note: This article was originally published by Hakai Magazine. Read the original story on their website.] For more than a month, a global audience waited anxiously as rescuers fought against time to save a young killer whale trapped in a tidal lagoon off northwestern Vancouver Island. For the two-year-old female named kʷiisaḥiʔis (Brave Little Hunter), the stakes were high.
In Graphic Detail: Whaling in Japan | Hakai Magazine

Aug 27, 2024 | hakaimagazine.com | Larry Pynn

Off the coast of northern Japan, the Kangei Maru, a state-of-the-art whaling ship, hauled aboard a behemoth catch: a 56-tonne fin whale. The male whale, caught in early August 2024, was the first of its species to be hunted by Japanese whalers in 13 years. The kill came less than two months after Japan confirmed it would resume the commercial hunt of fin whales—the latest offense in a decades-old, already controversial industry.
Life, Death, and Dollars Spent | Hakai Magazine

Aug 21, 2024 | hakaimagazine.com | Larry Pynn

For more than a month, a global audience waited anxiously as rescuers fought against time to save a young killer whale trapped in a tidal lagoon off northwestern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. For the two-year-old female named kʷiisaḥiʔis (Brave Little Hunter), the stakes were high. After all, kʷiisaḥiʔis had watched her pregnant mother become beached and die in the same lagoon on March 23, 2024—a blow to the region’s threatened population of about 380 mammal-eating transient killer whales.
Under the waters of B.C., there's a symphony playing

Jul 17, 2024 | calgaryherald.com | Amorina Kingdon |Larry Pynn

Skip to ContentAdvertisement 1New book explores how sound rules life underwater. • • You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account. Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Article contentWe apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, ortap here to see other videos from our team.
Under the waters of B.C., there's a symphony playing

Jul 17, 2024 | vancouversun.com | Larry Pynn

Skip to ContentAdvertisement 1New book explores how sound rules life underwater. • • You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account. Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Article contentWe apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, ortap here to see other videos from our team.
The Estuary Smothered by a Thousand Industrial Logs

Jul 4, 2024 | thetyee.ca | Larry Pynn

[Editor’s note: This article is from Hakai Magazine. Read the original story on their website.] It is almost low tide on a sunny late-July morning in Cowichan Bay, at the mouth of the Cowichan River, on southeastern Vancouver Island. I walk alone across the exposed tidal flats of the estuary, wading through brackish streams, skidding on mud and sidestepping barnacle-crusted rocks.
The Estuary Smothered by a Thousand Logs

Jun 26, 2024 | treefrogcreative.ca | Larry Pynn |Linda Coady |David Elstone |Tony Kryzanowski

The Estuary Smothered by a Thousand Logs By Larry Pynn Hakai Magazine – Coastal Science and Societies June 25, 2024 Category: Forestry Region: Canada, Canada West For decades, scientists have known that allowing the timber industry to store logs in estuaries kills marine life. So why does British Columbia still permit it?
The Estuary Smothered by a Thousand Logs | Hakai Magazine

Jun 24, 2024 | hakaimagazine.com | Larry Pynn

It is almost low tide on a sunny late-July morning in Cowichan Bay, at the mouth of the Cowichan River, on southeastern Vancouver Island. I walk alone across the exposed tidal flats of the estuary, wading through brackish streams, skidding on mud, and sidestepping barnacle-crusted rocks. Sounds of clanging and grinding drift from the Western Forest Products lumber mill on shore, mixed with the cries of gulls and bald eagles. But there’s another sound, too—plaintive, not unlike a human baby’s cry.
Climate Change and Housing Adaptation: Owl Edition

Jun 5, 2024 | fvcurrent.com | Larry Pynn

In British Columbia, barn owls fledge in mid-summer, much later in the year than owls farther south. The regional adaptation meant many juvenile birds were still too young to fly when a deadly heat dome cooked the province in June 2021. đź“· Mark Caunt/ShutterstockThis story was first published in Hakai Magazine. You can find the original here. For several scorching days in June 2021, an oppressive heat dome sat over western North America.