Navy warns of demolition training south of Victoria

A baleen whale breaches the water surface inside the two-kilometre radius of the Bentinck Island demolition range while a navy sentry boat tracks the whale’s position. (Royal Canadian Navy)

The Canadian military is warning South Island residents of upcoming demolition training south of Victoria next week.

The demolition training will take place on Bentick Island, located southwest of Victoria near Rocky Point, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. from March 22 to March 24.

"The site is used as an above-water terrestrial demolition range by the Canadian Armed Forces," said the Department of National Defence (DND) in a release Wednesday.

"Training events are critical to ensure military members gain core skills and maintain operational readiness."

The DND says nearby residents likely won't hear the training, unless "atmospheric conditions" allow sound to travel far distances during the training days.

The military says the training exercises have strict guidelines in place to limit acoustic impacts on marine animals.

A third-party marine mammal observer will be present during next week's training and will greenlight the exercises once they're certain whales are clear of the area.

"Events are delayed if whales are observed in or transiting towards the range, and activities do not re-commence until the Marine Mammal Observer provides the all-clear," said the DND.

The military is reminding residents that it's illegal to enter training zones.

Earlier this year, the military was cleared to resume weapons training along a section of southern Vancouver Island after a three-year study found that existing guidelines were sufficient to mitigate the harmful effects of sea-surface and aerial gunnery on marine wildlife.

The 30-kilometre stretch of coastline in the Strait of Juan de Fuca is used by both the Canadian and U.S. militaries, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard, for training.

"As the [area] is located within southern resident killer whale critical habitat and within key foraging areas used by this population during the summer months, potential effects to this population are of particular importance," wrote engineering firm Golder Associates, which was contracted to perform the study, in its final report to the federal government.

"Modelling results for all scenarios indicate that small arms noise will not exceed the underwater disturbance threshold for any marine mammal species."

With files from CTV News Vancouver Island's Todd Coyne. 

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