Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
A B.C. archeologist says garbology, otherwise known as the study of trash, can offer unique insights into how we live, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“(Our trash) tells us that we're very wasteful. Often, we don't pay enough attention to what we really consume and throw away,” Bob Muckle, an archeologist and instructor of anthropology at Capilano University in B.C., told CTV’s Your Morning on Thursday.
Muckle and his colleagues have been studying COVID-19-related waste in the Vancouver area. Through their Twitter account @Covidarchaeology, they’ve been documenting everything from discarded masks to pandemic-inspired art in the city.
Muckle has also been involved in conducting annual waste audits at Capilano University, looking into the kind of trash that people throw away on campus, as well as the placement and signage regarding garbage receptacles.
“We look at a number of different things, but the most interesting to me is just what it tells us about human behaviour,” Muckle said.
When COVID-19 first hit, Muckle says it led to a surge in people ordering food for takeout and delivery, which in turn resulted in more plastic waste.
“We've certainly seen that in residential trash, especially as a lot of recycling programs stopped,” he said. “We're seeing a significant increase in packaging for food and all the deliveries we get from Amazon and others. An enormous amount of packaging is now entering the archeological record of 2022.”
Pandemic-induced panic buying at the grocery store also resulted in more households hoarding food, leading to more food waste, Muckle says.
“When there’s any kind of threat on food security… people will just go to Costco or wherever and overbuy and then three or four months down the road, they're going to toss all that stuff out,” he explained.
“We're very wasteful as a species, especially in North America, and it's only going to get worse.”
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
King Charles III’s doctors are 'sufficiently pleased' with his cancer treatment and he is expected to return to public-facing duties, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday.
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief complained to Air Canada about how staffers treated her and her ceremonial headdress on a flight this week, she says the airline responded by offering a 15 per cent discount on her next flight.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
The current overall public health risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu virus is low, the World Health Organization said on Friday, but urged countries to stay alert for cases of animal-to-human transmission.
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before the play-in tournament.
An idyllic 453-acre private island is up for sale off the west coast of Scotland and it comes with sandy beaches, puffins galore, seven houses, a pub, a helipad and a flock of black-faced sheep.
An investigation is underway after a Regina police officer was accidentally shot by a fellow officer’s gun during the search of a house early Friday morning.
A pair of Montreal designers' work has now been viewed over 41 million times. Taylor Swift dons a Victorian throwback black gown in her latest music video, 'Fortnight', designed by UNTTLD due Simon Belanger and Jose Manuel Saint-Jacques.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.