NOTES FROM THE FIELD NOTES FROM THE FIELD 2003 & 2004
If you've never been out with us, this is a great way to learn about the animals you may see on one of our trips. If you have been out with us in the past, you can keep up to date on the orca whale pods and the other animals you may have seen with us. Thanks for dropping by! - Tom Averna.
23 December 2004
A very good report about two newborns in J and K pod. A very nice Christmas present! Thank you to Orca Network for forwarding this article in their updates, www.orcanetwork.org.
New orca babies seen in Puget Sound pods
By Christopher Dunagan, Sun Staff
December 23, 2004
http://www.thesunlink.com/bsun/home/article/0,2403,BSUN_19081_3421431,00.html
Two newborn killer whales are being welcomed into the J and K pods, two of the major Puget Sound orca groupings, according to whale researcher Mark Sears of Seattle.
"They are pretty glued to their mothers right now," said Sears, who observed the J calf on Tuesday and the K calf Wednesday.
One mother is J-14, a 30-year-old female known as Samish, who is the granddaughter of J-2 and the great-niece of J-1, two of the oldest members of the Puget Sound pods. This is her third calf. The other mother is K-20, an 18-year-old female known as Spock, who was believed for many years to be a male because of her large dorsal fin. This is her first calf.
Sears said the K calf was born late Tuesday or early Wednesday, whereas the J calf was born while the pod was outside Puget Sound the past three weeks.
"Both of the calves are getting a lot of attention, surrounded by juveniles and other females," Sears said.
Because of the large number of chum salmon in central and southern Puget Sound, the whales are not locked into their typical traveling or feeding patterns right now, he said.
In October, two other baby orcas were born to L Pod, which has not been sighted lately and may be gone from Puget Sound for winter travels up and down the coast.
The Center for Whale Research reported that K-18, a 55-year-old female, was not seen this year and probably has died.
Counting all four newborns and the one death, the population of the three pods now stands at 87 -- not including Luna, L-98, who is living alone in Nootka Sound in Canada, or Lolita, who is living in a Miami aquarium.The newborns have not yet been confirmed by the Center for Whale Research, which maintains the identifications for the Puget Sound whales.
Last week, the three pods were proposed to be listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act because the population dropped suddenly by 20 percent between 1995 and 2001.
16 December 2004
Here is a decision handed down today from NOAA regarding the status of our southern residents and their possible listing under the Endangered Species Act.
I believe this is good news for the whales. We have known all along that the health of their habitat and food supplies (salmon) are the main reasons for concern. I also feel noise pollution as well as natural factors such as El Ninos play a role too. Let's hope for the right changes and the beginning of a future of a healthy population of killer whales.
NOAA Fisheries Proposes to List Puget Sound Killer Whales under the ESA
Contact: Brian Gorman, 206/526-6613
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec.16, 2004
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) announced today that it is proposing to list a population of killer whales as threatenedunder the Endangered Species Act. These whales, known as the Southern Resident population, spend several months each year in Washington State's Puget Sound.
The proposed listing will provide ample time for public comment, and NOAA Fisheries will host public meetings to discuss the proposed listing. The listing could become final a year from now.
NOAA Fisheries, an agency of the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is one of the federal agencies responsible for protecting marine mammals under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and recovering species from the brink of extinction when listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Our recovery efforts are already under way for these killer whales,said Bob Lohn, head of the NOAA Fisheries northwest regional office. We've had workshops and consulted with experts on development of a conservation plan, essentially identical to the recovery plan that an ESA listing would require.A draft of the conservation plan is expected to be available for public review by February.
That conservation planning resulted from NOAA Fisheries' designation of the Southern Residents as depleted under the MMPA in May 2003. The agency had received a petition to list the whales under the ESA, but decided in 2002 that listing was not warranted. NOAA scientists completed a comprehensive review of the whales, but because of the way scientists classify all killer whales as a single world-wide species, the Southern Resident population didn't meet the criterion of biological significanceunder the ESA.
However, NOAA Fisheries recognized that these animals were in trouble. The population peaked at 97 animals and then declined to 79 in 2001. It currently stands at 84 whales. The count doesn't include two calves born to the group this year. They will be officially included if they show up in the 2005 census.
The Marine Mammal Protection Act provides significant safeguards for whales, and the depleted designation last year added development of a
conservation strategy to restore the population to healthy numbers.
Meanwhile, NOAA Fisheries' not warranted finding was challenged in court and the court told the agency to reconsider its ESA decision.
Because we were faced with biological uncertainties about how killer whales are scientifically categorized, we said in our 2002 status review findings that we'd conduct additional research and revisit our conclusions in four years,Lohn said. The court order that we're responding to today simply compressed that schedule.
Although researchers have collected more than 30 years of information on the Southern Residents, there are major gaps in knowledge, such as where they go when they're not in local waters. Because killer whales can live for 80 to 90 years in the wild, 30 years of data don't cover even one full life span for older animals
It's vital that we continue to gather and analyze information on our region's orcas. We're very appreciative of the Washington Congressional delegation's efforts to provide funding for killer whale research and conservation. It's that kind of support that will allow us to continue working to improve the health of these animals, Lohn stated.
Another effort contributing to restoring these killer whales is through the Puget Sound Shared Strategy, a regional coalition aimed at restoring salmon in Puget Sound. Since salmon are one of the killer whales' main food sources, increasing salmon numbers and quality is a major step toward increasing orca numbers and vigor.
NOAA Fisheries also appreciates the Puget Sound Action Team's efforts, which was initiated by Washington State to protect the health of the sound, Lohn added, referring to the state's partnership for Puget Sound that coordinates and puts into action the state's environmental agenda for Puget Sound.
The proposed listing determination will be published in the Federal Register next week and will be open for public comment for 90 days. Two
public meetings are scheduled to allow interested parties to present their views: in Seattle Feb. 17 and at Friday Harbor Feb. 28.
NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation's living marine resources and their habitat through scientific research, management and enforcement. NOAA Fisheries provides effective stewardship of these resources for the benefit of the nation, supporting coastal communities that depend upon them, and helping to provide safe and healthy seafood to consumers and recreational opportunities for the American public.
NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources.
October 2004
From the Whale Museum comes the following announcement. This is very good news indeed. Hopefully these new borns will survive the winter and become a fixture around the islands this summer with the rest of their pod.
ANOTHER new calf!
In addition to the new calf that was seen last week and suspected of belonging to L-43 (Jelly Roll), another calf has been spotted! According to the Center for Whale Research the baby is L-27's (Ophelia). The Center has confirmed that L-43 is the mother of the first calf.
The Whale Museum, © 2004
8 July 2004
K pod is back!! They are travelling south on the east side of Orcas as I write this with J pod. This morning they were spotted passing the Fraser River off Vancouver. A few miles ahead was J pod. The J's turned around and headed north to meet up with the K's and now both are together.
We also had some L pod whales (L12's) on the southwest side of San Juan this afternoon in a flat glassy sea. We might see a superpod tomorrow if J, K and L stay around. Very Nice!! At the very least it will be nice to finally see K pod after their long absence back to the islands.
25 June 2004
So far this whale watching season has been full of surprises and unprecedented events, some of which are still occurring as I write this.
While some indicate and report a rosy picture of whales everyday (that is true we have been with whales every day so far this season), we have yet to see the return of K pod and some of L pod. These whales are usually here by the end of May into the first week of June. Reasons are unclear as to why we haven't had them in the islands yet but the highest reason is most likely the tremendous amount of salmon out 50 miles from the coast of Vancouver Island. I'm hearing reports of salmon so thick you can walk over them. Hopefully the K's and some of the L's are out there enjoying their meals. Also of interest is that the remainder of L pod has been coming and going in to the islands for at least a month now but they tend to only stay for a day and then head back out west to the ocean. However, in the last month we have witnessed three greeting ceremonies with the L's and J pod with lots of socialization and mating. Researchers are not sounding any kind of alarm yet as to the missing whales but I'm hoping the salmon runs expected in the islands start up and are as strong as they were in the last two years eventually bringing K pod back to the islands for the summer months.
J pod has been around the islands just about every day essentially going around San Juan County every 24 hours. They appear healthy and are all present and accounted for. With that said there is the potential this season for the J's to be the star of the show (if the K's stay away), with the possibility of more than 'normal' boat traffic around this pod. We have decided to take a conservative approach with the J's and shorten our viewing time if there are numerous boats with them already. So far the reception from our guests have been positive and other whale watch companies have taken the same temporary steps. We have found that our trip departure times are beneficial to not being with the whales during the busiest time of day. And so far all of the commercial whale watch companies have been excellent in providing the proper buffer zone and noise control around the whales. This is by far the best year I have seen. Soundwatch is also out every day dispersing information to the private boaters.
In addition, the minke whales have been missing in their normal numbers as well. Although, we did encounter Stubs, (the minke whale without a dorsal fin) yesterday out by Salmon Bank. He has been coming back to Salmon Bank every summer to feed for at least nine years now. He feeds on the bait fish that have been numerous and plentiful if the sea bird activity is any indication. In a typical summer there will be at least 10 to 20 minke whales resident in the area
8 June 2004
Looks like it's going to happen very soon, maybe tomorrow. Thanks to the folks at Orca Network for forwarding this information.
Luna Update from Nootka Sound - www.ReuniteLuna.com:
June 7, 2004
Luna spent some time closer to Gold River last week. For the past eight weeks, he had stayed relatively close to the open ocean, several kilometers to the west. He followed the MV Uchuck III and then found out that one of his favourite boats, the Coast Guard vessel ATLIN POST had returned to the area after being away for several weeks. He stayed within a few kilometers of the vessel while it was docked and followed it closely while it was out in the Sound. Yesterday, the Atlin Post left Gold River to a new assignment. When the Atlin Post is traveling at slow speeds, Luna bow rides and swims alongside the vessel. Luna's fascination with the Atlin Post raises hope that a long boat-follow would be possible.
Luna was seen foraging and resting several times over the past few days. He continues to call and echolocate.
Over the weekend, the sea pen area was quiet, but that is expected to change. Vancouver Aquarium and DFO staff will be arriving in Gold River today to prepare for the hard capture of Luna. The First Nations newspaper Ha-Shilth-Sa is reporting that a capture will take place on Tuesday, however, DFO has stated in the past that they would wait until all of the L Pod returns to their summer foraging grounds before authorizing any capture.
Yesterday, most of the L Pod returned, once again, to the San Juan Islands. The L22s, the sub pod seen with the Ks about three weeks ago, have not yet returned, giving some hope that there may yet be a natural reunion. Last night, some of the Ls were spotted heading out towards open waters again.
The Anon, skippered by Keith Wood, continues to listen for whales outside of Nootka Sound.
Note: ReuniteLuna.com does not post the exact location of Luna because we discourage people from interacting with him. We urge all public and media to stay away from Luna
1 May 2004
By CHARLES POPE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTON -- Luna, the wayward orca lost off Vancouver Island for nearly three years, washed up on Capitol Hill this week. Not in the flesh, of course, but in spirit as the annual battle to secure money for orca conservation resumed.
This time the stage was the Senate Commerce Committee, where Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Democrat who's known as the custodian of Luna's interests and orcas in general, demanded that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration include money in next year's budget to stabilize dwindling orca populations. "If you're saying it's a depleted status, then where's your money?" Cantwell asked Commerce Undersecretary Conrad Lautenbacher during a hearing Thursday. "How can you do the research to try and save them and reverse the decline of the population if you're not going to spend any money on it?" she asked. Lautenbacher responded with a muddled answer. The money, he said, could already be in the budget but in a different account. Or, it may be one of the items deleted altogether. He wasn't sure but he told Cantwell he would investigate and report back.
There was no denying, however, the budget squeeze on NOAA. The White House has proposed cutting the agency's budget next year by 8 percent, which translates to a $308 million reduction. Cantwell and other orca advocates worry that the $1.5 million included in this year's budget for orca research and conservation will sink like a rock as NOAA tries to conform to its tighter budget.Lautenbacher didn't provide much hope, noting that sacrifices must be made. "There are not that many new initiatives," he said. "This is a wartime budget."The focus, he said, is maintaining the agency's core missions, including understanding climate change, providing "weather and water information" and updating its aging fleet of research ships. Lautenbacher acknowledged that some items had to be cut and that orca conservation might be in that group.This state of affairs is familiar for Cantwell, who has emerged as the pod leader in the Senate for all things orca.
The past two years she has been able to shoehorn money into the budget for orca research and conservation, $1.5 million last year and $750,000 the year before that. By budget standards, what Cantwell wants is a mere drop in the ocean. To most folks, though, the dollars are real. Efforts to reunite Luna with his whale family have cost $350,000. Fishery biologists said the move was necessary because the very social Luna was becoming too friendly. Luna is attracted to boats and some people have tried to pet him, pour beer down his blowhole and even brush his teeth.
Cantwell reminded Lautenbacher that money for orcas is a congressional priority that should be continued. Cantwell didn't mention a specific figure, but she argued that spending money now would save money in the long run. If orca stocks, which currently are classified as "depleted," continue their dive the whales could end up on the endangered species list. Such a listing would require, by law, actions to reverse the decline, including restrictions on how land is used. And as anyone watching the history of salmon or spotted owls knows, the cost and the controversy quickly escalate. No one disputes that potential. Only last month the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission added killer whales to the state list of endangered species. Unless the orca population achieves a dramatic increase, the state listing is likely to be accompanied by a federal listing for Puget Sound orcas under the Endangered Species Act.
March 18, 2004
Killer Whales Mimic Each Other
High-tech underwater equipment has enabled researchers for the first time to ascribe sounds to individual killer whales, and the recordings reveal that whale families like to mimic each other when communicating. Killer whale sounds have been captured on tape before, but only in group recordings where scientists could not identify the whales making sounds. The latest data suggests whales communicate with each other in ways that are similar to humans, other primates, dolphins and birds.
The findings will be published in the upcoming issue of the journal Animal Behavior.
According to Patrick Miller, lead author of the paper and a scientist at the NERC Sea Mammal Research Unit at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, he and his colleagues followed distinctively marked killer whales using a small boat that was towing a beam-forming hydrophone array. They used the beam to calculate the angle of sounds, and to identify whales that produced noises.
All captured sounds came from members of family groups. That is because whales live in very close-knit units. Killer whale sons and daughters generally do not leave their mothers until death.
The sounds were recorded when individuals were out of visual range of their families by at least 20 degrees. The scientists were able to identify individuals because of a publicly available photo identification catalog of whales that was created by scientists John Ford, the late Michael Bigg, Graeme Ellis and Ken Balcomb.
Analysis of the recordings revealed that when one killer whale family member would call out, another relative would mimic the sound. Random calling tests proved that such mimicry was greater than chance, meaning that the whales must be copying each other intentionally.
While Miller and his colleagues are not entirely certain about the meaning of the calls, they believe that the "conversations" help to preserve family togetherness.
Miller told Discovery News, "Humans are well known to match word choice and gestures of others in a form of social accommodation. The call type matching of killer whales may similarly be a way for fish-eating killer whales to show their willingness to act together with other group members."
Humans mimic each other for comparable reasons, as when someone says, "Good morning," to a friend or family member, who replies with, "Good morning." Prior research indicates that bottlenose dolphins engage in similar vocal matching.
Volker Deecke, a postdoctoral fellow at the Marine Mammal Research Unit at the University of British Columbia, and the Cetacean Research Lab at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Center in Canada, has been studying killer whale vocal communication for over 10 years.
Deecke agrees that the vocal mimicry probably maintains killer whale family cohesion, and thinks Miller's paper "presents a powerful approach showing how scientists can use technology to gain insights into the lives, behavior, and communication of animals that live and function in an environment that is otherwise inaccessible to humans."
Deecke added, "Being able to consistently identify vocalizing individuals in the wild is a crucial first step towards determining the behavioral context when killer whales call, and ultimately determining the function of the calls themselves. Obtaining recordings from known individuals can also identify individual differences in the structure of calls and answer questions about how the calls are transmitted from generation to generation."
the quiet season, winter in the San Juans
12 March 2004
SEATTLE — The state Department of Fish and Wildlife proposed today that Puget Sound's orcas be added to the state's list of endangered species "because the marine mammals are at critically low levels and are vulnerable to several continuing threats." The department made the recommendation based on a status report indicating that the population of "southern residents" in Puget Sound and nearby waters has declined 18 percent since 1995.
The L pod, one of three groups of southern residents, has seen both higher mortality rates and lower birth rates, particularly in the past decade, officials said.
"The solid scientific work reflected in this report gives us an excellent base on which to assess the health of our resident orca population and determine what the next steps should be to protect one of the most enduring symbols of Puget Sound and the Pacific Northwest," the department said.
The "southern residents" that swim in area waters include about 84 orcas — down from a historical high of more than 120 in the 1960s, before the whales were captured in large numbers for display at marine parks.
A state listing, which would be separate from the whales' "depleted" listing under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, would trigger a recovery plan that would guide efforts to protect killer whales.
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, a citizens panel that sets agency policy, is expected to take action on the proposal at its April 1-3 meeting in Spokane.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001868826_weborcas01.html
Navy to Defend Sonar in Court
By Noah Shachtman
For more than a year, the U.S. Navy and environmentalists have been in close combat over sonar and its effect on marine mammals. On Monday, their fighting will culminate in court.
The Navy says it needs a wide berth to test its controversial, ultra-loud, low-frequency sonar system. The Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC, and other green groups counter that the military has to be more mindful of whales and other marine mammals when it runs the tests. Whales depend on their ears to make their way around the oceans, after all. The sonar in question can be as deafening to marine mammals as a Saturn V moon rocket.
Today, the two sides will begin the final phase of their legal tussle in U.S. District Court over the sonar program: Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active -- or LFA for short.
Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte has already slapped a preliminary injunction against the use of LFA. The environmental plaintiffs "are likely to prevail on a number of issues" in the case, she wrote. By authorizing the Navy to test LFA in as much as 75 percent of the world's oceans, the Bush administration may have violated a number of environmental regulations, including provisions of the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
Everyone in the case agrees that there's a national security argument for active sonar systems like LFA. Submarines are the ultimate stealth weapons and the greatest danger to American military and commercial ships, the Navy notes on its LFA website. "An undetected enemy submarine is an underwater terrorist, threatening any surface ship or coastline within its range."
During the Cold War, the United States used passive sonar -- microphones in the water, basically -- to listen for the relatively big, relatively loud Soviet submarines.
Today's potential adversaries -- namely North Korea, Iran and China -- have subs that are considerably smaller and less noisy. The Navy contends the only way to find these is by using active sonar -- a rig that sends out blasts of sound waves into the water and detects reflections off objects, giving away their location.
"It's like going into a dark area and flashing the lights on," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org.
During the Cold War, using active sonar was considered a bad idea because it would give away the location of the ship that sent out the blast.
"But when you have an entire carrier group steaming 50 miles off the coast, you're not going to hide," Pike added. "Since you've lost the element of surprise, you might as well go active."
While going active may be the smart military move, it can carry heavy environmental costs.
At least eight whales were killed in the Bahamas when the Navy tested its "53 C" active sonar in March 2000. A Navy program meant to spot ships in coastal waters is using a version of that technology, as well as adaptations of the noisy air guns used in oil and gas exploration.
With eight deafeningly loud speakers, LFA can produce up to 240 decibels of sound, according to Joel Reynolds, an NRDC attorney. That's the equivalent of standing next to a Saturn V rocket at takeoff, he said.
That's near the sonar array. But water tends to carry bass tones, like LFA's, tremendous distances. So even hundreds of miles away, LFA is still heavy-metal-concert loud at 140 decibels, Reynolds said.
Prolonged exposure to that much noise is bad for people: Musicians like Pete Townsend have had their hearing decimated by prolonged exposure.
Whales rely on their ears a lot more than humans. They use them to find mates and places to feed. So it's assumed that the loud sounds are even worse for them.
But the fact is, "we don't know how these sonars affect whales," said Bob Gisiner, who runs the Office of Naval Research's marine mammal study programs. "We know they're loud. But there are other loud sounds in the ocean."
But for the Navy to comply with the Marine Mammals Protection Act, Reynolds added, the service has to show that LFA tests have a "negligible" effect on local whales. That's something the Navy hasn't been able to do. Nor has the military been able to demonstrate they considered "all reasonable alternatives."
For now, the NRDC and the Navy have agreed to allow testing of LFA in about a million square miles of the Pacific Ocean, near the Mariana Islands. Whether the military will be able to use LFA elsewhere is now in the hands of Judge Laporte.
29 January 2004
Here's the latest news of a newborn from the Whale Museum:
New calf in K-Pod! Candice Emmonds of the Center for Whale Research confirmed that K-12, Sequim, has a new calf. K-pod has been seen in South Puget Sound several times in recent weeks. Whale Museum associate researcher Mark Sears first reported a new-ish calf around Christmas time as the pod passed by Vashon Island.The new calf should be numbered K-37. In September 2003 K-14, Lea, also had a new calf.
Very good news indeed.
This winter we have also been under a controversial cloud and unknowns about the residents' current well being and health. One group in particular has been targeting the commercial whale watch boats as the prime cause of the whales decline. The following rebuttal from Howard Garrett at Orca Network puts it in perspective and I think scores a direct hit.
In response to "The State of the Orca" by Orca Relief, we share the stated concern for the welfare of the Southern Resident orcas. However, there are some factual errors that should be explained. Reasons for the ongoing breakdown of the orcas' habitat are complex and will call for an all-out effort throughout our state to adequately address. To begin to protect and restore the marine ecosystem, we'll need to be able to discuss things creatively and inform one another. We'll need to define and describe the natural world from mountaintop to seabed, because the whales depend on all of it to function naturally if they are to survive and prosper. And we'll need to arrive at an overall consensus to set specific social priorities and commit to some difficult life-style changes. It's a challenging process to get everyone on the same page and pulling for the whales. Of course we also depend on the same natural world, so the incentive shouldn't be hard to find.
The effect of boat traffic on whales is one of the issues that needs to be widely understood and remedied. The worst offenders of possible "whale harassment" are not commercial whale watch boats, but private recreational boaters who are uneducated about whale watching etiquette and the required speeds and distances for the safe viewing of whales. If Orca Relief is concerned about the effects of boats on whales, why are their efforts targeted solely at commercial whale watch boats? It seems their time and money would be much better spent on programs that educate the general boating public about how to behave around whales. All boat owners and operators should learn to behave respectfully around whales, as described in the Be Whale Wise program developed by Soundwatch. Laws are only marginally effective in such a fluid situation that includes unpredictable whale movements, so education and awareness are essential for overall good behavior.
Many groups, agencies and individuals are devoted to solving all these complex habitat issues. In this op-ed, it is stated: "we were the first to predict the decline." Yet Orca Relief was not the first to predict the decline of the orcas. A variety of individuals and organizations saw it coming as prey stocks went into steep decline in the early 90's.
The Orca Relief website says: "Orca Relief is the ONLY organization in the past five years that has conducted research to understand why the Orca whales are dying." However, the National Marine Fisheries Service, WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, the Center for Biological Diversity, and People for Puget Sound, among many others, have studied the issue at great length.
Actually Orca Relief has not so much studied the problem as it has predetermined a conclusion (whale watch boats kill whales), then funded shallow papers that came to vague conclusions, then extracted points out of their context and misrepresented them to announce the predetermined conclusion. This is not how empirical science is supposed to operate.
For example, Dr. Glenn VanBlaricom did not agree with Orca Relief by "concluding that boat traffic was a significant contributor to orca death." This unpublished paper, paid for by Orca Relief, found a statistical correlation of orca deaths with salmon depletion and boat traffic, not a cause and effect relationship. Orca Relief seems to have confused correlation with causation. One could probably also find a correlation between housing construction on San Juan Island and orca deaths, but assuming causation would be a stretch, although increased pesticide and petroleum runoff, and other chemicals, are not inconsequential to the health of the orcas. VanBlaricom had no comment about contaminants because of "the absence of a time series of data."
It is inexplicable to claim that "scientists in the U.S. and Canada have learned a great deal about the effects of boats on orcas, and ALL of it is negative." The truth is that virtually all such studies have been inconclusive in terms of long-term adverse effects. Comforting absolutes are not possible, but there is almost no actual data that yields the conclusion that boat traffic actually harms orcas. Despite the fact that a wide range of government agencies and environmental groups are deeply concerned with the precarious health of the orcas, and many workshops and studies have been conducted to find the answers, almost no agency, group or individual has singled out boat traffic as the most significant problem, except Orca Relief.
Especially troubling is the statement: "Among scientists who do not take money from the whale watching industry, this is now an essentially unanimous opinion." There must be some good evidence to support this serious charge. To be true, it would mean that the assembled scientific expertise of the National Marine Fisheries Service, the WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, the Canadian Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans, People for Puget Sound, The Center for Biological Diversity, Orca Network and some of the most respected and experienced orca field researchers on San Juan Island have taken bribes from the whale watch industry and agreed to falsify their research and judgments about boat/whale interactions. Can that be?
We believe Orca Relief is doing a disservice to the whales by creating unnecessary conflict and by distracting needed attention from the complex and difficult, but real, issues impacting orcas - primarily salmon depletion and toxic pollution, as well as many kinds of noise pollution. We need an atmosphere of trust and common purpose to inform one other and arrive at ways to protect and restore the whales' habitat.
We recommend the discussion of the factors impacting the Southern Resident community in the draft Washington State Status Report for the Killer Whale, dated November 2003, on the WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife website, which states:
The potential impacts of whale watching on killer whales remain controversial and inadequately understood. No studies have yet demonstrated a long-term adverse effect from whale watching on the health of any killer whale population in the northeastern Pacific. Both resident populations have shown strong site fidelity to their traditional summer ranges despite more than 25 years of whale-watching activity.
We believe in the precautionary principle, and are pleased that the Whale Watch Operators Association has been proactively developing and revising Whale Watch Guidelines in conjunction with NMFS, Soundwatch, DFO and others who are interested in constructively looking at this issue.
Howard Garrett and Susan Berta
Orca Network
Whidbey Island
12 December 2003
Sad news just in the from the AP
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Keiko, the killer whale made famous by the "Free Willy" movies, has died in Norwegian coastal waters where he remained after millions of dollars and a decade of work failed to coax him back to the open sea, his caretakers said early Saturday.
The whale, who was 27, died Friday afternoon after the sudden onset of pneumonia in the Taknes fjord. He was old for an orca in captivity, though wild orca live an average of 35 years.
David Phillips, executive director of the San Francisco-based Free Willy-Keiko Foundation, said Keiko had been in good health but started showing signs of lethargy and loss of appetite on Thursday.
"This is a long sad day for us," Phillips said.
One of his handlers, Dale Richards, also said Keiko died quickly. "We checked his respiration rate and it was a little irregular ... he wasn't doing too well," Richards told The Associated Press. "Early in the evening, he passed away."
Keiko -- which means "Lucky One" in Japanese -- was captured in Iceland in 1979 and sold to the marine park industry.
Starting in 1993, the six-ton, 35-foot-long mammal starred in three "Free Willy" movies, a heartwarming box-office franchise from Warner Brothers in which sympathetic humans help set a long-captive killer whale free.
The drive for the real-life reintroduction of the movies' star started after he was found ailing in a Mexico City aquarium. The project -- to reintegrate Keiko with a pod of wild killer whales -- cost more than $20 million and stirred interest and ire worldwide.
Keiko was rehabilitated at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, then airlifted to Iceland in 1998. His handlers there prepared him for the wild, teaching him to catch live fish in an operation that cost about $500,000 a month. That amount recently paid for a year of care, Phillips said.
Keiko was released from Iceland in July 2002, but he swam straight for Norway on an 870-mile trek that seemed to be a search for human companionship.
He first turned up near the village of Halsa in late August or early September of 2002. There, he allowed fans to pet and play with him, even crawl on his back, becoming such an attraction that animal protection authorities imposed a ban on approaching him.
Keiko lived in Taknes Bay, a clear, calm pocket of coastal water deep enough that it doesn't freeze in winter. Keepers fed him there, but he was free to roam and did, often at night.
He was equipped with a VHF tracking device that let his four handlers pinpoint his location provided he stayed within a range of about five miles.
Keiko's keepers said the whale seemed to adapt to living in the wild despite so many years in captivity, learning to slap his tail and do jumps called side breaches that are typically done to stun fish.
To keep Keiko in shape, his caretakers took him on "walks," leading him around the fjords from a small boat at least three times a week.
Nick Braden, a spokesman of the Humane Society of the United States, said veterinarians gave Keiko antibiotics after he showed signs of lethargy Thursday, but it wasn't apparent how sick he was.
"They really do die quickly and there was nothing we could do," he said.
Braden said "it's a really sad moment for us, but we do believe we gave him a chance to be in the wild."
1 October 2003
http://www.wdcs.org/dan/publishing.nsf/webnews/3232E6C1E518DE9480256DB2003030EC
WDCS has just received news of the capture of a female orca, or killer whale - the first known capture from a population living in one of the remotest regions on Earth.
The 5-metre female was captured on Friday September 26th, 2003, in Avacha Gulf, Kamchatka, Eastern Russia, by captors working for the Utrish Aquarium on the Black Sea. The following day, she was transferred to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky where she is currently being held in a sea pen in the bay, but the indications are that the female will shortly be moved to the Utrish Aquarium.
WDCS has long feared that such a capture would take place. For the past three years - despite strong representations from WDCS and orca scientists and experts all over the world - the Russian authorities have issued capture permits, although previous capture attempts have been unsuccessful. This year, the captors have permits to capture up to 10 orcas (4 from the Kamchatka region, the remaining 6 in Sakhalin and Ohkotsk districts) and they are expected to continue trying to catch more orcas throughout October. WDCS is very concerned about the possibility of further captures, as well as the welfare of the captured orca and the effect her capture will have on the remaining members of her family group.
WDCS has a special interest in the orcas of Kamchatka. Since 1999, WDCS, along with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), has funded the Far Eastern Russia Orca Project (FEROP), a long-term Russian-Japanese-British initiative. The project has also received funding support from Cetacean Society International (CSI), Project Thursday's Child/Earth Island Institute, and the Animal Welfare Institute, in the US, plus the Sacher trusts in the UK and the Klüh Foundation in Germany. Breathing life into what was a previously unstudied population, this pioneering project has used photo-identification techniques to reveal the presence of at least 151 orcas resident in the main study area of central Avacha Gulf - sadly now also a capture site. Acoustic analysis has enabled valuable comparison of call types, variations and use, helping to establish kinship among local pods and communities.
All the findings to date, on the orcas' diet, foraging and socialising behaviour, as well as their communication - suggest that these orcas are a largely 'resident' population, comparable to those resident off British Columbia, Canada, and Washington State, USA, and likely possessing the same strong social bonds.
In 2001, a letter signed by more than 25 international orca scientists was presented to the Russian authorities asking them not to allow any orcas to be captured in Russian waters. The letter warned of the possible consequences of taking individuals from populations about which very little is known and for which any removals would have seriously negative implications.
In addition, there is no previous experience of capturing and keeping orcas in Russia. Any animals targeted are likely to suffer greatly from stress and potential harm during the capture itself and during the subsequent ordeal of long-distance transportation to the final captive facility. Those animals remaining in the pod are also likely to be traumatised by the capture process. The long-term danger is that Russian waters will become a regular source of orcas for the captivity industry, with disastrous consequences for the individuals and populations targeted.
WDCS is asking the Russian authorities to make public the full facts surrounding this first orca capture in Russian waters.
Orcas in captivity
Orcas are the largest dolphin, found mainly in colder waters of the world's oceans. As top predators in every ecosystem, they are intensely social and live in small, tightly-bonded family groups, or pods, that stay together for life. The populations in the best known areas number fewer than 300 whales. In the wild, the average lifespan for females is 50 years, with some living to 80 years. The average lifespan for males in the wild is 30 years.
Commercial orca captures began in the 1960s and Sea World quickly became the world's leading procurer of orcas. Since then, many orcas have died and suffered greatly during captures and in captivity for Sea World's multi-million dollar orca displays.
Since 1961, and not including this latest capture, 134 orcas have been captured from the wild and put on display in marine parks and aquariums around the world. Their striking black-and-white appearance, large size and the fact that these intelligent animals can be easily trained to perform tricks to entertain public audiences have made them popular choices for aquariums in North America, Europe and Asia. Sadly, though, these animals suffer greatly in captivity and the history of orca captivity is one of frustration, aggression, illness, failed pregnancies and premature death. In fact, of the 134 orcas captured in the wild, 110 are now dead. The average survival time in captivity of these 110 individuals was less than six years.
Captive breeding has increased the numbers held in marine parks around the world but of 63 known pregnancies in captivity, only 26 captive-born orca calves have survived. Today, the entire captive orca population totals 49 animals kept in 12 marine parks in five countries. Many countries, including the United Kingdom, have given up display of these animals. Countries that have seen severe reductions in the number of orcas in their waters due to capture, such as the USA, Canada and Iceland, have halted orca captures.
In captivity, orcas suffer physical and mental problems. In addition, they can be dangerous and have caused fatal injuries to each other and to trainers. They are deprived of their families and their ability to hunt and catch their food, confined to a relatively tiny pool where they do tricks to amuse the public. On average, orcas captured in the wild survive fewer than six years in captivity.
Meanwhile, many countries around the world are developing whale-watching enterprises focusing on wild orcas, rather than turning orcas into circus performers. Orcas, wherever they are found, have become some of the most popular whales in whale-watch operations, with many positive benefits for education, science and local communities. Around Vancouver Island alone, in US and Canadian waters, approximately 400,000 people a year watch orcas from boats or shore-based parks, spending $75 million USD in total revenues. WDCS urged Russia not to allow captures to go ahead and encouraged the government to support the whale-watching possibilities for orcas and other whales in Russia waters. WDCS, which has assisted in the sensible development of whale watching in Iceland, the Caribbean, and other countries, has even offered to send a special delegation to Russia to help develop Russia's vast potential for marine tourism.
Source: WDCS
1 October 2003
Hot off the presses from the Whale Museum.
A new orca baby spotted in recent days has been confirmed by the Center for Whale Research as belonging to K-14 (Lea). The gender of the new calf has not been determined.
K-14 has had three previous calves. However, the first two--K-23 (1988) and K-24 (1990)--did not survive. The third, K-26 (Lobo), was born in 1992.
We wish the new little calf a long and healthy life!
The Whale Museum, © 2003
28 Sep 2003
This summer was full of encouraging signs that the whales appear to be doing better than in the last few years past. The salmon that came through and continue to come through are in record high numbers. We have seen lots of feeding behavior as well as socializing and resting during the day. The number of boats around the whales on any given day dropped even during the peak season despite the best weather we've ever had during the summer.
There is a rumor of a brand new calf, born within the last week. We thought we saw it with a J pod female yesterday but the glare from the sun on the water made it very hard to make a confirmation. Today we didn't see the calf. The whales were scattered for miles so it's likely we didn't see all of the whales.
What I did see today made me realize what a strong social structure these whales share with each other. We met up with J, K and L pod near Smith Island as they were speed swimming back towards San Juan Island at around 7 to 10 knots. As they got closer to Eagle Point they remained very scattered but in front of us we watched a female breach twice in a row. As soon as she breached I noticed all of the other whales slowed down to a standstill and started foraging, changing direction, doing deep dives and staying in the general area. None of the other whales breached, which leads me to believe this female sent out a statement/message to the rest of the pods to start feeding, there was fish where they were. I only wish I was close enough to that female to ID who it was. That to me, is why I do this. We also put down the hydrophones and heard lot's of vocalization as well. It was almost perfect!
I'll keep you posted on the possible newborn.
Captivity is one option for Luna: DFO
Jack Keating
The Province
Thursday, August 21, 2003
An environmental group is outraged to learn yesterday that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans may place Luna, the friendly orca whale, in captivity. "I think it would be a public-relations nightmare for the DFO and everybody involved if [Luna] was placed into captivity," said Annelise Sorg of the Coalition for No Whales in Captivity. "It's a ridiculous idea."
Sorg was reacting to news the DFO will soon decide the fate of Luna, which could include placing the three-year-old male orca in captivity. "There are three options being reviewed," said Christiane Cote, spokeswoman for Fisheries and Oceans Canada Pacific Region.
"One is to leave the animal where it is, keeping an eye on it. The other is to move it to a facility like an aquarium. And the other one is to try to reunite it with its family."
Luna has been living alone in Nootka Sound, a remote inlet on the west coast of Vancouver Island, since becoming separated from his pod in July 2001. The whale was initially shy of boats and humans, but in the past year has increasingly sought contact with boats and dock-users at Gold River. Sorg said she and other environmental groups would fight any bid to place Luna in captivity.
"His mother is down in the States off the San Juan Islands right now and this is a lost kid," said Sorg. "And if you found a lost kid somewhere you'd want to return him to his mother. He's got to go home to his family."
Meanwhile, DFO said a second person has been fined $250 for petting Luna at the Gold River dock. Travis Foreman, a Vancouver commercial fisherman, pleaded guilty to disturbing a marine mammal. A Gold River woman was fined $100 for touching Luna in May.
"DFO has repeatedly warned boaters, kayakers, whale watchers and the public to stay away from this whale," said Cote. Cote said increasing numbers of "social interactions" between Luna and humans "decreases the chances of the whale surviving in its natural habitat."
"[Luna] swims in and out of the bay and comes to the dock," said Cote. "So people have been going to the dock hoping to touch the animal and feed it. And that's what's causing a bit of a headache."
jkeating@png.canwest.com
Fisherman fined $250 for petting orca
Vancouver Sun
Thursday, August 21, 2003
A Vancouver commercial fisherman pleaded guilty to disturbing a marine mammal and was fined $250 after petting Luna, an orca whale living in Nootka Sound.
This is the second time a B.C. judge has convicted a person for petting the whale. The same judged fined a Gold River woman $100 for a similar offence in May and promised to increase the amount of future fines as a deterrent. Luna has been living in the remote inlet on the west coast of Vancouver Island since July 2001 and, although initially shy of boaters and humans, the whale has increasingly sought contact with them. The fisheries department has posted a large sign at Gold River wharf warning the public not to touch or feed whales. DFO officials are concerned that if the whale becomes too used to social interactions, its chance of surviving in its natural habitat will decrease.
© Copyright 2003 Vancouver Sun
Whale numbers disputed
Pre-whaling population estimates upset conservationists.
TOM CLARKE
http://www.nature.com/nsu/030721/030721-14.html
A new study estimating the original size of North Atlantic whale populations - before whaling took its toll - is being heavily criticized by researchers. Yet it backs the case for a continued ban on whale hunting.
The genetic analysis suggests that about 12 times more humpback and fin whales once cruised the ocean compared with previous estimates1. This was before their wholesale slaughter began in the nineteenth century.
Today's relatively small whale populations should be protected for another 50-100 years before they are large enough to allow resumption of commercial whaling, argues Stephen Palumbi of Stanford University in California who did the analysis.
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) prohibits hunting until populations return to their pre-whaling size. Populations of some species are now recovering, prompting some countries to call for an end to the moratorium.
Although concerned about the resumption of commercial whaling, other whale biologists say that Palumbi's figures are a gross overestimate of historical whale numbers. "It's completely out of the realm of reality," says Phil Clapham of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
Researchers are keen to highlight the study's flaws because today's conservation targets are based on pre-whaling numbers. If Palumbi's figures are overestimates these could get set too high. "To suggest that these figures should be used as a target for the management recovery of whale populations today is inappropriate," Clapham argues.
Genetic dispute
Palumbi's group inferred the historic size of whale populations by measuring the diversity of mutations in their DNA today, and comparing the results to the rate at which such mutations are thought to occur.
The analysis concludes, for example, that the North Atlantic once supported 240,000 humpbacks. Existing estimates suggest that the population grew no larger than 40,000. There are about 12,000 humpbacks in the North Atlantic today.
Palumbi's critics argue that his genetic technique is fallible. Subtle changes in the method - such as in approximating mutation frequencies - can lead to massive changes in results. "Estimates of genetic diversity are complicated and error-prone," says geneticist Per Palsbøll of the University of California, Berkeley.
Even if Palumbi's numbers are correct, Clapham argues, they represent an average abundance over evolutionary time - a period of perhaps two million years - up until the onset of whaling.
Whalers' logbooks provide the best reckoning of historical whale numbers, Clapham argues, even though they can contain inaccuracies. Reported whale catches tally well with records of oil harvested from whales, attesting to the logs' overall precision.
Although the argument is academic, the implications are not: the IWC updates its management plans according to the latest research.
Because the newest estimate is still debated, the IWC will stick to existing numbers for the time being, and the moratorium on whaling will remain in place, says the commission's secretary Nicola Grandy. "If better data were to become available we would revise our models accordingly," she says.
References
a.. Roman, J. & Palumbi, S. R. Whales before whaling in the North Atlantic. Science, 301, 508 - 510, (2003).
14 July 2003
This has been a very busy season so far with daily whale sightings, often more than one pod. It's hard to believe my season is at the half-way mark.
There isn't much in the way of news with our southern residents, J, K and L pod, except for L-98 (Luna), the wayward young L pod orca that has been alone in Nootka Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Below is the latest article on him.
An earlier report this week regarding Springer, the two year old male orca that found himself down near Seattle last year and was transported back to his home where his pod was, announced he has returned this summer to Northern Vancouver Island with his family. If he can be reintroduced to his pod with success, why can't little Luna be brought back to her pod, L pod?
http://www.king5.com/animals/news/stories/NW_071403ANBluna.8d23ab1c.html
07/15/2003
by ELISA HAHN / KING 5 News
NOOTKA SOUND, B.C. - Apparently Luna, the orca who likes to hang around boats near Vancouver Island, was the target of a bizarre attack.
Luna, also known as L-98, is notorious for snuggling up to boats.
Witnesses say, late last week, he approached a dock near Gold River in Nootka Sound, B.C.
A man - motive unknown - picked up a shovel and swung it at Luna. Then he yelled a death threat at the whale.
"A person was observed beating Luna with a stick at the dock of Gold River. It was an unfortunate incident and that person is believed to have threatened Luna's life,” said Marc Pakenham, Veins of Life Watershed Society.
Although it seems like a freak incident, it’s a reminder of the dangers Luna faces by being too close to humans.
Luna did not sustain any serious injuries in the attack, but experts still worry his condition is deteriorating. While Luna seems healthy, his behavior is becoming more and more disturbing.
Since the wayward whale separated from his mother and the rest of the L-pod, based near the San Juans two years ago, little by little, Luna is becoming more aggressive, at the same time seeking out companionship often in the wrong places.
"What it's doing is reducing his opportunities as a wild whale, which is a bad thing. He has a tendency for socialization or need for socialization, which is common for killer whales and that would be better expressed in the company of his fellow family whales,” said Pakenham.
Some say Luna should be moved closer to her pod, others say he should be placed in captivity.
The Canadian government has decided not to do anything for now, hoping Luna will find his own way home.
13 June 2003
We're pleased to tell you K-40, Raggedy is alive and well and still with K pod. She was sighted early this week.
This makes only two whales from L-pod missing and five newborns still around. I've included the latest news from the Whale Museum regarding the missing whales.
The Whale Museum News & Events
Updated: June 9, 2003
L-3 (Oriana), a female born around 1946, and L-58 (Sparky), a 23-year old male, have not been seen with the orcas that returned last week. According to the Center for Whale Research, the orcas will not be considered dead until researchers get more encounters with L Pod and can confirm their supposition. Although researchers said they weren't surprised that the older female may be dead, males typically live several years longer than Sparky.
On a positive note, however, Center personnel said that L-85 (Mystery) is sprouting well, meaning his dorsal fin is growing larger and that in a few years he will be a sexually mature bull.
Of course, the other good news was reported earlier: the birth of L-55's (Nugget's) new baby, who will probably be identified as L-103.
8 June 2003
Here's an update on my last notes from the field that is much more encouraging. The five missing whales has now dwindled to two and another newborn has been spotted. Below is a news story regarding this news:
Orca pods return with new calf, but 2 adults missing
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BREMERTON -- Two pods of killer whales have returned to Puget Sound this week after four months of ocean travels. They brought a new calf with them, much to the delight of whale watchers and researchers, but two adults appear to be missing.
"The fact that two adults were lost is disappointing, but everybody's got to die sometime," Ken Balcomb, of the Center for Whale Research, said yesterday. "One was an older female, so I'm not too surprised about that."
The other, he said, was a 23-year-old male. Males usually live at least 29 years and can live more than 50 years. Researchers were reviewing photographs of the animals to make sure they hadn't missed either of the adults, and they also planned to spend more time on the water searching for them.
The pods that returned are the K and L pods. Before being spotted Wednesday, they hadn't been seen since an appearance in Monterey Bay, Calif., in mid-March. The J pod usually remains in the area year-round.
At the end of last season, the orca population in Puget Sound stood at 79. It's now at 82, Balcomb said. The new calf -- apparently quite young, based on the pinkish tint to its white patches -- is the third offspring of L-55 and has been nicknamed Nugget. It's the sixth baby orca born since last fall. One of those calves died, but the others appear healthy.
In the spring of 2001, seven whales were missing when the pods returned. Susan Berta, who runs Orca Network, which keeps tabs on the whales' movements, said the recent health of the population is due largely to good runs of salmon, thanks to improved ocean conditions.
4 June 2003
Subject: SUPERPOD!!
K and L pod came back today after being gone for over six months. Their arrival is normal and nine days later than last year.
The interesting thing about this is that since early May we have had J pod every day somewhere around the islands. Yesterday was the first day we didn't see them and heard rumors that they went west towards the Pacific. Sure enough, this morning J pod came back in to the islands and had K and L pod with them. How neat is that?
When we got out there today we had J and K pod together breaching, spy hopping and socializing. We drifted with the whales for two hours enjoying their apparent play time with one another. We spotted the new K pod baby and noticed some of the young males were sprouting their dorsal fins. It was a magnificent show. L pod was further south, so we didn't have the opportunity to see them. There were only three other boats with the whales as well. So far this season the number of boats has declined and the boats that are out there have been very well behaved.
Sadly though we got word from the Center for Whale Research that initial observations of K and L pod indicated five whales were missing from last fall. A 22 year old male L-58 (Sparky), a 42 year old female, K-40, Raggedy, a 60 something year old female, Kiska, and two young whales in their teens. While it's still to early to confirm these whales as dead, we are all very sad at the possible loss. Something is happening to these whales when they leave this area mainly during the winter. Some researchers say that if they do not get enough food during the summer, the effect of that will be felt in the winter. But since J pod feeds in the same area and appears to be doing fine, there is something else K and L pod are encountering that the J's are not. But let's keep in mind this was the first encounter with K and L pod so maybe these missing whales will show up soon.
The population of the southern residents remains fairly stable, given that we have had four newborns over the winter and five apparent deaths. The number the southern residents are hovering at about 80 whales which seems low to keep this population going into the future.
I will keep you posted on any further news.
21 May 2003
New Hope for Whales at IWC 55
Wednesday, 21 May 2003, 2:52 pm
Press Release: Greenpeace New Zealand
New Hope for Whales at IWC 55
Auckland, May 21st 2003: A new initiative to be introduced by 18 countries to this year's June meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Berlin will greatly strengthen the ability of the IWC to protect the world's cetaceans - whales, dolphins and porpoises
The Berlin Initiative would reorient the IWC away from exploitation of whales and toward conservation. Greenpeace says it is a timely proposal and takes into account the wide range of threats now facing cetaceans in our polluted and over-fished oceans.
In May 2003, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) warned that some cetacean species could become extinct within a decade and others remain critically endangered.
The Berlin Initiative needs the support of a majority of the IWC's member countries to be adopted. The government of Japan and its paid supporters and pro-whaling countries like Norway and Iceland are likely to vote against it
"Commercial whaling will always be unsustainable and belongs in the history books," says Greenpeace oceans campaigner Sarah Duthie.
"Many countries now realise the health of our oceans and our own interests are reflected by the conservation of the world's remaining whales, dolphins and porpoises. These animals play crucial roles in ocean ecosystems, and if we expect the seas to continue to feed us, we need to maintain the balance of those ecosystems. By actively strengthening the conservation agenda in the IWC its considerable scientific expertise can be harnessed to help remedy mistakes of the past and safeguard the oceans for the future."
Today cetaceans face a complex array of threats posed by toxic chemicals, global warming, ozone depletion, noise pollution, over-fishing and ship strikes, many of which could not have been anticipated when the IWC was formed over half a century ago in 1946.Tens of thousands of cetaceans are annually taken as fisheries bycatch and some species and populations, like the North Atlantic right whale, the baiji, the vaquita and Western North Pacific population of gray whale, may become extinct this century unless drastic action is taken.
"The alarming predicament facing many whale, dolphin and porpoise populations reflects the severity of the wider crisis facing the oceans," Duthie says. "Because cetaceans are at the top of the ocean food web, they are especially vulnerable to the ongoing degradation of the oceans and are an indicator of the health of those ecosystems. By working to conserve these animals and address the threats facing them, the IWC will be working to help restore our oceans as a whole. We call on all governments, pro-whaling and anti-whaling alike, to vote in favour of the Berlin Initiative at IWC 55"
The 55th meeting of the IWC takes place in Berlin, Germany from 16 - 19th June 2003.
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
The U.S. navy is reviewing an incident in which a pod of endangered killers whales began behaving strangely when a nearby destroyer blasted powerful sound waves into waters off Victoria.
"It is sort of a worst-nightmare scenario," said Dan Kukat, president of the Whale Watch Operators Association. He met Tuesday with Fisheries and Oceans Canada officials to file a complaint over the use of sonar.
The sonar blasts, which could be heard above water, are also being blamed for unusual behaviour in porpoises and a minke whale.
The incident took place Monday in Haro Strait which separates San Juan Island from southern Vancouver Island.
Worries about the impact of sonar on whales, who rely on underwater sound for navigation, finding food and communication, is a growing issue in the wake of strandings in various parts of the world.
Worry about sonar tops the agenda for Lance Barrett-Lennard, senior marine mammal scientist at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre. "In terms of an immediate new and very dangerous issue, it is front and foremost."
The question, said Anna Hall, who leads whale-watching tours for Victoria's Prince of Whales, is whether humans want to have an environment that's good for whales. "Everyone has to co-operate and participate or there's really not much point."
The Whale Watch Operators Association has a lengthy set of rules governing behaviour of member whale-watching companies in the U.S. and Canada to minimize impact on whales.
"We are very concerned about it and are looking into it from every aspect," including environmental, said Karen Sellers, a public affairs officer with the U.S. navy in Seattle. She could not immediately say what type of sonar the USS Shoup was using or why it was used.
John Ford, marine mammal scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, said it is difficult to assess the impact of the sonar used by the USS Shoup, but there is definitely cause for concern.
Different types of sonar can affect whales differently. Studies indicate that low-frequency active sonar can cause strandings.
The USS Shoup, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, turned off its sonar when contacted by the Canadian Coast Guard. The warship was on its way to the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental Test Range at Nanoose Bay.
Ken Balcomb, head of the Center for Whale Research at Friday Harbor in Washington state, was watching the J pod, part of the endangered southern resident population of 84 animals, on Monday afternoon. He heard the sonar on hydrophones, which pick up underwater sounds. "They got into a tight group and hugged closely along the shore."
The pod of about 20 then split up and the whales changed direction a number of times and appeared to be stressed, he said.
"They were very undecided-looking and somewhat agitated in their behaviour. The Minke whale we saw at the same time was just streaking away from here."
Porpoises raced through the water away from the sound, he said.
So far, no whales or porpoises have been reported stranded, but that remains a possibility, Balcomb said Tuesday. He described the sonar sound as "intense."
It could possibly "deafen or damage some of the individuals, especially the young ones," he said. J pod has two new calves, a cause for celebration among whale advocates.
Balcomb is attending a workshop today with the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service in Seattle to discuss the impact of vessel noise and interference on whales. The USS Shoup incident will be on the table. "This is the clearest example of any that I have ever seen."
Anna Hall said the sonar was so loud she could hear it without hydrophones.
Hall took tours out twice Monday. After hydrophones were put in the water off the west side of San Juan Island late morning, she heard a high-pitched, pulsing "boing" sound coming about 60 seconds apart. The second trip mid-day in the same area found killer whales bunched close to shore, changing direction as Balcomb described.
That time, the sounds were louder and repeated more frequently. They increased as the U.S. warship came closer and stopped when it passed by, she said.
"It was extremely bothersome. I can not imagine what it was like in the water."
There are no rules governing the use of sonar in that area, Canadian navy spokesman Gerry Pash said. The practice at the Nanoose range is to turn off sonar when marine mammals are present.
Sonar is used to detect underwater objects by sending out pulses of sound.
Thursday, April 17, 2003
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
The population of endangered southern-resident killer whales off the coasts of Vancouver Island and Washington state is increasing slightly, a Canadian scientist says.
Five calves have been born since last summer and one died, leaving the population at a still-precarious 84 orcas, said John Ford, senior marine mammal scientist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, B.C.
"I don't know if it is a record or not," Ford said Monday, "but it is a big jump after the last couple of years anyway. It does give cause for encouragement."
Usually one to two calves are born to the southern residents in a year. Even a few more offspring can make a big difference, Ford said, "but it may not represent the long term."
Killer whales usually mate in the summer and have a 16- to 17-month gestation period. The calves, typically born in the winter, have a mortality rate of about 40 percent.
More calves may be counted because two of the three pods are not nearby and are expected to appear in the area next month.
The L pod appeared in California's Monterey Bay last month and has yet to return north. The J pod was off Parksville, northwest of Nanaimo, in early March.
16 March 2003
This is big news regarding our resident orca whales.
March 16
An astounding report this morning from the Center for Whale Research - for the second known time in history, members of L pod (and maybe K) have once again been recorded in Monterey Bay, California taking a Spring Break! A photo confirms the presence of male L71, with a pod of 30+ whales.
On January 29, 2000, 33 members of L pod (including L71) and 12 members of K pod were photographed and identified in Monterey Bay for the first time, representing the furthest travel record of Southern Resident Orcas in the history of the Center For Whale Research's study.
It is not known whether this is a typical travel pattern for them, and they just had never been seen or photographed in the past; or whether this is a new thing for them. The winter travels of the Southern Resident Community have remained one of the mysteries of this population, and reports such as these provide important information for researchers trying to help this orca population.
We received a report of a pod of orcas, reported as Transients, off Pt. Reyes on March 8th - we'll see if we can obtain any additional information or photos in case they were actually some of our Southern Residents on their way south....stay tuned for more information on this exciting news!
10 March 2003
Here's a couple of news stories that might be of interest to you. The first is regarding a new born to J pod. The is the fourth reported new born but one is missng. In any event there appears to be somewhat of a baby boom going on with our residents.
The second story is about the transient orcas that have been feeding on seal and sea lions most of the winter in the Hood Canal.
Researchers have confirmed that Oreo, or J-22, had a new calf--probably in December. The baby's gender has not been determined. This makes the second calf for 18-year-old Oreo, who bore DoubleStuf (J-34) in 1997.The new calf won't be named or available in the Orca Adoption Program for a year, as the mortality rate for orca babies is high.
Transient orcas finally leave Hood Canal
The transient orcas that spent several weeks eating seals in Washington's Hood Canal have moved on. Read about it in The Bremerton Sun.
Russian Sets up First Nature Reserve for Grey Whales
MOSCOW, February 19
The first Russian national marine wildlife reserve is to be established on the Sakhalin Shelf in 2004. The Sakhalin Shelf area is inhabited by grey whales, which are on the brink of extinction. This announcement was made yesterday at a press conference by Amirkhan Amirkhanov, the head of the Russian Natural Resources Ministry's Department for Highly Protected Natural Areas and Preserving Biodiversity. According to Amirkhanov, since 2000 the region has been subject to industrial extraction of oil by a floating platform. In recent years the negative impact this has had on the environment, including drilling waste being disposed of at sea and an increase in noise and ultrasonic rays, has caused the grey whale population to fall. Amirkhanov said that the whales cannot get enough to eat in such uncomfortable conditions and suffer from exhaustion.
Amirkhanov said that the Natural Resources Ministry is currently carrying out an environmental evaluation of the Sakhalin 1 project. It calls for minimizing the environmental damage from oil extraction and moving the drilling platform out of the limits of the grey whales' summer feeding grounds, as well as placing it as far as possible from the boundaries of the 'water pasture'. It is also planned to move the pipeline leading from the platform to the shore at least 12 nautical miles to the south. According to Amirkhanov, this is being done so that the pipeline will not run through the basin where the grey whales gather to feed.
17 February 2003
Philip Hammond
HUMPBACK whale populations are climbing by 11 per cent a year, despite a huge growth in the whale-watching business.
The whales, one of Queensland's biggest tourism drawcards, are being seen in increasing numbers as populations in the southern hemisphere continue their recovery from whaling. The whales, which are more than 12m long and weigh more than 40 tonnes when mature, are increasing at a rate estimated at just over 11 per cent a year, according to a new report.
The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service report also found there were no signs that commercial whale-watching was affecting the recovery process. Nearly 4000 humpbacks visited Queensland in the July-August birthing season in 1998. There were more than 5000 last year and whale-watchers predict 10,000 of the Antarctic visitors for 2010.
The report's author, conservation scientist Liz Vang, said the Australian population of humpbacks had responded particularly strongly to the outlawing of commercial whaling in the 1960s. The combined impact of international, national and state conservation legislation had contributed to a very healthy recovery in the Group V (Australian east coast) humpback whale population, she said.
"There are no indications that the introduction of commercial whale-watching in Queensland in 1989, as managed by the QPWS, has caused any change in the rate of recovery of this species."
It is believed that as few as 500 humpbacks took part in the east coast migration when whaling ceased, down from 34,000 in the 1930s. Although humpbacks commonly follow a migratory corridor within 5km of the coast, scientists believe there could be other routes to their Coral Sea breeding grounds, particularly along a chain of undersea mountains off the southern Queensland coast. Humpbacks have been spotted as far north as Cape Melville on Cape York, 150km north of Cooktown.
Environment Minister Dean Wells said 18 whale-watching operators in Hervey Bay and two in Moreton Bay were authorised to conduct tours. "QPWS enjoys a close working relationship with the whale-watch operators, which is critical to the successful management of whale-watching," Mr Wells said. Boats must remain at least 100m from whales, although the inquisitive mammals often swim closer.
Mr Wells said Queensland Transport had also provided jet-skiers with educational material reminding them of the "no-go" zones after an incident in July when dozens of jet-skiers harassed whales in the Moreton Bay area.QPWS rangers monitored tour companies and private boat operators to ensure they kept to the regulated distances and did not try to attract whales, swim with them or touch them.
28 Jan. 2003
Here is a great story on the Hood Canal Transients by Chris Dunagan of the Bremerton Sun:
http://www.thesunlink.com/redesign/2003-01-28/local/60381.shtml
HOOD CANAL
Whales have been identified to a 'T,' expert says
Christopher Dunagan
Sun Staff
January 28, 2003
A leading Northwest orca researcher has identified 11 of the transient whales observed in Hood Canal the past 3 1/2 weeks.
That might be all the killer whales that are present, said Graeme Ellis of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, or he might have missed one or two in photos provided by The Sun.
Ellis maintains one of the most complete photographic catalogs of Northwest transients -- a wide-ranging race of killer whales that mainly eat seals. He was able to identify several calves and juvenile orcas visiting Hood Canal. Most of the whales have a considerable history in southeastern Alaska, but they are known to move south of the U.S.-Canadian border on occasion.
Ellis spotted five members of what is called the T-73 group, including a big male with a towering dorsal fin designated T-74. T-74 is probably the son of T-73, who is at least 30 years old. Because of the uncertainty,T-74 was given his own number.
T-73 has three known offspring, who seem to be with her in Hood Canal.They are designated T-73-A, T-73-B and T-73-C, all born since 1987.
T-14 is the second big male. He is identified from notches at the base of his dorsal fin. T-14 has been seen traveling alone in Hood Canal and at other times with two females, T-123 and T-77, and their offspring.
T-123 has a calf, T-123-A, which has a nick in its fin. Ellis said he was able to identify them in the photos because he spent time studying them last year.
T-77 has two offspring, T-77-A and T-77-B. Two young whales photographed in Hood Canal fit their profile, Ellis said, but he couldn't positively identify them.
Because transients don't always stay in the same groups, it is harder to identify transients than residents, Ellis said. Residents normally stay within their own pods -- designated with a letter, such as J, K and L.
"If you see a member of J-Pod, you can say, 'The Js are here,' " he said."You can't do that with transients. They mix and match like crazy."
Ellis agrees that the seal-eating transients have probably had a heyday in Hood Canal the past three weeks.
"These animals are probably discovering a great hunting grounds," he said. "For years when seals were culled, their hunting was not that great. Now, they're finding seals who are really naive because they have not seen that many transients.
"For the whales," he added, "it's like picking grapes. They probably will hunt there until the seals get too wary or difficult to capture."
The only thing that might disturb their hunting is a growing number of boaters trying to get close to the whales, Ellis said. The transients need relative quiet for successful hunting.
Whale watchers are urged to observe the orcas from shore or keep at least 200 to 300 yards away in a boat. Boaters should turn off motors when the whales appear to be hunting along the shore.
Reach Christopher Dunagan at (360) 792-9207 or at cdunagan@thesunlink.com
Resident killer whales, which spend their summers in inland waters, are functionally a separate species from transient killer whales, which roam widely and are less tied to the seasons.
HEALTH RISK:High toxin levels found in whale meat
Along with PCBs, the health ministry says 10% of whale meat is mislabeled. Chances are, next time you eat whale meat it is loaded with toxins.
The health ministry studied several varieties of whale meat and found many samples contain unacceptable levels of toxic chemicals, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and methyl mercury. The poisonous substances were mostly detected in fat and muscle samples from five Baird's beaked whales captured off the northern Sanriku region and in the Sea of Okhotsk.
The ministry's research group detected PCB levels of between 5 and 11 parts per million (ppm) in the fat of five Baird's beaked whales and methyl mercury levels of between 0.37 and 1.3 ppm in the whales' muscles. Health ministry standards set in 1972-73 state a provisional limit of 0.5 ppm for PCBs and 0.3 ppm for methyl mercury in seafood. Levels of PCBs and methyl mercury in fat and muscle samples from minke whales caught in the Antarctic Ocean-which constitute the bulk of whale meat on the market-were within the standards, however. "People are unlikely to eat whale meat every day, so there is little reason for concern,'' a ministry official said. "Some caution is called for, however, because the levels are high in some types of whale.''
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare researchers tested levels of PCBs and methyl mercury in the muscles, fat and internal organs of seven types of whale whose capture is permitted under international law and those captured for research purposes. The survey also found about 10 percent of whale meat on the market is mislabeled. In some cases, meat from Baird's beaked whale was labeled as that from minke whale. Health ministry officials will join hands with the fisheries agency to order the industry to label whale products correctly.
(IHT/Asahi:January 18,2003)
AFP
Jan. 17 - Iceland's Prime Minister David Oddsson said Friday that his country would follow Japan in launching controversial "research whaling" to make the best use of marine resources. Oddsson, who arrived here last Monday on a week-long visit, made the remarks when he met with his Japanese counterpart Junichiro Koizumi, according to an official Japanese briefing. Koizumi told Oddsson that "emotional debates" prevailed at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) with regard to Japan's "research whaling," according to a Japanese official.
Japan stopped commercial whaling in line with a 1986 IWC moratorium but has been hunting whales since 1987 for what it calls research purposes to gather scientific data to back its claims that whale populations are robust. But ecologists worldwide, including the environmental watchdog Greenpeace, have condemned the research program as a disguise to continue whaling in defiance of the moratorium. "Japan has always said that scientific research is necessary but emotional debates prevail (at the IWC)," Koizumi was quoted by the official as saying. Oddsson replied that it is necessary to "effectively utilize marine resources through scientific methods," the official said. Oddsson added that Iceland "wants to undertake research whaling in a scientific manner," according to the official.
Iceland withdrew from the IWC in 1992 but it was readmitted to the commission last October. The country is reportedly aiming to start hunting whales for commercial purposes, possibly in 2006. In November, a five-vessel Japanese whaling fleet set out on a six-month expedition to the Antarctic Ocean to hunt up to 440 minke whales on the country's latest research whaling mission. At a convention in the Japanese city of Shimonoseki in May last year, the IWC upheld the moratorium with support from such major maritime nations as the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Keiko Could Return to the Wild in February
AFP
Jan. 16 - Keiko, the killer whale star of the "Free Willy" movies, could make his final break with humans and return to the wild in February, his chief handler said. "We're hoping that the herring will come as usual to spawn on the Norwegian coast at the end of February because they are usually followed by the killer whales who eat them," handler Colin Baird told AFP. "Keiko will be presented with a choice - either he follows the other killer whales or he stays," he said.
After spending 22 years in captivity, Keiko was transferred from the United States to Iceland in 1998 to begin a program to help him readapt to life in the wild. When he was released in Iceland, the orca swam 870 miles (1,400 kilometers) and settled in a fjord in Norway - paradoxically the only country in the world that defies an international ban on commercial whaling. Debate raged after his arrival in Norway, with fish farmers arguing he was scaring their salmon to death while the tourism industry saw his presence as a boon. Yet others said Keiko's re-adaptation to life in the wild would be jeopardized by the large number of tourists visiting the fjord.
Some Norwegian experts have suggested Keiko will never be able to re-adapt to the wild despite a four-year program that has cost around $20 million and have said he should either be returned to captivity or killed. Keiko has remained largely dependent on his team of "guardian angels", who follow his every move in the wild and often feed him the 110 pounds (50 kilograms) of fish that he requires each day.
"We don't know what he is going to do. He has certainly surprised us a lot along the way, including when he decided to cross the Atlantic Ocean feeding himself on his own," Baird said.
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