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December 18, 2005: Fate of Puget Sound's orcas hangs in the balance

International

Fate of Puget Sound's orcas hangs in the balance

Sunday, December 18, 2005

KATIE N. JOHANNES

THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

On a clear morning, Peter Hamilton drifts in his boat off Point Roberts, watching the J Pod orcas roll by, their tall black fins arcing like the spokes of a wheel through the smooth water.

A baby separates from the group and sidles up to the 18-foot powerboat. Hamilton can see the whale's eye just below the surface.

After a brief investigation, the whale exhales through its blowhole with a whoosh and swims off to join its family.

"Usually the mom and aunts are very protective," says Hamilton as he describes that day about five years ago. "They keep tightly around the babies when they're traveling."

The rare moment of trust between the orcas and Hamilton, a mostly self-taught biologist from Vancouver, B.C., is made more special by official recognition of the animals' plight. On Nov. 15, the Puget Sound area's southern resident killer whales were added to the federal endangered species list.

Researchers estimate that as many as 100 orcas used to ply the inland waters south of Vancouver Island looking for now-threatened chinook salmon, their dietary mainstay. But by 1976, the population dropped to 68 after years of marine park captures killed at least 13 whales, according to the Center for Whale Research.

Lolita is the last surviving orca of about 45 southern resident whales captured. She lives at the Miami (Fla.) Seaquarium.

The 2005 population count is back up to 90 whales, according to the center, but the condition of their environment may hinder their chances for survival.

NORTHWEST SYMBOLS

From Native American lore and art to gift-shop coffee mugs and T-shirts, images of orcas are everywhere in the Pacific Northwest, illustrating a fascination with the toothy, black-and-white mammal.

"To see them - they are beautiful and graceful to look at," says Bob Lohn, the northwest regional administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service. "They are creatures that in some way we can identify with because they have language, curiosity, feelings, intelligence."

And they are mysterious.

Little is known about where the southern resident orcas spend their winters or how they breed, Lohn says. The endangered listing should help funnel more money into much-needed studies.

But researchers do know that the southern resident population travels in three family groups, the J, K and L pods. During summer months, the orcas can be seen in Haro Strait off the west coast of San Juan Island, in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and in the Georgia Strait near the Fraser River.

Their frequent trips past Point Roberts prompted Hamilton to establish an orca viewing and information center there.

And while most whale watching tour companies shut down in October, Anacortes-based Island Adventures Inc. continues to run on a limited schedule out of Seattle through winter because tour operators know they can find J Pod whales between Tacoma and Everett.

As Lohn explains why people may be drawn to the whales, he has to stop himself from making them too human. He steers his description toward a similarity to dogs or horses.

"Once you've heard them, it's hard not to recognize them as a creature with emotions who is expressing them," he says.

Seeing orcas is different than looking at fish, he says.

"Fish are cold-blooded. They live in an eat-or-be-eaten world," Lohn says. "I can admire their beauty, but I'm not interested in their close social relationships."

Hamilton, who lives in Vancouver, B.C., and is the founder of the animal advocacy group Lifeforce Foundation, says individual humans and entire nations could learn lessons from the whales' relationships.

"These guys live together every day in a cohesive manner."

MAKING THE LIST

It wasn't a single dramatic change that led to the southern resident orcas' status as an endangered species.

Orcas can be found around the world, and their combined population is considered healthy.

And federal law already protects the whales. The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act bars people from harming, harassing or capturing them.

What finally landed the southern residents on the endangered species list was the recent conclusion that they are different - their diet, territory and family units are distinct from even their close neighbors, the northern residents in Canada.

Other orcas, called transients, might come into resident whale territory, but they don't stick around for long, Lohn says. They often will enter Puget Sound while chasing a sea otter or sea lion meal. Those creatures aren't on the menu for the salmon-chomping resident whales.

Researchers also have learned that the resident whales have a unique language of chirps, squeals and whines, and even specific dialects within the individual pods. Southern residents are believed to return to the Puget Sound area every year because they are wired to follow local runs of threatened chinook salmon.

That uniqueness brings into sharp focus the precarious situation of the orcas, says Lohn. Once they're gone, other orcas won't take their place.

SAVING THE WHALES

Because the Puget Sound orcas already were protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Lohn says the rules related to direct human interaction with whales would remain the same.

But the Endangered Species Act adds layers of protection by trying to improve everything the whales depend on for survival, Lohn says.

There are at least three official areas of concern: a dwindling supply of salmon for food; contaminants accumulating in whale blubber; and boats and ships physically interfering with whales and disturbing them with engine noise.

Hamilton adds that even research intended to help the whales might take a toll, causing undue stress to whales by pursuing them all day in boats.

"Hopefully (research) is done humanely," he says. "How much data do you have to know?"

Hamilton also cautions against overlooking the fallout of a potential oil spill.

The deaths of 11 orcas from an Alaska pod - about half its members - have been blamed on the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill that dumped at least 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound.

"One incident like a major oil spill could wipe them out entirely," Hamilton says.

Even though he's dedicated his life to understanding the southern resident orcas and educating people about how to appreciate them without harming them, Hamilton can't help but paint a grim picture of their future.

"When the numbers are this low, it doesn't look good," he says. "I think it's very sad that humans created all these problems that have led numerous species to the point of extinction."

ABOUT ORCAS

• Killer whales, or orcas, are black with white patches above the eyes, under the jaw and on their bellies.

• Each orca has a unique "saddle patch," a gray area below the dorsal fin, that allows humans to identify them.

• Males can reach lengths of more than 30 feet and weight 18,000 pounds. Their lifespan is about 30 to 50 years.

• Females generally are smaller with a typical lifespan of 50 to 80 years.

• Like humans, they don't start breeding until their mid-teens, and they can continue to reproduce into their 40s.

• J, K and L pods are the three family groups that make up the southern resident clan often seen in waters off Whatcom County.

• Pods are organized around the oldest female that gives guidance and structure to the group.

• Orcas are classified as three types: Offshore orcas that feed primarily on deep-sea fish; transient orcas that feed on sea lions and seals; and resident orcas that, in the case of the southern residents, feed on chinook salmon.

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