10/23/2006: "What Is Killing Off ORCA?"

The recent appearance of a new born ORCA made the evening news; followed by news that it had disappeared. This, and an awareness that three adult ORCA are missing, and now assumed to be dead, has fueled a continuing debate on the cause of the decline of the Orca, which reached an alarming loss of possibly as many as seven whales in 2005.

The DF&W (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife) believe that of the three problem areas identified by researchers and those who run the many organizations that work to protect and understand the killer whales, there are three possible sources of danger to the long term ability of the whales to increase their population levels.

One those sources of concern is the loss of food. Dr, Birgit Kriete of "ORCA" (Orca Relief Citizens Alliance) notes that of the ORCA that have died. "two of the animals had been showing signs of starvation"; and while studies of salmon populations indicate there has been an increase of stocks in the Puget Sound, Kriete believes the lack of food may be attributed to something other than loss of salmon, and more to a combination of other factors, including the second area of concern on the DF&W list: Whale watching from boats too close, and too persistent.

A F&W report stated that "southern resident whales are now followed by significant numbers of commercial and private vessels during much or all of the day". Kriete explained that "essentially, the noise and activities of whale watch boats cause the whales to swim farther, increasing their metabolism, and also makes it harder for the orcas to find dwindling salmon -- their primary food source." And adds that "This deadly combination makes it extremely difficult for orcas to find sufficient food. Consequently, the whales draw down their body fat, where toxins are stored, and, as a result, die – either of starvation or toxin".

It is the high level of toxins that is being found in the whales that is the third area of concern on the state list. Ongoing studies have found large amounts of toxics, with PCBs being one of those that can be most deadly to the whales.

There may very well be other potential causes to the ORCA decline, but whatever the final number, Kriete and others believe that while changes in cleaning up the ocean waters will take years, there are some steps we can take now, and one of the obvious ones is "We can eliminate the impact of whale watch boats TODAY - if we so choose. If we care about the orcas, we must protect them from these paparazzi on the water immediately. Let's watch orcas from shore".

DF&W agrees that the "public interest in killer whales has fueled tremendous growth in whale watching in and around the San Juan Islands during the past two decades". If Kriete and others are right that noise may be a contributing factor to a loss of food for the whales, there is some irony that an increase in public interest in the whales may be part of the -at least local- problem for the very wellbeing of the whales.