EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

eulachon, Pacific cod, walleye pollock, saffron cod and yellowfin sole; (3) Waters free of toxins
or other harmful agents; (4) Unrestricted passage within or between the critical habitat areas; and
(5) An absence of in-water noise levels that result in the abandonment of habitat by Cook Inlet
beluga whales.
Southern Resident Killer Whale
The SRKW has been listed as endangered under the ESA since November 18, 2005 (70 FR
69903); critical habitat for this species was designated on November 29, 2006 (71 FR 69054). In
April 2004, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) designated killer whales
in Washington State as a “State endangered species” (WAC 232-12-297). SRKWs are also
protected by the MMPA and Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA).
The Southern Resident killer whale (Orcinus orca) is a toothed whale and is the largest member
of the dolphin family. Based on genetic research, it is believed that multiple subspecies of killer
whales exist worldwide (Krahn et al. 2002, Waples and Clapham 2004, Jefferson et al. 2008).
Resident killer whales in the Northeast Pacific are distributed from Alaska to California, with
four distinct communities recognized: southern, northern, southern and western Alaska (Krahn et
al. 2002, Krahn et al. 2004). The SRKW occurs in the northeastern Pacific Ocean along the west
coasts of the U.S. and Canada. Resident whales exhibit advanced vocal communication and live
in highly stable social matriarchal groupings called pods. They frequent a variety of marine
habitats and their range does not appear to be limited by depth, temperature or salinity (Baird
2000).
The SRKW species consists of three pods, designated J, K and L, that reside for part of the year
in the inland waterways of Washington State and British Columbia (Strait of Georgia, Strait of
Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound), principally during the late spring, summer and fall (Bigg 1982,
Ford et al. 2000, Krahn et al. 2002). Pods have visited coastal sites off Washington and
Vancouver Island (Ford et al. 2000) and are known to travel as far south as central California and
as far north as the Queen Charlotte Islands off British Columbia. The locations of SRKWs in the
late fall, winter and early spring are less well known.
Parsons (2009) noted that members of different pods interact, but members generally remain
within their matrilinear group. Interaction between pods has increased over the past two decades
and may be the result of a common response among pods to the stress of a declining population
(Parsons et al. 2009). The rate of intrapod interaction was lowest within L pod, which is the
largest of the SRKW pods (Parsons et al. 2009).
Male SRKWs become sexually mature at a mean age of approximately 15 years and are thought
to remain sexually active throughout their adult lives (Christensen et al. 1984, Perrin and Reilly
1984, Duffield and Miller 1988, Olesiuk et al. 1990). Females first give birth at a mean age of
approximately 14.9 years and produce an average of approximately 5.4 surviving calves over a
reproductive life span of about 25 years (Olesiuk et al. 1990, Matkin et al. 2003). Gestation
periods, as observed in captive killer whales, average around 17 months (Asper et al. 1988,
Walker et al. 1988, Duffield et al. 1995). The mean interval between viable calve births is four
years (Bain 1990). Older mothers tend to have greater calving success, and they appear to be
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