EPA's Vessel General Permit and Small Vessel General

as other Chinook salmon populations on the Pacific Coast. Because of this contamination, the
Washington State Department of Health has issued consumption advisories for Puget Sound
Chinook (Puget Sound Action Team, 2007). Nevertheless, between 2000 and 2006, counties in
Puget Sound counties increased by 315,965 people or by more than 50,000 people per year, with
associated increases in impervious surfaces and population density per square mile of impervious
surface (Puget Sound Action Team, 2007).
Pollutants founds in Puget Sound Chinook salmon have found their way into the food chain of
the Sound. Harbor seals in southern Puget Sound, which feed on Chinook salmon, have PCB
levels that are seven times greater than those found in harbor seals from the Georgia Basin.
Concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ether (also known as PBDE, a product of flame
retardants that are used in household products like fabrics, furniture, and electronics) in seals
have increased from less than 50 parts per billion in fatty tissue to more than 1,000 ppb over the
past 20 years (Puget Sound Action Team, 2007).
Water quality appears poised to have larger-scale effects on the marine ecosystem of the Puget
Sound Georgia Basin as evidenced by the intensity and persistence of water stratification in the
basin. Historically, Puget Sound was thought to have an unlimited ability to assimilate waste
from cities, farms and industries in the region and decisions about human occupation of the
landscape were based on that belief. More recent data suggests that the marine ecosystems of the
basin have a much more limited ability to assimilate pollution, particularly in areas such as Hood
Canal, south Puget Sound, inner Whidbey basin and the central Georgia Basin. In these areas, as
strong stratification has developed and persisted, the respective water quality has steadily
decreased. As waters become more stratified, through weather, climate or circulation changes,
they become even more limited in their ability to assimilate pollution.
The presence of high levels of persistent organic pollutants, such as PCB, DDT, and flame–
retardants have also been documented in southern resident killer whales (Herman et al. 2005,
Ross 2006, Ylitalo et al. 2008). Although the consequences of these pollutants on the fitness of
individual killer whales and the population itself remain unknown, in other species these
pollutants have been reported to suppress immune responses (Kakuschke and Prange 2007),
impair reproduction and exacerbate the energetic consequences of physiological stress responses
when they interact with other compounds in an animal’s tissues (Martineau 2007). Because of
their long life span, position at the top of the food chain, and their blubber stores, killer whales
would be capable of accumulating high concentrations of contaminants.
Ambient noise is background noise in the environment. Several authors have reported that
ambient noise levels in the northeast Pacific Ocean increased between the mid-1960s, the mid-
1990s and the early 2000s. Andrew et al. (2002) reported that ambient sound levels increased by
about 10 dB in the frequency ranges between 20 and 80 Hz and 200 and 300 Hz between the
period from 1963 to 1965 and 1994 to 2001. In the frequency range between 200 and 300 Hz,
ambient sound levels increased by about 3 dB. Since the 1960s, ambient noise in the 30–50 Hz
band has increased by 10–12 dB, with most of this increase resulting from changes in
commercial shipping (McDonald et al. 2006) and increases in whale song (Andrew et al. 2002).
Many researchers have described behavioral responses of marine mammals to the sounds
212