Orcas In Our Midst - Orca Network

More documents

Recommendations

Info

conditions during peak runs, but even in these bountifulyears some weeks and possibly months go by with veryslim pickings between hatchery runs, leaving the whaleswithout sufficient food for long periods.Lack of food causes whales to draw from the energycontained in their insulating blubber to survive. When theirblubber layers are partly consumed due to starvation, thebioaccumulated toxic chemicals such as polychlorinatedbiphenyls (PCBs) that have built up in the blubber areflushed into the whales’ bloodstreams. There they mimicand displace normal hormones, reducing the body’s immunityto infection and disease and disrupting reproductiveand neurological systems. It is this double-whammy effectof malnourishment compounded by toxic contaminationthat likely led to many (we’ll never know how many) of thedeaths of 32 Southern Resident whales from 1995 through2000, based on data from the Center for Whale Research.PCBs are chemicals once used for electrical insulationthat were discarded in massive quantities into landfills, lagoonsand tidelands in Puget Sound from the 1940s to theearly 80s. Disposal records were not kept because we simplydid not know that dumping PCBs was a harmfulpractice. Though not produced in North America since1978, PCBs still seep out of Puget Sound sediments andare still produced in Asia, ending up in North America viaair and sea currents. The toxic molecules attach to cell wallsand fatty tissues of every living thing from algae to humans.12Total population of the Southern Residentorca community from 1976 to 2004.All data courtesy of the Center for Whale Research.PCB molecules attach to lipids (fat cells) found in all plantsand animals. When organisms are eaten, the PCBs lodgein the new host. Long-lived animals at the top of the foodweb accumulate PCBs from the food they eat their entirelives. Female orcas transfer much of their PCB load to theiroffspring in the womb and through their milk.Other persistent chemicals, pesticides, and heavy metalslike lead and mercury, also do their damage when releasedin the blood of hungry whales. In addition, residentorcas may turn to eating bottomfish such as halibut or flounder,which are believed to contain even larger amounts oftoxins than salmon because they forage off sediments wherethe pollutants are found in greatest concentrations.There are nearly 500 hot spots stillleaching poisons into Puget Sound and LakeWashington.Extremely dangerous levels tend to buildup over the years in long-lived mammals likeorcas. Females dispense up to 90% of theircontaminants to their firstborn calf as it beginslife in the womb, then directly into thebabies’ mouths in their high-fat milk. Thosebabies are hit with enormous poisonousloads just as their organs are in the initialstages of development, when they are mostsusceptible to hormone disruption. SouthernResident orcas now in their 30s and 40s,who should be in the reproductive prime oftheir lives, were exposed to enormous quantitiesof toxins from birth, and may havebeen permanently harmed.When they find enough to eat not onlyare the orcas healthier, they also tend to travel
The Center for Whale ResearchUNTIL 1973 NO ONE KNEW how many orcaslived here, how long they lived or if they traveledin cohesive groups. That year the Canadian governmentasked biologist Mike Bigg to find out howmany orcas were in these waters and whether theycould sustain continued captures for marine parks.Bigg enlisted public support for his survey andarrived at an amazingly accurate count of around300 in total, from northern Vancouver Island tothe Strait of Juan de Fuca.At that time the distinctions between orca communitieswere unknown. Using the whales’ “saddlepatch” and dorsal fin like a fingerprint to identifyeach one, Bigg gave each a scientific notation forfuture reference. He began in northern BC waters,calling the first pod he found “A pod,” and addeda number for each orca in the pod. When hemoved south he was at “J” in the alphabet. Hence,we now have J, K and L pods in the SouthernResident community.In 1976 the National Marine Fisheries Servicecontracted biologist Ken Balcomb to survey thewhales on the US side. Under the name “OrcaSurvey” Balcomb confirmed that a small population,then just 71 individuals, used these waters,and that almost half of the population had alreadybeen removed for marine parks. The captureswere halted that year as a result of a court settlementagainst Sea World, and in SeptemberThe Center for Whale Research, San Juan Island.Balcomb’s contract with NMFS ended.Balcomb realized that to begin to understandanything about these whales the survey wouldneed to continue for many years, in fact forgenerations. So he continued the field research,and in the early 1980s Balcomb founded thenonprofit Center for Whale Research to overseeOrca Survey and other whale research projects.Dedication to scientific methods, photographicskills, endless boat maintenance and sheer perseverancehave resulted in the annual documentation ofKen Balcomb, founder and director of the Center forWhale Research, documenting orcas in Haro Strait.each orca in the Southern Resident community since1976. Balcomb and hundreds of dedicated volunteersover the years have recorded vital statistics,associations and a wide range of weather and seaconditions, boat traffic and numerous other factorsthat might help us learn about the whales. Since1987 a yearly influx of Earthwatch volunteers hasassisted with the research, including field work,analysis, data entry and financial support.In virtually every episode in the ongoing story ofthe Southern Resident orcas, as their numbers havefluctuated and the public’s involvement in theirwelfare has grown, the Center has played anessential role in our understanding of what’s goingon. Birth and death rates, longevity, age at maturity,lifetime maternal bonding and patterns ofhabitat use would be poorly understood withoutthe Center’s non-intrusive documentation over thedecades. The alarming mortality rates of the late1990s would not have been documented, and therewould be little public response to address thewhales’ problems, without the comprehensivesurveys and analysis conducted annually by theCenter for Whale Research.For more, go to: www.whaleresearch.com orwww.earthwatch.org/e.earthwatch.org/expeditions/balcomb.html.13
Page 2 and 3: Salish Sea Watershed and Columbia B
Page 4 and 5: J1, at over 50 years old, swims in
Page 6 and 7: ORCAS OF THE SALISH SEA must posses
Page 8 and 9: 50 MILLION YEARS AGO the ancient an
Page 11 and 12: The distinctive saddle patch “fin
Page 13: Columbia and Snake River SalmonA Tr
Page 17 and 18: Male sideview.Maleventralview.Femal
Page 19 and 20: Immersed in SoundALL ANIMALS MUST U
Page 21 and 22: As the steep decline in Southern Re
Page 23 and 24: August 11, 2004I picked up the T18
Page 25 and 26: Hood Canal dead zone growsONCE A TH
Page 27 and 28: Pacific Salmon and Wildlife:Ecologi
Page 29 and 30: • Reduce the harm from stormwater
Page 31 and 32: “Trees for Streams” Project:A S
Page 33 and 34: Orcas sometimes show surprising cur
Page 35 and 36: 32Orca Network Whale Sighting Netwo

Orcas In Our Midst - Orca Network

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?