Shades of Black and White

I've attended the last three bi-annual American Cetacean Society Conferences, and at each event, someone gives a talk about diversity in orca and that we can expect to see sub-species, if not "new" species anytime soon, due to strong genetic differences.

Well, of course "anytime soon" in the scientific community may not be in my lifetime! But it certainly is interesting to see that the more we look at killer whales, the less we find we know.

It's certainly in my lifetime (since the 1970's), however, that we've learned of three distinct ecotypes:

Residents - salmon specialists in the Pacific Northwest
Transients - mammal specialists
Offshores - the least understood, but thought to feed on fish and specialize in sharks

The residents found off Washington and Vancouver Island are the most studied in the world, but turns out that they might also be somewhat unique. Ingrid Visser's work in New Zealand suggests that the whales there appear to be neither resident or transient, in the way that we've come to know the ecotypes of the U.S. west coast. More secrets to be uncovered there for sure!

It's now known there are three different variations of orca in Antarctica, each with different specializations of prey type and habitat preference and a fourth found in the sub Antarctic which appears to be different again. These whales even look different from the northern hemisphere cousins. Different size eye patch, and even a different (but subtly so) body shape.

Closer to home in the North East Atlantic, it's been established that there are two types of killer whales, both focusing on different prey types. It surely has to be the amazing adaptability to prey types and ecosystems that makes the killer whale the most successful marine mammal on the planet.

It's fascinating to watch this research unfold and learn more about the true diversity among the seemingly similar black and white mammals. I hope also, that it can lead to more protections, as each group can be recognized as distinct, as the southern resident population was, resulting in a listing under the ESA in 2005.

Contaminated Oceans (and Orca)

Killer whales in the North East Pacific are the most contaminated marine mammals in the world, so says Peter Ross, scientist for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada (DFO).

I don't know what concerned me most when I heard Peter speak recently. His testimony, or the fact that his position is to phased out. Who will speak on behalf of the orca on this crucial matter when he cannot?

Here are some of the horrific facts from Peter's presentation:

• There are 88,000 chemicals on the Canadian market.
• By way of small-scale spills, Puget Sound experiences the equivalent of 4 Exxon Valdez spills per year
• DDT in the form of DDE still persists in the marine environment
• PCBs are the bigger threat to killer whales, due to the way they mimic hormones. In a necropsy they were associated with 11 different hormone receptors, including estrogen and thyroid.
• Salmon - the food of choice of the southern residents, bring persistent organic pollutants (POP) from the open ocean

There were some good indicators also, however, in that levels are dropping for concentrations of PCBs, DDT and PBDE (flame retardant - thanks to the ban in 2004).

PCB levels in harbor seals are down ten fold, which is good news for the transients who venture into Puget Sound for a meal, where harbor seals are storing the highest known levels of PCB.

Killer whales, proposed Peter, are sentinels of global pollution. A giant black and white canary in the coal mine (he didn't say that, I did!) 

Chemical regulations are based on the impact on short living species, and not long-lived, like ourselves and orca. One wonders why the low bar when a third of the world relies on the ocean as the sole source of protein.

Marine Ecotourism

I've long been an advocate for seeing animals in nature, whenever possible, but on my trip to see the orca this summer, I was shocked to see the amount of marine traffic - from ferries, to cruise ships, fishers to pleasure cruisers--the Salish Sea thrummed with the sound of engines. And that's above water, with my limited human hearing.

Below the waves, the cacophony of sound seems overwhelming when heard via the "Orcasound" hydrophone network, I can't even imagine what that constant clanging, throbbing and humming is like for an animal that relies totally on the feedback sounds from it's watery environment.

This year's ACS program has a component focused on the impacts of marine ecotourism - not just noise pollution, but also the physical presence of boats and the potential to impact behavior.

Many years ago, on a safari trip to Kenya, I was dismayed to find all of the tourist buses completely surrounding a mother and her cheetah cubs. There was quite simply no way out for them, and as the only feline diurnal hunters, biologists quickly became concerned that their hunting was being severely disturbed and contributing to their decline. Sitting out on the water, I could sense a similar danger for the orca.

Some of disturbing factoids presented:

• In the Puget Sound/Salish Sea, marine ecotourism is a $50 billion dollar industry, creating a million jobs and opportunities for 121 million participants.
• In the Salish Sea, there are 75 licensed operators, generating $5.7 million in ticket sales from 350,000 "spectators" and yet only two of these companies donate to Sound Watch or Strait Watch, to provide public education and awareness for the whales of which they profit
• Between May and October - peak viewing for the "resident" orca, the boats are out with the whales 12 out of 24 hours a day, with an average of 14-20 boats at a time.
• There are 100 recorded violations of the "Be Whale Wise" guidelines (I failed to note whether this is daily or not, but I have a feeling it is, given the amount of boat traffic - many personal recreational boat users who are simply not aware that there are rules of the road when it comes to marine mammals there's a 100 meter exclusion zone in Canada, 200 meters in the US....
• Daytime resting for orca is down from 25% to less than 7%
• There are toxic impacts from boat exhausts - diesel is a particularly bad substance as toxins bind to it
• The "summer fog" (marine inversion layer) traps pollutants also

When one considers on top of all of this, the stressors of warming oceans, shifting prey sources, declining Chinook salmon, it seems our desire to see the orca in their natural habitat may also be adding stress to their lifestyle.

I don't ever want to see orca (or other cetacea) in captivity again, and yet I feel a need to see them in the wild. I will try to do my part by spotting from land, following alerts and other people's photos. But I know that now and then, I really want a chance to be on the water and hearing up close and personal the exhalation. I will find the companies that are doing their part to be whale wise and find out who is giving back.

Whales and the Navy

I will always remember Ken Balcomb's moving testimony of watching orca flee in the wake of what later was confirmed as naval sonar testing. The necropsy's of orcas who seemingly died in the aftermath of this event, were found to have severe trauma to their sensitive sound system, with details too graphic to repeat here.

At the ACS conference this year, I heard about the ongoing litigation with NRDC to prevent this type of tragedy from recurring.

Sadly, as always, the military it seems will prevail. Able to ride roughshod over the laws it's own Congress creates--Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) for one!

Here's a brief history of NRDC's actions against the behemoth to date:

NRDC v. Winter 2007

Sonar exercises planned for 2007-2009 in southern California waters - here the Navy sought, and was granted, exemption from the MMPA from the Bush Whitehouse CEQ (Council of Environmental Quality). It was questioned, but never clarified whether CEQ ever even had the authority to issue such an exemption!

Currently litigating in Florida and Georgia and in appeal at the 11th Circuit, over a 2010 decision to not uphold a critical habitat designation for North Atlantic right whales in their only known calving grounds!

Go to the NRDC website to learn more and to take action

ACS 2012 Conference - Orca Central!

I've been fortunate to attend the last two American Cetacean Society Conferences. They're a great way to keep up-to-date with new research in the world of cetaceans. There's usually one session specifically relating to orca. This year, there are four! As well as several other sessions that no doubt will pertain to orcas - navy sonar, whale watching disturbances as well as others. Though, like the conference theme for this year, I can't help feeling conflicted. These sessions are really about our negative interactions with the whales, or their environment. It's ironic also that the venue is next to SeaWorld who is receiving attention right now with one of their whales apparently in a conflicted relationship. Those are some hard-to-look at images.

With so much information to be gleaned from this year's conference, it might be time to try my hand (or a couple of fingers) at conference tweeting! Blog worthy for sure.

Check out the Conference Schedule.

Morgan

It was heartening at the recent BLUE ocean film festival to see conference delegates attaching FREE MORGAN decals to their name badges.

At one of the sessions, Jean-Michel Cousteau declared he would be at the hearing on November 1, and stated, "We need to get off our ass and campaign as far as we can, with as many people as we can, to convince the Judges. . .” Hard to argue with that rhetoric, really :)

Morgan has her own Facebook page. Let's face it, right now, separated from her family, she needs all the friends she can get. You can show your support, donate, or if you live in Europe, perhaps consider attending the November 1 hearing.

Morgan: the story

Separated, somehow from her Norwegian family, hungry and alone, humans in the Netherlands sought to intervene. They applied for a permit to rehabilitate the youngster, and return her to her family. Then they broke the promise they made to her, and now she's in a theme park, being trained to entertain. On November 1, a hearing will be held to hear her case - investigate the rules broken by keeping her in captivity, transporting her from Amsterdam to Tenerife and the judge's previous ruling that this was all permissible under the law (on who's planet?)

Detractors will claim that "Free Willy" doesn't work, but that's simply not true. Keiko, the whale who captured everyone's hearts swam in the wild for many years before succumbing to pneumonia. More recently, Springer, found in very similar circumstances to Morgan was successfully returned to her family and was seen this summer off the coast of British Columbia according to the dedicated folks at Orca Lab.

Swimming with Orca

I had the privilege of meeting Ingrid at the BLUE Ocean Film Festival this week. I was truly inspired by her determination to work with New Zealand orca, and after reading her book, even more impressed with her tenacity and spirit.

If you ever had any doubt that you can't follow your passion and make it your work, this is a book for you. I'm going to keep it on my nightstand as a daily reminder that hard work and perseverance and dogged determination can win the day. The Orca Research Trust is an amazing accomplishment, not to mention getting this orca recognized as under threat. I'm sure I'll return to Ingrid's work many, many times.