Press Releases

The State of the Orca: A Response to Questions and Criticisms
     By Mark Anderson, Chair, Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance

The original publication of this status report has led to responses directly from the Whale Watch Operators, from their paid naturalists, and from others interested in our local Orca population. This response, written for online use, contains various links and supporting studies or authorities who would not have fit into the original, which was restricted to 500 words.

While they have long demonstrated that the Whale Watch Operators will violently attack any new changes, the target audience of this status report was those islanders who are not being paid to chase whales, and therefore have no financial interest in the question of boat contribution to orca mortality.

These are the people who turned out in the largest petition signing in county history, demanding as early as 1997 that commercial businesses stop chasing our local whales. While those financially involved can continue to try to use their own ignorance of the science behind the new federal guidelines, we think the general population of San Juan County needs and deserves to know the current status of the local whales. We also hope that the proposal at the end of this report provides a win / win solution that will both reduce whale deaths, and continue to allow whale watching profits.

To further set the proper scientific tone for this report, we will mention that it is being writte n at a time when there are now over fifty scientific papers on boat / whale interactions involving resident orca, by scientists from five or more countries, all of them showing negative effects. This is written in the wake of a Puget Sound Partnership gathering of all whale biologists from the northwest, now several years ago, during which we agreed as a group that our whales were dying of starvation. (For a bibliography of many of these papers, please visit www.orcarelief.org) .

This report further comes after much of the above science was re-checked by research done by the National Marine Fisheries Service (www.nmfs.org ) whose results were delivered directly to hearing participants during a multi-year process of rulefinding, in Anacortes, Seattle and Friday Harbor. As an example, Dr. Lynne Barre, NMFS' lead scientist in this process, specifically confirmed the ability of motorized boats to blind orca sonar at 100% levels even at the distance of 200m.

In other words, we have now crossed a line of sorts: the science is done and re-done, the federal government has concluded the first phase of its rule-making process and issued new regulations, and the time for questioning any and all science is over. For those making money on whale chasing, this is going to be a difficult situation: every peer-reviewed article on the subject shows contribution to starvation by boat interactions, and the federal government agrees, and has strengthened their rules as a result. (For those wishing a video review of this issue, we strongly recommend the recent investigative report done by Channel 13 in Seattle, at http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-orcas-are-we-loving-them-to-de-112610,0,4058673.story.)

Below, I have interleaved additional supporting comments and links to help those interested in learning more about the cause of Orca deaths. (For those just interested in arguing loudly because making money is involved, your position has now been fully exposed. )

The just - completed rule-making process by the National Marine Fisheries Service has left San Juan Islanders in the current situation:

1. No one can deny that our whales have been dying of starvation. (As noted above, virtually all northwest biologists studying whales came to this agreement at a meeting in Friday Harbor Labs several years ago.)
2. No one can deny that Chinook salmon counts matter most, and that the presence of motorized whale watch boats hastens that starvation. (Low Chinook count alone does not correlate with increased whale deaths; but this plus boat presence correlates strongly, according to studies by Von Blaricom, Carlos Alvarez, and many other authors. Every study done on orca energetics and sonar confirms this, including those by Kriete, Bain, NMFS.) It is as though low Chinook count sets the stage for starvation, but boat presence, by increasing the need for fish per pound per day, while decreasing the whales' hunting efficiency - blinding their sonar - creates the "perfect storm" as a path to starvation.
3. No one can deny that these boats temporarily "blind" orca sonar, used for hunting, even at now-legal distances of up to 200m. away. (See above.)
4. No one can deny that the presence of these boats simultaneously increases their need for food. (As Kriete and others have found, boat presence increases whale metabolic rate, increases swim path distance, and increases dive times. It also appears that the pods scatter widely in the presence of boats, vs. natural swim patterns; this is effective in avoiding or dividing whale watch fleets, but likely reduces effectiveness of salmon hunting.)
5. Perhaps most politically interesting, we now have virtually all non-whalewatch orgranizations on the same side on these issues, after years of argument and waiting for science to be done. The National Marine Fisheries Service, the Whale Museum, the Friends of the San Juans, and Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance have all endorsed the new rules, and the reasons behind them; and federal, state and county government are enforcing them. (A quick review of statements issued by these organizations upon the latest NMFS rulefinding supports this concurrence of views.)

Yes, whale watch boats are directly responsible for the death of our local whales, and it is time for islanders to take this to heart. (See all, above.)

Futhermore: motorized whale watching boats, following the orca all day every day in the season, even at legal distances, will continue to harm them.

Did this rule process help the whales at all? If I took three videos of boats on the whales from our westside office before the rules, and now, I have no doubt no one could tell the difference. So, unfortunately, no. The rules remain unenforceable, and enforcement remains so rare (6 visits last year by the state) as to be ineffective.

What Islanders Don't Know

While the orca birth rate continues its robust rate, the current headcount could mislead islanders into thinking the whale population is regaining health. Rather, we have lost many prime-age breeding animals, creating a U-shaped population demographic and reducing the genetic health of the whole group. The whales appear to be on a deadly conveyor belt: the young survive, but, simply by getting bigger and needing more fish per day, they die of starvation.

In response to the population figures cited in a recent letter from the Operators Association:

Author Monika Wieland seems not fully aware of the population dynamics of local orca. There has always been a differential mortality rate among the orca, with a statistical assumption that half of all calves will die in their first 6-12 months. The death rate of prime-age whales, prior to the commercial whale watch industry (pre-1985 or so) is close to zero. So what we are concerned about is not absolute deaths, but a change in these death rates, from how they occur normally, and how they occur during one of our population crashes.

Normally, we lose half the calves, and almost none of the prime - age animals - which do all the breeding.

Because it is during crashes that this is most prevalent, one should not look for mortality effects during non-crash periods. We lost about 17% of our whales from 1997 - 2001.

Even so, her figures, when properly examined for a change in the rates of mortality, are alarming: losing 25 calves since 1998 is not alarming, historically; but losing 20 prime -age animals can be devastating to the population, and provides the explanation of the "hollowing out" of the demographic curve referred to here. Those adults ought to have survived.

Recently, K-pod had no breeding males; now all the pods seem to be only producing males.

This statement was in error, and Wieland properly points it out. It was the result my misunderstanding of a personal communication with Dr. Sam Wasser last week; Sam is co-author of a just-published paper with Michael Ford on inbreeding in our local whales. I have since contacted Sam, and the correction is that the gender problem is very real, but in reverse: the pods continue to produce almost all males. Wasser, referencing the same data cited by Wieland, believes that the male predominance is now so strong as to threaten future recruitment in K and L pods. Or, in his words, "there seems little question that K and L will probably go extinct pretty soon" as a result of this problem.

And if anyone needed a real red flag indicating an increasing threat level, the first paper proving inbreeding among Southern Residents has just been published. The Northern resident whales never breed inside their own pods, and ours didn't either - until now.

There is a solution available: finish the rulemaking project by creating a No Go Zone ONLY for Motorized Whale Watch boats, along the west side of San Juan Island. Contrary to the original, this would not apply to kayakers, anglers, commercial fishermen, or private boaters. It would give the whales a very small "buffet table" where they could eat in peace, while the whale watch companies could continue making money outside this zone.

It remains our hope that, instead of further argument, the Whale Watch Operators, or perhaps federal regulators, will see the benefits to all of a properly-designed No Go zone. Whale harassment happens in a pyramid, beginning with paid spotters and a radio and Internet communications network that virtually guarantees no free time for the whales. Once the commercial fleet is on them, all day every day of the season, private boaters see the fleet and join in. Citing subsequent data on private boater numbers and behaviors conveniently misses the point: almost all private boaters would be oblivious to the whales' presence without the commercial fleet.

By eliminating commercial operators from a west side No Go zone, the whales would be able to feed (and perhaps even rest, which they used to do daily) more effectively. The point is to reduce their starvation rate, as soon as possible. Whale watch operators could continue to make their profits per seat, and the whales might be there a few generations from now.

The idea that whale watch operators cannot bear to share the Puget Sound with the whales, in a way that actually allows the whales to avoid starving, is disturbing; we hope it is not the case.

We really think that this proposal provides an opportunity for the Whale Watch Operators' Association to take a leadership position, look good to the public who love these whales, and contribute directly to their health and reduced mortality, even as they continue to make money.

We encourage the whole island community to support this proposal as a win / win solution that will allow their grandchildren to also enjoy the presence and benefits of our resident orca.

Washington State's lucrative whale-watching industry is partly responsible for a sharp decline in the Puget Sound's Southern Resident Orca Whale population, according to a 3-part investigative series recently released by Seattle television news station Q13 Fox. Since 1998 48 members of the Southern Resident population have gone missing or died. Today it includes only 87 whales. The group, which includes J,K and L pods, was listed as an Endangered Species in 2005. In 2010 alone, six Southern Residents went missing, and are presumed dead.

Q13Fox is the first media outlet to portray the science behind what is killing the resident whales. The program includes a thorough investigation of the whale watching industry's effects on the San Juan Islands' famed Orca population, interviewing an array of whale watch operators, marine scientists and local activists. The report found that scientists have reached a strong consensus that the whales are starving to death, and that whale watching boats are contributing to their starvation.

Watch the full series at http://www.q13fox.com/news/kcpq-orcas-are-we-loving-them-to-de-112610,0,4058673.story.

Under the Endangered Species Act, it is illegal to harass or pursue animals that have been listed as threatened or endangered. However, Q13 Fox found that whale watch operators rely on a reporting network, that includes special whale spotting helicopters, to keep constant tabs on the whales' location. Operators use this information to follow Orcas throughout the Puget Sound, in order to satisfy paying customers who expect an up-close view of the whales.

The investigation, conducted by reporter Dana Rebik, also took viewers undercover on whale watch expeditions in the San Juan Islands and Victoria, Canada, where operators admitted to repeatedly violating existing distance regulations intended to protect the whales from harassment. The result is a veritable Orca paparazzi, which follows J,K and L pods from May through October-- prime feeding season.

Q13 cited one study which says that underwater boat noise can block 88-100% of a whale's sonar signals at current guideline distances, rendering the whales effectively blind at the time. When combined with depleted Chinook salmon populations, scientists believe boat noise is directly responsible for the recent spike in Orca starvation and death.

In Canada, a federal court judge ruled Tuesday that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has acted unlawfully by failing to protect the habitat of threatened and endangered Orca populations from toxic contamination and noise pollution, according to a December 7th CBC News article. No such legal action has yet been taken in the U.S.

More information is available through KCPQ TV (www.kcpq.com) , the National Marine Fisheries Service website (www.nmfs.noaa.gov), or Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance (www.orcarelief.org).

Additional reporting for this story was contributed by Jennifer Lee.

Rights to reprint are hereby granted by the Strategic News Service, with attribution.

Experts Caution More Work Ahead to Save Population

FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash., Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance applauds the National Marine Fisheries Service for today's decision to list the Southern Resident orca whale population as an Endangered Species. The three pods spend up to eight months of the year in the San Juan Islands of Washington State.

"We are encouraged that scientists understand the damage that has been done to this specific orca population, but much more work needs to be done to save these animals," says Mark Anderson, founder of Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance (ORCA).

In fact, Orca Relief has recently proposed three new ideas including Whale Weekends (giving the orcas two days off from whale-watching boats), longer days for whales (limiting whale watch viewing hours to 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.), and giving the whales more room (expanding the current 100 yard rule, to 400 yards).

"We must put these animals before tourism and tourism dollars," says Dr. Birgit Kriete, executive director of Orca Relief. "We hope increased funding will be available to protect this population," she added.

Since 1996, the southern resident population of orcas has declined by nearly 20 percent. During that same period, the number of motorized whale- watching boats in the area has increased dramatically -- reaching up to as many as 140 boats in a single day.

Harassment by marine vehicles is among the factors cited by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife as contributing to the whale population decline.

ORCA Proposes Whale Weekends
Orca Relief Citizens'Alliance Urges Whale Watch Boat Operators to Give Whales a Break

FRIDAY HARBOR, WASH. - September 30, 2005 - Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance (www.orcarelief.org) proposes three new guidelines to avoid another catastrophic population decline.

Nearly 20% of the Orca population in the San Juan Islands was lost between 1996 and 2001. During that time, the number of motorized whale-watching boats in the area increased dramatically - now reaching up to as many as 145 boats in a single day.

A series of scientific studies, done here and in Canada, demonstrate dire consequences which boats visit upon the whales - including salmon (prey) dispersal, increased metabolic rates and swimming distances (and therefore food requirements), and a marked decrease in ability to use sonar to find ever-scarcer fish.

"We are deeply concerned that all salmon runs this summer, especially Sockeye, were dramatically reduced, and that any continuation of this trend will again put our local population of orca at risk, again converting boat effects from harassment to ensuring increased mortality," says Dr. Birgit Kriete, executive director of Orca Relief Citizens Alliance (ORCA). ORCA is recommending three new measures to avoid another catastrophic population decline:

1. Whale Weekends. We are hereby asking the Whale Watch Operators' Association to reserve the two least-expensive contiguous days for no whale watching at all.

2. Shorter Days for People, Longer Days for Whales. We also ask the WWOA to back off from the dawn to dusk current operating schedule, and rather restrict trips to allow two round-trips from Victoria per day; in words, combined with half-hour viewing periods, and additional time for travel, from 10am until 2pm.

3. Give Them Room. At the current self-imposed 100 yard viewing limit (which is regularly transgressed), recent study indicates boat noise decreasing the whales' sonar efficiency by 97%. Water carries sound much better than air, and whales need an acoustically-determined distance from motors. Increase boat distance to the nearest whale to 400 yards. Yes, they'll be harder to see, but the good news is - they'll be able to eat.

Marine vehicles harassment is among the factors cited last year by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife as contributing to the whale population decline. In April, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission added the Southern Resident orcas to the list of state endangered species.

About Orca Relief Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1997, based in the San Juan Islands of Washington state. ORCA began encouraging land-based watching in 2002, after commissioning three scientific studies that showed motorized whale-watching boats may play a primary role in the decline of the southern resident Orca population. For information, visit www.orcarelief.org. Orca Relief is focused specifically on learning what may be causing Orca mortality, and in reducing this death rate. Orca Relief believes that killer whales, as the largest species of the dolphin family, represent an excellent opportunity to learn more about brains larger than ours. Orca Relief also believes that the Puget Sound populations are most likely to provide that knowledge.

Press Contact: Melissa Milburn, Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance, 206-972-9096

ORCA Applauds Decision to Place Orca Whales on Endangered Species List
Orca Relief Citizens Alliance Reminds Tourists to Watch From Shore

FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash., Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance applauds the National Marine Fisheries Service for its decision to list the Southern Resident orca whale population as "threatened" on the Endangered Species List. The three pods spend up to eight months of the year in the San Juan Islands of Washington State.

"We are encouraged the scientists are now aware of the damage that has been done to this specific orca population," says Mark Anderson, founder of Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance (ORCA).

Since 1995, the southern resident population of orcas has declined by nearly 20 percent. During that same period, the number of motorized whale- watching boats in the area has increased dramatically -- reaching up to as many as 140 boats in a single day.

The National Marine Fisheries Service had declared the Southern Residents depleted in 2002 but had rejected an earlier petition to place them on the federal endangered species list.

Harassment by marine vehicles is among the factors cited this past year by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife as contributing to the whale population decline. In April, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission added the Southern Resident orcas to the list of state endangered species.

"Everyone who loves the orcas can help these whales survive. They can respect their privacy, restore them the ability to find fish, and stay off boats." says Dr. Birgit Kriete, executive director of Orca Relief. "Land based whale watching is the only sure way to do this," she added.

Orca Relief commissioned three separate scientific studies that show motorized whale-watching boats may play a primary role in the decline of the southern resident Orca population.

Orca Relief Salutes Washington State for its Action
Harassment by boats recognized as factor in decision

SEATTLE "April 5, 2004" Orca Relief (www.orcarelief.org) commends the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission (DFW) for adding the region's orca population to the state list of endangered species. Orca Relief is a non-profit organization dedicated to reversing the population decline of the Southern Resident orcas.

"This decision is long overdue and should eliminate any questions the U.S. federal government has about including Southern Resident orca in the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Canada has already done it, the state of Washington has done it, and it's now up to the U.S. government to do it," says Mark Anderson, founder of Orca Relief. "We worked hard to help the DFW come to this decision, and we applaud their vision in assisting this endangered population."

Since 1995, the southern resident population of orcas (which spend between six and eight months of the year in the San Juan Islands) has declined by nearly 20 percent. "During that same period, the number of motorized whale-watching boats in the area has increased dramatically" reaching up to 140 boats in a single day.

Among the factors cited by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife is the harassment by marine vehicles. Orca Relief commissioned three separate scientific studies that show motorized whale-watching boats may play a primary role in the decline of the southern resident Orca population.

One of the scientific studies was conducted by Dr. Birgit Kriete, who also serves as executive director of ORCA. The Kriete study shows that the whales' energy requirements have increased by almost 20 percent for adult male killer whales compared to the years when no or very few commercial whale watch boats were in operation. This is linked to increased respiration and swimming rates, and increased boat avoidance paths, leading to higher energy requirements.

Another research study done by Dr. David Bain, University of Washington, indicates motorized boats at current guideline distances may degrade Orca sonar efficiency by 95-99 percent.

The third study, conducted by U.W. researchers Glenn VanBlaricom and Carlos Alvarez-Flores, shows a strong statistical correlation between whale population decline and boat activity.About Orca Relief

Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance (ORCA) was founded in 1997 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Orca Relief was formed to focus specifically on ascertaining the causes of Orca mortality, and in reducing this death rate. Orca Relief believes that orca, as one of the largest of the toothed whales, represent an excellent opportunity to learn more about brains larger than ours. Orca Relief also believes that the Puget Sound populations are most likely to provide that knowledge.

Press Contact: Melissa Milburn, Orca Relief, 206-972-9096

Islander Back from International Orca Conference

SEATTLE - October 23, 2002: Dr. Birgit Kriete, Executive Director of Orca Relief, a non-profit organization based in Friday Harbor, WA, whose mission is to reduce Orca mortality in the Pacific Northwest, just returned from an international killer whale conference in France.

More than 70 killer whale scientists from around the world attended the six-day conference.  They presented research specializing on acoustics, behavior, physiology, toxic contamination and other environmental impacts, such as whale watching, conducted on different killer whale populations worldwide.

Two studies about the effect of whale watching on orca whales, were presented by Dr. Kriete, on behalf of Orca Relief.  The research studies were extremely well received by fellow scientists.  A workshop was also held to discuss the effects of whale-watching and other anthropogenic actions on killer whales worldwide.

Also in attendance was Mark Pakenham, Director of the M3 Program, the Canadian counterpart to Soundwatch.  Pakenham presented a video showing number of boats and the behavior of boaters, both commercial and private, around the southern resident killer whale population.  The audience was saddened and outraged by the behavior of the boats and actually requested that the speaker stop the video.

The last international conference on the Biology of Killer Whales was held 12 years ago.  Organizers say they hope to hold the next orca conference by 2007.

Dr. Kriete also attended the Marine Wildlife Watching Workshop held in Minnesota last week.  Scientists, wildlife operators and NMFS biologists and enforcement officers attended.  The workshop was designed to present different case studies on fish, reptiles, marine birds and marine mammals in conjunction with discussing and devising plans to protect marine wildlife from human interaction and disturbance as well as safe viewing practices.  It was clearly stated that while education on laws and regulation is important, enforcement is necessary to protect marine species from overexploitation and human disturbance.

About Orca Relief
Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance was founded in 1997 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Orca Relief was formed to focus specifically on learning what may be causing Orca mortality, and in reducing this death rate. Orca Relief believes that killer whales, as the largest species of the dolphin family, represent an excellent opportunity to learn more about brains larger than ours. Orca Relief also believes that the Puget Sound populations are most likely to provide that knowledge.

Press Contact: Melissa Milburn, Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance, 206-972-9096

Are we loving our whales to death?

Motorized Whale-Watch Boats May Play Primary Role In Orca Population Decline

SEATTLE "June 1, 2002" Three separate scientific studies released today show that motorized whale-watching boats may play a primary role in the decline of the southern resident Orca population.

Since 1995, the southern resident population of Orcas (which spend between six and eight months of the year in the San Juan Islands) has declined by 20 percent.  During that same period, the number of motorized whale-watching boats in the area has increased dramatically – to more than 90 boats on the water each day.

All three studies released today were commissioned by Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance (ORCA). One of the studies was conducted by Dr. Birgit Kriete, who also serves as executive director of ORCA. The Kriete study shows that the whales' energy requirements have increased by almost 20 percent for adult killer whales compared to the years when no or very few commercial whale watch boats were in operation.  This is likely caused by the stress resulting from constant boat traffic around the whales, generating higher metabolic rates and therefore higher energy requirements. 

Another research study done by Dr. David Bain, University of Washington, says motorized boats may degrade Orca sonar efficiency by 95-99 percent.

The third study, conducted by University of Washington researchers Glenn VanBlaricom and Carlos Alvarez-Flores, shows a strong statistical correlation between whale population decline and boat activity.

"The combination of these three research studies gives us the first clear story of what has been one of the main factors killing the whales," says Mark Anderson, president of the ORCA.  "For the first time, we can put all of these various causes into a sentence, based upon scientific research:

In an environment of declining salmon, the presence of the whale watch fleet decreases sonar efficiency by 95-99 percent, while increasing food requirements; the resulting starvation forces the whales to draw down toxin-laden blubber, and they die."

The three studies were released during the weekend Orca Recovery Conference held at the University of Washington. It was sponsored by Earth Island Institute and was attended by more than 100 scientists and people interested in saving the Orca whales.

Press Contact: Melissa Milburn, Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance, 206-972-9096

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