Center for Whale Research

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Where Do Orcas Find Drinking Water?

Orcas are beautifully adapted to life in the marine environment, but unlike fish, they are not able to meet their water needs by drinking seawater. Find out how they meet their needs here.

If nothing else, the proposed Killer Whale Vessel Regulations have served to show how strong our community is in supporting the Southern Resident Orcas. Please read the blog at the Seattle P.I. for more information:
http://blog.seattlepi.com/candacewhiting/

Proposed Killer Whale Vessel Guidelines

Update October 16th:

"Comment Period Extension: NOAA has extended the deadline for submitting comments on proposed vessels regulation to protect killer whales in Puget Sound to Jan. 15, 2010.

We recognize that by extending the public comment period, we won't have enough time to issue a final rule before the 2010 summer boating season. We continue to believe that it's important to address the adverse effects of vessel traffic on killer whales in the near future. In light of the requests we've received for an extension of the comment period, however, we believe additional public outreach will enhance both NOAA Fisheries' understanding of public concerns and the public's understanding of the basis for our proposal. This will also allow time for cooperative efforts to refine the proposal. We'll work toward adoption of a final rule before the 2011 summer boating season.

We'll consider all comments and information received during the comment period in preparing a final rule."

July 28, 2009: The Northwest Region announced proposed regulations to protect killer whales in Washington State from the effects of various vessel activities. NOAA will consider and address all substantive comments received by Oct. 27, 2009. The Northwest Region will hold public meetings on the proposed vessel regulations so people can learn more about them and provide comments. The meetings will be Sept. 30 at the Seattle Aquarium, and Oct. 5 at The Grange Hall in Friday Harbor, both 7 - 9 p.m. You may submit comments by e-mail. See the Federal Register notice, below, for more information; or contact Lynne Barre, 206-526–4745.

News release on proposed killer whale vessel regulations (PDF 64KB)
July 29, 2009; Federal Register notice on proposed killer whale vessel regulations (PDF 271KB)
References cited in FRN (PDF 116KB)
Questions & Answers on proposed killer whale vessel regulations (PDF 122KB)
Map of proposed no-go zone for killer whales (PDF 106KB)
GIS data for proposed no-go zone for killer whales (Zip 9KB)
Draft environmental assessment (EA) on proposed killer whale vessel regulations (PDF 2.9MB)
Draft regulatory impact review on proposed killer whale vessel regulations (PDF 1.1MB)
July 3, 2007; Public comments on 2007 advance notice of proposed rulemaking, potential vessel regulations
Mar. 22, 2007; Federal Register notice on advance notice of proposed rulemaking, vessel regulations public comment period (PDF 59KB)

Some Background Information on the Orca Captivity Issue from Howard Garrett

"In 1965 a young male orca was captured in the town of Namu, BC. He was sold to Ted Griffin and towed in a pen to Seattle, where he was promoted extensively and made into a worldwide celebrity. Namu died after 11 months of captivity, but by then Sea World had captured their first Shamu from Puget Sound and the revenues from killer whale shows started a stampede to capture and sell orcas from Washington.

For ten years the captures were led by Don Goldsberry and Ted Griffin, who became public enemies after they tried to violently obstruct news coverage of their operations. They caught over 100 in that time, but claimed there were plenty of orcas here so the captures would make little difference on a population level. There was no science to dispute that until the mid-1970's when Canada and the US contracted with marine biologists Mike Bigg and Ken Balcomb, respectively, to conduct a survey to find out how many orcas there were in Washington and BC. They found only a few hundred, mostly north of Vancouver Island, meaning the captures had removed about a third of those resident to Washington waters.

Goldsberry, Griffin, Sea World, and the marine park industry in general disputed the scientists' findings and methods because they didn't like the results, and thus began a deep animosity toward field researchers on the part of the marine park industry. That dislike and disregard for the natural history of orcas that Bigg and Balcomb and many others revealed over the years became part of the marine park culture and continues to this day. The longevity of orcas, for example, was known from field research to be many decades longer than what marine parks told the public in their educational materials.

Needless to say, any organization that criticizes the captivity industry or that attempts to rehab, retire or release captives receives special scorn from the industry (which includes many people on Keiko's care team)."

"... and that's unfortunate because there could be some areas of agreement and cooperation if we could trust one another's information. But for those within the industry survival of the business is often more important than survival of the orcas, so rather than defend against these innuendos, unless there are disputed facts I'll try to give the background for the argument and leave it at that." From Comments by Howard Garrett

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Where Do Orcas Find Drinking Water?

Friday, November 20, 2009

Swim With Orcas

Monday, November 16, 2009

New Orca Calf 11/11/09

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Vote For Orcas and Salmon

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Orcas Appear in Ancient Artwork Worldwide

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Comedian Stephen Colbert Asks: "Why should I care about the ocean?"

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Senator Murray is Beginning to Listen to You on Orca issues

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