Audio slide show with Ken Balcomb:

Two Endangered Icons: Southern Resident Killer Whales and Chinook Salmon

Slideshow on Aug 24, 2011 by Jennifer Morton from QUEST Northwest

Click Here to view the slide Sshow featuring Ken talking about the important connection between local killer whales and salmon:
Slide Show with Ken Balcomb

L90 Update

L90 in Haro Strait on September 3rd, Photo by Dave Ellifrit

After the alleged vessel strike last week and the recent unusual behavior displayed by female killer whale, L90, the Center for Whale Research staff had an an opportunity to further observe her condition on Saturday September 3rd.  This was the first time she had been seen since the incident. The following is a summery of that encounter:


"After receiving a report of whales on the west side of San Juan Island in the early morning, Center staff cast off from Snug Harbor in vessel Orca at 8:15 a.m. and found members of J,K, and L pods heading north in Haro Strait off Limekiln lighthouse at 8:25 a.m., spread out in singles and groups. The main mission of the day was to find L90 and monitor her health and behavior, so we moved from group to group trying to locate her.
Around 9:15 a.m., we found L90’s main traveling companions, L26 and L92, in the proximity of J pod members near Kelp Reef, moving rapidly north in Haro Strait. About a half-mile to the southeast of this group at 9:33 a.m., we found L90 traveling north by herself at slow to medium speed.  She was trailing the other whales by as much as 3/4 mile and never less than 200 yards.  We collected respiration data on L90 for two periods from 9:40-10:46 a.m. and 1243-1342 a.m., during which times she was breathing regularly at intervals averaging 33.6 seconds and 29.9 seconds, respectively. Meanwhile, the rest of the whales traveled north in Haro Strait, and then northeast into Boundary Pass. During these two data recording periods, L90 only made one “long” dive of 180 seconds which was immediately followed by her shortest recorded dive of 8 seconds.  Her swimming speed was 4.4 and 4.6 knots, respectively, during the data recording periods.

When sea conditions and proximity allowed proper observations, it was apparent that L90 was not diving deeply and her surfacing motion seemed stiff – often with more of her back behind the dorsal fin exposed than a healthy whale would have exposed on a normal surfacing.  However, she showed no visible signs of emaciation and did not have foul smelling breath, two common indicators of illness. Based on our observations it is clear that her behavior is abnormal, however the cause remains unknown.

Around 2:15 p.m., as the leading whales picked up speed near East Point, L90 also increased speed and caught up to the other whales just north of East Point. She joined with L26 and L92, and the three traveled rapidly (>7 knots) NNW toward Point Roberts amidst other loosely spread, rapidly moving, mixed groups of southern residents. We ended the encounter at 2:51 p.m. approximately 3 miles north of East Point."

L90 was again encountered the following day, September 4th, and appeared to exhibit the same behavior. We will be taking every opportunity to continue to observe L90's condition and will provide subsequent reports.

L90's Alleged Vessel Strike

The Center for Whale Research received a report this morning of a potential vessel strike with a southern resident killer whale. The whale that was believed to be struck is L90, an 18 year old female. Witnesses described the whale logging, or floating at the surface, for a prolonged period after a private vessel was observed passing very close to where the whale was thought to be. L90 was then reported to remain on the surface and was breathing heavily. Once we received the report we quickly departed and found L90 with her mother, L26 just off Lime Kiln State Park. She was moving slowly and spending several minutes resting at the surface. She was taking shallow dives and barely moving north with the rest of the whales. We were able to observe her very closely and found no evidence of a vessel strike. On numerous occasions she spent several minutes hovering just below the surface of the water allowing us to get a good look at most of her body, and we did not see any wounds or scratches. We continued to follow her for a few hours and observed that she eventually began to travel at a more normal pace, although remaining behind the rest of the groups of whales. The other whales in the area were behaving normally, resting, foraging and socializing. Based on our observations and descriptions of the event from witnesses, we do not believe that L90 was struck by the vessel. Based on her age and previous behavior we have concluded that she may be pregnant. It is also possible that she may be ill or have some unknown condition.

On several encounters this summer, we have noticed L90 traveling slowly by herself in a rather “mopey” manner. L90 has always been a “whale of concern” to those of us that see her frequently. She is a noticeably a small animal compared to other females who have reached reproductive age.

Additionally, there seems to be something unusual about L90’s body condition. Her body shape is different from every other whale in the L26 matriline. She appears to have a kind of a two-lobed swelling behind the blowhole and a slight arch to her spine in front of the dorsal fin. Whether this swelling is just excess blubber or a sign of illness, we do not know. The only other whale who has been seen with a similar looking swelling behind the blowhole was L107, a calf born in 2005 who did not survive its first summer. It is certainly a different look from the emaciated “peanuthead” look that we have previously seen in several whales who subsequently died.

The slow moving and logging behavior she exhibited today and yesterday may be a sign of that she is in labor and therefore very tierd. She is a whale that we would expect to have a calf at any time since she has passed the age when most females have had their first calf ( about age 14). Although we have no concrete information to support this, we do have concerns that her small body size may make for a complicated pregnancy and birth. Labor pains or a difficult pregnancy could explain her behavior.

The other possibility, that she is ill, is supported by previous observations in other animals. In the summer of 2008 L67(deceased) was observed floating for prolonged periods at the surface before she showed any signs of the emaciated condition that proceeded her death. Therefore L90 could also be showing signs of distress due to an unknown illness.

With respect to today's event, we suspect she may have been laying on or near the surface already when the vessel passed close by, but most likely missed her. It is very difficult to determine distances between vessels or between whales and vessels from the water level. Therefore she may have appeared closer to the vessel than she was.

In any case, we will continue to observe L90 over the next few days. Our hope is that the next time we see her she is traveling with a healthy new born calf.

Southern Resident Orca Population Status (With Notes On J-1)

2010 ended well for the Southern Residents.  The total population as of December 31^st was 87 individuals: 27 in J pod, 19 in K pod and 41 in L pod.  By the end of the year, 5 of the 6 calves born in 2010 were alive and healthy.  We had one edition to J pod, J47 (calf of J17); one edition to K pod, K43 (calf of K12); and 3 in L pod, L115 (calf of L47), L116 (calf of L86), and L117 (mother unknown).

So far 2011 has been full of sightings and encounters.  J’s, K’s and L87 have been seen often in Haro Strait and Puget Sound.  They were first encountered by the Center on January 3^rd in Haro Strait, then again on the 7^th.  J’s and K’s were also encountered in Haro Strait and San Juan Channel on the 23^rd and 26^th  respectively.  Residents were sighted at least once a week throughout January (eight confirmed sightings in all). February has been even better with almost daily sightings of J’s and K’s in Puget Sound (eight sightings since Feb. 20^th)

There was a possible sighting of L pod on January 15^th. Most likely the L12’s, but because of the distant photos we can’t say for sure.  Ken encountered L pod spread out and foraging off Monterey Bay on February 10^th.  There have been several killer whale sightings on the west coast of Oregon and California this winter, but no other southern resident sightings have been confirmed. 

No new calves have yet been seen in 2011.  It is still too early in the year to have an official population estimate as not all individuals have been accounted for.  However, there have been several encounters and sightings of J pod where J1 has not been seen or photographed.  

 J1 is the oldest male in the southern resident community, estimated to be 60 years old.  He is an iconic figure for the entire population and by far the most easily identifiable whale.  His tall wavy fin has given him the name “Ruffles” and made him a favorite among visitors and local whale enthusiasts.   He was last seen on November 21^st off Victoria. 

Although there have been several encounters with J’s over the past few months, the pod configuration has been spread out and all individuals were not photographed.  Although J1 is most often seen in the presence of J2, the eldest female in J pod, he is frequently sighted off on his own far away from the rest of the pod.   

 At this point all we can say is that J1 is officially missing.  We will be keeping an eye out for him as we head into spring and encounters and sightings increase.   

Posted by Erin Heydenreich

Baby Killer Whales, Their ID Numbers, Their Names, And Their Parentage

Ken Balcomb, CWR founder.

By K.C. Balcomb

 22 August 2010

            The Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) population underwent a genetic bottleneck sometime between one and two-and-a-half whale generations ago that has resulted in a very small and fragile effective population size – only about 25 whales currently parent any offspring, while the remaining 60 or so whales are either too old or too young to contribute to population growth. That fact alone makes every baby whale precious, or at least it should be precious, to everyone on this planet that cares about the survival of these charismatic icons of the Pacific Northwest. Being born is one thing, surviving in the modern world is another. 

          My goal is to encourage our human society to make it possible for the effective population size of SRKW’s to grow during the current generation, and for the foreseeable future. Too often, for too long, and too recently we have seen it decline. In order to see increase we must give priority to allowing the whales sufficient food = salmon to survive, year-round, and that amounts to a lot of fish.

           At the risk of designating a baby whale an ID number or a name when there is a good chance that it will not survive, and thereby perhaps offending some and wasting numbers, I am going to exercise my prerogative and name a few:

Star

            In J pod, there was a new calf born in November 2009 to a sixteen-year old new mother designated J28. I earlier designated the new female calf J46 and called her “Star” for the starring role I hoped she would play in inspiring the public interested in conserving the fish resources needed for the entire SRKW population (and for humans).

Looker

            

 Also born into J pod in January 2010 was another new calf, this time a young male whose very young mother is twelve-year old J35. I designated this new male calf J47, and now call it “Looker” because it frequently (and delightfully) raises its head high above the water as if looking around when swimming alongside its mother.

            

Speedy

 In K pod, there was a new calf first seen in February 2010 with an experienced mother K12, who is also a grandmother. Virtually every time we see and photograph this new rambunctious baby whale it is racing alongside its mother, so I have called it “Speedy” and have designated it K43 - the newest member of slow-growing K pod.

Hope

           

 In L pod, a new calf appeared in the summer of 2010, itself an unusual event because most new SRKW’s are born in winter months. The births typically occur in mid-winter seventeen months after the party times of historically abundant summer salmon migrations to these inland marine waters. 

          Conception of this new calf, designated L115, must have occurred around January or February 2009 when all three pods made an unprecedented mid-winter appearance off Victoria (see Encounter 3, 2009 CWR webpage). The mother is L47, who has lost her previous four consecutive babies (L99,L102,L107,L111) since giving birth to her two successful daughters (L83 and L91), in 1990 and 1995. Without yet knowing the sex of L115 the newest calf of L47, I am going to call it “Hope”, for obvious reasons. “Toast” was submitted, but it is not very optimistic for a whale name when we hope it survives.

           

Molly

    

        L113 was born in the autumn of 2009 to fourteen-year old first time mother L94, and she is healthy and doing well as of this writing in late summer 2010. This year has been a relatively good year for salmon in the local waters, so we are wishing all is well for her. I am going to call her “Molly” after a very good friend whose ashes were spread as L113 and her extended family swam nearby in Haro Strait this summer.

            

Victoria

 Two other recent L pod calves are worthy of mention: L112 born to L86, probably in January 2009 and first documented in the afore-mentioned Encounter 3 of 2009 when she was less than a month old; I am going to call her “Victoria” for the beautiful city waterfront where she was first seen. [Hold your nose until the sewage issue is resolved! Maybe we should call her “Stinker”?]

Flapper

And, last but not least, we have L110, a very rambunctious young male born to a young mother, L83 first daughter of L47. We first saw him in August 2007, still showing evidence of fetal folds from recent birth; but, by October he had clear evidence of a mark that will no doubt remain with him for the rest of his life: a large flap of his upper right lip had been torn askew and was protruding awkwardly from the starboard side of his face, perhaps from an encounter with the steel leader of a fishing line. He also now has evidence of a bulbous tooth abscess just in front of the flap. I am going to call him “Flapper”, in anticipation that a bit of Aussie humor will be good for him. He probably does not mind his easily remembered name, though others might.

            My apologies to those who may be offended by the names and numbers I have given these whales. I’ve given the subject a fair amount of thought over three decades, and have refrained from giving them meaningless, stupid, or unpronounceable names. You may call them anything you wish, but I have been keeping the official records of these whales from the beginning of their study, and these names and numbers are what we will write in our books. The paternity paper is in preparation and due out soon; and it is likely to be at least as interesting reading, if not downright scandalous. Here’s a little teaser: the whales apparently live up to the motto: “Old Guys Rule” and you can guess what that is about.

            We will discuss the reasons for the SRKW population bottleneck in another writing. Meanwhile, do whatever you can to promote healthy wild salmon populations, particularly Chinook salmon, in the Pacific Northwest if you would like these babies and the SRKW population to survive.

           

R.I.P., L114

  Another new calf in L pod, L114 born to L 77, first appeared in February 2010, but it did not survive to summer. No name, but only a number for its tombstone in our records. (see Matriline guide on our website).

Photos by the author, Ken Balcomb

The Orca Calf 'Star' Continues To Shine

Eight month old orca calf 'Star'

Last November, when this calf was born the Center for Whale Research broke from custom and gave the baby the name 'Star' in addition to assigning it the usual number (J-46, 'J' for its family pod, and '46' for the fact that it is the 46th J pod member identified):

The new baby is designated J46, and we are going to call it "Star", for the role that it will play in showing the human inhabitants in this region that it is important to clean up Puget Sound and restore healthy abundant salmon populations to the Pacific Northwest. That mission brings a message to all of the relevant human nations – USA, Canada, First Nations, Treaty, and non-Treaty – that the first intelligent mammal residents of the region are also investing in these efforts. We could not ask for a more charismatic indicator, a baby whale, to measure the success of our renewed efforts for restoration.

J pod is the most watched family of whales in the Pacific Northwest, or perhaps in the world; and, this is the first year in recent decades that they have produced three babies within one year. We will all be watching, here and worldwide, carefully and respectfully, to see if they beat the odds and all survive. This is the reality show that really means something.

'Star' at two months old.

All of the J-pod calves born last year look healthy, and if you look carefully at the picture below you will see all three of the calves together with Star's mom and grandmother, the calves no doubt enjoying some play time together.

'Star' swimming with mom J-28, grandmother J-17, uncle J-44 and cousin J-47

So far, Star's future is shining brightly, as people continue to increase efforts to restore Chinook salmon populations and modify commercial fisheries. This little whale is indeed an icon of humanity's progress, and we'll keep an eye on this Star and report her progress as time goes on.

From the L.A.Times: Scientists expected Obama administration to be friendlier

The following was sent to us from WildSalmon.org, a group which is working in part to help re-establish Chinook salmon populations, the Southern Resident orcas main food. Please go to the original article and make comments if possible.

latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-na-science-obama-20100711,0,6168522.story
latimes.com

A culture of politics trumping science, many say, persists despite the president's promises. The use of potentially toxic dispersants to fight the gulf oil spill is cited as just one example.
By Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger, Tribune Washington Bureau
9:42 PM PDT, July 10, 2010
Reporting from Washington
When he ran for president, Barack Obama attacked the George W. Bush administration for putting political concerns ahead of science on such issues as climate change and public health. And during his first weeks in the White House, President Obama ordered his advisors to develop rules to "guarantee scientific integrity throughout the executive branch."

Many government scientists hailed the president's pronouncement. But a year and a half later, no such rules have been issued. Now scientists charge that the Obama administration is not doing enough to reverse a culture that they contend allowed officials to interfere with their work and limit their ability to speak out.

"We are getting complaints from government scientists now at the same rate we were during the Bush administration," said Jeffrey Ruch, an activist lawyer who heads an organization representing scientific whistle-blowers.

White House officials, however, said they remained committed to protecting science from interference and that proposed guidelines would be forwarded to Obama in the near future.

But interviews with several scientists — most of whom requested anonymity because they feared retaliation in their jobs — as well as reviews of e-mails provided by Ruch and others show a wide range of complaints during the Obama presidency:

In Florida, water-quality experts reported government interference with efforts to assess damage to the Everglades stemming from development projects.

In the Pacific Northwest, federal scientists said they were pressured to minimize the effects they had documented of dams on struggling salmon populations.

In several Western states, biologists reported being pushed to ignore the effects of overgrazing on federal land.

In Alaska, some oil and gas exploration decisions given preliminary approval under Bush moved forward under Obama, critics said, despite previously presented evidence of environmental harm.

The most immediate case of politics allegedly trumping science, some government and outside environmental experts said, was the decision to fight the gulf oil spill with huge quantities of potentially toxic chemical dispersants despite advice to examine the dangers more thoroughly.

And the Union of Concerned Scientists, a Washington-based organization, said it had received complaints from scientists in key agencies about the difficulty of speaking out publicly.

"Many of the frustrations scientists had with the last administration continue currently," said Francesca Grifo, the organization's director of scientific integrity.

For example, Grifo said, one biologist with a federal agency in Maryland complained that his study of public health data was purposefully disregarded by a manager who is not a scientist. The biologist, Grifo said, feared expressing his concerns inside and outside the agency.

Most of the examples provided by Ruch, Grifo and others come from scientists who insist on anonymity, making it difficult for agencies to respond specifically to the complaints. Officials at those agencies maintain that scientists are allowed and encouraged to speak out if they believe a policy is at odds with their findings.

The director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, John P. Holdren, said in a statement last month that the president effectively set policy in his March 2009 memorandum calling for administration-wide scientific integrity standards.

"There should not be any doubt that these principles have been in effect — that is, binding on all executive departments and agencies," Holdren said, adding that "augmentation of these principles" will be coming soon.

Still, Grifo said, the volume of the complaints indicates a real problem and makes it "vital" that the Obama administration issue additional instructions. While overall respect for science may have improved under Obama, several scientists said in interviews that they were still subject to interference.

Ruch, referring to reports from government scientists in Alaska, said that under Bush, the agency that issues oil and gas drilling leases "routinely prevented scientists from raising ecological concerns about the effects of oil spills, introduction of invasive species, and any other issue that might trigger the need for fuller environmental review."

In keeping the Bush Interior Department managers and policies in place, Ruch said, Obama appointees have "turned a blind eye toward federal court rulings that said Bush-era lease reviews were environmentally deficient, as well as a GAO report documenting how agency scientists were routinely stifled and ignored."

Kendra Barkoff, a spokeswoman at the Interior Department, disagreed with Ruch's assertion, saying that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar "has made it very clear that decisions will be made based on a cautious, science-based approach."

Ruch's organization, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, also said it had been contacted by an EPA toxicologist who said a request for review of the toxicity of oil dispersants in the Gulf of Mexico was rebuffed.

EPA analyst Hugh B. Kaufman, a 39-year veteran, said he had heard similar complaints from colleagues. Kaufman believes that his agency "gave the green light to using dispersants without doing the necessary studies."

A past EPA administrator, William Reilly, said in an interview with CBS last month that he had refused to allow the toxic chemicals' use after the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off the coast of Alaska because of the potential effect on salmon.

Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, who has proposed legislation to prohibit dispersant use until further scientific studies are completed, said the EPA "has been entirely irresponsible" in its review of dispersants.

In May, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson acknowledged that dispersants could be problematic, but that "they are used to move us toward the lesser of two difficult environmental outcomes."

EPA Press Secretary Adora Andy said, "The data we have seen to date indicate that dispersant is less toxic than oil."

"If the science indicates dispersants are causing more damage than they're preventing, [Jackson] will be the first to sound the alarm," Andy said.

White House officials say the administration's commitment to science has not wavered.

"It is important to appreciate that this administration has made scientific integrity a priority from Day One — in the people we've appointed, the policies we've adopted, the budgets we've proposed, and the processes we follow," says Rick Weiss, an analyst and spokesman for the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

White House science advisor Holdren told the House Science and Technology Committee in February that his office had been delayed in releasing its guidelines on scientific integrity due to "the difficulties of constructing a set of guidelines that would be applicable across all the agencies and accepted by all concerned."

Scientists and environmental groups have lauded Obama for appointing highly regarded scientists to top posts within the administration. But so far, critics said, those appointments have not eliminated the problems faced by lower-level government scientists.

For example, Ruch said, he has been contacted by two federal scientists who charged that their efforts to implement stricter water-quality rules had been suppressed.

In the Pacific Northwest, Ruch said, his organization has heard in the last 16 months from multiple federal fisheries biologists who report that they are under pressure to downplay the impact of dams on wild salmon.

And in Western states, federal biologists report that they are under pressure not to disclose the full impact of cattle grazing on federal lands, according to Ruch's group and others.

Katie Fite of the Western Watersheds Project, an organization that monitors grazing, backs those allegations. Fite said that scientists had complained to her that "all of the incentives are geared to support grazing and energy development," which could adversely affect plants and other animals.

"Basically, science is still being scuttled," Fite said. "We are heartbroken."

Most critics said they were disappointed that protection of science and scientists did not become more of a priority after the election.

Eric Glitzenstein, a Washington attorney who has filed suit to block projects approved by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies, said he had expected the culture to change under Obama.

"The administration's been in long enough that if that was going to happen, we should have seen it by now," he said. "We simply haven't."

Please go online L.A.Times and make a comment, or email the authors. Your opinion counts!

tom.hamburger@latimes.com

kim.geiger@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
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