Whale... That Sucks!

Whale... That Sucks!

Hannah, Ben, Sidney

http://anewtraveller.com/2017/01/10/endangered-killer-whales-travellers-help/#sthash.C97UvRzX.dpbs

In the summer of 2017, Hannah and I were given the opportunity to spend six weeks on Whidbey Island in Washington State. Before arriving, our marine mammals course advertised daily whale sightings.  Hannah and I had high hopes of seeing a plethora of cetaceans: Humpback whales, Minke whales, porpoises, dolphins, and of course, beautiful Killer Whales.  One might say we had too high of expectations - Free Willy kind of expectations.  

Class began in early July. We were beyond ecstatic to ride the ferry to Lime Kiln, the most popular on land whale watching site in the world. People travel from across the world to witness wildlife pass through the nearby waters. Our class sat ourselves right on top of the rocky ledge of the water right next to the lighthouse. We met at this location multiple times throughout our 5 week course. Lecture would often be interpreted by “Look! A porpoise!” or “Oh my gosh, its so cute, its a sea otter!” While any wildlife is neat to witness in its natural habitat, there was one specific cetacean our entire class was dying to see, the Southern Resident Killer Whale.

https://goo.gl/images/RjQuvR

Binoculars were always hanging around our necks. On every ferry ride and on every trip to Lime Kiln, our eyes were watching the water.  However, on one of the most magical days, we did not even have to take the ferry to witness the Southern Resident whales. Our dorms were located along the side of the Pacific Coast.  We heard news of the Southern Residents passing through the area, so a few of us snuck out of an assigned documentary in hopes to witness the whales. I ran along the dirt path with my dinner tray in one hand and my watered down lemonade in the other. Quite a few of us ran alongside the beach to find these beauties and alas, there they swam. Four beautiful Southern Resident Killer Whales swam near the shore.  We twisted our ankles running through the pebbled beach to follow the whales for almost an hour.  They would one by one, breach the water and expel water through their blowholes.  Hannah and I were truly living in our Free Willy moment.

These whales were beautiful creatures to witness in their very own home.  Sadly, this moment was just one of the few times we were able to behold the beauty of these whales.  Every visit to Lime Kiln was a slight disappointment.  This place was supposed to be the most popular whale watching location in the world, yet, no Southern Resident Whales were in sight.  As our class studied these whales and their location, we learned that the Southern Resident sightings have been decreasing steadily over the years.  Unfortunately, their disappearance can be attributed to us, humans.  A rapid decrease in their food supply, the Chinook salmon as well as noise pollution are driving the Southern Resident Whales away from the Salish Sea, the place they used to call home.

Orcinus orca, or more commonly known as the killer whale, are the top predators of the Salish Sea and cultural icons to the native Salish people. Killer whales are one of the main tourist attractions during the spring, summer, and fall. But recently killer whales, especially the Southern Residents, have been listed as critically endangered in Canada and the United States and their species is a huge part of the ecosystem in that area. The Southern Residents consist of pods J, K, and L. As of September 2017, the Southern Resident orca population drastically dropped to 76 individuals (77 if you count Lolita, an L-pod member, kept in captivity in the Seaquarium in Miami, FL). The Southern Residents are economically, culturally, and spiritually important to the Salish Sea people. But their numbers are quickly dwindling because of bacterial pollution, toxic chemical pollution, sound pollution, and most importantly, Chinook salmon populations from over-fishing.

googleimages.com

An area of concern for many who follow or study these beautiful mammals, is the fact they were placed on the critically endangered species list by the U.S. government in 2003. The overfishing of salmon in this region has ecologically affected Southern Residents through trophic levels. The Chinook salmon is the prefered diet for these gentle giants based on their fattest bodied fish in that specific ecosystem. Basically, the Southern Residents are starving to death because of the lack of Chinook salmon. In 2016 alone, seven members of the population died, including Granny their leader, who was also the oldest killer whale in the world. Although we may think that salmon tastes great, we are depriving these animals of their natural sustenance. Because Orcas are very large, they need to have a large amount of food to sustain them. If they don’t have access to that food supply, it is only a matter of time before the species Orcinus orca becomes extinct.

Another huge threat to the Southern Residents is noise pollution. The world’s oceans were once known for millions of years to contain only natural sounds from cetaceans, weather above the surface, and other marine life. Most marine species have incredible hearing, and for them, hearing is seeing. Jacques Cousteau called the ocean “The Silent World”, but today it is a place of boisterous and blinding noise for the animals beneath the surface, thanks to the industrial age.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_resident_killer_whales

Motorboats, commercial fishing boats, extraction of oil, and whale watching/tourism are the main reasons for underwater noise. Sound can travel four times faster and farther in water than through the air.  With the killer whales’ intense hearing capabilities, this can cause them to do unnatural things like running into boats that get too close, causing irreparable damage or death. The loud noises can also cause mating calls to be drowned out and migration paths to be interrupted for other cetaceans.

http://marinesciencetoday.com/2013/09/12/southern-resident-killer-whales-get-extra-protection/

It is important during these saddening times to remain hopeful.  There are changes we can make in order to help save the Southern Resident whales.  While some changes must be drastic, we can all start by educating those around us.  The more people are aware, the more opportunities people will have to make a change.  Overfishing of the Chinook Salmon has proven to be a problem.  How can we help stop this atrocity from happening? There are a number of things we could do!

1. Stop eating salmon because fish meat is practically a vegetable.

2. Limit the amount of pollution, oil spills, fertilizer runoff, etc, that is impacting the bodies of water this salmon live in.

3. Don’t be a square, keep the Orcas over there by reducing waste, and also get behind the conservation agencies that wish to see them survive.

Noise pollution can be a more difficult task to overtake.  However, as an individual, we can take action.  One action is to watch whales from land.  This decreases the amount of boats near the whales as well as decreases the sounds being placed into the waters.  The Southern Resident whales are in dark times but these small actions can be beneficial.  We must be optimistic and willing to be a part of the change.

References:

Fisheries, NOAA. “Killer whale (Orcinus orca).” NOAA Fisheries, 8 Jan. 2015, www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/mammals/whales/killer-whale.html.

“Noise Pollution.” See the Sea - Noise Pollution In The Ocean, see-the-sea.org/topics/pollution/noise/noise_pollution.htm.

Safina, Carl. “Southern Resident killer whale population is running out of salmon, running out of time – National Geographic Blog.” National Geographic Blog, National Geographic Society, 31 Jan. 2017, blog.nationalgeographic.org/2017/01/31/southern-resident-killer-whale-population-is-running-out-of-salmon-running-out-of-time/. 

“Southern Resident Killer Whales.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 11 July 2017, www.epa.gov/salish-sea/southern-resident-killer-whales.