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All Point Bulletin - Getting Off Orcas’ Tails
posted on September 3, 2008
Lifeforce has been featured once again in the All Point Bulletin newspaper of Point Roberts.
You can read the original feature HERE, or as quoted below:
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Getting Off Orcas’ Tails
Lifeforce, a non-profit ecology organization, has been actively photographing both pleasure and commercial boaters that are harassing orcas in local waters off Point Roberts. Numerous violations of whale watching guideline and legislation were reported to U.S. and Canadian agencies in our campaign to prove that more enforcement and a Point Roberts No Boat Zone is needed to protect endangered orcas.
Our petition to governor Gregoire has helped increased awareness of the problems and resulted in some WDFW enforcement off Point Roberts.
During the B.C. Day Art and Music Festival in Point Roberts over 100 people signed the petition that is also available on line at: www.lifeforcefoundation.org.
Please sign it – we need more signatures.
The new “Get Off My Tail” card and poster was published by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and NOAA Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement. Lifeforce has distributed it around Point Roberts to advise boaters of the new Washington state legislation. A boat is not allowed to remain within 100 yards of an orca. Boaters must get out of their way. In other words, get off their tails.
A disturbance is when a person interferes with an animal’s ability to hunt, feed, communicate, socialize, rest, breed, or care for their young. It is important that everyone report violators in the U.S. to 800/853-1964 and in Canada to 800/465-4336. If you can take a photo or video that will help prove the violations.
Resident Orcas
On August 12 a less than 24-hour-old L pod orca baby was seen in Haro Strait. The southern resident community is now numbered at 86 with this new birth, one birth in K pod, two probable deaths in L pod and the passing of the oldest K pod orca, Lummi, born in estimated 1910. J pod’s Granny, who was born in estimated 1911, is still alive and still very active. Survival of newborns and deaths are not considered final until the baby survives the first year and any missing orca has not been seen for one year.
Populations are considered to be at a high risk of extinction if there are less than 1000 members. So these and other orca populations are certainly in need of some very special stewardship to protect their habitats that is shared by all.
In the evening of August 7 there was lots of orca breaches as J pod and some Ls spent a couple of hours off Point Roberts doing some foraging for those tasty salmon.
Transients
There have been lots of transient orcas in the Georgia Strait. A group of seven transients were travelling in Washington waters from Rosario Strait to Point Roberts on July 28. The waters were beautifully calm while they exhibited several behaviors such as breaches.
Transients will eat other marine mammals unlike Residents who are believed to eat only fish. Transients’ diets include fish, porpoises and seals. They have even been seen attacking Gray whales and Minke whales. These are the ones who garnered the reputation as “sea wolves.”
Based on Lifeforce photographs orca expert Graeme Ellis, Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans, identified the orcas as T020 (male estimated birth 1963), T021 (female estimated birth 1968), T090 (a female born 1980), T090B (sex unknown, born 2006), T124 (female estimated birth 1967), T124D (sex unknown, born 1996), and T124E (sex unknown, born 1999).
For approximately 30 minutes the transients stayed in the area of a cluster of approximately 10 whale watch boats and a few pleasure craft. It is thought that these clever hunters of the sea may use boats as part of their herding strategy or may find seals and fish hiding by the boats. Lifeforce did see a harbour seal on the rostrum of an orca.
One of these orcas has a “hole” wound just behind the saddle patch. It may well be a healed gunshot wound.
On August 17 transients spent several days around the east side of Active Pass. These transients were continuously pursued and harassed by commercial whale watch boats and some pleasure craft. Several Canadian operators repeatedly approached within 100 yards and blocked their pathways.
Lifeforce will be preparing a report “In Pursuit of Orcas” to lobby government to provide more funding for enforcement by the responsible government agencies. Most whale watch companies harass orcas when they are not monitored. Pleasure boats mimic their illegal operating methods. If approached they say they were just doing what the companies were doing.
Non-government organizations, such as Lifeforce’s Lifewatch Boater Awareness Program and Soundwatch, have tried to raise awareness of responsible boating but have not been able to convince the tour companies to always follow the rules.
There has been some successes in the San Juan Islands with volunteer No Boat Zones and better enforcement. It is time for major improvements in the whale watching industry. Fines and other penalties are needed so people will get off the orcas’ tails.
For further information contact Lifeforce at lifeforcesociety@hotmail.com or 604-649-5258. You can view the photos of orcas and other wildlife in our Wildlife Reports section at www.lifeforcefoundation.org .
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