OUR VIEWS: Orca review is warranted

Originally published August 13, 2001

A federal agency has agreed to study reasons behind the decline of the killer whale population residing in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Pressured by conservation groups, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced the review last week.

It's welcome news and not a moment too soon.

It's also the first step toward a possible listing under the federal Endangered Species Act by mid-2003.

The orca population known as the southern residents has fallen on hard times.

Their numbers have dropped to 78, down from a high of 97 in 1996.

The top predator in the sea is struggling to maintain its place in the marine ecosystem. We must find out why.

The long-lived creatures up to 30 feet in length spend their summers in the waters of Puget Sound, Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia in British Columbia, much to the delight of whale-watchers.

The time has come to stop speculating about whether the population declines are natural variations or human-caused.

Marine scientists need to gather all the evidence at hand and reach consensus about what, if anything, ails this orca family.

Once the reasons are well understood, we must take action to protect and preserve the mighty marine mammals, even if it requires an ESA listing.

Two of the first questions to answer are: Where do the orcas spend the winter and what is the extent of their range?

"We know so little about these animals outside their summer foraging areas," noted Brent Norberg, a federal fisheries biologist.

Scientists also must decide if this group of whales is a distinct population group as defined by the Endangered Species Act.

There is mounting evidence that the southern resident population is suffering from lack of salmon prey, pollution and human disturbances, such as whale watching.

The orcas rely on salmon for 90 percent of their food, including several chinook or coho stocks that are in serious decline.

Late last fall, the three families, or pods, of orcas comprising the southern residents were roaming as far south as Boston Harbor, apparently chasing the chum salmon run bound for the Nisqually River.

The orcas may be having to labor much too hard to find food.

In addition, about 45 orcas from the southern resident group were captured in the 1960s and 1970s, robbing the large extended family of breeding whales.

The last capture in state waters took place in Budd Inlet 25 years ago.

Environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, have offered population models that predict extinction of the southern resident population within 150 years, if the decline in numbers is not reversed.

We can't allow that dire prediction to ring true.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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