Wayward Whales, Dolphins, and NMFS

By William Rossiter

NMFS has decided to let the orcas die: The US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) finally announced in late June that the Southern Resident orcas of Washington's Puget Sound would not be listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. A stunned outcry immediately followed the decision because, as a result, the whales' habitat itself will be allowed to become uninhabitable for orcas, and they will be allowed to die off, slowly. An endangered listing was necessary to empower adequate but costly remedies, to the loss of the orca's prey that have been depleted by human overfishing, to neutralize the marine toxins from human pollution that accumulate in what scavenged prey is still available, to limit the increased acoustic harassment and disturbance, and to stop the continued destruction of near shore habitats. The facts were strong enough for Canada's Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife (COSEWIC) to declare the resident orcas as endangered, so why did NMFS decide to go for a listing of depleted, rather than endangered? Because NMFS had been besieged by the political and economic power of local commerce and industry, which had defended itself ferociously against the extraordinary costs associated with cleanup. While true that the fixes are expensive, that was not NMFS's problem. Their responsibility is to manage marine resources, and let others deal with the consequences.

When NMFS crumbled under pressure they declared that the Southern Resident orcas are not worth saving. In bureaucratic babble "NMFS concluded that these whales met the `discreteness' criterion, but that they did not meet the test of significance, and thus were not found to be a Distinct Population Segment (DPS) under the ESA." While true that 40 percent of the orca population had not yet died off, can anyone legitimately argue that it makes sense to wait until that happens? Another NMFS rationale is that "(o)ther resident or offshore animals could potentially recolonize the current range of Southern Residents if that population should die off." This is nonsense. As the residents die off, probably suffering very slowly, what orcas will repopulate the unlivable habitat? NMFS will declare the orcas depleted, after another bureaucratic round, but this will not be enough to accomplish anything meaningful to save the population. And NMFS knows that. The many caring professionals within NMFS must be saddened, as we are, to see NMFS become the weakest link in the effort to save the resident orcas.

NMFS also ignored that the Southern Resident community is significantly of itself. The social units of residents are based on matrilines, tight family units descended from a common female. With no reproductive females at least two matrilines will die out. Four others depend on lone females who must give birth to females if they are to leave a legacy. The population within the J, K, and L pods are culturally and genetically unique, which NMFS recognizes but attempts to devalue by saying that "Southern Residents can be genetically differentiated from other resident killer whales, but it is unclear whether the magnitude of these differences should be considered marked." NMFS will solicit more public comment, and may review the whales' status within four years. But, as has happened so often in the past, NMFS's eventual depleted listing will only empower them to strike the easy target, whale watching. They will continue to ignore the main issue of pollution sources and overfishing. Before the NMFS announcement a hopeful Orca Recovery Conference was held at the University of Washington at the end of May, drawing together scientists, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations to discuss a recovery plan for the Southern Resident orca population. Without the empowerment of the endangered listing any recovery plan will be nearly impossible.

Yes, these vanishing orcas are the same ones heavily hit by the captivity industry in the 70's, the ones you have seen in countless photos and documentaries, the ones revered by many. This population of Washington State's three resident J, K and L pods has crashed from 98 in 1995 to 79 today. Every study has demonstrated that the survivors have enormous levels of toxins in their bodies, and their immune systems are compromised as a result. For example, L-60, Rascal, stranded dead in Oregon in May. Her Southern Resident Community's L pod has suffered more mortalities that any other resident group. As an indication that bad things are accelerating quickly, she died at 32, while the previous twenty years of research on residents had never noted the death of an adult female at such an early age. Granny (J-2), is estimated to be 87, Lummi (K-7) 86, and Ocean Sun (L-25) 78! Born to L-26, Baba, L-60's first calf, L-81, Raina, was born in 1990 and died in 1997, but her 1995 son, L-92, Crewser, is still alive. Lactating when she died, Rascal may have had a new calf this year, now lost to the population (see comment below about offloading toxins in milk). She had been seen with other orcas in Monterey Bay, California in January of 2000. The point of including all these names and relationships is that we know these whales we are killing very well, and we will suffer their loss for it.

Solitary Orcas: Given the sad state and future of the Southern Residents' habitat, it makes sense that any orca that wanders in should be helped to leave, and any that escape should be helped to stay away. And that's what's happening right now with L-98 and A-73! These two juvenile orcas swam, alone and unnoticed, hundreds of miles from their "normal" range, the Northern Resident moving south, the Southern Resident traveling north. The events are not related, expect perhaps for the reasons they each left. Because almost everything about orcas seems exaggerated, including human responses, their stories amplify the reality that well-known solitary cetaceans attract attention, and almost inevitably suffer for it without protection.

L-98, Luna, a male orca born in 1999 to L-67, Splash, of Puget Sound's Southern Resident declining population of orcas, appeared alone last summer in a bay of Vancouver Island's Nootka Sound. To prevent a surge of curious people Luna was quietly and secretly monitored by caring experts who, in January, released information that L-98 was doing well. Luna had been thought to die last year, because he did not return to the San Juan Islands summering range. After considerable monitoring he seems to be capable of surviving alone, if protected from the curious, and the official position of Fisheries and Oceans Canada marine mammal scientists is to leave him alone.

It was impossible to keep A-73's presence secret. Also known as Springer, she was named for Springer Pass, one of the Northern Resident orca habitats around Johnstone Strait, Canada. She showed up near Seattle in mid-January, most often seen in the ferry lane between Seattle and Vashon Island. Only 11 feet long and 1,240 pounds, this two-year-old had traveled alone and unnoticed at least 250 miles down the Straight of Georgia to Puget Sound. Some experts conjectured that, after spending some time last year with G-pod, but without a mother, Springer may have been rejected by the clan, or unable to keep up with their 75-100 miles-per-day travels in search of food. Keep in mind that salmon, the fish-eaters primary prey, have been heavily overfished by people that still fight over remnants, and the food resources available to the fish-eating orcas are increasingly contaminated by human pollution. Her mother, A-45, or Sutlej, was last seen in 2000 and is believed to have died. Her only living relative is her grandmother, A-24, Kelsey. Over many months of very close observation by a dedicated and often volunteer crew, Springer at times was not doing well. Although diagnosed with well-reported ailments, some felt these were being exaggerated to hasten her "rescue" to captivity. By late February officials from NMFS and the SeaWorld director of veterinarian services were noted to be retrieving tissue samples of A-73, perhaps without a permit. Rumors flew. In early March NMFS explored briefly the possibility of A-73 "recuperating" at Vancouver Aquarium, Sea World in San Diego, Six Flags in Vallejo, California, or the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Each option had a suite of problems. Each reignited the "back door to captivity" controversy, where aquariums have historically decided that "rescued" cetaceans were unfit to be released, and the animals ended their lives on display. Keep in mind that Springer is worth a million dollars on the market.

By early April the Washington State Ferry System had reported that their ferries had had to back down and avoid the whale, especially near the Vashon Island terminal. She seemed to prefer the ferry "Evergreen State". Previously diagnosed with worms, ketosis (her breath smelled like paint thinner), itchy skin, and some other ailments, A-73 was characterized in mid-June as dejected, malnourished, ill, and unable to survive on her own. A major concern for her survival was the coming of warm weather, with the "mosquito fleet" of boats, and inevitable harassment; she liked to play with boats. A-73 was captured on 13 June, and placed in a 40 by 40 foot pen at a NMFS research station in Clam Bay across Puget Sound from Seattle, Washington. Fed Atlantic salmon contributed by a fish farm, and treated for her ailments, she was declared in good health by NMFS by the beginning of July. As Whales Alive! goes to press, Springer has been accepted as suitable for release by Canadian authorities, and will be transported in mid-July on a donated catamaran to an enclosed bay near Telegraph Cove, British Columbia. She will be cared for until members of her closest family pod arrive in the area, at which time if all goes well the sea pen will be opened for her to reunite with those pods. We wish her well, and congratulate the enormous team of experts and caretakers who helped out.

The Orphan Orca Fund, to pay for Springer's repatriation, has been established by a coalition including the Orca Conservancy, Earth Island Institute, Friends of the San Juans, American Cetacean Society Puget Sound Chapter, People for Puget Sound, Orca Alliance, the Whale Museum, and NMFS. They could use your help: The Orphan Orca Fund, c/o Juanita Johns at Islanders Bank, P.O. Box 909, Friday Harbor, WA 98250. A matching Prescott Grant will be made to the fund with money provided by NMFS and conservation organizations. In one critical aspect the remarkable coalition formed to repatriate Springer is operating on faith. Her capture locked in a possible scenario that concerns many, including CSI. The decision to release will depend on veterinarians assessing that her medical condition will not limit her survival potential, or be communicable to other orcas. The chief vet for SeaWorld leads those vets. It is difficult to dredge up SeaWorld's history in Puget Sound without disgust and anger. The facts are that, before the successful lawsuit to stop the assault, at least 57 live orcas whales were known to have been taken from Puget Sound for captive display, and about 12 others were known to have died during capture operations, in spite of attempts to hide the bodies. Only 70 whales were left in 1976. Of the captives all are dead but Corky, taken from the Northern Resident Community, now at San Diego SeaWorld; and Lolita, of the Southern Resident Community, who lives in the smallest tank in the country at the Miami Seaquarium where she has performed daily for nearly 32 years.

Conflicts over intervening develop sometimes between those who believe in "nature's way", essentially standing by even as the animal suffers and slowly dies, and those arguing for being humane, for intervening to help the presumably distressed animal, in the extreme even if it means a life in captivity. For example, Rocketman is a bottlenose dolphin calf that stranded on an Indian River Lagoon sandbar near Titusville, Florida, in April. The caring staff of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce nursed Rocketman for six weeks, after the National Marine Fisheries Service decided the still unweaned dolphin was not a candidate for eventual release. Rocketman was transferred to the Dolphin Research Center (DRC) in mid-June, in part to counteract all the necessary human contact and, according to DRC staff, give him some identity as a dolphin. He was placed with a 43-year-old grandmother dolphin, Teresa, who knows a lot about babies and captivity, but not too much about what it is like to be free. There are other conflicts too, such as between those with the responsibility to intervene and those who feel it can be done better, or from people who only want to benefit from the animal, for example by building a short-term tourist business around the visitor, or taking it into captivity as a primary goal. Springer is worth a million dollars to a display facility, and is now penned and vulnerable to being declared too unwell to be released. It is unlikely that they will tow him back south, so what is left besides a life in captivity?

The Generic Orca came from decades of innovative research on the fish-eating Northern and Southern Resident orca clans, making them so well known that they became the orca, period. Worldwide research has shown that they are not. The marine-mammal-eating orcas, or "transients" because they passed through the resident's territory without interacting, behaved very differently, and now their lifestyle seems more common worldwide. Should we reexamine basic assumptions as knowledge grows? For example, while it is likely that most of the orcas that vanished from this well-studied population have died, because of the extraordinary pressures the population faces from us, these two wanderers must give us pause: Must all orcas live in groups? While there seem to be advantages in groups, L-98 and A-73 traveled far without being noticed and that alone should make us wonder if there are other solitary orcas, and good reasons for them. Have any others moved out, and survived?

Toxic habitats may have been a factor that pushed individuals out. Both the belugas of the St. Lawrence and the orcas of the Pacific Northwest share the infamy of having the highest toxic loads in their tissues of any creatures known. In January a transient orca known as CA-189 stranded dead in Washington State with the highest level of toxins ever recorded. Male Southern Resident orcas average 1/4 of this female's load, and they are considered extreme. The toxins come from their food, beginning with their mother's milk. An unfortunate truth is that a mother will unwittingly offload some of her toxins to her calf, so the problems start early. As a guess, it is likely that some orcas and belugas have never known a day of just feeling good. The toxins start as human pollution, whether heavy metals resulting from industry, as in the St. Lawrence, or a mix of public and industrial waste onto the water of Puget Sound. The stuff enters the food chain at the lowest level, and is simply passed on in greater concentrations until the fish the belugas or orcas eat may be carrying a nearly lethal load. The final concentration may be absorbed into the whales' blubber, to be metabolized when the individual is weak because food is hard to find. If you were born into a group where everyone was sick and hungry would you think about moving out?

Elsa provides a strong precedent for not "rescuing" an orca that exhibits solitary behavior. In September 1982 the young 14 foot orca Elsa (born free) entered Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts, behind a large fishing boat that came in for repairs. She received heavy media, tourist and official attention, ate things like hot dogs from people's hands, played with people in boats (especially with one woman in a kayak), and displayed a spectrum of behavior that had people worried about her for many reasons. Soon after Elsa's arrival the New England Aquarium showed up with full kit, confidentially ready to capture her for "her own good" (publicly denied). Thankfully this was before the various sampling tools used at every opportunity today; she would have been biopsied and probed like a pincushion. Her unusually worn teeth and eager accommodation to humans, boats and feeding suggested that she might have been an escaped captive, fostering rumors of a secret Navy operation, plausibly denied of course. My favorite photo is of Elsa holding a flounder in her mouth. Obviously not hungry, especially with a harbor full of fish, she had picked up the dead flounder tossed to her by a fisherman, and paraded around holding it in her mouth. I took this to be her asking people not to waste any more fish, that she did not need anything. During the event NMFS quietly declared that no one could physically restrain this orca unless she was grounded, officially stranded. After about a month she left, reportedly with the same fishing boat. Despite excellent photo ID's she was never seen again, which is not unexpected as researchers rarely get to the offshore shelf area where orcas are assumed to forage.

Responding to other solitary cetaceans: depends on who and where they are. Besides the orcas Luna and Springer, several lone dolphins and whales, or "solitaries", have attracted a great deal of attention lately, including the bottlenose dolphin Randy-George-Dony, and many lesser celebrities. They have reinvigorated the question of what, if anything, people should do about an animal that (we assume) should be in a social group, perhaps far away. Such decisions are clearer when the animal is in danger, generally from being too close to humans. Some of these "solitary" individuals are hard to miss, like the pure white of a beluga near New York City, or an orca hundreds of miles from "home" playing with ferries and small boats near Seattle. But we should assume that the media or science knows about few of the solitaries, and that many are never seen or reported by humans at all. Individuals of many species wander, particularly the young. An elusive beluga has spent months tantalizing whale watchers near Plymouth, Massachusetts, and at least three young belugas are attracting tourists in widely separated bays in Newfoundland. The closest population these belugas could come from has been essentially landlocked in the St. Lawrence River of Quebec, Canada since the last ice age. Why did these sentient, social individuals wander alone from home and family, exposed to so many unknown dangers? While the foods they eat, and the waters they swim in, are sources of such heavy metal pollution that they all suffer immune suppression, can we assume the St. Lawrence belugas sensed the danger and left? Perhaps there are secondary pressures or cues from this pollution that result in young belugas leaving the river. Lone belugas have appeared far from "home" many times before and, in spite of positive public attention, the ones we know about usually suffer for the attention. Connecticut's New Haven police never had enough evidence to catch the man who killed the well-loved beluga who stayed near the harbor, and the Long Island, NY beluga visitor was shot.

Newfoundland's solitary belugas are currently eager to interact with the public, and have become the focus of local and tourist attention that can turn dangerous for the whales. The juvenile female "Charlie-Bubbles" was killed in May by a propeller. Other hazards include grabbing hands and junk food, as shown in this photo of much-traveled "Lenni". The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) historically ignores the increasing plight of these lone belugas that appear yearly, although this is a record year. The Whale Stewardship Project (WSP) for several years has worked hard to respond to the need, setting up temporarily on-site with an experienced team led by Kathy Kinsman. WSP uses basic yet sophisticated methods to take advantage of the whale's presence to educate the public, while protecting and studying the whale. Currently the two surviving and widely separated whales have strained WSP beyond their resources, and they need help to pay for all the extra traveling and work as they protect each whale this summer. To help, or receive information, contact the Whale Stewardship Project, Box 36101, Halifax, NS, B3J 3S9 Canada. Email: wsp@idirect.ca. Web: http://www.whalestewardship.org/. Or call: 1-877-560-8917.

"Lenni"
Photo courtesy the Whale Stewardship Project

While most solitaries have been young bottlenose dolphins, the list of known species is surprising. How widespread is the phenomenon? No one knows. New Zealand expert Wade Doak for decades has documented hundreds of solitary, interactive dolphins and whales. His worldwide network of contacts may provide a more thorough picture of the solitary phenomenon at any moment than the several scientific investigations underway, including the highly publicized solitaries and those kept very secret to prevent the almost inevitable excess of human curiosity. Many of these events became the basis for some of his many books, and a good overview is at http://www.wadedoak.com/. Because we need to ask why about everything, the list of possible reasons for solitaries is speculative and long. They may be social outcasts, have behavioral problems, or may have some physical handicap. Dr. Darlene Ketten, of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and a leading expert on cetacean hearing and the effects of noise, has suggested that some solitaries may have hearing problems. People very familiar with particular solitary dolphins have verified her theory in some cases. The solitaries may have lost their group, as a young pilot whale seemed to have done a few years ago. He or she remained very close to the Plymouth, MA "H" buoy for weeks, but was adopted or tolerated by Atlantic white-sided dolphins and seen with them for years afterwards.

Georges, or Randy, may be Dony, or... After touring like a rock star a very frisky and playful bottlenose dolphin disappeared near Weymouth, England in mid-June, ending over a year of public and media frenzy, but hopefully only temporarily. Photographs, behaviors and the fact that there was never more than one dolphin at any time suggest strongly that there was only one dolphin, given a new name wherever he went. As "Dony" he may have been seen first in Co. Kerry, Ireland, from May through July, 2001, then, as "Baladin" or "Moana" near La Rochelle, France from July though September. From October 2001 until March 2002 "Georges" or "Randy" toured between Cherbourg, Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney, and from March until recently "Georges", "Flipper", or "Weyfin" was seen at Portland, Weymouth, Salcombe and Plymouth, England. Randy was an apt name, given his tendency to get especially frisky with women who swam with him. By this June he was the center of controversy, as different people had different ideas about what to do with him. Weather intervened just before a hotly contested effort to capture or lure him away, opposed by a large consortium of concerned organizations and officials. To almost everyone Randy did not want to be "rescued", and we hope he continues to prove that. To some he seemed a new age dolphin equivalent of the learned Irish Monks who toured Europe in the Dark Ages, teaching the ignorant. He loved to play, with people, boats, and everything else. Hundreds of people swam with this one dolphin, and while stories of injuries to people that played with him seemed exaggerated, he collected some himself from boats and propellers. We wait to confirm rumors that he has popped up again, relieving concerns that yet another solitary dolphin has been overcome with human contact. When he comes, we can only hope that authorities will enforce existing rules preventing harassment, common sense rules to remind people of the risks, and let him get on with helping us out of this sometimes darkest of ages.