Are Humans Watching Wildlife to Death?
The following article appeared in the Washington Post July 29, 2002. It raises some important questions about the possible negative effect of the increasingly popular whale - and dolphin watching tours.
Orca Watch: Are Crowds a Peril to Pods' Health?
By Cheryl Lyn Dybas
Monday, July 29, 2002
The whale-watching vessel M/V Orca Spirit silently drifted, engines off, in Haro Strait, British Columbia. Onboard, naturalists and tourists peered into the distance, searching for black fins breaking the water's surface.
The fins are a sign that a pod of orcas, or killer whales, is nearby. Orcas, which are the largest members of the dolphin family, 'follow their favorite food -- salmon,' explained naturalist Heidi Collinson. Every summer, a run of salmon makes its way along the west coast of San Juan Island, Wash., and up coastal rivers to spawn. The orcas are waiting. 'And so,' said Collinson, 'are the orca watchers.'
Suddenly the Orca Spirit listed to port as whale watchers jostled along the left-side railing for a view of a female orca and her calf. The killer whales were dead on course for the boat. 'This is a banner day,' said Collinson. 'We almost never see a mother and baby.'
As the orcas approached to within a few feet, the mother rolled onto her side and seemed to give her human audience as good a looking-over as she got. 'Eye to eye, we're that close,' said one surprised tourist.
Orcas and people certainly are eye to eye in Haro Strait and other Pacific Northwest locales with near-hourly whale-watching trips. Recent studies show that dead-on meetings between orcas and boats are happening more frequently than ever near Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria.
In fact, say scientists such as David Bain of the University of Washington in Seattle, humans may be eyeing orcas far too often for the killer whales' well-being. In this United Nations-designated International Year of Ecotourism, biologists such as Bain are asking: Are humans watching wildlife to death?
Researchers have identified several populations of killer whales in the waters of Washington state and British Columbia, according to marine mammal biologist Andrew Trites of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. 'The group we're most concerned about is the southern resident population, the one most affected by humans and by whale watching.'
These orcas reside in Haro Strait, between the southern end of Vancouver Island and Washington state, during spring, summer and fall months. Orcas in this population numbered 98 in 1995, 83 in 1999 and 79 by 2001 -- nearly a 20 percent decline in six years.
Scientists are investigating a number of possible causes. 'Finding out what's causing this decline involves looking at decreases in the amount of salmon prey available, perhaps a result of warming ocean waters due to climate change; toxins, especially PCBs, in the marine environment where these animals live; and an increase in the number of whale-watching boats,' said Glenn VanBlaricom, a University of Washington marine mammal biologist.
Once, there were no orca-watching boats in Haro Strait or anywhere else. But public attitudes toward killer whales changed from a belief that orcas were ferocious beasts out to attack and destroy everything in their way to the knowledge that orcas are intelligent, inquisitive and cooperative animals. As a result, interest in viewing orcas in the wild developed.
The first commercial orca-watching excursions began in Johnstone Strait, British Columbia, in 1980. By 1985, there were 10 tour companies offering orca-watching trips in southern British Columbia waters; by 1994, there were 42; and by 2001, 82 -- a 95 percent increase in seven years. In 1990, pods of killer whales in southern British Columbia were trailed by an average of four vessels at one time during summer daylight hours. By 1997, that number had reached 25. Now, more than 40 vessels may keep orcas company as they search for prey near San Juan Island.
'The sudden approach of a boat can startle a whale or cause short-term disruption
of a pod's activities. If disruptive encounters take place repeatedly -- and they do at certain times in some areas -- it seems likely that there will be a cumulative negative impact,' said John Ford, a marine mammal scientist with Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Nanaimo, British Columbia.
Underwater noise from the boats' engines may interfere with the animals' sensitive echolocation abilities, which they use to target salmon. Underwater sounds may also disturb schools of salmon themselves, causing the fish to scatter and making it harder for orcas to find them.
In addition, killer whales range farther and swim faster when followed by boats, studies show. Therefore, they have to eat more to compensate for the extra energy needed. If orcas cannot find enough food -- an issue when salmon numbers are declining -- they will begin to use their own blubber, releasing toxins that accumulate in fat and causing their immune systems to weaken.
Orca-watching tour operators are keenly aware of these threats, said Dan Kukat, owner of Spring Tide Charters in Victoria, British Columbia, and president of the Whale Watch Operators Association of the (Pacific) North West (WWOANW). 'Marine mammal protection laws in both Canada and the U.S. prohibit harassment of these animals,' he said.
In addition, the WWOANW has created guidelines to safeguard orcas and to meliorate some of the difficulties associated with the industry's growth. 'However, not all whale-watch operators are members of a group like ours, and then there's the seldom-discussed problem of smaller pleasure boats, as well as fishing vessels, that disturb these pods of orcas.'
At all times, according to WWOANW regulations, vessels should travel parallel to the direction in which the whales are swimming. Vessel speed should be the same as an orca's speed, or slower. And vessels should stop and allow whales to travel toward them rather than give chase.
'Seeing orcas is much easier if you are smack in front of the animals, no matter what boat you're in, but there's widespread agreement that traveling alongside them at a fair distance is best for the orcas,' said Trites.
Results of recent studies are very clear about short-term effects, said Trites, Bain and VanBlaricom, but scientists have yet to determine what the long-term effects of orca watching might be.
'In the end, orcas need a place to get away from boats, perhaps in reserves where they can be left in peace,' said Trites.
One such boat-exclusion zone exists already, in the Robson Bight (Michael Bigg) Ecological Reserve in Johnstone Strait. Here orcas beach themselves to rub against pebbled shores, scraping off parasites that have collected on their bodies. 'But vessel exclusion here is voluntary,' said Trites, 'so it only works as long as boat owners are willing to go along with it.'
It's possible, according to Ford, that the southern resident orca population will reverse its current decline on its own. But, he said, the long-term prospects are not encouraging. Projected human population trends over the next 30 years show that most of the land around Puget Sound and southern British Columbia will be developed, with boat traffic likely increasing in proportion to this growth.
'Hopefully,' said Ford, 'this situation will serve as a 'wake-up call' about the future of this and other groups of orcas.'
© 2002 The Washington Post Company
