Washington state aims totakeon orca threats
With the number of endangered Salish Sea orcas at a 30year low, Washington state lawmakers want to protect the fish-eating killer whales that spend time in the inland waters of the Salish Sea.
The measures include boosting hatchery salmon production and increasing marine patrols so that boats keep their distance from the whales, among other steps.
Many have been sounding the alarm about the orcas’ plight since the September death of a juvenile brought the population to 76.
Orcas face threats from lack of food, pollution and noise from vessels.
A baby orca hasn’t been born in the past few years. Half of the calves born during a celebrated baby boom have died young. Female orcas are also having pregnancy problems linked to nutritional stress brought on by a low supply of chinook salmon, the whales’ preferred food, a recent study found.
“We haven’t seen any viable calves born here in the last few years and that is disconcerting,” said Brad Hanson, wildlife biologist with the NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center.
Last year, the orcas spent the fewest number of days in the central Salish Sea in four decades, mostly because there wasn’t enough salmon for them to eat, said Ken Balcomb, senior scientist with the Center for Whale Research.
One Washington House bill sets aside US$1.5 million to produce 10 million more hatchery chinook salmon — a roughly 20 per cent boost — so orcas will have more to eat.
“Using smart-hatchery production we can still support rebuilding wild-fish runs and have hatchery production,” said Rep. Brian Blake, a Democrat who is the prime sponsor of House Bill 2417.
Blake and others say there’s growing awareness that the fates of two Northwest iconic species — salmon and orcas — are intertwined, and that efforts to save one endangered species could help another.
“The idea is that, overall, you have more fish out there that are available to killer whales,” said Penny Becker, wildlife diversity division manager with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
She said the agency is committed to ramping up state hatchery production — which has been declining over the past decade — though it would still need to determine where and how best to do that.