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Tuesday, October 4, 2005
How to save Sound's orcas? Here's one plan
A proposed coordinated plan to save Puget Sound's orcas focuses on preventing oil spills and learning more about the harm caused by boat noise, pollution and salmon shortages.
The conservation strategy released Monday by the National Marine Fisheries Service strives to maintain the resident killer-whale population at between 84 and 120.
The current population is estimated at 91 orcas, according to the federal agency, but dipped to 79 as recently as four years ago.
Myriad problems stand in the way of a rebound.
"It's about the habitat; it's about prey availability; it's about the whole ecosystem," said Joe Gaydos, regional director of the SeaDoc Society, a non-profit group focused on marine health. "It's not a slam-dunk."
Contamination from industrial chemicals can hamper marine mammals' ability to reproduce and weaken their immune systems. The amount of salmon, orcas' preferred food, has declined from historic levels. And boat traffic and noise is suspected of disturbing the orcas, possibly reducing their ability to communicate and hunt for fish.
The orcas reside much of the year in the Sound, particularly around the San Juan Islands.
In 2003, the Fisheries Service deemed the local orcas "depleted" and eligible for increased protection under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, spurring creation of the proposed conservation plan.
Late last year, the agency proposed protecting the orcas under the more stringent Endangered Species Act, after initially denying protection. A determination will be made in December.
If the orcas are provided increased protection, the agency will need to create a recovery plan and could "roll" the conservation plan into it, said Brian Gorman, a Seattle-based spokesman for the Fisheries Service.
The proposed plan arranges by priority the greatest threats to the orcas, focusing on oil-spill prevention and response, controlling pollution that comes from storm-water runoff and cleaning contamination and boosting salmon numbers.
Saving orcas will be costly, requiring more than $1.5 million in funding this year alone, according to the conservation plan.
The effort also will require help from local and state agencies, non-profit groups, tribes and the public.
ON THE WEB
Read the proposed conservation plan for local orcas online: www.nwr.noaa.gov/mmammals/whales/CPPSKW.html.
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