Whale watchers say Coast Guard machine-gunning spooked orcas

A Coast Guard exercise that involved firing machine guns in the Strait of Juan de Fuca spooked orcas, according to captains of nearby whale-watch boat, who reported a Coast Guard vessel did "doughnuts" around one of the killer whales.

The Coast Guard said the vessel firing the machine gun was nowhere near the orcas and was firing in the other direction. Twice the shooting was halted when whales came into the area, said Coast Guard Commander Pete Martin.

Dan Kukat, president of the Whale Watch Operators Association Northwest, said four whale-watch captains reported orcas from J pod began swimming back and forth and reversing course quickly, as if trying to evade something, during the exercise late Thursday morning.

The incident occurred just inside U.S. waters in an area west of Victoria and Port Angeles. It is designated as a military firing range and notices were put out to mariners to beware of the exercise.

Kukat said the whale-watch captains were particularly concerned because the Coast Guard vessels, which are based in Oregon, did not respond to calls on two marine radio channels.

Martin said the two vessels in the exercise were set up so that one would fire west, with an M-240 machine gun, which has a range of about two miles. Three miles to the east, an identical 25-foot Coast Guard response boat was stationed to keep boaters out of the area. It appears that the whale-watch captains were confused about which vessel was firing, he said.

He also disputed reports that the orcas were acting strangely.

"I'm not an animal behaviorist, but it seems strange to me that they would proceed toward an activity that they found threatening," Martin said.

Kukat pointed out that the orcas, which enjoy lifespans similar to those of humans, once were shot at by fishermen and others within the lifetimes of some orcas that are currently alive.

"A large number of these whales have been shot at in the past and their bretheren and sisters have been killed by rifle fire," Kukat said.