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Friday, March 5, 2004
Science should dictate orca plan
Washington state can set a good example for federal authorities on orca protection.
As early as next month, the state Fish and Wildlife Commission will consider a staff recommendation to add the whales to the state's list of endangered species. Federal officials, under court order to review the orcas' status, should follow suit.
The state protection proposal makes perfect sense. As the staff's review found, the orca population in Puget Sound has fallen from perhaps 200 at one time to 83 or so. Just a decade ago, there were nearly 100. The sharp decline has left precious little room for further losses.
The orcas face such threats as fewer salmon to feed on, toxics in the water and disruptive human activities on the Sound, ranging from whale-watching vessels to sonar-bearing Navy ships. Those are scientific facts.
While the state doesn't have much direct control over those problems, the potential for indirect effects may be big. As Kathy Fletcher of People for Puget Sound observes, state agencies have lead roles in many decisions involving pollution, fish habitat and shoreline activities.
State protection of the orcas would follow both local tradition, such as the 1970s crusade to halt their kidnapping for amusement park use, and the growth in knowledge about the whales since then. The commission should listen to its scientists. By doing so, they will show the National Marine Fisheries Service its next step: federal protection of orcas under the Endangered Species Act.
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