FRIDAY HARBOR, Washington (15 May 2001) -- Fearing the disappearance of Puget Sound killer whales, local environmental groups have filed a petition asking that orcas be listed as an endangered species. "You've got to try something," said Kelley Balcomb-Bartok, a researcher at the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor. "We're seeking extra mechanisms of support for a population that is clearly in decline." The petition was written by the Center for Biological Diversity, an advocacy group based in Tucson, Ariz., that regularly seeks protection for animals under the Endangered Species Act. It will be filed with the National Marine Fisheries Service. Puget Sound orcas belong to three distinct pods, two of which migrate into the Pacific Ocean in the winter, travelling as far south as Monterey Bay, Calif. The other pod appears to remain in inland waters. There is no evidence that the whales will breed with orcas outside these pods, Balcomb-Bartok said. "What we're looking at is a very small tribe," he said. These whales are unique "culturally" with their own dialect, feeding behavior, physical characteristics, and they reside in the most urban setting of any orca population. Orca numbers have fluctuated over the past few decades. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the numbers dropped when whales were captured and sent to aquariums. A mid-1980s decline was attributed to older whales dying off and not being replaced due to the earlier captures. | | A population decline in the late '90s has been troubling because scientists cannot pinpoint the cause. Likely contributors are fewer salmon, which is their primary food source, an increased buildup of toxins and more frequent disturbances by humans, particularly whale watchers. Earlier this year, the Center for Biological Diversity released a study examining the likelihood of extinction for the local whales. By plugging fertility rates, life expectancy and other population parameters into a computer model, the study concluded the orcas had at least an 81 percent probability of becoming extinct by 2300. To save the whales, the petition requests increased spending on research and conservation efforts, protection of whale and salmon habitat, reduced pollution, the release and reintroduction of captive whales taken from this population and increased regulation of whale watching. Balcomb-Bartok is hopeful that these efforts will preserve the orcas, but added, "no one should kid themselves that this won't be an uphill climb." |
