The mystery of whales

Judith Lavoie, Victoria Times Colonist
Published: Sunday, February 10, 2008
The most startling fact about the whales that swim in the waters around Vancouver Island is the lack of facts.

They're big, beautiful and infinitely appealing, but, even scientists who have dedicated their lives to studying marine mammals, readily admit they know remarkably little about them.

Out there, somewhere in the depths, are killer, grey, sperm, minke, blue, fin, sei, North Pacific right, beaked and humpback whales
At least, we think they're out there, but, for many species, population numbers are simply guesstimates.

Some types of beaked whales have never been seen alive in B.C.waters and the only clue to their existence are the washed-up carcasses, said John Ford, Department of Fisheries and Oceans marine mammal scientist at the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo, one of Canada's top whale authorities.

The seis are supposed to be out there, but there have been no confirmed sightings in B.C. waters since whaling ended in 1967.

The last North Pacific right whale seen off the coast of B.C. was killed in 1951 at the Coal Harbour whaling station on northern Vancouver Island and, although they have been seen in the Bering Sea in late summer, the total population is believed to be fewer than 100.

There were celebrations last summer when a DFO deep sea survey saw five blue whales, including a calf and the sightings spurred hopes that they might recolonize B.C. waters. But, with threats ranging from pollution and noise to food shortages and climate change - who knows?

Exceptions to the knowledge void are the four populations of killer whales which have been the subject of intense study since the early 1970s, largely because of the foresight of researchers such as Ford, Michael Bigg, Graeme Ellis and Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, who compiled a photographic record of every whale.

"As soon as you know any animal species on an individual level, it's extremely powerful," said Ellis, research technician with the marine mammal group at the Pacific Biological Station.

"We have known 85 per cent of the population of [resident] killer whales since birth."

But, even with the endangered southern resident killer whales, there are gaping holes in knowledge, such as where the whales spend their winters.

"We have studied orcas for 30 years and still have a really basic level of knowledge," said whale researcher Helena Symonds of OrcaLab on Hanson Island.

After whaling ended, live captures in the late 1960s and 1970s sent killer whale populations into a nosedive, and no one took responsibility for whale research.

"Little effort was put into managing or assessing populations of large whales until the Species at Risk Act (SARA) came along," Ford said.


Source: Time Colonist