Wildlife researchers are proposing the creation of a unique, miniature conservation zone encompassing a key feeding area for a critically endangered population of killer whales near Vancouver Island.

The international team of scientists, includingUniversity of British Columbia biologist Rob Williams and colleagues from Britain and the United States, spent four months in the summer of 2006 painstakingly monitoring the movements of a three-pod population of killer whales in waters off B.C. and Washington state that numbers just 87 individuals -- so few that every animal has been identified from distinctive markings.

The researchers found the whales were about three times more likely to feast on Chinook salmon -- their preferred meal -- in a narrow coastal strip south of Washington's San Juan Island than anywhere else in their summer range.

In an article published in the latest issue of the journal Animal Conservation, the scientists propose strict protections for this whale-dining "hot spot," arguing that the no-go zone is small enough to establish a practical system for diverting boat traffic but

large enough to guarantee the whales unfettered feeding.

"Protecting even small patches of water can provide conservation benefits, as long as we choose the spots wisely," said lead researcher Erin Ashe, a biologist at Scotland's University of St Andrews, in a summary of the study.

Ms. Ashe and Mr. Williams said a sanctuary created in 1982 at the north end of Vancouver Island-- the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve -- has successfully protected an area where killer whales in a different population gather to rub their bodies on pebbled beaches.

The proposed Marine Protected Area (MPA) near San Juan Island -- a rectangular zone measuring about two kilometres by 12 kilometres -- would be the first reserve designed specifically to prevent human disturbance of a killer whale feeding ground.

The research team noted that creating a quiet environment is particularly important because the animals' behaviour is more affected by boat traffic while hunting prey than when moving along travel corridors or engaging in other activities.

"MPAs are valuable tools for conservation, but they are not our only tool," Ms. Ashe and Mr. Williams said, emphasizing the proposed exclusion zone for boats would be set within a broader area in the U.S.-Canada boundary waters that is already designated as a conservation area for killer whales.

"A smaller conservation area that is well-placed, effectively managed and has good compliance from boaters might offer additional protection within the broader critical habitat," they said.

The researchers acknowledged that tighter restrictions on human activity in an area popular for whale-watching and recreational boating could be contentious.

"The candidate no-go zone identified in our study is currently used for ecotourism, commercial and recreational fishing, marine transportation and research, and is adjacent to international shipping lanes," they said.

"For an MPA to be successful, there has to be broad, local support, and we hope that that can be achieved here ... There will be controversy, of course, but ... there is overwhelming support for killer whale conservation in the region."



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Killer whales 'body-slam' dolphins in Australia attack

Australian surfers told of their horror as they watched a pod of killer whales attack a large group of dolphins, throwing them into the air and leaping to catch them.

Jamie Kidney said he was surfing off southern Australia's Eyre Peninsula with his friend Anton Storey when the ocean erupted into a seething mass of white water and "all hell broke loose".

"(It was) just chaos, you saw monstrous amounts of white water and then dolphins go flying up in the air, a killer whale would jump out of the water, grab it and body-slam it," Kidney told state radio.

"We look up out the back and these killer whales are just ramming dolphins out of the water and grabbing them, and this just kept going on and on and on, it was unreal," added Storey.

The pair estimated there were up to 100 dolphins under attack, and Kidney said the whales appeared to be toying with the mammals for fun before killing and eating them.

South Australian biologist Cath Kemper said it was "on the unusual side" to see killer whales attack dolphins so close to shore.

"They might have come in initially to look for snapper and maybe there were some dolphins around," Kemper told AFP.

"We've certainly had other reports of killer whales attacking seals and things but not necessarily dolphins.

Sometimes called "wolves of the sea", killer whales are top-order predators that eat anything from squid to larger marine mammals, she added.

Gray-colored transient killer whale spotted

On December 10, 2009 Capt Jim Maya, a whale watch operator from San Juan Island, photographed this white/gray colored transient killer whale. While nobody knows for sure why this whale is colored this way, grey and albino killer whales have been reported before.


In the 1970's, an albino orca in a Canadian aquarium was diagnosed with Chediak-Higashi syndrome and this syndrome could be the reason for the lack of coloration seen in the transient photographed by Capt. Jim on December 10th. Chediak-Higashi syndrome damages the immune system, increasing an animal's susceptibility to viral and bacterial infections. More specifically, it is an inherited genetic mutation that reduces the ability of white blood cells to destroy infectious agents such as bacteria. This mutation also reduces skin pigmentation, resulting in full or partial albinism. Chediak-Higashi syndrome has also been reported in humans, mice and cattle.
Genetic, infectious, parasitic and toxic diseases can impact the recovery of endangered species like the southern resident killer whales and SeaDoc has been working with other experts around the region to study and monitor diseases in killer whales. We thank Capt. Jim of Maya Westside Charters on San Juan Island for these photographs.