Killer whale sighted off coast of Nova Scotia

Jamie Peterson will never forget the sight he saw in late March while aboard the Gladiator 3 fishing on the Scotian Shelf.

A killer whale spent two days cavorting about the long liner while Peterson and other crewmembers, Kelly Chase and Ricky

Carrigan, hauled up halibut.

“He was playing around the boat. He’d come up and slap his tail in the water,” said Peterson.

“We never had the camera ready and we were steaming away and he was behind the boat and he came right straight out of the water, flipped on his side and landed back in the water. It was quite a show actually. He was showing off for us.”

The vessel, which was skippered by Corey Atkinson out of East Pubnico in southwestern N.S. was about 140 miles off the coast.

Peterson, who took pictures and a video of the orca, said it was eating halibut off their line. He estimated the size of the loner at between 25 to 30 feet long.

These predatory mammals eat fish, marine birds and a large array of marine mammals, from seals and sea lions to dolphins and whales.

Andrew Hebda, curator of zoology for the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History says

this is within the zone where orcas can occur (from Florida to edge of ice in the Arctic).

“We hear of the occasional sighting, but haven't heard of any in the last couple of years. There have been sporadic reports throughout the North Atlantic including Northern Europe,” he said.

The museum has a tooth from an orca stranded on Sable Island in 1972, and a report of another stranded in the Minas Basin in 1950.

Hebda says the orca may have been in the area for food, but that normally they are encountered in family groups called pods, typically seen in the Pacific Northwest.

Kent Smedbol, a research scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans also expressed surprise at the lone sighting and said that males are more likely to travel alone than females. The DFO has had sporadic sightings of killer whales from Scotia-Fundy waters.

“Most cetacean experts consider orcas to be only occasional visitors to the Maritimes; sightings are more frequent around Newfoundland and Labrador,” he said.

Tara Stevens is a Ph.D. student at Memorial University in St. John's, Newfoundland. For the past two years she has been working with the DFO studying killer whales, humpback whales, fin whales, and other species. She helped to form the Northwest Atlantic Killer Whale Photo-Identification Catalogue and various other works.

“Killer whales do occur throughout the western North Atlantic, including the Scotian Shelf. They are, however, relatively rare on the Scotian Shelf (SS), at least when compared to sightings elsewhere in the northwest Atlantic, such as the Newfoundland/Labrador region.

“They might be seen on the SS a couple times every few years, and that is based primarily on opportunistic, non-effort based data,” she said.

“As for the habits of this species in these waters, we are not quite sure. By that, I mean that we do not know if the sightings of killer whales on the SS are simply of animals passing by, such as from Newfoundland/Labrador/Arctic Canada to/from southern regions, or if there is a permanent population within a range defined as the Scotian Shelf, or if they are part of a larger population that extends to

Arctic Canada,” said Stevens.

Scientists, tour operators and Inuit fishermen who crossed Hudson Bay notified Canadian researchers in 2006 about killer whales observations.

Researchers could not determine where the killer whales seen in Hudson Bay were coming from, but they suspect their origin is in the northern Atlantic Ocean, near Iceland or Nova Scotia.





FYI....

Date Latitude Longitude Number of whales sighted



14-Sept-67 44'01.2" 62'36" 1

15-Oct-92 42'02" 62'47" 1

03-Nov-92 42'03" 61'47" 3

23-Aug-99 44'20.73" 66'26.4 9

01-OCT-01 41'45" 63'42" 10

26-APR-03 43'37.38" 57'46.7 3

Source:NovaNewsNow.com

J Pod returns to the west side of San Juan Island!

Friday Harbor, WA -- On April Fools Day, J Pod provided a pleasant surprise by returning to the waters of Haro Strait, off the west side of San Juan Island. The Center for Whale Research confirmed that all members of J Pod were present with the exception of J-43. Born to Samish (J-14) last fall, this new calf has not been seen this year and is now presumed dead.

Source: The Whale Museum

Planning Could Save More Birds Caught in Oil Spills

The ability to save the lives of blackened seabirds caught in an oil spill will be enhanced later this year, thanks to plans for quickly mobilizing up to four times as many bird-cleaning stations.

Ideas for protecting Puget Sound's killer whales in an oil spill and for rescuing other marine mammals also are moving into high gear. It's all part of more sophisticated planning for spill prevention and response.

Oil-spill prevention has always been a top priority, but state regulations were overhauled following the Point Wells spill in 2004, when oil drifted across Puget Sound and landed on a beach in North Kitsap. The Dalco Passage spill near Tacoma the following year added to the urgency for better planning.

Out of the new rules, approved last year, came an understanding that plans for rescuing wildlife depend too much on a voluntary network of wildlife experts. Further lessons were learned in November, when more than 1,000 oiled birds were recovered in San Francisco Bay and moved to rehabilitation centers in California.

Planning to assist marine mammals during an oil spill is not as far along, but it is occurring on several fronts. Under current plans, oiled wildlife could move into available marine aquariums and other rehabilitation facilities in Washington state plus specialized facilities in California.

Since an oil spill is considered the greatest threat to the survival of the Puget Sound killer whales, a task force has identified methods of "hazing" to be used to drive orcas away from an oil slick. The effort is part of recovery planning for the orcas, listed as endangered by the federal government.

Suggested techniques include using recorded orca calls, banging on pipes that reverberate in the water, setting off explosive "seal bombs" and calling in the Navy to use its mid-frequency sonar. If adopted, the ideas would become part of the Northwest Area Contingency Plan, which spells out how one should respond to a spill.

Fred Felleman, Northwest consultant for Friends of the Earth, said he would like to see more details about when the various methods are effective. The pipes are relatively cheap, he said, and they could be stowed on all whale-watching boats in which operators have been trained.

Air guns, which release bursts of sound, could be especially effective, he said, because the sound levels can be dialed up or down depending on the conditions. The next step should be to determine where air guns and other equipment should be stored for quick deployment, he added.

Carlson said operational details will come out as the current round of planning continues. More research may be needed to see what techniques work the best.

In the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, a large number of killer whales just disappeared, said SeaDoc's Gaydos. Not one carcass was recovered, so researchers are not sure how the oil affected the animals. Researchers fear that a spill in Puget Sound could decimate the local orcas.

Carlson said Fish and Wildlife is working on a plan to respond to oiled sea otters, while plans for other mammals are in the works. It is important to know when to leave animals alone as well as when to take action, he said. Since seals and sea lions have a layer of blubber, they are less at risk than birds to die of hypothermia in an oil spill, he said.

"In our contingency planning, our focus has been mainly on birds," Carlson said, "but we're following the same track for marine mammals. The approach seems to work very well, ... and we may need to develop a 24-hour responsibility for marine mammals."

Robson Bight update

March 27, 2008

Robson Bight update
Waiting, waiting…

When a barge dangerously laden with logging equipment, including a tanker truck of diesel fuel, spilled its load in the heart of the world’s best known orca habitat – the Ecological Reserve at Robson Bight - last August 20th, whale lovers were outraged, environmentalists dismayed, the public alerted, and even the oil industry took note.

Canada’s initial response, via its Coastguard, was to discount the possibility of serious impacts by claiming all the oil and fuel had been released and dispersed. Eventually, after being pressured by NGOs who raised the funds needed to conduct an underwater investigation, the governments of British Columbia and Canada commissioned an underwater inspection of the spill site. This was completed in early December. Months later, despite video evidence (www.livingoceans.org) that the tanker truck is intact and probably still full of toxic diesel fuel we are still waiting for an announcement that the next obvious step – cleanup – will be undertaken before the orcas return in early summer. Organising and conducting the cleanup will take time, once the decision is made, and time is passing quickly. Meanwhile, a ticking toxic time bomb is lying on the ocean floor 350m below Robson Bight.

The absence of official reaction to the evidence from the underwater inspection is puzzling, and disturbing. The only thing that seems clear is that once again the governments are dragging their feet. Possibly they are hoping the problem will go away if they ignore it long enough. That simply isn’t good enough. The orcas will return soon, probably in June & no later than July. If the fuel tanker isn’t removed by the time the orcas arrive, it will be considered too risky to do the job until they leave again in the fall or early winter. This means the cleanup could be pushed back to next spring. Meanwhile, the diesel might remain inside the tanker, or it might not. If it is released when orcas are present, the result could be catastrophic. Leaving it lying at the bottom with orcas swimming above is foolhardy and negligent. For the orcas’ sake, and to ensure the ecological integrity of Robson Bight, the job must be done now. Waiting any longer is not an option.

As a matter of urgency, please insist that Canada and British Columbia act now. Thank you.

Here are the contact details:

The Honourable Loyola Hearn, Minister
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
200 Kent St. Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E6 Canada
phone: 1-613-992-3474
fax: 1-613- 995-7858
Eamail: Min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca


The Honourable Barry Penner
Minister of the Environment
P.O. Box 9047, Stn. Prov. Gov't.
Victoria, B.C.
V8W 9E2 Canada
phone: 1-250-387-1187
fax: 1-250-387-1356
Email: env.minister@gov.bc.ca

Run of Killer Whales Coming Soon to Central Oregon Coast

(Depoe Bay, Oregon) - It’s been happening for years on the Oregon coast, and yet it still remains a bit of a seasonal secret.

Each year, around April 15 or so, killer whales approach the area and patrol the central coast waters, looking for baby gray whales and maybe a few sea lions or seals to munch on. They are rarely seen in these waters, except at this time of year. And when it does happen, it’s in the Depoe Bay and Newport areas, but it’s often seen from Cascade Head all the way down to Florence.

The killer whales are what are known as “transient” whales, meaning officials don’t know where they come from. They’re also more predatory, living off seals and baby gray whales.

Morris Grover, with the Whale Watch Center in Depoe Bay, says these are smaller and more shark-like in appearance than what are nicknamed the “friendly” whales, which visit here from the San Juan Islands and live on salmon.
“We see them in our waters every spring, usually arriving about April 15,” Grover said. “But some have already been spotted during the previous whale watch week. They are here to intercept the baby gray whales, as that is the time they usually arrive along the coast. They are usually here for a few weeks.”

In 2006, the killer whales lingered until the middle of July.

“That is a very long time for them, but it was obviously supported by local food for them,” Grover said. “We watched a pod of five around Depoe Bay and actually filmed them taking what we believed to be a seal in the south end of the bay. Seals and sea lions are fast in the water and orcas have to burn up a lot of energy to catch them. After all that work, only one seal will feed one orca. When they kill a baby gray whale, the whole pod can eat for a week.”
Grover said they sometimes can be seen coming into Yaquina Bay in Newport when they can’t find baby whales, attracted by the proliferation of seals and sea lions in the bay. Some years, they have also been known to linger at the edges of the bay’s jetties. One sighting in recent years was of a killer whale chasing a seal all the way through Yaquina Bay, almost as far east as Toledo.

“It’s all food related,” Grover said. “They come up here all the time. Basically, they will take the easiest prey.”

Grover said they are sometimes seen apparently “playing” with their food by tossing it back and forth, or slapping it with their tails. This unique behavior has to do with teaching their young how to hunt.

To catch sight of these killer whales, just like spotting any whale, Grover suggests patience, and head to a high vantage point. The Newport area has many of these, such as the lighthouse at Yaquina Bay, the Yaquina Head area, Don Davis Memorial Park in Nye Beach, and nearby at Cape Foulweather. The headquarters for the Whale Watch Spoken Here program is in Depoe Bay, at the seawall, and another good spot for seeing them as well.

One theory about why the killer whales have been more frequent in these waters in recent decades is that the sardine population has recently begun to recover from over fishing in the 30’s.

Grover said sardines come up through this region in what are nicknamed “bait balls,” where their numbers are so condensed they form a wall of fish, partially out of an instinct to protect their young. Staff at the Whale Watch Center in Depoe Bay can see them at times: they appear as a large, dark mass in the ocean.
Orcas here have been seen swimming around them with great frequency, forcing them to coalesce together even closer. Then, the whales will simply start to swim through them with their mouths open, sucking down this wall of fish in a kind of underwater all-you-can-eat buffet.

Grover emphasized that even once the Whale Watch Week is over – which is happening now until March 29 - there are still gray whales aplenty to be spotted, along with the coveted killer whale sightings. Gray whales are still migrating through here in great numbers until June. Then, the “summer” whales begin to show up, which tend to loiter on the central coast in large numbers for the summer before migrating again, because of the abundant food supply here. These really put on a show by coming quite close to shore.

“If you sit there for only five minutes and you spot a whale, then you’ve won the lottery,” Grover said. “It’s not likely. If you sit there for a half hour, it’s possible you’ll see one. If you sit for an hour, you’ll probably see one.”

In late May of 2006, Tiffany Boothe of the Seaside Aquarium photographed a pod of killer whales near the Sea Lion Caves. That event was a few days after a much publicized sighting of the same pod by staff at Sea Lion Caves
What staff there noted was that the orcas were swimming around the sea lions, but they weren’t disturbed by the presence of their usual predators. Grover thinks this was because either the whales were full and were not interested in the swimming sea lions, or they were trying to fool them into complacency so they could make a meal of them later on.

Boothe also noted the sea lions didn’t seem to be scared by the killer whales swimming around them

Source: http://www.beachconnection.net/news/killw032608_711.php