By KARI KOSKI
With the recent news that NOAA Fisheries has proposed vessel regulations to reduce vessel disturbance to the endangered population of Southern Resident killer whales, it is important that everyone take the time to better understand the very real issues we are facing.
Decisions being made now not only affect how we are able to conduct ourselves both in our businesses and personal lives, but also determine the fate of the killer whales that we relate to as icons and so readily use to market everything from real estate to bottled water. Think about all of the things that have an orca image on it in this region. Think about how important this image is, as well as the whales themselves, to our economy and sense of place. Without them, this would be a very different community indeed.
The decisions we are facing are hard. Vessel regulations alone will not save this population of whales. All of us benefit from their presence here and we owe it to the whales to do everything we can to promote their recovery.
Soundwatch estimates that more than 500,000 people watch whales in the Salish Sea every year. Southern Resident killer whales experienced a population decline beginning in the mid-1990s and were recently listed under the Endangered Species Act in the U.S. and in Washington state, and as a Species at Risk in Canada. Potential threats are identified as prey availability, toxins and vessel disturbance. U.S. and Canadian agencies have developed recovery plans that recognize the need for vessel management actions to minimize potential disturbance from vessels.
The Whale Museum’s Soundwatch Boater Education Program is recognized by federal, state and local governments as successful in reducing disturbance by reducing interactions between vessels and orcas. However, it is absurd to think that the Soundwatch Program alone can manage the volume of vessel traffic we routinely observe with whales.
The education and monitoring that Soundwatch does is important in that it prevents countless potential disturbances to whales and provides needed vessel trend data that is used by regional management agencies. However, boating pressures and continued noncompliance with guidelines and Washington state laws require the implementation and enforcement of effective and practical U.S. and Canadian federal regulations for vessels around orca whales.
U.S. and Canadian commercial whale-watch vessel operators and commercial kayakers as well as recreational vessel operators and recreational kayakers (whether resident or visitor, whale watching, fishing or cruising) routinely operate out of compliance with current guidelines and laws. The majority of the incidents, committed by all of the vessel operator types, occur along the busy corridor of the west side of San Juan Island. This is the area most often used by the whales and has the most conflicts with boaters.
Soundwatch vessel-incident trends show that more than half of observed incidents are committed by private boat operators. Canadian commercial operators and U.S. commercial operators rank second and third. Since 2003, U.S. commercial operators have remained at nearly the same level with an annual rate of nearly 8 percent of all incidents while Canadian commercial operators have reduced overall incidents from 33 percent in 2003 to 15 percent in 2007 and 17 percent in 2008.
Private vessel operators continue to commit the majority of all incidents, with 38 percent in 2003 and 60 percent of the total in 2007 and 2008. The remaining incidents occur from a variety of operators including aircraft pilots at 8 percent, kayakers (commercial and recreational) at 4 percent, and research/monitoring (including Soundwatch) making up 3 percent of total observed incidents in 2008.
Soundwatch compiles weekly vessel-incident data and sends “Weekly Feedback Reports” to the Pacific Whale Watch Association (formerly WWOANW) members, to federal and state enforcement agencies and to partner monitoring groups. Reports contain all observations of all vessel incidents as well as overall summaries. Observations of incidents that are repeated, flagrant and potentially illegal are sent immediately to the appropriate enforcement agencies.
Continued finger-pointing as to who is to blame and the endless debate over which of the risks is the real problem facing the whales does nothing to help them. We are all to blame. We all contribute to the cumulative problems the whales and our ocean ecosystems are suffering. It is not just the lack of available food or just the high levels of toxins or just vessel disturbance that is affecting these whales, it is all of them combined.
The real questions we need to be asking ourselves are, “What are we going to do about all of the risks?” and “How soon?”
We invite you to visit our Web site, www.whalemuseum.org, and click on “Soundwatch Boater Education” under Programs to find out more about Soundwatch, the current guidelines and regulations, and to read our Annual Data Reports and Annual Vessel Incident Summaries (2009 season posted weekly). You will also find there our previous comments sent to NOAA in 2007 regarding The Whale Museum recommendations for vessel regulations.
We encourage you to take the time to read carefully the NOAA proposed vessel regulations (www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Whales-Dolphins-Porpoise/Killer-Whales/ESA-Status/Orca-Vessel-Regs.cfm) and think critically about what can be done to effectively help the whales while maintaining a balance with recreational and commercial activities. Your expertise is important. Submit thoughtful comments to NOAA and be sure to come to the public meeting in Friday Harbor Oct. 5 to learn more and to contribute to public policy making.
— Kari Koski is director of Soundwatch. Contact her at
soundwatch@whalemuseum.org, or call 378-4710 ext. 33.
