Salmon Collapse: Starving on the Coast
by C.L. Cook

Marine scientists expressed concern for five missing orca whales, members of 'L Pod' usually observed in the waters off southern Vancouver Island.

The increasingly endangered mammal population is closely monitored by government agencies, and has provided a booming whale watching industry for Victoria and other towns along the Haro and Juan de Fuca Straits.

Five orca disappeared from 'L Pod' more than a month ago. Scientists say it's unusual for the closely knit "families" that hunt and live communally to separate like this, and they believe the whales may have starved.

 

This theory is consistent with reports of starvation among British Columbia's coastal bear populations, who depend on massive numbers of salmon returns to fatten for the winter.

 

Victoria, B.C. - Every year, millions of fish hatched in the rivers and streams of Vancouver Island and the entire British Columbia coast, come home to spawn a new generation. Scenes of their epic struggle, transiting from sea to fresh water, fighting gravity and strong river currents to reach their point of origin to mate and die is one of natures great spectacles, and is still not fully understood by science. The chinook salmon returns though have been extremely low this year, as they were last.  

Judith Lavoie reports in the Victoria Times-Colonist the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Washington saying the orca are exhibiting extraordinary behaviour, with members of 'L and J Pods' merging and forming unique inter-pod hunting parties in a desperate effort to find food.

 

In another strange alliance, environmental group, Ecojustice and the Canadian federal government's Resident Killer Whale Recovery Team held a joint press conference Wednesday (Oct. 22) to announce an "explosive new strategy" to challenge what they say is the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' "failure to adequately protect the endangered southern resident killer whales and threatened northern killer whales." 

 

 

The orca's survival is more problematic than just the dismal salmon returns, though the adverse effects of this for the whole coastal ecosystem cannot be underestimated, the whales' near proximity to human activity, and especially pollution emanating coastal towns and cities, too pose serious threats for their long-term survival.

Lance Barrett-Lennard, co-chair of the Whale Recovery Team expressed his concern, saying:

• "There are ongoing scientific concerns about conservation of the species, particularly in light of the fact that killer whales are not looking good this year."

As with the orca, bear watching is a growing tourist industry here, and operators say they too are worried by the salmon failure. Bears who would normally be happily gorging themselves for the winter are instead haggard, desperate, and too aggressive to be in proximity to.

Howard Garrett of the Washington-based Orca Network says they know what needs to be done to restore salmon populations along the coast. He stresses the need for an integrated approach, saying:

• "There is already a lot of effort to restore salmon on the U.S. side, and we need to tie orca recovery to salmon recovery every step of the way."