Orca Relief Citizens’ Alliance proposes a whale protection zone west of San Juan Island
— by Samantha Larson from Crosscut.com —
The orca iconography in Puget Sound tourist gift shops borders on sappy, but for those lucky enough to have seen an orca in the flesh, the love of these whales is not so hard to understand. Yet the whale tourism industry may also come with a darker side: Are we literally loving the Southern Resident killer whales to death?
The Orca Relief Citizens’ Alliance — a non-profit dedicated to reducing the mortality rates of Puget Sound’s endangered local killer whales — thinks we are, through the demand to see orcas via boat-based whale watching tours. So the organization is pushing for the establishment of a whale protection zone on the west side of San Juan Island, where the orcas frequently hunt and rest.
As Mark Anderson, the group’s founder and chairman, explains, disturbance noise from boats interferes with the sonar the whales use to communicate and to hunt. “It’s like a loud piece of music, right over the frequencies they use,” Anderson says. Putting further restrictions on boats within this zone “would be like giving them a dining room they can use without harassment.”
(To read the Orcas Relief Citizens’ Alliance report go to orcarelief.org/WPZ-Concept-Final-Report)
(To read the full Crosscut article, go to crosscut.com/2015/01/05/safe-zone-southern-resident-orca-whales )
It is so time that somebody stood up for the Orcas!!! They were not put here for you to make money!!! Anyone that wants to see an Orca can: stay on land, be patient, keep an eye on the water…you will see one eventually…as it should be… Merry
Concern? How about, there are “fewer than 90 resident Orca whales” and whale watching along with pollutants and global warming are all contributing factors. That’s enough “credible “Data” for us to act now before they go the way of so many endangered species.
I love the Orcas and would hate to see their numbers decline any further but based on what I’ve read it is a lack of Chinook salmon to eat that is the prime problem. “Whale watching, pollutants and global warming” seem to be minor contributing factors that no one seems to be able to quantify. Will establishing a protection zone along one shoreline of one island make any difference to their long term survival, I kind of doubt it but it will give some people a warm and fuzzy feeling about having “done” something. Seems like increasing production at hatcheries and spawning habitat to increase the food supply for them should be priority number one.