Orca Facts
Click through for media backgrounder.
Orcas (Orcinus orca), also known as killer whales, are one of the most recognized and treasured marine mammals on earth. They are an integral part of Canada’s natural and cultural heritage. The southern resident population of these whales, whose range encompasses Georgia Strait in Southern BC and Puget Sound in northern Washington, has been in decline since the 1960s.
There are four distinct populations of killer whales in BC: southern and northern resident, transient, and offshore whales. Resident orcas are fish eating whales that prey mainly on salmon while transients feed only on other marine mammals. Little is known of the offshore whales -- they are rarely seen in BC waters. Due to their highly complex social structure, these whale populations do not interbreed with each other and are genetically distinct.
The southern resident population is the most familiar to British Columbians and is frequently seen off Vancouver Island. While there are as few as 78 of these whales left, they support a whale watching industry worth over $100 million per year -- more than the entire BC commercial salmon fishery.
The southern resident whale population has declined nearly 20% since 1996 to as few as 78 animals. Recent studies have indicted that these whales could be extinct in as little as 30 years if this downward trend continues.
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) designated this population as "endangered" in 2001. "Endangered" means that the species is at risk of extinction or extirpation over a significant portion of its original range.
However in 2002, the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) denied these whales protection under the US Endangered Species Act because it concluded that the whales are not "significant" enough to warrant protection.
Threats to Killer Whales
Toxins in the Marine Environment
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) scientists have identified three main threats to BC’s killer
whales: accumulation of persistent organic pollutants (especially PCBs) in their bodies, impact from
boat traffic, and declining salmon stocks (especially Chinook salmon).
Click through for an interesting overview of the
impacts on killer whales from persistant toxins.
These same studies have shown that BC's orcas are among the most contaminated marine mammals in the world -- two to three times higher than the highly contaminated beluga whales in the St. Lawrence River. DFO even considered incinerating a dead orca in an Alberta Toxic waste facility in 2000 because it's carcass contained PCB concentrations in excess of Canadian ocean dumping standards. Persistent organic pollutants are chronically toxic to whales (and humans), depressing the immune system and interfering with the reproductive success. Female whales tend to be much less contaminated because they off-load their toxins to their young through nursing.
There are many sources of PCBs in Canadian and US waters affecting these whales. Sewage discharges in BC are major problem - especially the City of Victoria, which has no sewage treatment whatsoever. There are also a number of contaminated sites across the border in Puget Sound. These sites would likely have to be cleaned up if the whales were protected under the US Endangered Species Act.
Boat traffic also is a serious concern. Southern resident whales have an average of 12 boats watching them at any given time. Incredibly, Canada still does not have binding whale-watching regulations, only "guidelines".
The Court Case
Sierra Legal Defence Fund represented the Georgia Strait Alliance (GSA) and Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) in an American lawsuit to defend these whales. GSA and WCWC were granted leave to file an “amicus curiae” (friend of the court) brief with the US Federal Court supporting a legal challenge launched by US conservation groups to fight the decision not to list these critically endangered whales under the US Endangered Species Act (ESA). The goal of their submission was to inform the US Federal Court that the southern residents are of great significance to Canadians and to explain why Canada has listed the southern residents as federally endangered species.
On December 18, 2003, United States District Court Judge Robert Lasnik overturned a controversial July 2002 National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) decision that found the Southern Resident orca population is not 'significant' and thus does not qualify for protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
In his decision, Judge Lasnik found the NMFS ignored its own scientific experts and the best available scientific information about the whales. He also found that these errors cast doubt on the correctness of the decision not to list the whales as endangered. NMFS had 12 months to change its decision.
