By Maddie Henning
SENTINELS OF THE SOUND
Many conservationists celebrated a recent bill passed in the Washington state legislature that limits commercial whale watching of the endangered Southern Resident Orcas. However, the activists aboard these commercial whale watching boats are not as convinced of the positive implications of the bill. Whale watchers are worried that taking away their sentinel role on the ocean will actually expose the orcas to greater threats.
An iconic species of the Puget Sound
The Southern Resident Orcas are a subpopulation of orcas that frequently occupy the inland waters of Washington state, specifically in the Puget Sound region. Their eye-catching black and white patterns distinguish them as the most visually striking of all marine mammals. Orcas have stories, a social nature, and an intelligence similar to humans that we find captivating. Yet these animals face huge challenges to their survival, in part due to their close proximity to human activity in the nearshore environment. With concerningly steady population declines and a shrinking food supply, the Southern Resident Orcas are a top priority for local and global conservation efforts.
Southern Resident Orcas face environmental threats.
Vessel noise disturbance, depleted Chinook salmon food supply, and toxic contaminants entering the water are the three principal threats to the Southern Resident Orcas. The Orca Task Force, set up under WA Governor Jay Inslee is dedicated to orca recovery and sustainability. This Task Force includes diverse stakeholders in orca conservation including researchers who collected and analyzed information on the Southern Residents’ interactions with commercial and private vessels. These data ultimately contributed to the creation of the recent commercial whale watching bill. The three environmental threats were considered within the creation of the bill. However, vessel noise was the main issue targeted by the recent bill’s regulations. Furthermore, the bill mainly regulates commercial whale watching vessels, only one subsection of the vessels contributing to the noise and traffic in orca environments. Commercial whale watchers feel that part of the problem is a political drive to pass a protective bill, despite the true implications.
New Washington bill limits commercial whale watching
Washington state already has substantial protective regulations for vessels approaching whales. These “Be Whale Wise regulations” apply to all vessels in the Salish Sea, a transboundary region overlooked by Canada, the United States, and Washington State. In the US, requirements include a 300-yard boundary around the sides of Southern Resident Orcas. The regulations also enforce a 400-yard boundary in front of or behind their path. Lastly, all vessels are required to reduce speed to under 7 knots within a half-mile of orcas. These regulations are widely supported by most stakeholders. Many whale watching ecotourism companies helped to develop these regulations and educate others about boating safety near whales.
The new Washington whale watching bill allows commercial whale watching vessels to view Southern Resident Orcas only during a two-hour daily window from July to September. The bill also places a limit of three commercial whale watching vessels at a time per group of Southern Resident Orcas. In addition, groups of orcas cannot be approached if they have a calf under one year. Many whale watching companies are calling this a moratorium on their viewing of Southern Resident Orcas. They feel the severe limitations should not restrict commercial vessels when private vessels are still only limited to the 300-yard boundary near a Southern Resident orca. Whale watching companies argue that private vessels are typically the ones least aware of guidelines or orca locations.
Soundwatch, a boater education and outreach program, has members that frequent the waters during the busy summer months to monitor boats in known wildlife areas. They distribute outreach and education material about whale watching regulations as needed. A Soundwatch report found that of the private vessels contacted, only 25% of vessels were aware of vessel regulations near orcas. This expresses a still-present need for greater on-the-water protection of orcas and other marine mammals.
The sentinel role of commercial whale watching vessels
Often, this protective, sentinel role is filled by commercial whale watching vessels. Erin, a lead naturalist with Island Adventures, Inc.,has been a heavily involved stakeholder in the Orca Task Force and Whale Watching Licensing process over the past few years. She gave first-hand information about how she and her fellow whale watchers fill a sentinel role on the water. As she states, the bottom line is that whales are hard to spot. Even a trained naturalist can have a difficult time spotting whales, with binoculars and at a slow speed. An average boater that is not looking for whales, is unlikely to see them on time to follow the distance regulations (assuming they are aware of the regulations). The 2019 Soundwatch report found that of all the boats they stopped in proximity to whales, only 60% of those were actively looking for whales. This, again, presents a danger to marine mammals and a need for protection from other vessels.
Commercial whale watching vessels have a lot of ways they fill their sentinel role on the water. To start, their presence alone can alert other vessels to avoid that area of water. As Erin mentioned, “It’s difficult to see a whale. It’s not difficult to see a whale watching boat. We envision ourselves to be one big marker for where the whales are.” In addition to being a marker themselves, the boats have “Whale Watch” flags which indicate the presence of whales nearby. Despite these efforts, there are times when commercial whale watching boats need to be physical protectors for the orcas. The commercial whale watching boats will even maneuver themselves between an oncoming vessel and a whale’s path if necessary. By shortening the timeframe and lengthening viewing distance that commercial vessels must maintain, the new bill actually reduces orca protection by commercial whale watching vessels.
Some commercial whale watching opponents argue that the vessels attract other boats to the location of whales and therefore add to the vessel traffic and noise. Independent reports, though, refute this idea and essentially prove the opposite. Returning again to the 2019 Soundwatch report, it was found that the number of boats in the area decreased with the number of “Whale Watch” flags raised. They also discovered the number of whale watching regulation violations by any vessel decreased in the presence of commercial whale watching vessels. A separate study additionally found it is actually the vessel speed that affects orcas much more than the proximity of vessels. The noise created from the speed of vessels is much more disruptive to an orca pod than the number of vessels if the vessels were to travel slowly.
Commercial whale watching vessels don’t just protect the orcas from transit or recreational vehicles, though. The U.S. Navy recently extended its testing and training in the area until 2027, with exercises including firing torpedoes, detonating bombs, and using underwater sonar. Whale watching vessels are able to contact the Navy when whales are in the area. Commercial vessels can also supply Navy vessels with real-time sightings through alerts with GPS locations. Vessels that are part of the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) utilize their own GPS-based app. The PWWA app allows for faster communication between vessels of the organization. They also legally report all sightings to the WhaleReport Alert System. This ensures that locations of whales can be sent to the WhaleDesk, in Canada, as well as immediately sent out to PWWA vessels in the area. This is yet another reason that restricting commercial whale watching vessels that focus on protecting orcas is potentially more harmful to orca conservation than beneficial.
Despite pushback from several ecotourism organizations, the commercial whale watching licensing bill passed in the Washington state legislature and is lauded by some conservation groups. PWWA issued a statement in December 2020 about the impacts this bill could have on orca conservation. These concerns are shared throughout the commercial whale watching network and detailed below. While concerns about orca conservation are looming, there is little for commercial whale watchers to do unless change is brought about by an amendment to the law.
Whale watching vessels have a widespread influence on orca conservation.
“It’s one thing to read a book about orcas or to watch a Discovery Channel documentary about them, that only gets you so far. Once you actually see and experience them in the wild you just have a much bigger investment in their conservation. And that’s something that I fear we will lose if this trend against whale watching continues.” As Erin’s quote shows, there is more to the sentinel role of commercial whale watchers than the physical protections.
Whale watching tours provide the ideal opportunity and location for hands-on learning about our connection to marine life. Tourists and locals alike get a chance to appreciate the beauty of the area and its wildlife. Their appreciation is the first step on a pathway to advocacy. During this time, naturalists like Erin take the chance to share ways we can help conserve the animals and their environment.
Whether a local or distant admirer of orca whales, there are always things we can do in our everyday lives to help improve the orca’s environment! We must remember our connections to other animals in all that we do, and the impacts of our actions. And when in Washington, join one of the Pacific Whale Watch Association members for an educational and unforgettable whale watching experience. You may get the increasingly rare chance to spot a Southern Resident Orca, and will certainly learn more about the amazing ocean world below you.
About The Author
Maddie Henning is a current student with Project Dragonfly through Miami University. A search for the ideal career path led her through undergraduate studies in Animal Sciences, an internship at the Saint Louis Zoo, and management experience in companion animal boarding and daycare facilities. She then enrolled in the Advanced Inquiry Program of Project Dragonfly where she discovered her passion for focusing on empathy development in animal tourism attractions and is working towards her Biology MA. Outside of work and school, her time is filled with keeping her young and active black lab mix, Kona, entertained by exploring the nearby mountain hikes and alpine lakes.
This piece was prepared online by Panuruji Kenta, Publisher, SEVENSEAS Media