Killer whales

Tag: Killer whales

A young southern resident killer whale calf (J56) carrying a dead fish between her teeth while swimming next to her mother (J31) in the Salish Sea. Credit: A.W. Trites/University of British Columbia

Salmon study sparks controversy

Occasionally, this space includes reports and essays from guest writers on the subject of Puget Sound ecosystem recovery. Biologist and author Eric Wagner has this look at the controversy surrounding a recent study of salmon numbers in the Salish Sea. 
By Eric Wagner
A couple of weeks ago, the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences published a research article from the Marine Mammal Research Unit at the University of British Columbia (UBC). The article, first-authored by a hydroacoustician named Mei Sato, looked at the abundance of Chinook salmon during two summers at two straits in the Salish Sea region that populations of resident killer whales frequent. In short summary, the researchers found that the Strait of Juan de Fuca (seasonal home to the southern residents) had four to six times as many Chinook salmon as Johnstone Strait (home to the northern residents).
As is now the convention when a university lab publishes a paper, the UBC news office put out a press release to tout it. “No apparent shortage of prey for southern resident killer whales in the Salish Sea during summer,” the release’s headline read.
On the surface, this whole process had been fairly straightforward and routine: conduct a study, publish the study, announce the study to the world, maybe talk about it to a local media outlet or two. But that would turn out not to be the case where Sato’s article was concerned, because when it comes to the southern resident killer whales, it’s what is going on under the surface that counts. Now, to the critical questions of how Chinook salmon abundance affects the southern residents and what to do about it, Sato and her co-authors have added a couple of more: What is more important—what an article says, or what an article about an article says?
An unexpected result
As of September 20, 2021, the southern resident population sits at 73 individuals, a number that has stayed stubbornly low despite the whales being listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in the United States. (In Canada, the southern residents have been protected under Species At Risk Act since 2003.)
Why the southern residents are doing so poorly is thought to be due to a suite of causes, among them pollution, vessel noise, and so on. But the main cause researchers have focused on for years is a shortage of food, especially in the late spring and summer months, when the southern residents historically come to the Salish Sea. Obligate eaters of fishes, the southern residents are known to prefer Chinook salmon, hunting them almost exclusively at times. As Chinook runs have declined throughout the region, many scientists believe the southern residents have declined with them, to the point that they are spending less and less time in the area.

Dr. Sato and a summer undergraduate student, Taryn Scarff, aboard ship surveying important foraging habitats for resident killer whales. Credit: A.W. Trites/University of British Columbia
Dr. Mei Sato and a summer undergraduate student, Taryn Scarff during a study of killer whale foraging habits. Credit: A.W. Trites/University of British Columbia

It was with that view in mind that Sato, Andrew Trites, the director of the Marine Mammal Research Unit, and Stéphane Gauthier, a research scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, undertook their work. “In Canada,” says Sato, now an assistant scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, “you always hear of the relationship between the drop of the southern residents and their prey shortage. But nobody had tested this hypothesis before.”
Chinook salmon returns are usually determined when they enter rivers on their way to spawning streams; less is known about their abundance and distribution in the larger, more open waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Sato wanted to see the prey densities the southern residents face in the strait. To measure them she used multifrequency echosounders, which are akin to the fish-finders fishers mount on their vessel bottoms. Timing her surveys to when Chinook migration was at its predicted peak, she sailed out in July and August in 2018 and 2019, surveying pinch points where the salmon were likely to be funneled. So she could compare whatever she found in the Strait of Juan de Fuca with other orca waters, Sato also did surveys in the Johnstone Strait.
The northern resident killer whales that spend the summers in Johnstone Strait number about three hundred animals. The population is generally understood to be much healthier than the southern residents. Sato thus thought she would see a bounty of salmon in Johnstone Strait and peanuts in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Instead, she saw the opposite: while Chinook salmon were patchily distributed and of similar size in both straits, the patches in the Strait of Juan de Fuca had four to six times as many Chinook as those in Johnstone Strait.
“We didn’t expect this result at all,” Sato says. “We came in believing the food hypothesis too.” But the numbers were the numbers. As she and her co-authors wrote at the close of their paper, “This suggests that other factors such as spatial and temporal mismatches between killer whales and prey presence, shortages of prey outside of the Salish Sea, reduced energy content of individual Chinook salmon, and reduced prey accessibility due to vessel traffic may be more consequential to southern resident killer whales than previously considered.”
To say that the results were controversial is an understatement. Two days after the paper’s release, a consortium of scientists who study the southern residents, headed by Monika Wieland Shields of the Orca Behavior Institute, released a strong critique. “The new paper by Sato et al. describes a new methodology for surveying for Chinook salmon in the oceanic environment,” the scientists wrote, “but includes too many unknowns and is too small of a data set to come to such a broad-sweeping conclusion.”
Photograph of a group of Southern Resident killer whales chasing a salmon, collected during health research with a drone flying non-invasively at >100ft. Credit: Holly Fearnbach from SeaLife Response, Rehabilitation and Research (SR3), John Durban, formerly with NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and Lance Barrett-Lennard from the Ocean Wise Research Institute. Research authorized by NMFS permit #19091.
Photograph of a group of Southern Resident killer whales chasing a salmon. Photo courtesy of NOAA. Research authorized by NMFS permit #19091.

Whale researchers responding in the press were even more critical. “They are making a lot of assumptions and my concern is that once you stitch all those assumptions together, you can end up with an answer that is incorrect,” Brad Hanson, a biologist at NOAA, told the Seattle Times. Others were even less inclined to be polite. Ken Balcolm of the Center for Whale Research called the paper “a nice little fish thing,” while Deborah Giles, a biologist at the University of Washington and research director for Wild Orca, told the Times, “To say the southern residents are getting four to six times as much salmon as the northern residents is just silly. And here we are, trying to find a nice way to say that.”
Parsing the reactions
Here, though, it becomes necessary to parse whether the killer whale research community was reacting to the paper or to the press release about the paper. The release says the UBC researchers “debunked” the hypothesis that southern residents are facing a food shortage. Sato and Trites say they make no such claim; they don’t dispute that the southern residents are showing up thin, or that Chinook populations are in general decreasing. “Just because we found that there are more salmon in the Strait of Juan de Fuca doesn’t mean the killer whales necessarily have access to those salmon,” Trites says. “We didn’t look at interference from vessels, or underwater noise, or things like that.”
When asked about the science the paper itself describes, Shields, the author of the critique, is more measured. “It was a novel application of technology for how we survey salmon in the ocean,” she says. “I thought that was fascinating and super cool.” Her concern was more with the way the science became embellished during promotion. “As advocacy groups and marine educators we work very hard to get correct information to the public. One of the messages the research community has supported is that this is a prey-limited species. For the headline to be Prey’s not a problem here anymore! deflects from a really big issue that we need to focus on.”
Hanson echoed this when he told the Times he was worried the findings could be “weaponized” by parties with an interest in promoting more fishing, or aquaculture practices blamed for playing a part in declining salmon returns. At least one online publication has used the findings to attack other research on Chinook declines. “Anti-salmon farm activists have long been trying to link the apparent lack of Chinook salmon prey for British Columbia’s resident killer whales to the region’s marine aquaculture operations,” pronounced SeaWest News, a publication run by a self-described media agency with clients from British Columbia’s seafood industry. “But that theory, like many others trotted out by the activists, has been debunked by a new study led by scientists at the University of British Columbia,” the article said.
Trites approved the press release before it went out, “but in retrospect I shouldn’t have, given how muddled things have gotten.” Some of the vitriol and derision in the responses took him aback. “People should focus on the science,” he says, “rather than try to infer motive.” Although he expected the paper to make waves because it questions an orthodoxy, he shares the concern that the results could be misinterpreted or, worse, misapplied. “I can tell you one thing,” he says. “When we get a result we don’t expect, we dig really hard, we look under every little rock.” He feels the paper’s message is getting lost a little in the fuss over the press release, which has become a sort of object-lesson in how, in trying to amplify a scientific result, the result is instead obscured, and commenting on it becomes a professional game of Telephone.
“To me, the take-home isn’t about whether or not there’s a food shortage, it’s about where the food shortage is occurring,” Trites says. “Everyone is focused on the Salish Sea, but the southern residents are only here part of the time, and they need food every day of the year. What we want this paper to do is get people to ask whether there are sufficient prey to support southern resident killer whales during winter and spring when they are south of here. The conversation needs to go beyond the Salish Sea if we are going to save the southern resident killer whales from extinction.”
Eric Wagner writes about science and the environment from his home in Seattle, where he lives with his wife and daughter. His writing has appeared in Smithsonian, Orion, The Atlantic and High Country News, among other places. He is the author of “Penguins in the Desert” and co-author of “Once and Future River: Reclaiming the Duwamish.” His most recent book is “After the Blast: The Ecological recovery of Mount St. Helens,” published in 2020 by University of Washington Press. He holds a PhD in Biology from the University of Washington.

Orca census shows some improvement, but many whales still die before their time

The annual census of the endangered Southern Resident killer whales, submitted yesterday to the federal government, shows three births and one death from mid-2020 to mid-2021.
Along with the new census report, Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research sadly confirmed the death of L47, a 47-year-old female named Marina, who has been apparently missing since early summer.

In 2011, Marina’s son Mystic (L115) stayed close to his mother.
Photo: Center for Whale Research

Marina was last seen by CWR biologists on Feb. 27 in Swanson Channel, north of the San Juan Islands, Ken told me. She was later missing from observations by Canadian biologists who encountered her family members in the western Strait of Juan de Fuca.
As in recent years — as opposed to historically — the L pod whales have not been spending much time in Puget Sound during the summer. It was not until this month that Ken’s staff was able to get a good look at the whales during six separate encounters that identified Marina’s three offspring along with their two offspring — but no Marina. Check out Encounter 74.
The official census of Southern Residents reports the population as of July 1 each year, although Ken and his associates must complete their report under a federal contract by Oct. 1. That gives them time to draw on all observations up until then. This year’s census will show 74 whales — two more than last year, thanks to three births along with the one death. But the actual number of Southern Residents today stands at 73, because another orca — 35-year-old K21 (named Cappuccino) — is believed to have died in late July or early August — after the census cutoff date.
The newest whales added to the population are J57, a male named Phoenix born last September to Tahlequah ( J35); J58, a female named Crescent born last September to Eclipse (J41); and L125, a calf (gender unknown) born in February of this year to Surprise! (L86). The two one-year-old calves were discussed in last year’s blog post about the census (Our Water Ways, Sept. 15, Oct. 6, 2020.)
The number of whales in L pod now totals 33, J pod has 24, and K pod has 16. This does not include Lolita/Tokitae, an orca from L pod that was captured in Puget Sound and is held at the Miami Seaquarium in Florida.
L47, Marina
Marina (L47), who showed no health problems before her death, had given birth to seven calves that survived long enough to be designated with “L” for their pod and the next number in sequence. That’s more orca babies than any other Southern Resident in the record books, although four of Marina’s offspring died at a young age, according to CWR.
In 2017, Marina spent time with her daughters and son. // Photo: Center for Whale Research

“L47 experienced more than her fair share of loss, with four calves not surviving past their first year,” according to a commentary on the CWR website. “Her three surviving offspring are L115, a young male, and L83 and L91, two adult daughters. L83 and L91 are raising sons of their own, L110 and L122.
“As a mother and grandmother,” the statement continues, “L47’s death may have severe consequences. Center for Whale Research data shows that older, post-reproductive females hold key leadership roles in this society, particularly when food is scarce. L47’s matriline members now face an increased risk of death in the coming years. Her son, L115, is at an approximately three times greater risk of death in the next two years than a male of the same age would be with a surviving mother.”
Marina’s son, L115 named Mystic, is only 11 years old. His sisters are 31-year-old L83, named Moonlight, and 26-year-old L91, named Muncher. Moonlight’s 14-year-old son is L110 named Midnight, and Muncher’s 6-year-old son is L122 named Magic.
Marina and her two daughters, Moonlight and Muncher, are fondly remembered among the so-called Dyes Inlet whales, a group of 19 orcas that spent a month between Bremerton and Silverdale in 1997. Their presence helped to educate and fascinate thousands of people around Puget Sound about the ways of the whales. (See the anniversary story package in the Kitsap Sun, November 2007.)
By my count, the loss of Marina leaves only five whales, all females, from the 19 that visited Dyes Inlet 24 years ago. Other than Marina’s two daughters, there was L90 named Ballena, who was 4 years old at the time; L55 named Nugget, who was 20; and Nugget’s daughter, L82 named Kasatka, who was 7. Nugget has four offspring alive today, and she became a grandmother for the first time in 2010 when Kasatka had a male calf, L116 named Finn. (The original 19 Dyes Inlet whales.)
K21, Cappuccino
Cappuccino’s death came after the census cutoff date, but that makes no difference to the outpouring of sympathy for a whale that was last seen on July 28 in distress, emaciated and in his final days, as confirmed in videos provided to the Center for Whale Research.
Cappuccino (K21) swims along the north side of Stewart Island near the Canadian border in 2015. // Photo: Center for Whale Research

The male orca with a broad dorsal fin was well-known and easily identified, even from a great distance, according to whale observers. When last seen, his dorsal fin had collapsed, a clear sign of a grave health condition.
At 35 years old, Cappuccino was the oldest male among the southern residents. Another iconic male, 43-year-old Mega, or L41, was last seen in August 2019 and was hailed as the father of 20 known offspring (Our Water Ways, Jan. 30, 2020). Genetic studies have not found any offspring from Cappuccino.
“While K21’s condition is heartbreaking, we celebrate his life as a story of flourishing under adversity,” says a statement from the Center for Whale Research. “Males born in the Southern Resident population have an estimated average lifespan between 20 and 30 years, and few Southern Resident males reach K21’s age of 35.
“In the years after his mother died (2004), K21 was at even greater risk, but he endured and maintained a close social relationship with his sister and, later, his adopted family, the K16s,” the statement continues. “K21 is one of the most well-known and iconic members of the Southern Resident community. His broad dorsal fin and bright, open saddle patch make him distinct even from great distances. We grieve for his pain and the loss his death would represent for the Southern Residents.”
As Seattle Times reporter Lynda Mapes put it when the news was first reported: “The grief felt by many right now is not only for a beloved whale, but for the passing of a way of life in the San Juan Islands, where the Southern Residents hardly visit any more. And when they do, they are too often struck by tragedy, carrying their dead calf or breathing their last breaths.”
Lynda’s story quoted my old friend Kelley Balcomb-Bartok, who grew up around the whales and assisted his father with the research.
“It’s a lost era, a lost place, those long summer days even before the sun rose you could hear the blows of them resting and relaxing; their tummies are full, they are just enjoying life,” Kelley was quoted as saying. “There was a joyfulness to the time and the place and the animals. That is what everyone pines to return to.”
Cappuccino was the oldest male, but now Southern Resident orcas — especially males — don’t survive as long. Based on the charts, three 30-year-olds are now the oldest males. They are Mike, J26; Blackberry, J27; and Mystery, L85. For details, visit The Whale Museum’s “Meet the Whales” and Orca Network’s “Births and deaths since 1998.”
Orca pregnancies
The organization SR3 (Sealife Response + Rehab + Research) recently reported that three female orcas in J pod appear to be pregnant, based on body measurements conducted from a remotely controlled octocopter (drone). The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife responded to the report by issuing an emergency order (PDF 182 kb) to keep commercial whale-watch boats back at least one-half nautical mile (0.58 mile) from the three whales.
Declaring the whales “vulnerable” under state rules, department officials also are asking recreational boaters to give the whales extra space and be careful to abide by the Be Whale Wise regulations, which include keeping boats back from the whales at least 300 yards to the sides and 400 yards in front and behind.
The three whales that appear to be pregnant are J36, a 22-year-old named Alki; J37, a 20-year-old named Hy’Shqa; and J19, a 42-year-old named Shachi.
“We’ve got many people looking at the science to understand where we can continue to improve the odds for this population,” Kelly Susewind, WDFW director said in a news release. “Now that we’ve learned of multiple pregnancies among the Southern Residents and the impact that boats can have on new mothers, we really need everyone to follow Be Whale Wise regulations in support of these endangered whales’ survival.”
Studies have shown that food is critical to killer whales in their final month of pregnancy and that vessels approaching the whales can disrupt their feeding behavior, especially for females, according to the news release. Southern Resident orcas, like their cousins the Northern Residents, eat salmon, primarily Chinook salmon. Transient or Biggs killer whales consume marine mammals, including seals and sea lions, and the transients are being seen more frequently within Puget Sound.
While the SR3 researchers hope for successful pregnancies among the three orcas they have observed, the number of failed pregnancies remains high among Southern Residents.
“Last year, we documented a number of other pregnant females, who were not successful in rearing calves,” said researcher John Durban, who worked with the SR3 team to gather aerial photos. “Unfortunately, this is not unusual, and we have documented a high rate of reproductive failure over the last decade. The survival of every calf is crucial to the endurance of this small and endangered population. Every calf matters.”
See also SR3’s blog post on the subject of adaptive conservation measures in response to the drone findings.

Young orcas appear to develop friendships, not unlike primates — including humans

UPDATE, FRIDAY, JULY 2:
K pod arrived in the San Juan Islands yesterday, so the wait is over for the Southern Residents to arrive this summer. The whales came south through Rosario Strait yesterday morning, according to reports, and then they traveled along the south side of Lopez Island and over to the west side of San Juan Island. How long the K pod whales will stay in inland waters — and when they might be joined by J and L pods — is anyone’s guess. (See “Orca census” below, and report from Center for Whale Research.)
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Captured on video from drone (2019): A 4-year-old female orca named Kiki (J53) slowly circles and weaves through the water as a younger female, Tofino (J56), swims closely behind her and then alongside her before gliding up face-to-face.
Such intimate contact might be expected if the whales were close relatives, but that’s not the case — other than both orcas being members of J pod.
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While social bonds among the Southern Resident killer whales appear to be complex, they are not random, according to researcher Michael Weiss of the Center for Whale Research, who used an unoccupied aircraft system (drone) to record more than 800 such encounters and then quantified his observations with statistical analysis.
Michael found that numerous whales — generally of the same sex and close to the same age — have formed enduring social bonds that could be described as friendships.
“These are strong social relationships,” he said. “I wouldn’t hesitate to describe them as friendships.”
His findings about orca relationships were reported June 16 in “Proceedings of the Royal Society — Biological Sciences.”
How these relationships affect the orcas’ hunt for food, energy conservation and ultimately survival may one day be determined through close observations, such as with drones. Aerial videos allow researchers to observe orca behaviors taking place underwater as well as on the surface — and with greater precision than using traditional boat-based platforms.
A few years ago, at least some of the Southern Resident orcas — now numbering 75 — would have been swimming through the San Juan Islands by this time of year. They would be hunting for spring Chinook salmon returning to the Fraser River and streams in Northern Puget Sound.
As of today — census day for the Southern Residents — the whales are still away, probably because the salmon runs are now dangerously low. For the latest news about their present locations, read on to the section “Orca census” below.
In the video mentioned above, an older male, 9-year-old Notch (J47) seems to be standing by and watching, a behavior that researchers sometimes describe as “babysitting.” The youngest whale in the video, Tofino, was less than a year old when the video was shot near San Juan Island, yet her mother is nowhere to be seen when the clip begins.
Suddenly, the missing mother, 24-year-old Tsuchi (J31), swims up powerfully from the depths and into the center of the video frame while carrying a fish in her mouth. Tofino wastes no time getting close to her mother. She sticks like glue to Tsuchi, who swims away rapidly while biting the fish in half and leaving some of the food for the trailing whales.
Social structure of orcas
From the earliest days of orca research, scientists have known that killer whales live in matriarchal societies, in which individual whales generally stay with their mothers for life. Family groups, led by elder females, may consist of several generations. These groups are called matrilines, with members tied together by blood and tradition.

Three types of interactions were measured in the study of J-pod orcas.
Image: Michael Weiss

J pod, the subject of Michael’s study, consists of multiple matrilines that often travel together and share a common vocal dialect. The goal of the study was to measure the social connections between members of different family groups, as well as those within the same group. Based on years of observation, the research team decided to focus attention on three types of interaction:

  • Association, in which groups of killer whales are seen together, providing the opportunity for interaction;
  • Physical contact, in which the whales come close, often with extensive touching that could result in tactile, possibly emotional, responses; and
  • Synchronous surfacing, in which the whales move together, surfacing and blowing at the same time, sometimes even moving left and right as one.

Over a period of 10 days on the water in 2019, a total of 10 hours of video footage was shot from a drone (DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2) at an altitude of 100 to 400 feet and positioned to the side or behind the whales to avoid disturbance. The drone, launched from a 21-foot research boat, was flown by licensed pilots under federal permits.
As expected, the most common associations were observed among family members. Less predictably, the researchers found that females and especially young whales seemed to play a central role within the groups, as observed by the physical contact of whales gathered together. In general, the older the whale, the less socially connected.
The relationships among individual whales became quite noteworthy. This was something discerned by observing the contacts of every animal, not by looking only to see which whales were grouped together.
Why males tend to be more distant from the observed groups is open to speculation, but one idea is that the larger males must spend more time foraging to meet their energy needs. On the other hand, young animals may find their energy needs met by nursing or by receiving fish from their elders, giving the youngsters more time to socialize.
Like other social mammals
The social interactions among members of J pod has led to comparisons with other social animals, including humans and other primates. For example, the whales were seen to become less social with age, a trait observed in observations of great apes. Humans and orcas are among the relatively few species that remain active and influential past their reproductive lives.
Researchers may eventually find that touch among the whales has evolved into psychological benefits, as it has in humans, although such benefits are not always easy to measure.
“It feels nice to interact with our friends,” Michael said, “and touch gets a lot of good brain chemicals going. Ultimately, social interactions are important to a sense of trust, in finding food and in survival itself.”
Beyond the social aspects of these findings, the study suggests that young and female orcas may be involved in more synchronous surfacing as well as direct contact with each other, raising the specter of disease transmission. As Michael Weiss showed in a previous study, the effects of disease could be devastating to the Southern Residents. See Encyclopedia of Puget Sound, March 10, 2020.
The drone research builds on years of study by the Center for Whale Research, led by Ken Balcomb, who told me that he has observed these kinds of social interactions while watching the whales through the years. The beauty of Michael’s study, he said, was the creation of a statistically relevant set of observations that can be tested over time.
Darren Croft, a co-author of the study, credited CWR for its 45 years of work with the orcas. Darren is affiliated with the Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, where Michael earned his doctorate degree last year.
“This study would not have been possible without the amazing work done by CWR,” Croft said in a news release. “By adding drones to our toolkit, we have been able to dive into the social lives of these animals as never before.
“In many species, including humans, physical contact tends to be a soothing, stress-relieving activity that reinforces social connection,” he continued. “We also examined occasions when whales surfaced together — as acting in unison is a sign of social ties in many species. We found fascinating parallels between the behavior of whales and other mammals, and we are excited about the next stages of this research.”
Other questions to study
Although 10 hours of video accumulated from short segments seems like a lot, it is not enough to draw conclusions about more subtle social behavior, such as the sharing of food and cooperation in chasing down fish, Michael said. These critical behaviors may be based on social relationships, but they are rarely seen.
On the other hand, aggressive behaviors, including rare incidents of biting, may also be important clues to the social relationships among whales, he said. Many more hours of drone video may be needed to further the understanding of all sorts of social interactions, he added.
Previous reports have discussed the importance of collective knowledge among the whales, including the memory of where to find food when the salmon runs are small. Social bonds, as shown in these studies, could play a role in how older whales teach the younger ones to survive. See Encyclopedia of Puget Sound, April 2, 2019.
Some of the most interesting findings are related to the individual relationships between unrelated orcas, as seen in the drone footage.
“There’s J49 and J51,” Michael said, referring to a 9-year-old male named T’ilem I’nges (pronounced Teelem Eenges) and a 6-year-old male named Nova. “In the drone footage, they can’t get enough of each other.”
It turns out that young male friends are fairly common among the whales in J pod, he said, adding that any future competition for females probably will be “indirect” without much conflict between them.
Other researchers involved in various aspects of the drone project are affiliated with the University of Washington, Seattle; University of York, UK; and Institute of Biophysics, Italy. The study was partly funded by the Natural Environment Research Council in the UK.
Orca census
For the third year in a row, the Southern Residents failed to return to Puget Sound before the annual orca census date of July 1. For many years, one or more of the pods would be seen swimming through the San Juan Islands and into southern Strait of Georgia in Canada as early as mid-May.
The last sighting of Southern Residents in Puget Sound was on April 10, when J pod was observed in San Juan Channel on the east side of San Juan Island (Center for Whale Research encounter.) They have not returned since, even though J pod typically comes and goes more often than the other two pods.
The date of the Southern Residents’ arrival for the summer seems to come later and later each year, said Ken Balcomb, who maintains the census under a contract between the federal government and his Center for Whale Research.
This year’s census is likely to include three orca babies, including two J pod calves born last September — too late for last year’s count. The new whales are Crescent (J58), a female born to 16-year-old Eclipse (j41), and Phoenix (J57) a male born to 23-year-old Tahlequah (J35). If you recall, Tahlequah became famous and touched the hearts of many people in 2018 when, in apparent mourning, she pushed her dead calf around for 17 days.
The two newest calves in J pod appear to be healthy and strong, Ken told me, referring to the April 10 encounter report from CWR’s field biologist Mark Malleson.
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As Mark wrote in his report, “The whales were in one large, loosely spread group traveling very slowly to the point of going pretty much nowhere. J57 and J58 were enjoying themselves while playing with one another.”
The last unofficial report of J pod was this past Friday near Tofino, off the West Coast of Vancouver Island in Canada, as reported with photos to Orca Behavior Institute.
The third calf to be added to this year’s census will be L125, born to 30-year-old Surprise! (L86) in February. While there are no recent reports of the mother-calf pair, there is no reason to believe that they are missing, according to Ken, who is waiting for further reports of L pod.
Mark Malleson got a look at some of the L-pod whales in an encounter June 7 near Swiftsure Bank at the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the Pacific Ocean. Because of rough water, he and observer Joe Zelwietro were unable to see all the whales that may have been present. It is also possible that Surprise! and her calf were elsewhere.
The unnamed L-pod calf is about to get a name from The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, which conducted a public vote on three possible names for the offspring of Surprise!. The choices were Confetti, Current, Element (as in Element of Surprise!) and Eureka!. The announcement of the name could come as early as today.
UPDATE: The latest whale in L pod has been named Element, based on the voting.
A group of whales tentatively identified as K pod was spotted yesterday in Knight Inlet near Johnstone Strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia. If the whales are indeed K pod, they could be headed south into U.S. waters, Ken told me, referring to past experiences with those animals. Will they be the first Southern Residents to make an appearance this summer? We will know soon, and I will update you in this space.
Because the three pods of Southern Residents have not been seen long enough to conduct a proper survey, it is possible that other new calves may show up with the pods. It is also possible that a complete survey could reveal that one or more whales are sadly missing, but any presumption of death would likely wait for several additional sightings. With luck, we will be able to report that all the whales have survived for another year.
Check out Our Water Ways, as posted on last year’s census date, and later in September when the final tallies were made for the federal government,
Based on the best available information, there are now 75 orcas in the three Southern Resident pods — not including Lolita, also known as Tokitae, who was taken from Puget Sound and now lives at the Miami Seaquarium. J pod contains 24 whales, K pod 17, and L pod 34.
Steep population declines since 1996, when the Southern Resident population stood at 97, led to their listing as an endangered species in 2005. For information about recovery efforts, check out NOAA’s website on the Southern Residents.

Young orcas appear to develop friendships, not unlike primates — including humans

UPDATE, FRIDAY, JULY 2:
K pod arrived in the San Juan Islands yesterday, so the wait is over for the Southern Residents to arrive this summer. The whales came south through Rosario Strait yesterday morning, according to reports, and then they traveled along the south side of Lopez Island and over to the west side of San Juan Island. How long the K pod whales will stay in inland waters — and when they might be joined by J and L pods — is anyone’s guess. (See “Orca census” below, and report from Center for Whale Research.)
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Captured on video from drone (2019): A 4-year-old female orca named Kiki (J53) slowly circles and weaves through the water as a younger female, Tofino (J56), swims closely behind her and then alongside her before gliding up face-to-face.
Such intimate contact might be expected if the whales were close relatives, but that’s not the case — other than both orcas being members of J pod.
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While social bonds among the Southern Resident killer whales appear to be complex, they are not random, according to researcher Michael Weiss of the Center for Whale Research, who used an unoccupied aircraft system (drone) to record more than 800 such encounters and then quantified his observations with statistical analysis.
Michael found that numerous whales — generally of the same sex and close to the same age — have formed enduring social bonds that could be described as friendships.
“These are strong social relationships,” he said. “I wouldn’t hesitate to describe them as friendships.”
His findings about orca relationships were reported June 16 in “Proceedings of the Royal Society — Biological Sciences.”
How these relationships affect the orcas’ hunt for food, energy conservation and ultimately survival may one day be determined through close observations, such as with drones. Aerial videos allow researchers to observe orca behaviors taking place underwater as well as on the surface — and with greater precision than using traditional boat-based platforms.
A few years ago, at least some of the Southern Resident orcas — now numbering 75 — would have been swimming through the San Juan Islands by this time of year. They would be hunting for spring Chinook salmon returning to the Fraser River and streams in Northern Puget Sound.
As of today — census day for the Southern Residents — the whales are still away, probably because the salmon runs are now dangerously low. For the latest news about their present locations, read on to the section “Orca census” below.
In the video mentioned above, an older male, 9-year-old Notch (J47) seems to be standing by and watching, a behavior that researchers sometimes describe as “babysitting.” The youngest whale in the video, Tofino, was less than a year old when the video was shot near San Juan Island, yet her mother is nowhere to be seen when the clip begins.
Suddenly, the missing mother, 24-year-old Tsuchi (J31), swims up powerfully from the depths and into the center of the video frame while carrying a fish in her mouth. Tofino wastes no time getting close to her mother. She sticks like glue to Tsuchi, who swims away rapidly while biting the fish in half and leaving some of the food for the trailing whales.
Social structure of orcas
From the earliest days of orca research, scientists have known that killer whales live in matriarchal societies, in which individual whales generally stay with their mothers for life. Family groups, led by elder females, may consist of several generations. These groups are called matrilines, with members tied together by blood and tradition.

Three types of interactions were measured in the study of J-pod orcas.
Image: Michael Weiss

J pod, the subject of Michael’s study, consists of multiple matrilines that often travel together and share a common vocal dialect. The goal of the study was to measure the social connections between members of different family groups, as well as those within the same group. Based on years of observation, the research team decided to focus attention on three types of interaction:

  • Association, in which groups of killer whales are seen together, providing the opportunity for interaction;
  • Physical contact, in which the whales come close, often with extensive touching that could result in tactile, possibly emotional, responses; and
  • Synchronous surfacing, in which the whales move together, surfacing and blowing at the same time, sometimes even moving left and right as one.

Over a period of 10 days on the water in 2019, a total of 10 hours of video footage was shot from a drone (DJI Phantom 4 Pro V2) at an altitude of 100 to 400 feet and positioned to the side or behind the whales to avoid disturbance. The drone, launched from a 21-foot research boat, was flown by licensed pilots under federal permits.
As expected, the most common associations were observed among family members. Less predictably, the researchers found that females and especially young whales seemed to play a central role within the groups, as observed by the physical contact of whales gathered together. In general, the older the whale, the less socially connected.
The relationships among individual whales became quite noteworthy. This was something discerned by observing the contacts of every animal, not by looking only to see which whales were grouped together.
Why males tend to be more distant from the observed groups is open to speculation, but one idea is that the larger males must spend more time foraging to meet their energy needs. On the other hand, young animals may find their energy needs met by nursing or by receiving fish from their elders, giving the youngsters more time to socialize.
Like other social mammals
The social interactions among members of J pod has led to comparisons with other social animals, including humans and other primates. For example, the whales were seen to become less social with age, a trait observed in observations of great apes. Humans and orcas are among the relatively few species that remain active and influential past their reproductive lives.
Researchers may eventually find that touch among the whales has evolved into psychological benefits, as it has in humans, although such benefits are not always easy to measure.
“It feels nice to interact with our friends,” Michael said, “and touch gets a lot of good brain chemicals going. Ultimately, social interactions are important to a sense of trust, in finding food and in survival itself.”
Beyond the social aspects of these findings, the study suggests that young and female orcas may be involved in more synchronous surfacing as well as direct contact with each other, raising the specter of disease transmission. As Michael Weiss showed in a previous study, the effects of disease could be devastating to the Southern Residents. See Encyclopedia of Puget Sound, March 10, 2020.
The drone research builds on years of study by the Center for Whale Research, led by Ken Balcomb, who told me that he has observed these kinds of social interactions while watching the whales through the years. The beauty of Michael’s study, he said, was the creation of a statistically relevant set of observations that can be tested over time.
Darren Croft, a co-author of the study, credited CWR for its 45 years of work with the orcas. Darren is affiliated with the Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, where Michael earned his doctorate degree last year.
“This study would not have been possible without the amazing work done by CWR,” Croft said in a news release. “By adding drones to our toolkit, we have been able to dive into the social lives of these animals as never before.
“In many species, including humans, physical contact tends to be a soothing, stress-relieving activity that reinforces social connection,” he continued. “We also examined occasions when whales surfaced together — as acting in unison is a sign of social ties in many species. We found fascinating parallels between the behavior of whales and other mammals, and we are excited about the next stages of this research.”
Other questions to study
Although 10 hours of video accumulated from short segments seems like a lot, it is not enough to draw conclusions about more subtle social behavior, such as the sharing of food and cooperation in chasing down fish, Michael said. These critical behaviors may be based on social relationships, but they are rarely seen.
On the other hand, aggressive behaviors, including rare incidents of biting, may also be important clues to the social relationships among whales, he said. Many more hours of drone video may be needed to further the understanding of all sorts of social interactions, he added.
Previous reports have discussed the importance of collective knowledge among the whales, including the memory of where to find food when the salmon runs are small. Social bonds, as shown in these studies, could play a role in how older whales teach the younger ones to survive. See Encyclopedia of Puget Sound, April 2, 2019.
Some of the most interesting findings are related to the individual relationships between unrelated orcas, as seen in the drone footage.
“There’s J49 and J51,” Michael said, referring to a 9-year-old male named T’ilem I’nges (pronounced Teelem Eenges) and a 6-year-old male named Nova. “In the drone footage, they can’t get enough of each other.”
It turns out that young male friends are fairly common among the whales in J pod, he said, adding that any future competition for females probably will be “indirect” without much conflict between them.
Other researchers involved in various aspects of the drone project are affiliated with the University of Washington, Seattle; University of York, UK; and Institute of Biophysics, Italy. The study was partly funded by the Natural Environment Research Council in the UK.
Orca census
For the third year in a row, the Southern Residents failed to return to Puget Sound before the annual orca census date of July 1. For many years, one or more of the pods would be seen swimming through the San Juan Islands and into southern Strait of Georgia in Canada as early as mid-May.
The last sighting of Southern Residents in Puget Sound was on April 10, when J pod was observed in San Juan Channel on the east side of San Juan Island (Center for Whale Research encounter.) They have not returned since, even though J pod typically comes and goes more often than the other two pods.
The date of the Southern Residents’ arrival for the summer seems to come later and later each year, said Ken Balcomb, who maintains the census under a contract between the federal government and his Center for Whale Research.
This year’s census is likely to include three orca babies, including two J pod calves born last September — too late for last year’s count. The new whales are Crescent (J58), a female born to 16-year-old Eclipse (j41), and Phoenix (J57) a male born to 23-year-old Tahlequah (J35). If you recall, Tahlequah became famous and touched the hearts of many people in 2018 when, in apparent mourning, she pushed her dead calf around for 17 days.
The two newest calves in J pod appear to be healthy and strong, Ken told me, referring to the April 10 encounter report from CWR’s field biologist Mark Malleson.
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As Mark wrote in his report, “The whales were in one large, loosely spread group traveling very slowly to the point of going pretty much nowhere. J57 and J58 were enjoying themselves while playing with one another.”
The last unofficial report of J pod was this past Friday near Tofino, off the West Coast of Vancouver Island in Canada, as reported with photos to Orca Behavior Institute.
The third calf to be added to this year’s census will be L125, born to 30-year-old Surprise! (L86) in February. While there are no recent reports of the mother-calf pair, there is no reason to believe that they are missing, according to Ken, who is waiting for further reports of L pod.
Mark Malleson got a look at some of the L-pod whales in an encounter June 7 near Swiftsure Bank at the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the Pacific Ocean. Because of rough water, he and observer Joe Zelwietro were unable to see all the whales that may have been present. It is also possible that Surprise! and her calf were elsewhere.
The unnamed L-pod calf is about to get a name from The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, which conducted a public vote on three possible names for the offspring of Surprise!. The choices were Confetti, Current, Element (as in Element of Surprise!) and Eureka!. The announcement of the name could come as early as today.
UPDATE: The latest whale in L pod has been named Element, based on the voting.
A group of whales tentatively identified as K pod was spotted yesterday in Knight Inlet near Johnstone Strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia. If the whales are indeed K pod, they could be headed south into U.S. waters, Ken told me, referring to past experiences with those animals. Will they be the first Southern Residents to make an appearance this summer? We will know soon, and I will update you in this space.
Because the three pods of Southern Residents have not been seen long enough to conduct a proper survey, it is possible that other new calves may show up with the pods. It is also possible that a complete survey could reveal that one or more whales are sadly missing, but any presumption of death would likely wait for several additional sightings. With luck, we will be able to report that all the whales have survived for another year.
Check out Our Water Ways, as posted on last year’s census date, and later in September when the final tallies were made for the federal government,
Based on the best available information, there are now 75 orcas in the three Southern Resident pods — not including Lolita, also known as Tokitae, who was taken from Puget Sound and now lives at the Miami Seaquarium. J pod contains 24 whales, K pod 17, and L pod 34.
Steep population declines since 1996, when the Southern Resident population stood at 97, led to their listing as an endangered species in 2005. For information about recovery efforts, check out NOAA’s website on the Southern Residents.

Do we know enough to do anything about all the seals and sea lions in Puget Sound?

Scientists have known for years that Chinook salmon are important to southern resident orcas, but Chinook are not the only fish the whales eat. At the moment, chum salmon are returning to Puget Sound, and recent orca sightings suggest that the whales may now be feeding on chum.
Harbor seals also eat Chinook salmon, but also chum, coho and other fish. They seem fond of smaller fish like herring and juvenile salmon. Oh, what a tangled food web we weave… Can we really say that seals are stealing the lunch from killer whales?
Southern resident orcas are considered endangered. Puget Sound Chinook and steelhead are threatened. Harbor seals seem to be everywhere, hardly struggling to find food, at least as far as anyone can tell. So is it time to bring the powerful influence of humans into the equation by forcefully reducing the harbor seal population in Puget Sound?

Harbor seal skulls helped to reveal something about seal diets years ago.
Photo: Megan Feddern

It’s a question that people have been pondering for years, but I’m not sure we’re much closer to an answer. A new report, which I will discuss, offers some options for the Salish Sea.
Meanwhile, a recent permit will allow more than 700 salmon-eating sea lions to be killed on the Columbia River, but that has nothing to do with Puget Sound. Before addressing the problem of seals in the inland waterway, some key questions need to be answered, as discussed in a story I wrote last month for the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound.
Some of the most important questions surround how much salmon the seals are actually eating and how they fit into the complex food web that involves all kinds of fish and marine mammals. We can’t forget, for example, that transient killer whales eat a fair number of harbor seals, so it’s not a one-way street.
A recent study examined the bones from harbor seals that died years ago to determine if today’s seals are eating higher or lower on the food web. It’s a fascinating study involving stable isotopes from amino acids found in the bones. I believe I was able to explain simply enough the basic techniques. See Encyclopedia of Puget Sound, Sept. 8, 2020.
On the experimental front, a new acoustic device is being tested as a deterrence for harbor seals and California sea lions that have been feasting on threatened salmon and steelhead coming through the Ballard Locks on their way into Lake Washington.
Researcher Laura Bogaard of Oceans Initiative installs speakers used in a new experiment on harbor seals at the Ballard Locks. Photo: Laura Bogaard

The device mimics the sound of a killer whale slapping the water with its tail. The idea is to startle the fish-eating pinnipeds and move them away from the fish ladder, where they often pick off fish trying to make it over the dam. For details, listen to the story by KUOW reporter Eilis O’Neill, or check out the news release from Long Live the Kings, one of several organizations partnering in the project.
A new report released in September offers a list of actions that could be taken to reduce seal and sea lion predation in the Salish Sea. The technical report (PDF 4.4 mb) summarizes the discussions from a November workshop attended by 75 U.S. and Canadian experts.
Author M. Kurtis Trzcinski of the University of British Columbia divides the suggestions into four categories:
Vary hatchery production:
Salmon and steelhead hatcheries should experiment with releasing young fish all at once or over longer periods of time to see what is most effective at reducing seal predation. Larger releases might “flood the predator field” so that more of the fish get away. Fewer fish coming out of a hatchery at any one time might attract less attention and increase survival.
One could also change the release location to see if there are places where the hatchery fish have a better chance of surviving. One could also hold the fish for longer or shorter times in the hatchery to see whether larger fish survive better or worse than smaller ones.
Another idea related to hatcheries is to produce forage fish, such as herring, with the idea that an abundance of forage fish might provide an alternate prey for seals and sea lions, thus reducing predation on salmon.
A harbor seal catches a salmon at the Ballard Locks.
Photo: Laura Bogaard, Oceans Initiative

Enhance fish survival
Leaving aside seals and sea lions, these ideas relate to habitat efforts to increase survival of salmon and steelhead in the streams and estuaries. Improving stream flow and assuring proper temperatures could be critical factors, along with enhancing habitat for better food and protection for the growing fish.
Enhancing habitat to increase survival of other species, such as forage fish, could help with salmon and steelhead survival.
Non-lethal removal
Discouraging seals and sea lions from eating salmon and steelhead could take the form of harassment, removing or relocating haul-out areas, or requiring marinas to build structures to keep pinnipeds off docks and floats.
Harassment with noise or physical disruption could be scheduled at key times, such as during salmon out-migration or return to the streams. But workshop participants gave the idea a low chance of success.
Preventing seals from hauling out, especially near salmon migration routes, might work in one area, but it probably would move the animals to another location with uncertain effects.
Another idea was to inject the animals with a contraception to control the population, although a project involving the handling of thousands of seals and sea lions would be immense.
Lethal removal
Killing seals and sea lions could be accomplished through hunting, which would require the hunters to use the animal for food or other purposes, or culling, which means killing the animal for the sole purpose of reducing the population.
Some experts proposed running an experiment by reducing the population through culling and then measure the effects on fish populations. Others suggested removing all the seals in one area and comparing the effects to a similar area where seals were not removed.
Preliminary estimates say it would take the lethal removal of 50 percent of the harbor seals — or about 20,000 animals in the Salish Sea — to push Chinook and coho salmon toward recovery. In addition, about 3,000 animals would need to be killed every year to maintain a stable population.
Uncertainty of such actions is high. Some say that other predators might need to be removed as well to keep them from simply eating the fish saved by eliminating seals. Birds, otters, raccoons and large fish are among the predators that could become a concern.
Officials in both the U.S. and Canada are considering their next steps, including an action plan that would probably include research to improve our understanding of the food web.
Related articles from the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound:

Orca census: One death in January, but no births were reported until September

UPDATE, Oct. 6
The newest calf among the Southern Resident killer whales was officially designated J58 after being seen alive and healthy on Sunday. The calf is the offspring of J49, a 15-year-old female named Eclipse who has one surviving calf, J51 or Nova.
Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research had been withholding the official designation until CWR staffers could be sure the newborn had survived and was healthy.
In Sunday’s encounter off San Juan Island, CWR staffers Dave Ellifrit and and Katie Jones reported, “Both J41 and J51 were chasing the fish and J58 was right there in the middle of the action. After the chase, the threesome pointed down island and then inshore.”
—–
This year’s official census for the endangered killer whales that frequent Puget Sound will record one new orca death but no births from mid-2019 to mid-2020.
Because the census accounts for the southern resident orca population as of July 1 each year, this year’s report will not include the much-welcomed birth of J57, born on or around Sept. 4 to Tahlequah, or J35, according to Ken Balcomb, director of the Center for Whale Research who compiles the annual census documents.

The head of the new calf, J57, can be seen alongside its mother, Tahlequah, or J35.
Photo: Katie Jones, Center for Whale Research

Ken and his associates were able to complete the census and confirm the birth of the new orca calf after all three southern resident pods gathered together in widely dispersed groups on Sept. 5. After reviewing photos from that day, Ken has informed federal officials that this year’s census count will be 72 southern resident orcas. A formal report with photos and data about each whale is expected to be submitted by Oct. 1, as required by a federal contract for the census work.
In years past, all the whales were generally seen in and around the San Juan Islands by mid-June, so the census could be completed right after July 1. But in recent years, the whales have been coming back late and staying around for shorter visits — probably because of declines in Chinook salmon, their primary food source.
For the census, we have 22 orcas in J pod, 17 in K pod and 33 in L pod, for a total of 72. That does not count the new calf, born after this year’s census period, nor Lolita (Tokitae), the only southern resident whale still alive in captivity. For a list, see births and deaths by Orca Network or “Meet the Whales” by The Whale Museum. Last year’s census report listed four deaths and two births for the year (Water Ways, Aug. 6, 2019).
It is disappointing not to have any births to report for the annual census. The one death on the list is a male orca named Mega, or L41, said to be the prolific father of at least 20 offspring. Check out Water Ways, Jan. 30, or read the note of reflection that Ken wrote when confirming the death. Also of interest is an article from NOAA researchers discussing the breeding patterns of killer whales and what it means to lose a whale like Mega.
Even though the newest calf was not born soon enough to be counted with this year’s census, the news of the birth was happily received and widely reported. (See news release from CWR.) It was a great story, especially considering that Tahlequah is the same mom that mourned the loss of her previous calf in the summer of 2018, when she carried her dead offspring on her head for 17 days. During that time, Tahlequah, then 20 years old, traveled an estimated 1,000 miles throughout the Salish Sea in what was called the “Tour of Grief” by staffers at the Center for Whale Research.
The new calf is energetic and appears to be healthy, unlike some of the calves born in recent years, Ken told me. As many as 40 percent of young orcas in this group fail to survive their first year of life, and many more are believed to die in the womb.
[iframe align=”right” width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/oxf9k2P2po8″%5D
Two other females appear to be pregnant at this time, based on recent aerial photos taken from a drone. Those whales are J41, a 15-year-old female named Eclipse who has one surviving calf, and L72, a 34-year-old female named Racer, who also has one surviving offspring.
Sept. 5, the day the new calf was confirmed by orca researchers, was notable not just for the introduction of a young animal into the population but also for the fact that all three pods were essentially together for the first time this year.
Lodie Gilbert Budwill, community relations coordinator for CWR, posted a blog entry this morning about her personal experience on the water with Ken and the whales. She also posted a video, which I’ve shared on this page.
“Upon our arrival,” Lodie wrote, “the whales were spread across the border in social groups: some on the U.S. side, some still in Canadian waters. Ken spotted J35 and her calf from a distance and took photos with his telephoto lens. He commented while photographing, ‘Looks like a healthy and precocious baby.’ The calf was swimming next to J35’s side. It was a beautiful sight, mother and baby, both swimming…
“The female whale in the lead started vocalizing above water,” Lodie continued in her blog. “This made Ken giggle, and I couldn’t hold back an ‘Awwww!’ They stayed next to the boat positioned at the surface like this for several minutes. Ken photographed while I took video. I felt like I was witnessing a greeting ceremony between the whales and Ken!!!”
When it was time to go, the whales decided to follow Ken’s boat, according to Lodie’s vivid description. The whales were even porpoising through the water as they tried to keep up with the speeding boat.
“After several miles of breathtaking travel with escorts off both sides, Ken stopped the boat,” she said. “The whales stopped too. They moved in front of Chimo, just a short distance off the bow, and then engaged in a roly-poly, cuddle puddle.
“At this point, I was taking video with my jaw dropped to the floor! There are no words to fully describe this experience. It was like a love-fest of tactile behaviors at the surface of the water. We witnessed whales spy-hopping in unison, three and four at a time while cheek to cheek, rolling and twirling, pec-slapping, tail-lobbing. I felt like I was dreaming!”
Lodie ends her lively blog post with a very nice tribute to Ken, who is indeed a living legend.
A few final notes:
Smoke and killer whales: If the smoke from wildfires is not good for humans, then it’s not good for killer whales either. While one could hope that the whales would swim to an area with fresh air, the truth is that they are likely to stay in an area if they are finding fish to eat, Ken told me. In Alaska, a group of whales stayed in Prince William Sound after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, he said, despite the ongoing presence of irritating — and toxic — fumes coming off the oil.
Wildfire smoke can affect the human respiratory and cardiovascular systems in various ways, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and it is likely to do the same for air-breathing marine mammals, including killer whales.
Graphic: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Traveling whales: The southern residents should be venturing farther south into Puget Sound anytime now, as chum salmon begin to head back to their spawning streams. That’s the typical pattern of the orcas when the earlier Chinook runs decline. How long the whales remain in Central and South Puget Sound often depends on the size of the chum run.
Based on preseason forecasts by state and tribal biologists, we can expect to see one of the lowest chum runs in years. (See graph on this page.) Whether it will be enough to sustain the orcas for a while is yet to be seen.
Listen to orcas: Even when people can’t see the whales for the smoke, they can hear their calls with the help of underwater hydrophones in various places in Puget Sound. Such was the case last week, when dozens of scientists and other interested folks tuned in to Orcasound, according to a blog post by Scott Veirs, who coordinates the network. Thanks to Scott, here is a 30-second sample of what was heard near the San Juan Islands last week.

–

Orca census: One death in January, but no births were reported until September

UPDATE, Oct. 6
The newest calf among the Southern Resident killer whales was officially designated J58 after being seen alive and healthy on Sunday. The calf is the offspring of J49, a 15-year-old female named Eclipse who has one surviving calf, J51 or Nova.
Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research had been withholding the official designation until CWR staffers could be sure the newborn had survived and was healthy.
In Sunday’s encounter off San Juan Island, CWR staffers Dave Ellifrit and and Katie Jones reported, “Both J41 and J51 were chasing the fish and J58 was right there in the middle of the action. After the chase, the threesome pointed down island and then inshore.”
—–
This year’s official census for the endangered killer whales that frequent Puget Sound will record one new orca death but no births from mid-2019 to mid-2020.
Because the census accounts for the southern resident orca population as of July 1 each year, this year’s report will not include the much-welcomed birth of J57, born on or around Sept. 4 to Tahlequah, or J35, according to Ken Balcomb, director of the Center for Whale Research who compiles the annual census documents.

The head of the new calf, J57, can be seen alongside its mother, Tahlequah, or J35.
Photo: Katie Jones, Center for Whale Research

Ken and his associates were able to complete the census and confirm the birth of the new orca calf after all three southern resident pods gathered together in widely dispersed groups on Sept. 5. After reviewing photos from that day, Ken has informed federal officials that this year’s census count will be 72 southern resident orcas. A formal report with photos and data about each whale is expected to be submitted by Oct. 1, as required by a federal contract for the census work.
In years past, all the whales were generally seen in and around the San Juan Islands by mid-June, so the census could be completed right after July 1. But in recent years, the whales have been coming back late and staying around for shorter visits — probably because of declines in Chinook salmon, their primary food source.
For the census, we have 22 orcas in J pod, 17 in K pod and 33 in L pod, for a total of 72. That does not count the new calf, born after this year’s census period, nor Lolita (Tokitae), the only southern resident whale still alive in captivity. For a list, see births and deaths by Orca Network or “Meet the Whales” by The Whale Museum. Last year’s census report listed four deaths and two births for the year (Water Ways, Aug. 6, 2019).
It is disappointing not to have any births to report for the annual census. The one death on the list is a male orca named Mega, or L41, said to be the prolific father of at least 20 offspring. Check out Water Ways, Jan. 30, or read the note of reflection that Ken wrote when confirming the death. Also of interest is an article from NOAA researchers discussing the breeding patterns of killer whales and what it means to lose a whale like Mega.
Even though the newest calf was not born soon enough to be counted with this year’s census, the news of the birth was happily received and widely reported. (See news release from CWR.) It was a great story, especially considering that Tahlequah is the same mom that mourned the loss of her previous calf in the summer of 2018, when she carried her dead offspring on her head for 17 days. During that time, Tahlequah, then 20 years old, traveled an estimated 1,000 miles throughout the Salish Sea in what was called the “Tour of Grief” by staffers at the Center for Whale Research.
The new calf is energetic and appears to be healthy, unlike some of the calves born in recent years, Ken told me. As many as 40 percent of young orcas in this group fail to survive their first year of life, and many more are believed to die in the womb.
[iframe align=”right” width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/oxf9k2P2po8″%5D
Two other females appear to be pregnant at this time, based on recent aerial photos taken from a drone. Those whales are J41, a 15-year-old female named Eclipse who has one surviving calf, and L72, a 34-year-old female named Racer, who also has one surviving offspring.
Sept. 5, the day the new calf was confirmed by orca researchers, was notable not just for the introduction of a young animal into the population but also for the fact that all three pods were essentially together for the first time this year.
Lodie Gilbert Budwill, community relations coordinator for CWR, posted a blog entry this morning about her personal experience on the water with Ken and the whales. She also posted a video, which I’ve shared on this page.
“Upon our arrival,” Lodie wrote, “the whales were spread across the border in social groups: some on the U.S. side, some still in Canadian waters. Ken spotted J35 and her calf from a distance and took photos with his telephoto lens. He commented while photographing, ‘Looks like a healthy and precocious baby.’ The calf was swimming next to J35’s side. It was a beautiful sight, mother and baby, both swimming…
“The female whale in the lead started vocalizing above water,” Lodie continued in her blog. “This made Ken giggle, and I couldn’t hold back an ‘Awwww!’ They stayed next to the boat positioned at the surface like this for several minutes. Ken photographed while I took video. I felt like I was witnessing a greeting ceremony between the whales and Ken!!!”
When it was time to go, the whales decided to follow Ken’s boat, according to Lodie’s vivid description. The whales were even porpoising through the water as they tried to keep up with the speeding boat.
“After several miles of breathtaking travel with escorts off both sides, Ken stopped the boat,” she said. “The whales stopped too. They moved in front of Chimo, just a short distance off the bow, and then engaged in a roly-poly, cuddle puddle.
“At this point, I was taking video with my jaw dropped to the floor! There are no words to fully describe this experience. It was like a love-fest of tactile behaviors at the surface of the water. We witnessed whales spy-hopping in unison, three and four at a time while cheek to cheek, rolling and twirling, pec-slapping, tail-lobbing. I felt like I was dreaming!”
Lodie ends her lively blog post with a very nice tribute to Ken, who is indeed a living legend.
A few final notes:
Smoke and killer whales: If the smoke from wildfires is not good for humans, then it’s not good for killer whales either. While one could hope that the whales would swim to an area with fresh air, the truth is that they are likely to stay in an area if they are finding fish to eat, Ken told me. In Alaska, a group of whales stayed in Prince William Sound after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, he said, despite the ongoing presence of irritating — and toxic — fumes coming off the oil.
Wildfire smoke can affect the human respiratory and cardiovascular systems in various ways, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and it is likely to do the same for air-breathing marine mammals, including killer whales.
Graphic: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Traveling whales: The southern residents should be venturing farther south into Puget Sound anytime now, as chum salmon begin to head back to their spawning streams. That’s the typical pattern of the orcas when the earlier Chinook runs decline. How long the whales remain in Central and South Puget Sound often depends on the size of the chum run.
Based on preseason forecasts by state and tribal biologists, we can expect to see one of the lowest chum runs in years. (See graph on this page.) Whether it will be enough to sustain the orcas for a while is yet to be seen.
Listen to orcas: Even when people can’t see the whales for the smoke, they can hear their calls with the help of underwater hydrophones in various places in Puget Sound. Such was the case last week, when dozens of scientists and other interested folks tuned in to Orcasound, according to a blog post by Scott Veirs, who coordinates the network. Thanks to Scott, here is a 30-second sample of what was heard near the San Juan Islands last week.

–

Absent orcas: Most of the whales simply are not around to be counted at this time

UPDATE, JULY 3: Two new reports worth checking out:

—–
“So far, no new babies to report.”
That’s the latest word from Ken Balcomb regarding the southern resident orcas, the three pods of endangered whales that once frequented Puget Sound but lately seem hard to find.
July 1 marks the date of the annual killer whale census, a project carried out by Ken and his fellow researchers at the Center for Whale Research. Each year, Ken accounts for every orca in the population and reports the number to the U.S. government. This has been going on since the 1970s, when the capture of orcas for marine parks was brought to an end.

K20, a 34-year-old female named Spock, was among the southern resident orcas visiting the San Juan Islands the past two days. // Photo: Monika Wieland Shields, Orca Behavior Institute.

In the not-so-distant past, the whales would generally return to Puget Sound in late May or June, after hunting for fish along West Coast. In most years, Ken and associates were able to spot every living southern resident orca at least once before July 1. That allowed him to report which whales had died and which ones had given birth.
For the past few years, the orcas have returned late, and often they have stayed a brief time while searching for schools of Chinook salmon, their primary prey. This year, the whales barely showed up at all, so Ken cannot yet tell us the exact status of the population. Under his federal contract, he has until October to report to the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Experts say the whales are missing because the salmon are missing. Fraser River Chinook — the main reason that orcas frequent the San Juan Islands — have dwindled to low levels along with Chinook bound for rivers flowing into North Puget Sound.
One indication of the dire condition for Chinook is the Albion Test Fishery, which involves catching fish in nets off the Fraser River. In June this year, only four fish were caught during the entire month, compared to an average 322 fish caught during the same period from 2000 to 2009.
Roughly half the orcas in the southern resident population have been observed so far this year in one place or another, Ken told me. With some luck, the rest will be spotted this summer. So far, observers have seen no obvious signs of any whales missing from their family groups. We can hope that there will be no deaths to report. But the bad news is that no new baby orcas have been reported either.
More births are needed to maintain the population, let alone expand the number to avoid extinction. If no new births or deaths are reported, the population will stand at 72 animals — with 22 in J pod, 17 in K pod and 32 in L pod. See Orca Network for the full rundown.
Last year, the census showed 73 animals in the population, following four deaths and two births over the previous year. Since then, a 42-year-old male name Mega (L41) was declared missing and presumed dead in January. See Water Ways, Jan. 30, 2020.
Even J pod, known as the homebody group of Puget Sound, has been elsewhere most of the year and not observed in Puget Sound since mid-April. J pod was last seen in Barkley Sound on the west side of Vancouver Island two weeks ago (June 21), according to a Facebook post by Orca Behavior Institute with a video provided by CBC Vancouver.
A portion of L pod, known as the L18s, has been observed near Swiftsure Bank, a prime fishing spot just outside the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Ken noted that a baby born last year, L124 named Whistle, was seen with the group.
San Juan Islands // Map: Pfly via Wikimedia Commons

Yesterday, two groups from K pod — the K12s and K13s — were seen off the west side of San Juan Island after they entered U.S. waters from Canada. The whales were still in the San Juans today, doing the “westside shuffle,” according to multiple reports.
“The residents are here!” wrote Cindy Hansen, Orca Network’s education coordinator, after spotting the whales. “That phrase has such a different meaning now. What used to be an almost daily occurrence here in the summer is now a momentous occasion that makes you drop absolutely everything you are doing and run out the door to try to catch a glimpse of them, because you don’t know when you’ll get another chance.”
Cindy’s post on Facebook, which received 111 comments by this evening, goes on to express her sudden fears that one or more whales will be missing, her sadness about the whales that have died and her frustration that ongoing human efforts are not enough to create conditions to keep the whales safe at home.
She also describes the excitement of seeing the whales and running into fellow whale enthusiasts, all watching from the shore.
“Even though you chat with some of them almost daily, there is something so special about standing on the rocks and talking and laughing and feeling so grateful to be here with the whales we all love,” she said. “It makes you remember that you aren’t alone and makes the fear and sadness and frustration easier to bear.”

Absent orcas: Most of the whales simply are not around to be counted at this time

UPDATE, JULY 3: Two new reports worth checking out:

—–
“So far, no new babies to report.”
That’s the latest word from Ken Balcomb regarding the southern resident orcas, the three pods of endangered whales that once frequented Puget Sound but lately seem hard to find.
July 1 marks the date of the annual killer whale census, a project carried out by Ken and his fellow researchers at the Center for Whale Research. Each year, Ken accounts for every orca in the population and reports the number to the U.S. government. This has been going on since the 1970s, when the capture of orcas for marine parks was brought to an end.

K20, a 34-year-old female named Spock, was among the southern resident orcas visiting the San Juan Islands the past two days. // Photo: Monika Wieland Shields, Orca Behavior Institute.

In the not-so-distant past, the whales would generally return to Puget Sound in late May or June, after hunting for fish along West Coast. In most years, Ken and associates were able to spot every living southern resident orca at least once before July 1. That allowed him to report which whales had died and which ones had given birth.
For the past few years, the orcas have returned late, and often they have stayed a brief time while searching for schools of Chinook salmon, their primary prey. This year, the whales barely showed up at all, so Ken cannot yet tell us the exact status of the population. Under his federal contract, he has until October to report to the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Experts say the whales are missing because the salmon are missing. Fraser River Chinook — the main reason that orcas frequent the San Juan Islands — have dwindled to low levels along with Chinook bound for rivers flowing into North Puget Sound.
One indication of the dire condition for Chinook is the Albion Test Fishery, which involves catching fish in nets off the Fraser River. In June this year, only four fish were caught during the entire month, compared to an average 322 fish caught during the same period from 2000 to 2009.
Roughly half the orcas in the southern resident population have been observed so far this year in one place or another, Ken told me. With some luck, the rest will be spotted this summer. So far, observers have seen no obvious signs of any whales missing from their family groups. We can hope that there will be no deaths to report. But the bad news is that no new baby orcas have been reported either.
More births are needed to maintain the population, let alone expand the number to avoid extinction. If no new births or deaths are reported, the population will stand at 72 animals — with 22 in J pod, 17 in K pod and 32 in L pod. See Orca Network for the full rundown.
Last year, the census showed 73 animals in the population, following four deaths and two births over the previous year. Since then, a 42-year-old male name Mega (L41) was declared missing and presumed dead in January. See Water Ways, Jan. 30, 2020.
Even J pod, known as the homebody group of Puget Sound, has been elsewhere most of the year and not observed in Puget Sound since mid-April. J pod was last seen in Barkley Sound on the west side of Vancouver Island two weeks ago (June 21), according to a Facebook post by Orca Behavior Institute with a video provided by CBC Vancouver.
A portion of L pod, known as the L18s, has been observed near Swiftsure Bank, a prime fishing spot just outside the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Ken noted that a baby born last year, L124 named Whistle, was seen with the group.
San Juan Islands // Map: Pfly via Wikimedia Commons

Yesterday, two groups from K pod — the K12s and K13s — were seen off the west side of San Juan Island after they entered U.S. waters from Canada. The whales were still in the San Juans today, doing the “westside shuffle,” according to multiple reports.
“The residents are here!” wrote Cindy Hansen, Orca Network’s education coordinator, after spotting the whales. “That phrase has such a different meaning now. What used to be an almost daily occurrence here in the summer is now a momentous occasion that makes you drop absolutely everything you are doing and run out the door to try to catch a glimpse of them, because you don’t know when you’ll get another chance.”
Cindy’s post on Facebook, which received 111 comments by this evening, goes on to express her sudden fears that one or more whales will be missing, her sadness about the whales that have died and her frustration that ongoing human efforts are not enough to create conditions to keep the whales safe at home.
She also describes the excitement of seeing the whales and running into fellow whale enthusiasts, all watching from the shore.
“Even though you chat with some of them almost daily, there is something so special about standing on the rocks and talking and laughing and feeling so grateful to be here with the whales we all love,” she said. “It makes you remember that you aren’t alone and makes the fear and sadness and frustration easier to bear.”

Orca report cover

Social scientists analyze public reactions to orca crisis

Social scientists at Oregon State University have been analyzing a trove of more than 17,000 public comments sent to the Washington state governor’s southern resident orca recovery task force. The researchers have added the comments to a keyword database to look at public emotions and perceptions around the issue of orca declines.
The orca task force was created in March 2018 after media reports of sick and dying whales prompted widespread public concern and led to a groundswell of activity to try to save the endangered whales from extinction. Since that time, Puget Sound’s southern resident orca population has continued to drop to 72 whales, the lowest number since initial counts of the population were conducted in 1976.
The study from Oregon State University’s Human Dimensions Lab analyzed public response data for both prominent emotions and potential connections people had to ‘Quality of Life Vital Signs’ established by the state’s Puget Sound Partnership.
“The most commonly represented emotions were trust, fear, sadness and anticipation,” reads a summary of the research. “Based on these findings, we can take steps to address the fear and sadness evoked by the decline of Southern Resident orcas and consider how to build trust and positive perceptions of governance in the proposed restoration strategies.”
Download the report on the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound