Orca Behavior Institute study leaves out data related to cumulative vessel impacts | The Journal of the San Juan Islands – Journal of the San Juan…

By Sorrel North

Lopez Island

Orca Behavior Institutes new study claims evidence for a protective sentinel effect provided by whale-watching vessels in the vicinity of killer whales. The study was undertaken to fill in gaps of data regarding the sentinel vs. magnet effect (private vessels being attracted to whales due to the presence of whale watching vessels). However, OBIs study focuses exclusively on the benefits of commercial whale watching and leaves out any data related to cumulative vessel impacts, including underwater noise and disturbance, on the orcas. OBI promotes the ecological benefits of allowing professional commercial whale watchers to be present near killer whales in the Salish Sea. The study, read in its entirety, appears more like a public relations campaign for commercial whale watching than an unbiased research paper.

OBI was founded by Monika Wieland Shields and Michael Weiss, who is also the Research Director of the Center for Whale Research. Center for Whale Research has, for years, received significant funding from Pacific Whale Watching Association. PWWA funds numerous orca researchers and organizations (including San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau), all of whom unsurprisingly defend and promote commercial whale watching. Most of the data for OBIs study was collected by observers on commercial whale-watching boats.

Soundwatch Boater Education Studies have been conducted in the San Juans for over two decades. Prior to the new licensing regulations, Soundwatch observed commercial whale watchers following the Southern Residents up to 12 hours per day, 7 days a week, primarily in their core feeding habitat near San Juan Island. While the majority of rule infractions are committed by private boaters, whale watchers are responsible for dozens of violations every year. The science panel for the Commercial Whale Watching Licensing Advisory Committee concluded in 2020 that there is no evidence that commercial whale watchers provide a sentinel effect for the Southern Resident orcas.

According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations recent study (Holt, 2021), boat traffic within 400 yards of Southern Resident killer whales interrupts their foraging, often leading female whales to cease feeding altogether. OBIs study was conducted from whale-watching boats that routinely approach the endangered orcas just outside the 300-yard distance regulation. At this range, whale watchers knowingly cause the nutritionally deprived whales to abandon foraging. They also attract private vessels close enough to create what one researcher called an underwater acoustic hell. Waving flags to shoo away private boaters does not make whale watchers into sentinels, especially when they are simultaneously depriving the orcas of their ability to feed.

Commercial whale-watching licensing rules were created after an exhaustive and thorough process initiated by the Southern Resident Orca Task Force. The Department of Fish and Wildlife suspended commercial whale watching last summer due to its known detrimental impacts on the orcas. OBIs study only confirms that the industry places profit above protection. Why else would whale watchers continue to approach the Southern Residents closer than 400 yards when multiple studies have confirmed that vessel noise within this range has devastating consequences? The endangered orcas do need protection, from private vessels and commercial whale watchers alike. More enforcement boats should be provided by the state, along with an indefinite suspension of whale watching.

Over the last 30 years, the whale-watching industry has appropriated the entire Salish Sea ecosystem for its own financial gain. But the Southern Resident orcas are not commodities to exploit for profit. They are a critically endangered species who have a right to thrive in their ancestral waters. The Coast Salish Peoples view these whales as beloved relatives worthy of dignity and respect. Its time we do the same.

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Orca Behavior Institute study leaves out data related to cumulative vessel impacts | The Journal of the San Juan Islands - Journal of the San Juan...