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Observations of a Small Killer Whale in Puget Sound
November 2001? to January 2002
Kenneth C. Balcomb
Senior Scientist
Center for Whale Research
Friday Harbor, WA 98250
On 1 November, 2001 an experienced whalewatch operator observed a small lone killer whale in
southern Puget Sound, Washington State. The observer was responding to a report of a pod of killer
whales in Puget Sound, and at the time considered that the small whale was simply an unusual stray from
the pod. He did not locate any other whales, and only saw the small whale briefly. There was a newspaper
reporter aboard who published (Seattle PI November 15, 2002) an account of this whalewatching trip and
the sighting.
Perhaps unrelated to this incident, on 2 and 3 January 2002 an experienced tug boat operator and others
observed a small lone killer whale in Swinomish Channel near La Conner over a period of two days and
reported it to the Center for Whale Research. At the time, this sighting was considered to possibly
represent a young killer whale that was reported with two transient killer whales that stranded on 2
January at Dungeness Spit, Washington. One of the stranded killer whales died, a female identified as
CA189 (referring to its identification number in a California catalogue of photo-identified individuals).
The other stranded killer whale, a male identified as CA 188, was escorted back into the Strait of Juan de
Fuca after three days of dedicated assistance from government and non-government rescue personnel.
This whale was radio-tagged and is known to have survived the critical first few days after release
(Contact Brian Gorman, NMFS (206) 526-6613 for details).
On 14 January 2002, another experienced observer again reported seeing a small lone killer whale in
southern Puget Sound. The report was made to the Center for Whale Research by phone and the public
via the internet (orcanetwork.org). On 15 January, Ken Balcomb accompanied biologist Mark Sears by
small boat to the area where the whale was reported, and both videotaped and photographed the small
killer whale confirming its species identity and solitary situation. The individual identity could not be
determined at that time due to the whale’s distinguishing characteristics being masked by naturally
sloughing skin. It appeared and behaved like a resident killer whale, though apparently it was not a
southern resident. Resident killer whales live in very stable kin groups called matrilines. A whale born to
a matriline rarely if ever strays for long from this group, especially in the case of young animals. This
lone small whale situation is extremely unusual, although we know that there is currently one other
example (L98 see note below), and two historical incidents that bear some
resemblance.
It is not known how this small lone killer whale came to be in this situation, nor is it known how long it has
been alone in the Puget Sound area. Perhaps it has been in the region since November, but we know it
has been there at least two weeks. It currently appears to be in good health. Photographs (by Mark
Sears) and acoustic recordings (by Joe Olson, ACS) of this whale have been forwarded to our colleagues,
John K.B. Ford and Graeme M. Ellis at the Pacific Biological Station, DFO Canada for analysis.
Note
On July 15, A73 was successfully relocated to Johnstone Strait and reunited with his relatives.
Meanwhile the concern about the future of a second small lone killer whale is growing. L98 is a young male orca, who was born to L67 in 1999, and belongs to L pod of the Southern Resident killer whale community. He got separated from his pod in the winter of 2000/2001 and remains in Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island. Unfortunately he is getting dangerously accustomed to boats, similar to A73. But he seems to be successfully feeding and looks quite well. Canada's M3 monitoring program is trying to keep the situation in hands. Preferably L98 will be reunited with his mother L67 in early fall (late September / early October) when L pod is in it's final stage of leaving the Haro Strait area for the winter time. A73 set a good example for this procedure. The final decision lies within DFO Canada and NMFS.
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