Press Releases

Experts Caution More Work Ahead to Save Population

FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash., Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance applauds the National Marine Fisheries Service for today's decision to list the Southern Resident orca whale population as an Endangered Species. The three pods spend up to eight months of the year in the San Juan Islands of Washington State.

"We are encouraged that scientists understand the damage that has been done to this specific orca population, but much more work needs to be done to save these animals," says Mark Anderson, founder of Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance (ORCA).

In fact, Orca Relief has recently proposed three new ideas including Whale Weekends (giving the orcas two days off from whale-watching boats), longer days for whales (limiting whale watch viewing hours to 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.), and giving the whales more room (expanding the current 100 yard rule, to 400 yards).

"We must put these animals before tourism and tourism dollars," says Dr. Birgit Kriete, executive director of Orca Relief. "We hope increased funding will be available to protect this population," she added.

Since 1996, the southern resident population of orcas has declined by nearly 20 percent. During that same period, the number of motorized whale- watching boats in the area has increased dramatically -- reaching up to as many as 140 boats in a single day.

Harassment by marine vehicles is among the factors cited by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife as contributing to the whale population decline.

ORCA Proposes Whale Weekends
Orca Relief Citizens'Alliance Urges Whale Watch Boat Operators to Give Whales a Break

FRIDAY HARBOR, WASH. - September 30, 2005 - Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance (www.orcarelief.org) proposes three new guidelines to avoid another catastrophic population decline.

Nearly 20% of the Orca population in the San Juan Islands was lost between 1996 and 2001. During that time, the number of motorized whale-watching boats in the area increased dramatically - now reaching up to as many as 145 boats in a single day.

A series of scientific studies, done here and in Canada, demonstrate dire consequences which boats visit upon the whales - including salmon (prey) dispersal, increased metabolic rates and swimming distances (and therefore food requirements), and a marked decrease in ability to use sonar to find ever-scarcer fish.

"We are deeply concerned that all salmon runs this summer, especially Sockeye, were dramatically reduced, and that any continuation of this trend will again put our local population of orca at risk, again converting boat effects from harassment to ensuring increased mortality," says Dr. Birgit Kriete, executive director of Orca Relief Citizens Alliance (ORCA). ORCA is recommending three new measures to avoid another catastrophic population decline:

1. Whale Weekends. We are hereby asking the Whale Watch Operators' Association to reserve the two least-expensive contiguous days for no whale watching at all.

2. Shorter Days for People, Longer Days for Whales. We also ask the WWOA to back off from the dawn to dusk current operating schedule, and rather restrict trips to allow two round-trips from Victoria per day; in words, combined with half-hour viewing periods, and additional time for travel, from 10am until 2pm.

3. Give Them Room. At the current self-imposed 100 yard viewing limit (which is regularly transgressed), recent study indicates boat noise decreasing the whales' sonar efficiency by 97%. Water carries sound much better than air, and whales need an acoustically-determined distance from motors. Increase boat distance to the nearest whale to 400 yards. Yes, they'll be harder to see, but the good news is - they'll be able to eat.

Marine vehicles harassment is among the factors cited last year by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife as contributing to the whale population decline. In April, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission added the Southern Resident orcas to the list of state endangered species.

About Orca Relief Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1997, based in the San Juan Islands of Washington state. ORCA began encouraging land-based watching in 2002, after commissioning three scientific studies that showed motorized whale-watching boats may play a primary role in the decline of the southern resident Orca population. For information, visit www.orcarelief.org. Orca Relief is focused specifically on learning what may be causing Orca mortality, and in reducing this death rate. Orca Relief believes that killer whales, as the largest species of the dolphin family, represent an excellent opportunity to learn more about brains larger than ours. Orca Relief also believes that the Puget Sound populations are most likely to provide that knowledge.

Press Contact: Melissa Milburn, Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance, 206-972-9096

ORCA Applauds Decision to Place Orca Whales on Endangered Species List
Orca Relief Citizens Alliance Reminds Tourists to Watch From Shore

FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash., Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance applauds the National Marine Fisheries Service for its decision to list the Southern Resident orca whale population as "threatened" on the Endangered Species List. The three pods spend up to eight months of the year in the San Juan Islands of Washington State.

"We are encouraged the scientists are now aware of the damage that has been done to this specific orca population," says Mark Anderson, founder of Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance (ORCA).

Since 1995, the southern resident population of orcas has declined by nearly 20 percent. During that same period, the number of motorized whale- watching boats in the area has increased dramatically -- reaching up to as many as 140 boats in a single day.

The National Marine Fisheries Service had declared the Southern Residents depleted in 2002 but had rejected an earlier petition to place them on the federal endangered species list.

Harassment by marine vehicles is among the factors cited this past year by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife as contributing to the whale population decline. In April, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission added the Southern Resident orcas to the list of state endangered species.

"Everyone who loves the orcas can help these whales survive. They can respect their privacy, restore them the ability to find fish, and stay off boats." says Dr. Birgit Kriete, executive director of Orca Relief. "Land based whale watching is the only sure way to do this," she added.

Orca Relief commissioned three separate scientific studies that show motorized whale-watching boats may play a primary role in the decline of the southern resident Orca population.

Orca Relief Salutes Washington State for its Action
Harassment by boats recognized as factor in decision

SEATTLE "April 5, 2004" Orca Relief (www.orcarelief.org) commends the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife Commission (DFW) for adding the region's orca population to the state list of endangered species. Orca Relief is a non-profit organization dedicated to reversing the population decline of the Southern Resident orcas.

"This decision is long overdue and should eliminate any questions the U.S. federal government has about including Southern Resident orca in the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Canada has already done it, the state of Washington has done it, and it's now up to the U.S. government to do it," says Mark Anderson, founder of Orca Relief. "We worked hard to help the DFW come to this decision, and we applaud their vision in assisting this endangered population."

Since 1995, the southern resident population of orcas (which spend between six and eight months of the year in the San Juan Islands) has declined by nearly 20 percent. "During that same period, the number of motorized whale-watching boats in the area has increased dramatically" reaching up to 140 boats in a single day.

Among the factors cited by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife is the harassment by marine vehicles. Orca Relief commissioned three separate scientific studies that show motorized whale-watching boats may play a primary role in the decline of the southern resident Orca population.

One of the scientific studies was conducted by Dr. Birgit Kriete, who also serves as executive director of ORCA. The Kriete study shows that the whales' energy requirements have increased by almost 20 percent for adult male killer whales compared to the years when no or very few commercial whale watch boats were in operation. This is linked to increased respiration and swimming rates, and increased boat avoidance paths, leading to higher energy requirements.

Another research study done by Dr. David Bain, University of Washington, indicates motorized boats at current guideline distances may degrade Orca sonar efficiency by 95-99 percent.

The third study, conducted by U.W. researchers Glenn VanBlaricom and Carlos Alvarez-Flores, shows a strong statistical correlation between whale population decline and boat activity.About Orca Relief

Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance (ORCA) was founded in 1997 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Orca Relief was formed to focus specifically on ascertaining the causes of Orca mortality, and in reducing this death rate. Orca Relief believes that orca, as one of the largest of the toothed whales, represent an excellent opportunity to learn more about brains larger than ours. Orca Relief also believes that the Puget Sound populations are most likely to provide that knowledge.

Press Contact: Melissa Milburn, Orca Relief, 206-972-9096

Islander Back from International Orca Conference

SEATTLE - October 23, 2002: Dr. Birgit Kriete, Executive Director of Orca Relief, a non-profit organization based in Friday Harbor, WA, whose mission is to reduce Orca mortality in the Pacific Northwest, just returned from an international killer whale conference in France.

More than 70 killer whale scientists from around the world attended the six-day conference.  They presented research specializing on acoustics, behavior, physiology, toxic contamination and other environmental impacts, such as whale watching, conducted on different killer whale populations worldwide.

Two studies about the effect of whale watching on orca whales, were presented by Dr. Kriete, on behalf of Orca Relief.  The research studies were extremely well received by fellow scientists.  A workshop was also held to discuss the effects of whale-watching and other anthropogenic actions on killer whales worldwide.

Also in attendance was Mark Pakenham, Director of the M3 Program, the Canadian counterpart to Soundwatch.  Pakenham presented a video showing number of boats and the behavior of boaters, both commercial and private, around the southern resident killer whale population.  The audience was saddened and outraged by the behavior of the boats and actually requested that the speaker stop the video.

The last international conference on the Biology of Killer Whales was held 12 years ago.  Organizers say they hope to hold the next orca conference by 2007.

Dr. Kriete also attended the Marine Wildlife Watching Workshop held in Minnesota last week.  Scientists, wildlife operators and NMFS biologists and enforcement officers attended.  The workshop was designed to present different case studies on fish, reptiles, marine birds and marine mammals in conjunction with discussing and devising plans to protect marine wildlife from human interaction and disturbance as well as safe viewing practices.  It was clearly stated that while education on laws and regulation is important, enforcement is necessary to protect marine species from overexploitation and human disturbance.

About Orca Relief
Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance was founded in 1997 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Orca Relief was formed to focus specifically on learning what may be causing Orca mortality, and in reducing this death rate. Orca Relief believes that killer whales, as the largest species of the dolphin family, represent an excellent opportunity to learn more about brains larger than ours. Orca Relief also believes that the Puget Sound populations are most likely to provide that knowledge.

Press Contact: Melissa Milburn, Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance, 206-972-9096

Are we loving our whales to death?

Motorized Whale-Watch Boats May Play Primary Role In Orca Population Decline

SEATTLE "June 1, 2002" Three separate scientific studies released today show that motorized whale-watching boats may play a primary role in the decline of the southern resident Orca population.

Since 1995, the southern resident population of Orcas (which spend between six and eight months of the year in the San Juan Islands) has declined by 20 percent.  During that same period, the number of motorized whale-watching boats in the area has increased dramatically – to more than 90 boats on the water each day.

All three studies released today were commissioned by Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance (ORCA). One of the studies was conducted by Dr. Birgit Kriete, who also serves as executive director of ORCA. The Kriete study shows that the whales' energy requirements have increased by almost 20 percent for adult killer whales compared to the years when no or very few commercial whale watch boats were in operation.  This is likely caused by the stress resulting from constant boat traffic around the whales, generating higher metabolic rates and therefore higher energy requirements. 

Another research study done by Dr. David Bain, University of Washington, says motorized boats may degrade Orca sonar efficiency by 95-99 percent.

The third study, conducted by University of Washington researchers Glenn VanBlaricom and Carlos Alvarez-Flores, shows a strong statistical correlation between whale population decline and boat activity.

"The combination of these three research studies gives us the first clear story of what has been one of the main factors killing the whales," says Mark Anderson, president of the ORCA.  "For the first time, we can put all of these various causes into a sentence, based upon scientific research:

In an environment of declining salmon, the presence of the whale watch fleet decreases sonar efficiency by 95-99 percent, while increasing food requirements; the resulting starvation forces the whales to draw down toxin-laden blubber, and they die."

The three studies were released during the weekend Orca Recovery Conference held at the University of Washington. It was sponsored by Earth Island Institute and was attended by more than 100 scientists and people interested in saving the Orca whales.

Press Contact: Melissa Milburn, Orca Relief Citizens' Alliance, 206-972-9096

ORCA RELIEF CITIZENS' ALLIANCE
P.O. Box 1969 | Friday Harbor, WA | 98250 | Phone: (360) 370-5554 | Fax: (360) 378-7041
email: info@orcarelief.org

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