Whales in Winter

The resident orca whales were near Victoria yesterday over by Race Rocks. Sounds like most of the J orca pod was there and some of the K and L orca pods too.
Today, Saturday is a bit drizzly and over cast and around 50 degrees.

Super Pod of Orca in November? Yes!

Nov. 24
All 3 Resident pods (J,K&L) were seen off the South of the Victoria Harbour. Unusual for November, the conditions on the water were perfect as it was flat calm with little to no wind.

The animals were very spread out (foraging) traveling slowly to the West.

For those who follow orca news, a Super Pod would be unusual enough. But in November? I think quite unusual.

Resident Orca reported off San Juan Island 11-21-08 Friday

Dave Elllifrit of the Center for Whale Research reported the ID's of the orcas heading south down San Juan Island. He observed J and K pod, as well as L87.
The whales were spread out across the strait, heading south at a good pace. Individual ID's he was able to obtain are: J2, 17, 27, 28, 33, 35, 31, 39; K12, 13, 20, 21, 25, 26, 34, 40; and L87.

antibiotic-resistant bacteria in resident orca whales

From the Kitsap Sun 11-19-08

Puget Sound's orcas collectively harbor more than a dozen different kinds of antibiotic-resistant bacteria — as well as other bacteria known to kill animals that are in a weakened condition, according to Puget Sound researchers.

Independent researchers David Bain, a biologist, and Pete Schroeder, a veterinarian, have been studying the droplets emitted from Puget Sound whales' blow holes and culturing the samples.

Their research, discussed this week at a meeting about recent orca deaths, found at least two groups of bacteria known to cause death in immune-compromised individuals.

The findings add to other studies that show the orcas, possibly weakened by toxic chemicals in their environment and a salmon shortage, could be wiped out in a catastrophic event — such as an oil spill or disease. Some say a loss of a third or more of the 83 orcas alive today could trigger a death spiral for the entire population.

And it's not just the whales that are at risk.

"If these things are getting into whales, then they could be getting into swimmers at the beach," Bain said.

Because some bacteria show resistance to antibiotics, it is likely that they are coming from human sources, possibly stormwater or improperly treated sewage.

Another concern is that a disease could get into animals on land and spread to Puget Sound.

"We don't have an effective barrier to keep it out of the marine environment," Bain said. "It is possible that someone could bring a disease from another continent and expose the whales, causing a significant decline in their population."

For example, a fungus called cryptococcus gattii has been implicated in the deaths of dozens of harbor porpoises in the Northwest, he said. That same fungus has resulted in the deaths of numerous pets and serious illness for humans. Some researchers believe the fungus was brought to British Columbia in a eucalyptus tree from Australia, where the fungus is native. Spores may have washed into stormwater flowing into the Georgia Basin, which connects with Puget Sound.

Nobody can say whether the seven deaths of orcas this year were connected to cryptococcus or any other organism, because none of the carcasses were found. Researchers did obtain a blubber sample of one emaciated whale that later disappeared. They are waiting for test results to see if a cause of death can be determined.

"One thing we want to learn," said Bain, "is whether there is a correlation between the number of species (of bacteria) and the mortality rates of the whales," he said.

In other words, are the individuals with a greater bacterial load at greater risk of getting sick and dying?

Schroeder, a marine mammal veterinarian, said two groups of bacteria found by the researchers are of great concern. They are the Vibrios and Claustridiums, which are known to cause death in immune-compromised individuals.

"The same biological rule holds true in people and in animals," he said. "You can carry these pathogens around, but they have to get into your system through an open wound. Even then, you might fight them off if your immune system is in good shape."

One concern for the orcas, however, is that they contain some of the greatest concentrations of toxic chemicals of any marine mammals in the world. The chemicals include polychlorinated biphenyls, believed to impair the immune system.

Another factor that could weaken the whales is a shortage of salmon, which can cause them to use up their fat reserves in search of food. Lack of salmon has been mentioned frequently as a likely factor in the seven recent deaths.

Bain, Schroeder and their colleagues in British Columbia have not found major changes in the bacteria they discovered during their three-year study of the Puget Sound whales, known as Southern Residents. They would like to continue the research, which is funded by the National Marine Fisheries Service, and include Northern Residents, a related group of orcas in British Columbia.

Schroeder said the bacterial counts in water and orcas could become an important indicator of ecosystem health. One reason he and Bain have begun talking about their unpublished research is to get the attention of the Puget Sound Partnership, which is putting together an Action Agenda for restoring Puget Sound.

"My standpoint as a veterinarian is that I want to find out if we can prevent these animals from becoming ill," Schroeder said. "If we identify enough of these antibiotic-resistant bacteria, we can start source studies."

Tracking the bacteria to their sources — possibly sewage-treatment plants, boat discharges and urban stormwater — could be the key to reducing the orca's exposure to the dangerous pathogens, Schroeder said.

Sewage from the city of Victoria is released practically untreated into waters not far from where the whales spend much of their summers.

"That," said Schroeder, "is the elephant in the room."

Treating the whales for illness is beyond the realm of current research. Schroeder has worked with whales and dolphins in captivity where blood tests reveal the health of an individual. In wild "herd animals," such as orcas, signs of illness may go unrecognized until an individual is so ill that it drops out of its group.

If a wild whale could be diagnosed in time, Bain said it could open the door to using the appropriate antibiotics to treat the disease and reduce the risk of wiping out the entire population. That level of manipulation is sure to generate controversy. But knowing that the orcas are surrounded by unnatural bacteria, as well as a variety of man-made chemicals, could change management goals for saving the whales.

How Orcas Determine Which Fish to Eat

Scientists pinpoint whales' dining plan

Swim bladder key to locating chinook in a sea of sockeye

Judith Lavoie

Victoria Times Colonist; Canwest News Service

Saturday, November 15, 2008

VICTORIA - Killer whales off the coast of Vancouver Island know the precise sound of their favourite dinner, according to a new study by a team of U.S and Canadian researchers.

Orcas like their fish dinners fat and greasy, which means their prey of choice is chinook salmon, and scientists have discovered the whales can identify a juicy chinook from up to 100 metres.

John Ford, marine mammal scientist at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans' Pacific Biological Station, said it's well-known that killer whales have a sophisticated echo-location system for finding prey, but scientists were confused about how whales can identify a chinook that's surrounded by sockeye.

"We know they like the larger chinook, but they also take the two- and three-year-olds which are the same size as the sockeye, so they can discriminate," he said.

The secret is in the swim bladder, an internal organ that helps fish maintain buoyancy, says marine ecologist John Horne of the School of Aquatic and Fisheries Science at the University of Washington.

Horne, an author of the study presented at a meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in Florida this week, said the team of scientists bounced recorded replicas of the whales' echo-location clicks off tethered sockeye, coho and chinook salmon to see what patterns emerged.

"We were looking at how killer whales perceive the fish," he said.

The swim bladder on a chinook salmon is half the size of other species, and is responsible for most of the reflected sound energy, the study found.

Scientists now know how the whales transmit the clicks, and the shape of the echo coming back from the target fish -- but little is known about how the whales then interpret the information, Horne said.

"We really need to find a co-operative killer whale to explain how they process the data," he said.

In addition to their built-in sonar systems, there are probably also learned skills, Horne said.

"It is the same as someone interested in picking blackberries. You get a sense of when the berries are ripe, what areas they are in and how they grow," he said.

The research may help to develop a system for more accurately calculating fish populations, Horne said.

Chinook are in short supply this year and, with some whales showing signs of malnourishment, there is a push to find out why the whales are not switching their menu.

© The Edmonton Journal 2008