Humpbubble
Active Member
I go and visit miracle at work from time to time,as her story like j-32's and its calf are not to be forgotten.
Sad news...
- Thread starter Cuba Libre
- Start date
beemer
Well-Known Member
Don't worry about it Fishcamp. Your pictures had nothing to do with a stupid act of vandalism.
Fish Assassin
Crew Member
FC it's not your fault at all. Pictures were all over the web and TV.
tincan
Well-Known Member
Whales eat a LOT of chinook salmon. In fact, the Southern Residents alone (around 80 of them) are estimated to eat around 1,000,000 chinook salmon per YEAR! A freakin million! That equivalent to around 35 chinook per whale per day! In terms of toxins via bio accumulation this is how / why they are so contaminated. It's still not a pleasant thought that our wild Pacific salmon have any significant level of toxins but I think it's safe to say salmon is still one of the best foods humans can put in their bodies.
Anyways, it is extremely sad to see the little work we have done at the Fed level to protect these amazing animals. Under SARA status we should have had a plan in place ages ago to help these whales but our knuckle-dragging gov't seems more intent on focusing it's resources elsewhere, despite the legal requirements to protect this species. It is yet another fine example of science/reality getting in the way of our resource exploitation agenda as a country. I know first had that many of the proposed development projects for our coast are spending a lot of time and money thinking about the ways to get around the negative impacts that more tankers, terminals, and contaminants will have on these SARA listed whales. It is no coincidence that this DRAFT action plan has taken so long to get to its latest DRAFT form. These whales contribute massively to the beauty/appeal of BC and provide hundreds of direct jobs and millions to our local coastal economies, let along the joy countless people in BC get from seeing them in the wild. Tough to put a price on BC's beauty so let's just not make it a priority to maintain, right? Enough rant, tough loss for the Sourthern Residents at a time they really can't afford it.
You can download the full DRAFT of Action Plan for Northern and Southern Resident Killer Whales report at the link below:
http://www.ecojustice.ca/blog/its-time-to-put-the-action-back-into-the-killer-whale-action-plan
Anyways, it is extremely sad to see the little work we have done at the Fed level to protect these amazing animals. Under SARA status we should have had a plan in place ages ago to help these whales but our knuckle-dragging gov't seems more intent on focusing it's resources elsewhere, despite the legal requirements to protect this species. It is yet another fine example of science/reality getting in the way of our resource exploitation agenda as a country. I know first had that many of the proposed development projects for our coast are spending a lot of time and money thinking about the ways to get around the negative impacts that more tankers, terminals, and contaminants will have on these SARA listed whales. It is no coincidence that this DRAFT action plan has taken so long to get to its latest DRAFT form. These whales contribute massively to the beauty/appeal of BC and provide hundreds of direct jobs and millions to our local coastal economies, let along the joy countless people in BC get from seeing them in the wild. Tough to put a price on BC's beauty so let's just not make it a priority to maintain, right? Enough rant, tough loss for the Sourthern Residents at a time they really can't afford it.
You can download the full DRAFT of Action Plan for Northern and Southern Resident Killer Whales report at the link below:
http://www.ecojustice.ca/blog/its-time-to-put-the-action-back-into-the-killer-whale-action-plan
Halibut-face
Member
An interesting side note- I understand that the research indicates that the southern resident eat Primarily Chinook. However, off sooke this October I spent some time watching whales from all three SR pods absolutely smashing coho- head butting fish into the air and feeding heavily. How did I know it was coho? We'll because at the same time in the same area you could toss a line in the water and have a coho on within minutes. There were no winter springs around and no sign of chum being caught anywhere in the area. Summer Chinook were also long gone. I think the researchers like to ring the alarm bell about food scarcity and lack of Chinook, but in reality these whales are more adaptable- feeding on available salmon species, than they care to admit. Perhaps the research is done primarily in summer months when Chinook is the most abundant species?
tincan
Well-Known Member
Halibut-face,
Thanks for your thoughts on this. I'm no expert but I did attend the latest Orca Research conference at UBC a couple of weeks ago and met the many experts who have studied these whales for decades. While they don't know everything about the whales, they do know a TON, including lots on the feed, feeding patterns, etc. I might not have the terminology/details correct but what researchers have been doing to determine killer whale diet includes the following:
1) Analyze their crap (fecal matter) to get a very good idea of the feed composition
2) Put tracking devices on the whales to get 3-D images of what feeding looks like underwater (how they move to feed, depths they dive, etc)
They found that many of the whales dive quite deep to feed (100-200ft) which is where chinook hang out. Overall, it's estimated by the experts that around 95% or so of the Southern Resident Killer Whale diet is chinook salmon. They do eat other salmon for sure and perhaps they will switch over to other species more going forward but so far they haven't really done so. I'll try to dig up some of the interesting slideshows I saw at the conference and share them here.
Thanks for your thoughts on this. I'm no expert but I did attend the latest Orca Research conference at UBC a couple of weeks ago and met the many experts who have studied these whales for decades. While they don't know everything about the whales, they do know a TON, including lots on the feed, feeding patterns, etc. I might not have the terminology/details correct but what researchers have been doing to determine killer whale diet includes the following:
1) Analyze their crap (fecal matter) to get a very good idea of the feed composition
2) Put tracking devices on the whales to get 3-D images of what feeding looks like underwater (how they move to feed, depths they dive, etc)
They found that many of the whales dive quite deep to feed (100-200ft) which is where chinook hang out. Overall, it's estimated by the experts that around 95% or so of the Southern Resident Killer Whale diet is chinook salmon. They do eat other salmon for sure and perhaps they will switch over to other species more going forward but so far they haven't really done so. I'll try to dig up some of the interesting slideshows I saw at the conference and share them here.
tincan
Well-Known Member
http://ires.ubc.ca/2014/11/18/november-21-2014-orca-and-salmon-recovery-workshop/
here's a link to the event but I don't see much in the way of posted material.
here's a link to the event but I don't see much in the way of posted material.
tincan
Well-Known Member
http://www.eaglewingtours.com/wild-4-whales-fee/
There's a 12 minute video here called "No fish, No Blackfish" that is related to this thread. It should start playing as soon as you click on the link. If not, just scroll down to find it.
There's a 12 minute video here called "No fish, No Blackfish" that is related to this thread. It should start playing as soon as you click on the link. If not, just scroll down to find it.
beemer
Well-Known Member
Most of the research on the Southern Residents is done in the summer time , so consequently the research indicates that they eat primarily Chinook! I have seen them eating coho and dog , but unfortunately did not have a fecal sample kit. The Chinook-Southern Resident connection is based on surprising few samples , under 100.
Unfortunately Tin Can you can do all the research you want on this group , but the mathematical reality is that they are a dying subgroup that will not survive. We had a chance 15 years ago but the powers that be AND the researchers did not take any real action , choosing to waste resources on chasing whalewatchers and studying what has already been studied.
The fact is what will save these whales will never be done.
Here is a brief list of what the Southern Residents would like for Christmas.
- Close ALL fishing ,commercial , sport and aboriginal in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Georgia Basin for the month of August.
- All on land sewage AND storm drains go to a closed loop system , No discharge of any sort into the ocean.
-Stop all watershed development in BC. Washington and Oregon
- Close the herring fishery completely
So as you can see Tincan this is what the Southern Resident group need to survive and we all know that none of the above will EVER happen. Depressing I know but hopefully we can save the other killer whale groups by what we have learned.
beemer
Fish Camp
Well-Known Member
I haven't a link to be found on Bull kelp nereocystis ,with electricfracing of spore to make a million kelp spores . It's being done ,build the environment for industrial use of kelp ,seed the oceans with small bits of tile with nereocystis spores ,farm it selectively and have kelp forests at the every estuary, .Simple it should catch on.
beemer
Well-Known Member
I sent this to the Times Colonist editor last night.
With the fairly recent death of J32 a relatively young and malnourished pregnant female resident killer whale it is imperative that a discussion begin about how best to begin a recovery plan for south coast Chinook salmon stocks. Chinook that frequent the Juan De Fuca Strait and that are a vital source of food to these whales are not as plentiful as they once were and include many stocks from the Fraser River systems and also the Cowichan and the Sooke Rivers. There are now only 77 southern resident killer whales left of which only 17 are females capable of reproducing at this time. It doesn't take much intuition to realize that loosing anymore of these whales really means these local killer whale families will disappear for good.
Quick action is needed to replenish their food supply. Possibly the quickest and most cost effective local action would be to ramp the Nitinat Hatchery back up to it's full capacity of 10 million Chinook Salmon beginning next fall. That hatchery is only utilizing 50% (5 million) of it capacity at this time and has been operating at these reduced levels for some time now. (budget cutbacks) These 5 million Chinook smolts could be brought down to the Sooke and Victoria area and released here to return again through Juan De Fuca Strait 4 years later as adults. The Sooke Enhancement Society has annually transplanted about 300,000 Nitinat Chinook smolts into the Sooke River for years and while that number has kept the Sooke River Chinook runs from disappearing it hasn't been enough to provide a stable and plentiful supply of food for the whales. It is time to find or raise the money to get the Nitinat Hatchery production back and save our iconic local resident killer whales.
With the fairly recent death of J32 a relatively young and malnourished pregnant female resident killer whale it is imperative that a discussion begin about how best to begin a recovery plan for south coast Chinook salmon stocks. Chinook that frequent the Juan De Fuca Strait and that are a vital source of food to these whales are not as plentiful as they once were and include many stocks from the Fraser River systems and also the Cowichan and the Sooke Rivers. There are now only 77 southern resident killer whales left of which only 17 are females capable of reproducing at this time. It doesn't take much intuition to realize that loosing anymore of these whales really means these local killer whale families will disappear for good.
Quick action is needed to replenish their food supply. Possibly the quickest and most cost effective local action would be to ramp the Nitinat Hatchery back up to it's full capacity of 10 million Chinook Salmon beginning next fall. That hatchery is only utilizing 50% (5 million) of it capacity at this time and has been operating at these reduced levels for some time now. (budget cutbacks) These 5 million Chinook smolts could be brought down to the Sooke and Victoria area and released here to return again through Juan De Fuca Strait 4 years later as adults. The Sooke Enhancement Society has annually transplanted about 300,000 Nitinat Chinook smolts into the Sooke River for years and while that number has kept the Sooke River Chinook runs from disappearing it hasn't been enough to provide a stable and plentiful supply of food for the whales. It is time to find or raise the money to get the Nitinat Hatchery production back and save our iconic local resident killer whales.
Total Chinook Released from Capilano R Project
Release Year Release Total
2014 448,528
2013 550,859
2012 657,212
2011 577,930
2010 532,121
2009 505,899
2008 686,694
2007 484,801
2006 559,897
2005 485,620
2004 418,833
2003 483,616
2002 612,809
2001 316,885
2000 271,297
1999 474,364
1998 576,102
1997 286,746
1996 349,040
1995 466,612
1994 518,103
1993 825,181
1992 1,084,261
1991 2,255,730
1990 2,715,925
1989 1,568,407
1988 2,424,090
1987 2,065,635
1986 1,464,051
1985 1,602,613
1984 1,611,857
1983 797,821
1982 1,029,311
1981 1,484,889
1980 1,548,734
1979 544,797
1978 1,088,421
1977 1,184,302
1976 483,320
1974 298,452
1973 298,967
1972 503,975
Look at the numbers from late 70's to early 90's. Not sure if its related to cutbacks but the numbers are down quite a bit on average.
Release Year Release Total
2014 448,528
2013 550,859
2012 657,212
2011 577,930
2010 532,121
2009 505,899
2008 686,694
2007 484,801
2006 559,897
2005 485,620
2004 418,833
2003 483,616
2002 612,809
2001 316,885
2000 271,297
1999 474,364
1998 576,102
1997 286,746
1996 349,040
1995 466,612
1994 518,103
1993 825,181
1992 1,084,261
1991 2,255,730
1990 2,715,925
1989 1,568,407
1988 2,424,090
1987 2,065,635
1986 1,464,051
1985 1,602,613
1984 1,611,857
1983 797,821
1982 1,029,311
1981 1,484,889
1980 1,548,734
1979 544,797
1978 1,088,421
1977 1,184,302
1976 483,320
1974 298,452
1973 298,967
1972 503,975
Look at the numbers from late 70's to early 90's. Not sure if its related to cutbacks but the numbers are down quite a bit on average.
tincan
Well-Known Member
Profisher,
I agree quick action is needed if we are to help the resident Orcas and I agree increase Chinook salmon are a vital part of what is needed. A couple questions I had when reading your post were:
1) Is budget the only reason Nitinat is operating at 50% capacity? Is there food to support another 5 million?
2) The resident orcas typically travel the inside passage for most of the Summer. they do get north of Hardy and West of Victoria at times but I'm wondering if these returning chinook salmon would be in the 'prime' hunting grounds for the whales? If these adult chinook return down the WCVI (as opposed to the Strait of Georgia) I don't see as much a benefit as helping other stocks that would definitely return on the inside and, therefore, be available prey for a relatively longer range.
3) Wild / Hatchery interaction: Big can of worms here I know but something to consider whenever we talk about hatchery production. I don't want to derail this tread getting into this but did think it was worth a quick mention.
At the end of the day we do need to take action at large scale if we are to protect what is left of the resident orcas in BC. I know there are some very intelligent people/groups who have come up with action plans to do so but it will need the support of gov't at all levels, which is not an easy sell at this point in time.
I agree quick action is needed if we are to help the resident Orcas and I agree increase Chinook salmon are a vital part of what is needed. A couple questions I had when reading your post were:
1) Is budget the only reason Nitinat is operating at 50% capacity? Is there food to support another 5 million?
2) The resident orcas typically travel the inside passage for most of the Summer. they do get north of Hardy and West of Victoria at times but I'm wondering if these returning chinook salmon would be in the 'prime' hunting grounds for the whales? If these adult chinook return down the WCVI (as opposed to the Strait of Georgia) I don't see as much a benefit as helping other stocks that would definitely return on the inside and, therefore, be available prey for a relatively longer range.
3) Wild / Hatchery interaction: Big can of worms here I know but something to consider whenever we talk about hatchery production. I don't want to derail this tread getting into this but did think it was worth a quick mention.
At the end of the day we do need to take action at large scale if we are to protect what is left of the resident orcas in BC. I know there are some very intelligent people/groups who have come up with action plans to do so but it will need the support of gov't at all levels, which is not an easy sell at this point in time.
The local residents frequent all south coast waters on either side of the Island. Just like those of us here they spend most of their time where they find the most plentiful supply of fish. Last summer they spent most of their time outside of Juan De Fuca Strait off the west coast of the Island. The reduced Chinook production at Nitinat is purely budget cutbacks. The Americans ramped up their production and as you know the Columbia is seeing record Chinook returns. Food supply is not an issue if just replacing what used to be there before overfishing and habitat loss.
Gray Escape
Member
If we can step up enhancement efforts all will benefit including the Orca.
Support your local fish and game clubs and PSF!
Support your local fish and game clubs and PSF!
GLG
Well-Known Member
IMHO we need to change the survival rate of smolts to adults.
In the past it was 1 to 3% on average, now it's .1 to .3%.
Link to old info but still relevant....
http://www.stateofthesalmon.org/con...eng_Georgia StraitCoho Chinook May 4 10 3.pdf
This question is at the heart of what PSF is doing right now.
https://www.psf.ca/sites/default/files/Strait-of-Georgia-Initiative-Case-Statement-June-3-2013.pdf
You may notice that the wild salmon are doing better then the hatchery ones. Only slightly and I don't know why but that's one thing that we can help with. Like most here I have been involved with cleaning up and restoring our rivers and creeks. That helps but the major question remains. Why has the smolt to adult % dropped so much.
I have heard that some changes to release strategy have been tried (later then normal) and have showed some success. Mel Shang (DFO) reported these results and the community Coho hatchery, that I volunteer with, has tried that. I won't know the results till next fall. We are also looking at vaccinating our smolts like what the fishfarms are doing to see if that works. There is a study up in Campbell River to see if that helps.
I like most are deeply concerned with what we see each year with Chinook and think the answer is not so much increasing smolt production but increasing survival of the smolts that we produce.
Others may have better insight and I welcome any other ideas on such an important issue we face. I can always learn something from the members here.
GLG
In the past it was 1 to 3% on average, now it's .1 to .3%.
Link to old info but still relevant....
http://www.stateofthesalmon.org/con...eng_Georgia StraitCoho Chinook May 4 10 3.pdf
This question is at the heart of what PSF is doing right now.
https://www.psf.ca/sites/default/files/Strait-of-Georgia-Initiative-Case-Statement-June-3-2013.pdf
You may notice that the wild salmon are doing better then the hatchery ones. Only slightly and I don't know why but that's one thing that we can help with. Like most here I have been involved with cleaning up and restoring our rivers and creeks. That helps but the major question remains. Why has the smolt to adult % dropped so much.
I have heard that some changes to release strategy have been tried (later then normal) and have showed some success. Mel Shang (DFO) reported these results and the community Coho hatchery, that I volunteer with, has tried that. I won't know the results till next fall. We are also looking at vaccinating our smolts like what the fishfarms are doing to see if that works. There is a study up in Campbell River to see if that helps.
I like most are deeply concerned with what we see each year with Chinook and think the answer is not so much increasing smolt production but increasing survival of the smolts that we produce.
Others may have better insight and I welcome any other ideas on such an important issue we face. I can always learn something from the members here.
GLG
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The Cunama Hatchery is having great success now that they net pen 100% of their production prior to release. We have been told that net penning works well on the WCVI but not at all on ECVI. Why they don't know yet. There have been net pens in the past in Esquimalt Harbour, Pedder Bay, Becher Bay and Sooke Harbour. This should be implemented if we can get the Nitinat to maximize their production and move the 5 million down here.
