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Orca Watching -- with No Harm Done
My boating excursion in the Pacific Northwest to see endangered orcas was as ...
From Sheryl Eisenberg
44133
Federal Register
/Vol. 67, No. 126/Monday, July 1, 2002/Proposed Rules
termed Residents, Transients, andOffshore whales. All three of theseforms are currently classified as thesame biological species,
O. orca
. Thethree forms vary in morphology,ecology, behavior, group size, socialorganization, acoustic repertoire, andgenetic characteristics. Behavioralevidence suggests that Offshore andTransient pods (
‘‘
pods
’’
are close-knitfamily groups ranging from 10 to 70whales) rarely interact with the Residentpods. Although the Transient formoverlaps extensively in range with theResident form, genetic evidencesuggests that the two forms do notinterbreed. Furthermore, distinctfeeding habits exist, with Transientkiller whales primarily preying on othermarine mammals and Residentsprimarily subsisting on fishes (little isknown, however, about the habits of theOffshore form).Resident whales in the North Pacificconsist of the following groups: westernNorth Pacific Residents; western AlaskaResidents; southern Alaska Residents;eastern North Pacific NorthernResidents; and eastern North PacificSouthern Residents. Eastern NorthPacific Southern Residents occur in theinland waterways of southern BritishColumbia and Washington, includingthe Georgia Strait, the Strait of Juan deFuca, and Puget Sound.The abundance of the eastern NorthPacific Southern Resident stock hasdeclined 20 percent in the past 5 years(1996
–
2001), and the decline has beenaccompanied by changes in survivalrates between age and sex categories.NMFS recently reviewed the status of these whales under the ESA anddetermined that the eastern NorthPacific Southern Resident stock doesnot qualify as a
‘‘
species
’’
as defined inthe ESA (NMFS, 2002). However,information gathered during the ESAstatus review, including populationviability analyses, suggests thatdesignating eastern North PacificSouthern Resident killer whales as adepleted stock under the MMPA may bewarranted.
Estimates of Historical Stock Size
The true K and MNPL are unknownfor eastern North Pacific SouthernResident killer whales. Furthermore, anempirical estimate of maximumhistorical abundance is not available.When the annual census of thepopulation began in 1974, there were 71whales in the population. This count,however, followed the period in the1960s and early 1970s when at least 68whales were removed or killed duringcapture operations for public display.Thus, a minimum historical abundancecould be estimated to be approximately140 killer whales if total removals werelimited to the 68 animals that wereknown to be killed or captured.Although reasonably accurate numbersof animals removed by live captureexist, the number killed by shooting orother human activity is unknown.Therefore, the historical abundance mayhave been much greater than 140whales.Lacking sufficient information tosupport a direct estimate of historicalabundance, NMFS has examinedindirect evidence for historical stocksize. An initial inspection of geneticdiversity seen in DNA data (Barrett-Lennard, 2000; Barrett-Lennard andEllis, 2001) indicates that eastern NorthPacific Southern Resident killer whaleshave nearly the same number of allelesas Northern Residents (28 versus 35),despite a much smaller sample size (8versus 126). This is consistent with ahypothesis that Southern Residents mayhave recently been a much largerpopulation. In other words, if NorthernResidents can be viewed as representingthe expected genetic diversity of populations of their size (214), thenSouthern Residents may have been asimilar stock size in the recent past(NMFS, 2002).Although there are no empiricalestimates of the historical stock size foreastern North Pacific Southern Residentkiller whales, the best availablescientific information suggests ahistorical abundance of approximately140-200 whales. Under the MMPA, astock is depleted if its abundance is below MNPL, the lower bound of OSP.Using the inferred historical stock sizeof 140-200 eastern North PacificSouthern Resident killer whales as aproxy for K, the estimated MNPL for thestock would be 84-120 whales (60percent of K). The 2001 abundance of 78killer whales is below even the mostconservative (lowest) estimate of MNPLfor the stock.NMFS completed a comprehensivestatus review under the ESA for thisstock of killer whales. To supplementthat status review, NMFS is nowinitiating a review of the status of theeastern North Pacific Southern Residentstock of killer whales under the MMPA.NMFS will augment the informationobtained during its recent ESA statusreview with any other availableinformation regarding the stock
’
sabundance relative to its OSP todetermine whether it warrants adepleted designation under the MMPA.
Information Solicited
To ensure that the review iscomprehensive and is based on the bestavailable data, NMFS is solicitinginformation and comments from anyinterested person concerning the statusof the eastern North Pacific SouthernResident stock. It is requested that data,information, and comments beaccompanied by (1) supportingdocumentation such as maps, logbooks, bibliographic references, personal notes,or reprints of pertinent publications;and (2) the name of the personsubmitting the data, his/her address,and any association, institution, or business that the person represents.NMFS also seeks information onimpacts on areas of significance to theeastern North Pacific Southern Residentstock that may be causing the decline orimpeding the recovery of the stock; onpotential conservation measures thatmay be useful in alleviating thoseimpacts and rebuilding the stock; andon the potential economic impacts andthe potential biological benefits of alternative conservation measures. Thiswould include information on potentialeffects of whale watching on residentkiller whales in Washington waters andmeasures that might be proposed toreduce or mitigate such effects.
References
A complete list of all cited referencesis available via the Internet (seeElectronic Access) or upon request (see
ADDRESSES
).
Dated: June 7, 2002.
William T. Hogarth,
Assistant Administrator for Fisheries,National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 02
–
16528 Filed 6
–
28
–
02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510
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22
–
S
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCENational Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration50 CFR Parts 223 and 224
[Docket No. 020603138
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2138
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01; I.D.042502B]RIN 0648
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ZB22
Endangered and Threatened Wildlifeand Plants: 12-Month Finding for aPetition To List Southern ResidentKiller Whales as Threatened orEndangered Under the EndangeredSpecies Act (ESA)
AGENCY
:
National Marine FisheriesService (NMFS), National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration (NOAA),Commerce.
ACTION
:
Status review; notice of determination.
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44134
Federal Register
/Vol. 67, No. 126/Monday, July 1, 2002/Proposed Rules
SUMMARY
:
NMFS announces a 12
–
monthfinding for a petition to list SouthernResident killer whales (
Orcinus orca
) asthreatened or endangered under theEndangered Species Act (ESA). After areview of the best available scientificand commercial information, the agencyfinds that listing the Southern Residentkiller whales is not warranted at thistime because these killer whales do notconstitute a species, subspecies, ordistinct population segment (DPS)under the ESA. NMFS will continue toseek new information on the taxonomy, biology, and ecology of these whales, aswell as potential threats to theircontinued existence, and within 4 yearswill reassess the status of these whalesunder the ESA. NMFS is issuing anadvance notice of proposed rulemakingto designate this stock of killer whalesas depleted under the Marine MammalProtection Act (MMPA).
DATES
:
The finding announced in thisdocument was made on May 31, 2002.
ADDRESSES
:
The complete file for thisfinding, including comments andinformation submitted, is available forpublic inspection by appointmentduring normal business hours at theNMFS Protected Resources Division,525 NE Oregon Street, Suite 500,Portland, OR, 97232
–
2737.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Dr.Thomas Eagle, Office of ProtectedResources, Silver Spring, MD (301) 713
–
2322, ext. 105, or Mr. Garth Griffin,Northwest Regional Office, Portland, OR(503) 231
–
2005.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
:
Electronic Access
A list of references cited in this noticeis available via the Internet at
http:// www.nwr.noaa.gov
. Additionalinformation, including the report of theNMFS Biological Review Team (BRT)and written comments from the MarineMammal Commission and other co-managers, is also available at thisInternet address.
Background
Section 4(b)(3)(B) of the ESA requiresthat, for any petition to revise the Listof Endangered and Threatened Wildlifeand Plants that presents substantialscientific and commercial information,NMFS must make a finding within 12months of the date of receipt of thepetition about whether the petitionedaction is (a) not warranted, (b)warranted, or (c) warranted butprecluded from immediate proposal byother pending proposals of higherpriority. Upon making a 12
–
monthfinding, the agency must promptlypublish notice of such finding in the
Federal Register
.On May 2, 2001, NMFS received apetition from the Center for BiologicalDiversity (CBD) and 11 co-petitioners(CBD, 2001a) to list Southern Residentkiller whales as threatened orendangered and to designate criticalhabitat for them under the ESA. Thepetitioned whales consist of three pods(J, K, and L) whose range during thespring, summer, and fall includes theinland waterways of Puget Sound, Straitof Juan de Fuca, and Georgia Strait. Theprimary impetus behind the petition isa recent decline in these pods from 97animals in 1996 to 78 animals in 2001.The petition highlighted key issues forNMFS
’
consideration, including: (1)Genetic, behavioral, and ecologicalevidence indicating that SouthernResident killer whales may be a DPSunder the ESA; (2) population datadocumenting a recent decline inSouthern Resident killer whales andanalyses indicating that these whalesmay be at risk of extinction; and (3) anarray of threats that may account for thedecline in Southern Resident killerwhales. On July 26, 2001, NMFSreceived additional information fromthe lead petitioner, including anupdated population viability analysisand a report on the July 2001 census of Southern Resident killer whalesreturning to the inland waters of Washington and southern BritishColumbia (CBD, 2001b).On August 13, 2001 (66 FR 42499),NMFS provided notice of itsdetermination that the petition presentssubstantial information indicating that alisting may be warranted and that itwould initiate a status review todetermine if Southern Resident killerwhales warrant listing under the ESA.To conduct the status review, NMFSformed a BRT comprising scientistsfrom the agency
’
s Alaska, Northwest,and Southwest Fisheries ScienceCenters. Because the ESA requires thatNMFS make a listing determination based upon the best available scientificand commercial information, the agencysolicited pertinent information on killerwhales (66 FR 42499, August 13, 2001)and convened a meeting on September26, 2001, to gather technical informationfrom co-managers, scientists, andindividuals having research ormanagement expertise pertaining tokiller whale stocks in the north PacificOcean. In addition, in March 2002, theBRT received comments from theMarine Mammal Commission andWashington, Tribal, and Canadian co-managers on a preliminary draft of theBRT
’
s status review findings. Thesecomments were evaluated by the BRT,who then prepared a final status reviewdocument for Southern Resident killerwhales (NMFS, 2002). The status reviewand other documents forming theadministrative record for this findingare available on the Internet (seeElectronic Access) or from NMFS (see
ADDRESSES
).
Biological Background
Killer whales are one of the moststrikingly pigmented of all cetaceans,making field identification easy. Killerwhales are black dorsally and whiteventrally, with a conspicuous whiteoval patch located slightly above and behind the eye. A highly variable grayor white saddle is usually present behind the dorsal fin. Saddle shapevaries among individuals, pods, andfrom one side to the other on a singleanimal. Sexual dimorphism occurs in body size, flipper size, and height of thedorsal fin. More detailed informationregarding this species
’
distribution, behavior, genetics, morphology, andphysiology is contained in the BRT
’
sstatus review (NMFS, 2002).Killer whales are classified as toppredators in the food chain and theworld
’
s most widely distributed marinemammal (Leatherwood and Dahlheim,1978; Heyning and Dahlheim, 1988).Although observed in tropical watersand the open sea, they are mostabundant in coastal habitats and highlatitudes. In the northeastern PacificOcean, killer whales occur in theeastern Bering Sea (Braham andDahlheim, 1982) and are frequentlyobserved near the Aleutian Islands(Scammon, 1874; Murie, 1959; Waite etal., 2001). They reportedly occur year-round in the waters of southeasternAlaska (Scheffer, 1967) and in theintracoastal waterways of BritishColumbia and Washington State(Balcomb and Goebel, 1976; Bigg
et al.
,1987; Osborne
et al.
, 1988). There areoccasional reports of killer whales alongthe coasts of Washington, Oregon, andCalifornia (Norris and Prescott, 1961;Fiscus and Niggol, 1965; Rice, 1968;Gilmore, 1976; Black
et al.
, 1997), bothcoasts of Baja California (Dahlheim
et al.
, 1982), the offshore tropical Pacific(Dahlheim
et al.
, 1982), the Gulf of Panama, and the Galapagos Islands. Inthe western North Pacific, killer whalesoccur frequently along the Soviet coastin the Bering Sea, the Sea of Okhotsk,the Sea of Japan, and along the easternside of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands(Tomilin, 1957). There are numerousaccounts of their occurrence off China(Wang, 1985) and Japan (Nishiwaki andHanda, 1958; Kasuya, 1971; Ohsumi,1975). Data from the central Pacific arescarce. They have been reported off
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44135
Federal Register
/Vol. 67, No. 126/Monday, July 1, 2002/Proposed Rules
Hawaii, but do not appear to beabundant in these waters (Tomich,1986; Caretta
et al.
, 2001).The killer whale is the largest specieswithin the family Delphinidae. Variousscientific names have been assigned tothe killer whale (Hershkovitz, 1966;Heyning and Dahlheim, 1988). Thesevarious names can be explained bysexual and age differences in the size of the dorsal fin, individual variations incolor patterns, and the cosmopolitandistribution of the animals. The genusOrcinus is currently consideredmonotypic with geographical variationnoted in size and pigmentation patterns.Two proposed Antarctic species,
O.nanus
(Mikhalev
et al.
, 1981) and
O.glacialis
(Berzin and Vladimirov, 1982;Berzin and Vladimirov, 1983), bothappear to refer to the same type of smaller individuals. However, due tosignificant uncertainties regarding thelimited specimen data, these new taxahave not yet been widely accepted bythe scientific community. Recentgenetic investigations note markeddifferences between some forms of killerwhale (Hoelzel and Dover, 1991;Hoelzel
et al.
, 1998; Barrett-Lennard,2000; Barrett-Lennard and Ellis, 2001).A worldwide review of specimens isneeded to document geographicalvariation in morphology.Killer whales in the Eastern NorthPacific region (which includes thepetitioned whale pods) have beenclassified into three forms termedResidents, Transients, and Offshorewhales. The three forms vary inmorphology, ecology, behavior, andgenetic characteristics, all of which playan important role in determiningwhether the monotypic species O. orcacan be subdivided under the ESA.
Resident Killer Whales
Resident killer whales in the EasternNorth Pacific are noticeably differentfrom both the Transient and Offshoreforms. The dorsal fin of Resident whalesis rounded at the tip and falcate (curvedand tapering). Resident whales have avariety of saddle patch pigmentations,with five different patterns recognized(Baird and Stacey, 1988a). Residentwhales occur in large, stable pods withmembership ranging from 10 toapproximately 60 whales. Theirpresence has been noted in the watersfrom California to Alaska. The primaryprey of Resident whales is fish. A recentsummary of the differences betweenResident and Transient forms is foundin Baird (2000).Resident killer whales in the NorthPacific consist of the following groups:Southern, Northern, Southern Alaska,western Alaska and western NorthPacific Residents. Under the MarineMammal Protection Act (MMPA),Residents are separated into two stocks:(1) The eastern North Pacific southernresident stock, which is the petitionedunit and (2) the eastern North Pacificnorthern resident stock, which includesthe Northern (British Columbia)Residents, the Southern AlaskaResidents, and the western AlaskaResidents. The descriptions of thevarious units follows.Southern Residents: The SouthernResident killer whale assemblagecontains three pods, J pod, K pod, andL pod, and is considered a stock underthe MMPA. Their range during thespring, summer, and fall includes theinland waterways of Puget Sound, Straitof Juan de Fuca, and Georgia Strait.Their occurrence in the coastal watersoff Washington, Vancouver Island, andmore recently off the coast of centralCalifornia has been documented. Littleis known about the winter movementsand range of the Southern Residentstock. Southern Residents have not beenseen to associate with other Residentwhales. Genetic data indicate thatfemales from the Southern and NorthernResident populations have not beenmigrating between populations withinat least the recent evolutionary historyof these populations, suggestingreproductive isolation betweenSouthern and Northern Resident killerwhale stocks (Hoelzel
et al.
, 1998;Barrett-Lennard, 2000; Barrett-Lennardand Ellis, 2001).Northern Residents: The NorthernResident killer whale assemblagecontains approximately 16 pods. Theyrange from Georgia Strait (BritishColumbia) to Southeast Alaska (Ford
et al.
, 1994; Dahlheim, 1997). On occasionthey have been known to occur in HaroStrait (west of San Juan Island,Washington). Although some overlap inrange occurs between the Northern andSouthern Residents, no intermixing of pods has been noted. However, inSoutheast Alaska, Northern Residentwhales are known to associate withSouthern Alaska Residents (Dahlheim
et al.
, 1997), and there may be some geneflow between the two populations(Hoelzel
et al.
, 1998; Barrett-Lennard,2000; Barrett-Lennard and Ellis, 2001).Alaska Residents: There are twogroups of Alaska Resident animals,Southern Alaska Residents and westernAlaska Residents. The Resident whalesof Southeast Alaska and Prince WilliamSound comprise the Southern AlaskaResident killer whale assemblage. Atleast 15 pods have been identified inthese two regions. Resident killerwhales photographed in SoutheastAlaska travel frequently to PrinceWilliam Sound and intermix with allResident groups from this area(Dahlheim
et al.
, 1997; Matkin andSaulitis, 1997). Prince William SoundResident whales have not been seen inSoutheast Alaska, but have been notedoff Kodiak Island intermixing withother, yet unnamed, Resident pods(Dahlheim, 1997; National MarineMammal Laboratory, 2001). There are241 animals photographed in westernAlaska that have been provisionallyidentified as
‘‘
Western AlaskaResidents,
’’
but the number of podsrepresented is unknown (NationalMarine Mammal Laboratory, 2001).Recent vessel surveys in thesoutheastern Bering Sea have providedpreliminary estimates of approximately400 killer whales (Waite
et al.
, 2001).Although it is not yet known how manyof these animals were Residents, killerwhales occur both nearshore andoffshore in the Bering Sea.Western North Pacific Residents:Resident killer whales co-occur withsalmon along the coasts of Washington,British Columbia, and Alaska. If thispattern continues (or historicallycontinued) further to the west, thenResident killer whales may be expectedto occur along the coastline of Russiaand Japan. Although there isdocumentation of killer whales in theseareas, little is known about whetherthey are more similar to Resident,Transient, or Offshore types.
Transient Killer Whales
There are several differences betweenTransient and Resident killer whales;these have most recently beensummarized in Baird (2000). The dorsalfin of Transient whales tends to be moreerect (i.e., straighter at the tip) thanthose of Resident and Offshore whales.Saddle patch pigmentation of Transientkiller whales is restricted to threepatterns (Baird and Stacey, 1988a). Podstructure is small (e.g., fewer than 10whales) and dynamic in nature.Transient whales occur throughout theEastern North Pacific with a preferencetoward coastal waters. Theirgeographical range overlaps that of theResident and Offshore whales.Individual Transient killer whales have been documented to move greatdistances reflecting a large home range(Goley and Straley, 1994; NationalMarine Mammal Laboratory, 2001). Theprimary prey of Transient killer whalesis other marine mammals. Transientwhales are not known to interminglewith Resident or Offshore whales.Significant genetic differences occuramong Resident, Transient, andOffshore killer whales (Stevens
et al.
,1989; Hoelzel and Dover, 1991; Hoelzel
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