Getting Mucky with the Orcas

Spotting a lone or pod of the beautiful Killer Whales along our coast is an amazing treat. We watched one from a BC Ferry last month. Once, years ago we looked down below from the cliffs of UBC to see one swimming by.

Whale watching has become serious business and the biologist worry constantly about the impact the whales popularity has on the population and health.

While the Whale Watchers have been adopting stricter guidelines about viewing the whales, policing the private citizen in their own boat can be a problem.

Among the key guidelines: keep at least 100 metres/yards from the whales and do not leap-frog or otherwise block their path; reduce speed to less than seven knots within 400 metres/yards of a whale; shut off sonar, depth sounders, fish finders and other underwater transducers when in the vicinity of whales; limit viewing time to 30 minutes for any one particular group of whales.

In order to gain more details about the Whales' habits, Brad Hanson a researcher at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is studying whale poop and mucus from their blow holes. Yum.

They hope to glean more information about the genetic history of the whales that ply our coasts.

The information about diet, etc will also help protect the species.....they apparently prefer Chinook salmon.

Source: The Vancouver Sun

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Getting Mucky with the Orcas

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