southern resident killer whale (srkw) task orce · 2019-12-21 · southern resident killer whale...
TRANSCRIPT
SOUTHERN RESIDENT KILLER WHALE (SRKW) TASK FORCE
May 1, 2018
PRESENTATIONS
1. Project Overview. Nora Nickum, Cascadia Consulting Group, project manager.
2. Overview of Southern Resident Killer Whale biology, needs, and habits. Penny Becker, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
3. Threat: Lack of prey. Steve Martin, Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office.
4. Overview: Vessels Working Group. Todd Hass, Puget Sound Partnership.
5. Contaminants in Southern Resident Killer Whales. Derek Day, Washington Department of Ecology.
6. NOAA: SRKW Recovery Actions to Date. Teresa Mongillo, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Project overview
Nora Nickum, Cascadia Consulting Group
• Identify, prioritize, and support the implementation of a longer term action plan needed for the recovery of Southern Residents.
• Monitor and evaluate the immediate actions undertaken by state agencies and build upon the progress and effectiveness of that work.
• Where available and applicable, build upon existing state, regional, and federal plans.
Task Force charge
Reports
2019Due Oct. 1, 2019
Content will include:
• Progress made
• Lessons learned
• Outstanding needs and additional recommendations
2018Draft due Oct. 1, 2018 | Final due Nov. 1, 2018
Content will include:
• Task Force recommendations for addressing all major threats and recovering Southern Residents (policies, programs, priority actions, legislation, budget needs)
• Summary of minority views and actions considered but not ultimately recommended
• Status report on immediate actions required by the EO
• Issues and actions to discuss in 2019
Staff & consultant resources
Working groups
Role:Support the work of the Task Force by identifying, researching, and analyzing potential actions and formulating draft recommendations for consideration by the Task Force.
Leads:Prey availability:
• Steve Martin, Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office
• Penny Becker, WDFWVessels & noise:
• Todd Hass, Puget Sound Partnership
Toxics:• Derek Day and Tom Laurie,
Department of Ecology
Staff & consultant resources
Steering Committee• Representatives of Governor’s office,
Office of Financial Management, Department of Fish and Wildlife, Puget Sound Partnership, and Department of Ecology
• Task Force co-chairs
Agency staff• Penny Becker, Department of Fish &
Wildlife
Staff & consultant resources
Consultant team• Susan Gulick, lead facilitator• Nora Nickum, project manager
& report lead• Marc Daudon, strategic advisor• Abby Hook, prey availability
working group liaison• Gretchen Muller, vessels and
toxics working groups liaison
Public comment opportunities
• Webpage
www.governor.wa.gov/issues/issues/energy-environment/southern-resident-killer-whale-recovery-and-task-force
• Oral and written comments accepted at all Task Force meetings
1
Dave Ellifrit, Center for Whale Research
Penny BeckerPolicy Lead
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
2
3 populations in Washington
Southern residents
West coast transients
Offshores
3
Pacific Northwest Killer Whales
Southern residents
Northern Residents
(Not common in WA)
Offshores Transients
State status Endangered Endangered Endangered Endangered
Federal status Endangered - - -
Critical habitat Yes - - -
Marine Mammal Protection Act protections
Yes Yes Yes Yes
Canada status Endangered Threatened Threatened Threatened
4
Transient Killer Whales
Michael Colahan, Island Adventures Whale Watching and Pangea Pictures
• More fluid social organization; smaller temporary pods
• Diet is mostly marine mammals, especially harbor seals
• Cover larger distances than residents
5
Offshore Killer Whales
Craig Matkin
• Form fluid groups of 2-70 whales
• Diet is believed to contain mostly sharks
• Extensive movements in deeper waters
Rod Palm
6
Southern Resident Killer Whales
Top: Astrid van Ginneken, Bottom: Center for Whale Research
• Highly stable social organization: J, K, L pods
• Pod size: 15-60 whales
• Diet dominated by salmon
7
8
39-62% Chum21-45% Chinook
5-13% Coho2-5% Steelhead
65-96% Chinook0-35% Steelhead (May)
0-29% Coho (Sept)
67-80% Chinook5-16% Steelhead0-14% Lingcod2-12% Halibut
9
• Historic population estimated at around 200 whales in late 1800s
End of Captures for Aquaria
Federal Endangered Listing
State Endangered Listing
Periodic Status Review
June 2016
10
11
Astrid van Ginneken
• Our heritage
• Economics
• Family
• Healthy whales, healthy waters
12
• NOAA’s Species in the Spotlight
• Canada’s Ocean Protections Plan
• Governor Inslee’s Executive Order
13
• Reduced abundance of prey (salmon)
• Vessel interactions & sound- prey accessibility
• Chemical contaminants and potential oil spills
14Photo: Clint Rivers, Eagle Wing Tours
1
Penny Becker Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Steve MartinGovernor’s Salmon Recovery Office
2
Chinook Focus
Salish Sea
May-Sept• 65-96% Chinook• 0-35% Steelhead
(May)• 0-29% Coho (Sept)
Oct-Dec• 39-62% Chum• 21-45% Chinook• 5-13% Coho• 2-5% Steelhead
Outer Coast
Oct-Dec
Jan-April• 67-80% Chinook• 5-16% Steelhead• 0-14% Lingcod• 2-12% Halibut
3
SRKW Need Chinook from all of Washington and Beyond
4
Major Threats for Salmon
• Habitat
• Hatchery
• Hydropower
• Harvest
• Predation
5
Habitat• Degraded conditions
• Diminished forage fish pops
• Fish passage barriers
Hatchery• Reduced production for
hatchery reform and/or due to funding
6
Hydropower
• Reservoir effects/travel time
• Concentrate (funnel) fish
• Survival improvements
Harvest
• Declined significantly
YouTube
San Juan Journal
7
Predation
• Some predators shown to be consuming large proportion of fish runs in some places
• Harbor seals, sea lions, seabirds, predatory fish
8
Washington’s Salmon Recovery Approach
9
Questions?
Clint Rivers, Eagle Wing Tours
Overview: Vessels Working Group
Todd Hass, PhD
Chair, Vessels Working Group
Puget Sound Partnership
May 1 2018
• Salish Sea is ‘critical habitat’ for SRKWs
• Vessels—from small craft to ships—
produce underwater noise, masking
echolocation & communication
• Presence of vessels may displace from preferred areas, induce switches to energetically costly behaviors
• BC shipping traffic has been on the rise and likely to grow
• Recreational/commercial whale watching has expanded
Categorizing threats
Mechanical
• Ships: lower frequencies interfering with communication and compensation with louder calls• Boats: higher frequencies masking echolocation, impairing prey-finding and capture
Electronic/sonar• Common 50 kHz frequency of echo-sounders overlaps with orca echolocation
Categorizing vessel noise and effects on SRKWsTypical sources and acoustic frequencies of underwater masking noises
• SRKW recovery far better with 15% > prey and 50% less noise, than 30% > prey (Lacy et al. 2017)• Models suggest SRKWs lose foraging time due to vessel/noise avoidance behavior to ships and boats—3hr and 15min per day—respectively (ECHO-Tollit et al. 2017)• By vessel class: 15% of ships produce about half the low frequency noise (Veirs et al. 2018 in press)• Transport Canada noise mitigation model available in 2 wks
Scientific “currencies” for targeting and measuring success of vessel mitigation
Regional experts from shipping, boating and specialist groups from US/Canada
Composition of Vessels Working Group
Large vessels Small vessels Specialists
Ports Recreational Acoustics
Shipping Whale watchers Vessel design
Ferries Safety/education Vessel traffic management
Pilots Enforcement SRKW behavior
Vessels Working Group not starting from scratch: stage set to ‘form, storm, norm and perform’
• (and…) solid foundation of scientific understanding
• (but…) shared discussions of pros, cons and other considerations of options between groups—limited to date
• (so…) opportunity to ‘identify, research and analyze potential actions and formulate draft recommendations for the Task Force’ is ripe and timely
Contaminants in Southern Resident Killer Whales
Pinnipeds
Herring
Zooplankton
Phytoplankton
Contaminants
Pinnipeds
Herring
Zooplankton
Phytoplankton
Contaminants
Biomagnification
Pinnipeds
Herring
Zooplankton
Phytoplankton
Contaminants
Bioaccumulation
100 Yrs
Contaminants of Concern for SRKW
•PCBs
•PBDEs
•DDT
•PAHs
•Trace Elements
•Polychlorinated Biphenyls
•Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers
•Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane
•Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
•Metals, Other persistent Organics….
Contaminants of Concern for SRKW
•PCBs
•PBDEs
•DDT
•PAHs
•Trace Elements
•Reproductive Impairment
• Immunotoxicity
•Endocrine disruption
•Neurotoxicity
•Cancer
Contaminants of Concern for SRKW
•PCBs
•PBDEs
•DDT
•PAHs
•Trace Elements
•Reproductive Impairment• Immunotoxicity•Endocrine disruption•Neurotoxicity•Cancer•And, they can kill their
food!
What We’re Going to Do About It
Contaminants
•PCBs
•PBDEs
•PAHs
•Trace Elements
•DDT
Questions
•How do we keep contaminants out of their prey (Chinook)?
•How do we ensure that SRKW prey survival isn’t impacted?
What We’re Going to Do About It
Pathways
•Stormwater
•Wastewater
•Non-point Runoff
•Air Deposition
Solutions
•Water Quality Treatment
•Source Control
•Legacy Clean-up
Contaminants
•PCBs
•PBDEs
•PAHs
•Trace Elements
•DDT
Southern Resident Killer Whale Recovery
West Coast Region
Teresa Mongillo
•Reviews, assesses factors
affecting whales
•Lays out recovery program to
address all threats
•Adaptive process to incorporate
research results as available
•2014 Report on 10 years of
research and conservation
RECOVERY PLAN- 2008
Species in the Spotlight- most at risk for extinction• Contaminants and health• Protect whales from harmful
vessel impacts• Target recovery of critical prey• Protect important habitats• Raise awareness and inspire
stewardship
Other ongoing actions include• Oil spill response planning• Transboundary coordination
ACTION PLAN 2016-2020
CONTAMINANTS AND HEALTH
• Health workshops 2015, 2016, 2017
• Discuss needs, strategies and priorities related to:
• What is causing decreased reproduction?
• What is causing increased mortality?
NOAA- J16
CONTAMINANTS AND HEALTH
• Health database
• Photogrammetry and links to
biomarkers and prey
• Track and sample animals of
interest (fecal, breath)
• Contaminants trends
• Body condition and blubber
thickness/content
• Stranding investigations-
causes of death, disease and
pathogens
• Puget Sound Partnership Action Agenda to restore Puget Sound
• Series of workgroups in 2013 with EPA- PBDE removal in wastewater, transport/fate, need to establish threshold
• Report and recommendations from PBDEs working group with EPA and WA state agencies
CONTAMINANTS AND HEALTH
•Prohibits vessels from approaching killer whales within 200 yards
•Prohibits vessels from parking in the path within 400 yards
In 2011, NOAA Fisheries issued federal vessel regulation to reduce disturbance from vessels to SRKWs:
NOAA committed to assessing effectiveness and impact
PROTECT FROM HARMFUL VESSEL IMPACT
Recommendations from NOAA Tech Memo:
• Continued and expanded enforcement,
Soundwatch/Straitwatch monitoring, and
education/outreach
• Compare the behavioral and acoustic effects
of different boat activity patterns to determine
the vessel behaviors with the highest impact
• Improve estimates of the energetic cost of
reduced foraging opportunities
• Support Canada establishing similar vessel
regulations to improve protection and
compliance
NOAA
Permit
#781-
1725
PROTECT FROM HARMFUL VESSEL IMPACT
Broad Engagement• Government
• Local, county, state, federal, tribal, transboundary
• Industry
• Non-profit/ Conservation Groups
• Academic/Research
• Public outreach
• Students, families
NOAA
Permit #781-
1725
PROTECT FROM HARMFUL VESSEL IMPACT
Whale Protection Zone Petition:
• Petition submitted by three NGOs
November 2016
• Notice of Receipt of petition and request
for public comment through April 13,
2017
• Next Steps
• Review 1,000+ public comments
• Consider vessel regulations review
• Coordinate with State and San Juan
County efforts
• Additional Dtag results
.
PROTECT FROM HARMFUL VESSEL IMPACT
• Coordinating with ongoing salmon recovery efforts: workshops, events
• Short-term strategies: Review of salmon fisheries and Southern Resident killer whales
RECOVERY OF CRITICAL PREY
• Next steps: long-term strategies
• 2018 NFWF workshop
• Identifying priority salmon stocks
RECOVERY OF CRITICAL PREY
NOAA
PROTECT IMPORTANT HABITAT
Critical Habitat - 2006
Coastal habitat use
research:
• Satellite tagging,
acoustic recorders,
sightings
•NMFS received a petition to revise
critical habitat and is developing
revision to include coastal waters
Outreach Partners:
•The Whale Museum
•Seattle Aquarium
•Soundwatch
•WDFW
•The Whale Trail
•Killer Whale Tales
•Sighting Networks
•Naturalists
•Whale Watch Assoc.
•NGOs
RAISE AWARENESS- EDUCATION & OUTREACH
• Action in Recovery Plan and Recovery
Criteria
• Effective response plan in place
• Killer Whale Response Plan: Appendix to the
Northwest Area Contingency Plan
• Tools to keep whales away from oil
• Helicopter
• Banging pipes
• “seal bombs” (ensure safety of
responders and whales)
• Upcoming killer whale spill response exercise
scheduled May 2018
OIL SPILL RESPONSE PLANNING
WDFW
•Mechanisms at every level: federal, state, county
•SJC MSA•State
•State regulations•Joint enforcement agreement
•Trans-boundary species requires coordination with Canada
•Research and recovery planning•Stranding response
COORDINATION IS KEY