The deplorable spectacle of 52 feet of ravaged, rotting fin whale at Spring Beach last week imparted a stark warning about the dangers vessels can pose to whales. As a stranding coordinator, I have encountered many dead marine mammals in varying states of decomposition, but I teared up at the thought of this healthy young male eating krill, straining it through his baleen and going about his daily rituals before he was brutally dispatched by a ship strike. A cargo ship hit him in the middle of his back. So much reproductive and ecological potential snuffed out in an instant.
Odin Lonning — a fellow stranding responder — and I saw the whale several days after his hulking, odiferous mass had been towed to Spring Beach. With express permission from the regional stranding coordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), we collected a few baleen plates for educational use. Caveat to the general public: Taking anything from a marine mammal, especially an endangered one, is illegal. I truly regret that we were not on Vashon for the necropsy of this rare species. We were on San Juan Island doing a talk for The Whale Museum’s Marine Naturalist Training Program, raising awareness about another endangered species: southern resident killer whales (SRKW).
The endangered fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), still recovering from commercial whaling, is the second largest of all whale species, only slightly smaller than the also endangered blue whale. Since 2002, 10 of 12 stranded fin whales in Washington State showed signs of pre-mortem blunt force trauma, indicative of large ship strikes. In the whale research and stranding community, we do not yet fully understand why fin whales seem so susceptible to vessel collisions.
But toothed whales such as orcas are also vulnerable to vessel impacts. In December 2016, DoubleStuf (J34), a beloved 18-year-old SRKW male, was killed by blunt force trauma to his head and neck, evidently caused by a vessel strike or other “heavy contact,” according to an official with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. In addition, several members of the Northern Resident A23 matriline have been struck by boats. Two survived, though they sustained propeller gashes and other wounds.
NOAA lists vessels and noise among the major threats to SRKW recovery. And large ships are not the only offenders. NOAA conducted a 10-year study and reported that “particularly high noise levels” are experienced by whales “in close proximity to certain types of vessels such as small recreation and commercial whale watch boats.” When boats are too close, SRKWs increase surface activity (breaches, tail slaps) and swim erratically. The whales’ call lengths increase 15 to 20 percent to compensate for boat noise. Orcas ultimately forage less when surrounded by vessels and expend precious energy dodging boats.
As warm weather tempts more people to go to the beach and get on the water, it is important to remember problematic interactions with marine mammals can occur both on and off shore. Recent transient killer whale visits to local waters have generated numerous reports of reckless, disruptive boating behavior.
This is just a brief overview of vessel effects on wildlife. Be careful and considerate of our marine mammals. Know how to share the shore and be whale wise. Today’s sighting could be tomorrow’s stranding.
— Ann “Orca Annie” Stateler is a First Nations marine naturalist, educator and researcher who has studied orcas and other marine mammals since 1991. She and Odin Lonning manage the Vashon Hydrophone Project and collaborate with researcher Mark Sears to document killer whale encounters around Vashon Island.
