Alaska Fisheries Science Center National Marine Fisheries Service U.S DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AFSC PROCESSED REPORT 2000-06 Southern Resident Killer Whale Workshop November 2000 This report does not constitute a publication and is for information only. All data herein are to be considered provisional. Notice to Users of this Document In the process of converting the original printed document into an Adobe .PDF format, slight differences in formatting occur. The material presented in the original printed document and this .PDF, however, is the same. SOUTHERN RESIDENT KILLER WHALE WORKSHOP National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Seattle, WA 1-2 April 2000 Compiled by Marilyn Dahlheim, David Bain, Christy Sims, and Douglas DeMaster Preface Since 1974, a census of the southern resident community of killer whales (J, K, and L pods) of Puget Sound has been taken annually using photo-identification methodology. Based on this research, the southern resident killer whale population was shown to grow to nearly 100 individuals by the mid-1990s. However, during the last few years (1995-99), a decline in population level has been observed. In May 1995, the population count was 98 individuals. By October 1999 this number had dropped to 83 whales, a decline of more than 15%. Possible factors influencing the southern resident community of killer whales included high levels of contaminants, availability of prey resources, and increased whale watching activities in the San Juan Islands. Killer whale researchers believed a workshop was warranted to review the status of southern resident killer whales. On 1 and 2 April 2000, a killer whale workshop was held at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle, Washington. Sponsors of the workshop included the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (National Marine Mammal Laboratory), Center for Whale Research, Six Flags Marine World Vallejo, and The Whale Museum. Contributions were made by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO Canada) and the American Cetacean Society. The purpose of the workshop was to review the current status of southern resident killer whales and help the research community coordinate future research. The workshop focused on four areas of research to include: 1) Population Dynamics of Eastern North Pacific Killer Whales, 2) Stock Structure of Eastern North Pacific Killer Whales, 3) Possible Factors Influencing Killer Whale Populations, and 4) Cross-Border Stranding Protocol/Emergency Responses. In addition to several oral presentations covering these topics, background documents were also submitted. Opinions presented in workshop report do not necessarily reflect the opinions of NMFS, but rather reflect the opinions of workshop participants. The authors of this report would like to thank each of the workshop participants for their efforts in making this workshop successful. iii Workshop Agenda 1 APRIL (0900 - 1700) 0900 - 0920 Welcoming Remarks (Chair: Douglas DeMaster) POPULATION DYNAMICS OF EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC KILLER WHALES 0920 - 0940 Southern Residents (Paul Wade) 0940 - 1010 Southern and Northern Residents (Peter Olesiuk) 1010 - 1030 BREAK 1030 - 1050 Southeast Alaska Residents (Marilyn Dahlheim) 1050 - 1110 Prince William Sound Residents (Craig Matkin) STOCK STRUCTURE OF EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC KILLER WHALES 1110 - 1130 Genetic Structure of British Columbia/Alaskan killer whales (Lance Barrett- Lennard) 1130 - 1150 Overview of Killer Whale Population Genetics (Rus Hoelzel) 1150 - 1200 Open discussion on status of Southern Residents 1200 - 1300 LUNCH POSSIBLE FACTORS INFLUENCING KILLER WHALE POPULATIONS 1300 - 1320 Contaminant Levels of Southern and Northern Residents (Peter Ross) 1320 - 1340 Contaminant Levels of Prince William Sound and Southern Residents (Gina Ylitalo) 1340 - 1400 Comparison of Analysis Techniques (IOS and Montlake Laboratories) 1400 - 1420 Whale-Watching Activities in the San Juan Islands (Rich Osborne and Jodi Smith) 1420 - 1440 Food Habits/Availability of Prey Resources (John Ford) 1440 - 1500 BREAK 1500 - 1700 Discussion of ESA Listing Criteria and Information Needs for Management 1700 ADJOURN 2 April (0900 - 1200) General Discussion 0900 - 1200 Discussions on Emergency Responses/Cross-Border Protocol 1. Stranding Protocol 2. Possible Rescue 3. Permits Required 4. Contacts (e.g., U.S. Coast Guard, Canadian Coast Guard, etc). 5. List of Key Contact People 1200 ADJOURN v List of Participants Douglas DeMaster NOAA, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115 Ken Balcomb Center for Whale Research, 1359 Smuggler’s Cove Road,Friday Harbor, WA 98250 Dave Bain Six Flags Marine World Vallejo, Vallejo, CA 94589 Paul Wade NOAA, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115 Peter Olesiuk Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 5K6 Canada Marilyn Dahlheim NOAA, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115 Craig Matkin North Gulf Ocean Society, 60920 Mary Allen Ave, Homer, AL 99603 Lance Barrett- Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Centre for Biodiversity Lennard Research, Zoology Department, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Blvd, Vancouver, B.C., V6T-1Z4 Canada Rus Hoelzel Department of Biological Sciences, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH, 3LE England Peter Ross Contaminant Sciences Section, Institute of Ocean Sciences, 9860 West Saanich Rd. P.O. Box 6000, Sidney, B.C., V8L 4B2 Canada Gina Ylitalo NOAA, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Environmental Conservation Division, Environmental Assessment Program, 2725 Montlake Boulevard East, Seattle, WA 98112 Peggy Krahn NOAA, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Environmental Conservation Division, Environmental Assessment Program, 2725 Montlake Boulevard East, Seattle, WA 98112 John Stein NOAA, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Environmental Conservation Division, Environmental Assessment Program, 2725 Montlake Boulevard East, Seattle, WA 98112 vii John Ford Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Center, P.O. Box 3232, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 3X8 Canada Rich Osborne The Whale Museum, 62 First Street North, Friday Harbor, WA 98250 Jodi Smith Orca Conservancy, 550 University Road, Madrona Court #8 Friday Harbor, WA 98250 Sue Moore NOAA, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115 Graeme Ellis Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C. V9R 5K6 Canada Robin Baird Biology Department, Dalhousie University, 2 Supanee Court, French’s Road, Cambridge, CB4 3LB England Anne Nelson c/o John Calambokidis, Cascadia Research Collective, 218 ½ West 4th Ave, Olympia, WA 98501 Mark Sears P.O. Box 46177, Seattle, WA 98146 Paul and Anna Spong Orca Lab, P.O. Box 510 Alert Bay, B.C. Canada V0N 1AO Dave Ellifrit Center for Whale Research, 1359 Smuggler’s Cove Road, Friday Harbor, WA 98250 Kelley Balcomb- Center for Whale Research, 1359 Smuggler’s Cove Road, Friday Harbor, Bartok WA 98250 Fred Felleman Ocean Advocates, 3004 NW 93rd St, Seattle, WA 98117 Masami Fujiwara Biology Department, MS#34, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543 Brad Hanson NOAA, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115 Steve Jeffries Washington Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Marine Mammal Investigations, 7801 Phillips Rd SW, Tacoma, WA 98498 Ed Lochbaum Department of Fisheries and Oceans, 3225 Stephenson Point Road, Nanaimo, B.C. V9T 1K3 Canada Brent Norberg NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service, Northwest Region, Sustainable Fisheries Division, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115 viii Glenn VanBlaricom Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Biological Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, and the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, Box 355020, Seattle, WA 98195 Val Veirs Physics and Environmental Science, Colorado College, Davis Thomsen Colorado Springs, CO 80903 Rois Langner Jonah Huckabay Vikren Sarkar Jennifer Sampson 10,000 Years Institute, P.O. Box 11723, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 Joe Olson Cetacean Research Technology, P.O. Box 17136 Seattle, WA 98107 Catherine Denardo Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 Elizabeth Petras American Cetacean Society (Puget Sound Chapter), 3542 SW Ida Street, Seattle, WA 98126 Harald Jurk Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Center, P.O. Box 3232, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 3X8 Canada Jeff Laake NOAA, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115 Jen Schorr 2647 Cascadia Ave S, Seattle, WA 98144 Donna Sandstrom Orca Alliance, 7119 Woodside Place SW, Seattle, WA 98136 Jack Swenson 1122 East Pike St. #508, Seattle, WA 98122 Janice Waite NOAA, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115 Christy Sims University of Washington, School of Marine Affairs, and NOAA, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115 Liana Lara University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 Albert Shepard The Whale Museum, 62 First Street North, Friday Harbor, WA 98250 ix Workshop Proceedings For management purposes, the National Marine Fisheries Service has grouped Eastern North Pacific killer whales (Orcinus orca) into five stocks (SRKW8, SRKW9). Furthermore, the southern resident community, comprised of J, K, and L pods, has been shown to be genetically distinct (SRKW13). Given the recent decline noted in this southern resident community, killer whale researchers believed a workshop was warranted to review the status of this population. On 1 and 2 April 2000, a workshop was held at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Seattle, Washington. The workshop focused on four areas of research to include: 1) Population Dynamics of Eastern North Pacific Killer Whales, 2) Stock Structure of Eastern North Pacific Killer Whales, 3) Possible Factors Influencing Killer Whale Populations, and 4) Cross-Border Stranding Protocol/Emergency Responses. Information presented at the workshop reflected research from published and unpublished data. Douglas DeMaster served as the workshop chair. Marilyn Dahlheim and David Bain agreed to serve as rapporteurs. Population Dynamics The first agenda item focused on the southern resident killer whale community (J, K, and L pods). Survival rates for southern residents from 1974 to 1999 were reviewed by Paul Wade, David Bain, and Ken Balcomb (SRKW1, SRKW11). Survival rates were examined by age and sex and compared over time to look for patterns. Comparisons were also made among the three resident pods. Results of these analyses indicated that survival has changed over time, with an initial period of high survival, followed by a period of low survival, then a period of high survival, and finally a period of very low survival. The observed pattern of survival over time was similar across all age and sex categories. 1 This suggests the possibility of some sort of external environmental factor affecting the survival rates, but does not preclude an anthropogenic influence. Survival in the most recent 6 years (1993-98) was the lowest of any other previous period in the last 25 years. Age structure was unstable through most of the study period, but approached stability at the end. Thus, collections for public display affected the details of the population trajectory, but did not account for age and sex-specific changes in birth and death rates (SRKW11). The next three presentations included an overview of the population status of the northern resident killer whale population (Peter Olesiuk, SRKW2), Southeast Alaskan resident killer whales (Marilyn Dahlheim), and Prince William Sound resident killer whales (Craig Matkin). Unlike the southern resident community, killer whale resident populations from these three geographical regions have increased in size over the time they have been observed. Details were provided for the northern resident community of killer whales as follows. The northern resident population had increased at a maximum rate of almost 3% per year, but is apparently approaching its carrying capacity, as the current rate of the increase appears to be slowing. Others suggested an alternative explanation, where the population was not at carrying capacity, but that mortality had increased for unknown reasons. The northern resident population data imply that the maximum net productivity level of the population would occur at about 80% of carrying capacity, rather than 50%, as it does when z = 1. In addition, a correlation was found between population growth rate changes in “A” clan of the northern resident community and southern residents, suggesting these two populations are being driven by the same environmental factors rather than competing with each other. The presentation concluded by pointing out that a 27-year data set is not long enough to completely understand the population. SRKW10 provides supplementary information on the northern resident community. 2