Many Humpbacks and Few Orca

Scientists and the Lummi Nation deployed live salmon to ailing orca J50 off the coast of San Juan Island on Sunday.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials said strong currents kept them from being able to tell if J50 ate any of the eight fish deployed, but logistically, the operation was a success.

"This has never been tried before, and there were a lot of potential things that could go awry, so we were very pleased," said Brad Hanson, a NOAA Fisheries wildlife biologist.

NOAA obtained drone footage of the feeding trial, which researchers will analyze over the coming days to try to determine whether or not J50 ate any of the fish.

The 3 ½-year-old whale has lost 20 percent of her body mass and developed a depression near the base of her skull, which indicates severe fat loss and malnutrition. Crews injected J50 with antibiotics on Thursday.

The antibiotic is a long-acting one designed to last for 1-2 weeks, said Lynne Barre, the Southern Resident Killer Whale recovery coordinator for NOAA. Veterinarians will assess the available information over the coming days to determine if a second dose should be given.

NOAA crews tracked J50 and her pod Saturday and Sunday off the west side of San Juan Island before deploying fish. There were big tides and strong currents, and J50 separated from her group for about an hour on Saturday, unable to keep up. Biologists said they saw J50 swimming into the tide without making any progress while other pod members swam by. At one point, J50 actually moved backward, because she wasn’t able to power through the current.

J50 also wasn’t seen socializing and didn’t seem “vibrant” in her activity, according to researchers….
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Tahlequah the mother orca is no longer carrying her dead calf.

"J35 frolicked past my window today with other J pod whales, and she looks vigorous and healthy," Ken Balcomb, founding director of the Center for Whale Research, wrote in an email to The Seattle Times. "The ordeal of her carrying a dead calf for at least seventeen days and 1,000 miles is now over, thank goodness."

J35, also known as Tahlequah, is part of the critically endangered southern-resident killer-whale population. Balcomb said J35 probably has lost two other offspring since giving birth to a male calf in 2010….
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The Trump administration on Monday tossed out a rule on marine protection for whales and sea turtles caught in fishing nets off the West Coast.

The rule change was made despite the fishing industry’s having proposed the measures in the first place, according to the Associated Press. The National Marine Fisheries Service, a division within the Commerce Department, said it decided the new protection rules were not warranted.

“Under the proposed regulations, caps would have been established for five marine mammal species and four sea turtle species,” the agency explained in a final action published in the Federal Register Monday afternoon. “When any of the caps were reached, the fishery would have been closed for the rest of the fishing season and possibly through the following season.”…
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A grieving orca mother pushing her dead child. Her pod mate slowly starving.

Since July 24, these are the scenes coming from the Puget Sound as Tahlequah, a southern-resident orca whale, has pushed the corpse of her newborn baby. It’s continued for weeks attracting world-wide attention as she continues to carry her dead calf. At the same time another member of Tahlequah’s pod, J50, appears to be starving, prompting scientists to mount emergency feeding operations and energizing efforts to save the endangered species.

Spokane-area activists and environmentalists say the drama highlights the political and biological connections between the Columbia River Basin and the Puget Sound.

"It’s certainly connected biologically because we (the Spokane River) were once a huge chinook salmon mill for orca and could be a good one again," said Jerry White, the Spokane Riverkeeper.

Tahlequah is one of 75 orcas remaining in the Puget Sound, a 30-year-low.

The main issue facing the orcas is a lack of food. They eat primarily Chinook salmon although attention has focused on other stressors as well, including pollution, noise and boats….
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White sided dolphins being chased by killer whales (orca’s) in Hyacinthe Bay, Quadra Island
Sawmill Bay….
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The winning images have been selected from this year’s edition of the National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year competition, with the grand prize being awarded to Reiko Takahashi for her image of a humpback whale calf swimming near Japan’s Kumejima Island. National Geographic was kind enough to share some of the winning entries with us here, gathered from three categories: Nature, Cities, and People. Be sure to click the link above to see all the winners and the People’s Choice winners as well. The captions were written by the photographers, and lightly edited for style.

Mermaid. Grand prize winner, and first place, Nature. “I was fortunate to have encountered a humpback whale with her calf on my first day snorkeling near Japan’s Kumejima Island. Most of the time, the calf stayed close to her mom. At one point, the calf began jumping and tapping its tail on the water near us-it was very friendly and curious. Finally, the mother, who was watching nearby, came to pick up the calf and swim away. I fell in love completely with the calf and its very energetic, large, and beautiful tail. #…
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