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Vancouver Sun
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Vancouver Sun
A world first: Researchers announce plan to save B.C.'s endangered southern resident orcas
For the first time, scientists from around the world have come up with a plan to save the critically endangered southern resident orcas that travel in B.C. waters. Southern resident orcas, also called killer whales, live in the Pacific Ocean off the coasts of B.C., Washington, Oregon and California, where they once thrived. Now there are only 73 southern residents left. An independent science panel of 31 experts — including researchers from Simon Fraser University, the U.S.-based Center for Whale Research, and the David Suzuki Foundation among others — gathered in Vancouver in March to address conservation and recovery of the species. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Out of it came a report published Monday with 26 recommendations for governments on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, including tougher restrictions on toxic chemicals that are harming the orcas, mainly by killing the salmon they depend on for food. The report recommends governments eliminate all chemicals that accumulate in southern resident killer whale food chains by accelerating the phaseout of legacy chemicals like PCBs and PBDEs, and strengthening regulations on emerging contaminants such as 6 PPD-quinone and PFAS, per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, which are used in everything from waterproof clothing to non-stick cookware. PCBs, which were once heavily used in industrial products, were banned in Canada in the 1970s because of environmental and health risks. Although no longer produced, they still exist in older equipment and materials. Tanya Brown, an assistant professor of marine ecotoxicology at SFU and co-author of the report, said the deadline for elimination of existing PCBs was supposed to be the end of this year but was recently extended to 2029. 'So we keep seeing more extensions of a contaminant that was essentially banned in the 1970s,' said Brown, also a former research scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. She said governments need to stop allowing these toxic chemicals to have continued use over time. Emerging contaminants such as 6PPD-quinone — used on vehicle tires to prevent breakdown — have been shown to be 'extremely toxic,' especially for Coho salmon, said Brown. 'Every time it rains, you have these tire particles that have accumulated on the road, and then that's all being washed off, ' said Brown. 'So you get these toxic pulses in the freshwater environment.' Brown added that 6PPD still isn't regulated despite pressure on the government to regulate and eliminate it from the marketplace. Other key recommendations in the report include protecting early runs of Chinook salmon that return to the Fraser River in the spring and early summer and establishing abundance thresholds that would trigger fishery closures in seasons of low returns. Recognizing the value of wild salmon as prey, use of hatchery salmon should ensure production aligns with the southern residents' prey preferences such as Chinook salmon and prioritize production for the orcas over fisheries needs, the report says. The report also include measures to address the problem of noise. Previous research by the University of Washington found the Salish Sea is too noisy for the orcas to hunt successfully. Underwater noise from vessels is affecting every step in the hunting behaviour of the orcas, including finding, pursuing and capturing prey, the researchers said. The panel recommends governments should finalize and implement vessel noise reduction targets that are biologically relevant to the southern residents, expand ship slowdowns to 11 knots while expanding slowdown zones, and set mandatory noise output standards for large commercial vessels. As well, the panel recommends phasing out the controversial Southern Gulf Islands anchorages to 'eliminate avoidable noise from bulk carriers and improve port arrival management practices.' A report last year from the B.C. conservation group Raincoast and a team of international scientists found that time is running out for the southern resident killer whales as they face increased threats, such as habitat degradation through underwater noise, high concentrations of industrial chemicals, and declining quality and quantity of Chinook salmon. The study's worst case scenario predicted they could be extinct within 40 years. Brown said losing the southern resident orca would be a devastating loss. 'They are apex predators in our marine ecosystem on this coast,' she said. 'Once you lose a species, then everything becomes vulnerable.' Brown called on governments to work together and implement these recommendations to save the species from extinction. In a 2023 study , UBC researchers analyzed tissue samples from six southern resident killer whales and six Bigg's whales found dead along the coast of the province from 2006 to 2018. They found 4-nonylphenol or 4NP, which is used in manufacturing as emulsifiers in pulp and paper processing, as well as soap and other detergents, in 46 per cent of the samples. In 2018, a southern resident killer whale known as Tahlequah captured the world's attention when she pushed the body of her dead calf for more than two weeks in waters off B.C.'s South Coast, in what many scientists called a display of public grief. ticrawford@
LeMonde
02-07-2025
- Science
- LeMonde
Orcas use kelp to scratch each other's backs, like a natural loofah
"You will never find what you are not looking for." This Confucius quotation is something science proves and disproves every day. To describe such discoveries, a new term was even coined: "serendipity" − the ability to recognize the value of an unexpected finding. The word has become so widespread it sometimes borders on cliché. However, the study published by a British-American team on June 26 in the journal Current Biology is a textbook example. It also highlights the value of long-term, systematic observation of animal populations. The Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Washington, has spent nearly 50 years monitoring a population of orcas known as the "southern residents." Ranging between US and Canadian waters in the Salish Sea, these ocean giants are perhaps the best-studied marine mammals in the world. "We can identify every individual and know how they're all maternally related, and yet we are still learning new things as we continue to study them," said Rachel John, a master's student at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, who co-authored the article and is researching these 80 cetaceans.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Orcas' Strange Beauty Routine Revealed by Scientists For The First Time
Sometimes we all need a kelping hand – or fin. For the first time, orcas have been recorded making and using tools, fashioning pieces of kelp so that they can groom each other as they swim. The new discovery in these remarkable animals (Orcinus orca) isn't just a wonderful example of reciprocal aid. It displays several aspects of cognition and culture in a format that we had never seen in orcas before. "We found that southern resident killer whales regularly use lengths of bull kelp during social interactions, apparently as a tool to groom one another," says marine zoologist Michael Weiss of the Center for Whale Research in the US. "To find that the whales were not just using but also manufacturing tools, and that these objects were being used in a way never before reported in marine mammals, was incredibly exciting." Related: Orcas Have a Killer Technique to Hunt The Biggest Fish in The Ocean The use of tools is thought to be an important marker of intelligence in non-human animals. Although cetaceans are highly intelligent, tool use among them is not widely documented. That's at least partially because their habitat – the ocean – makes them difficult to observe. Nevertheless, we have seen tool use in bottlenose dolphins, which use sea sponges to protect their beaks while foraging. Orcas have the second-largest brain found in nature, and are among the most intelligent animals known. So it's tremendously exciting to find that they are capable of creating a tool to make their lives better. Weiss and his colleagues have been studying the critically endangered southern resident population of orcas that lives in the Salish Sea, a group with fewer than 80 members. In recent years, drone technology has dramatically upgraded our ability to observe orcas in their natural habitat, and scientists have been taking full advantage of the opportunity. "We began using a new drone to observe the whales that allowed us to see the whales and their behavior in much greater detail," Weiss explained to ScienceAlert. "We quickly started seeing whales carrying these small pieces of kelp and pressing them between each other. Once we had observed several pairs doing this behavior on multiple days, we started to think that something scientifically interesting was occurring here." On seven occasions, the orcas were seen snapping the ends off pieces of bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana), then pressing the stalk between their bodies. In an eighth case, an orca just found a suitable piece of kelp floating in a kelp mat. As they swam with their bodies pressed together, the orca pairs would roll the piece of the kelp back and forth between them for extended periods. We don't know exactly why the whales do this, but we can make a pretty good guess. Some species of cetacean, including orcas, like to frolic amid flotillas of seaweed. This is called kelping, and it helps keep their skin healthy, sloughing off dead cells and parasites. The new behavior, which Weiss and his colleagues call allokelping, is likely the next level of this form of grooming – one which confers greater benefits than just swimming through kelp. "It certainly does appear to be a social activity, and might help reinforce social bonds like other forms of grooming," Weiss explained. "Unlike swimming through a kelp mat or a kelp forest, pairs of whales can allokelp 'on the go', continuing to travel with the rest of the pod. I also suspect that they're able to target specific areas more precisely and exert greater pressure than if they were just swimming through kelp on their own." Although orcas around the world are all categorized as a single species, they don't really behave as one. Distinct populations, called ecotypes, have their own habitats, their own languages, their own hunting and dietary strategies. There are physical and genetic differences between them, and they don't intermingle or interbreed. Other orca ecotypes have been observed grooming themselves in ways that don't involve fashioning tools, such as rubbing themselves on pebble beaches. Weiss and his team believe that allokelping may be a behavior that is culturally unique to the southern resident orca population. It's a finding that highlights the importance of studying and understanding this tiny population of orcas, in order to better protect them and their habitat. "What's surprising is how much we still have to learn about this population, despite them having been studied in great detail since the 1970s!" Weiss said. "More research is very much needed to better understand the development and function of this behavior. We are very interested to see how allokelping might impact other social behaviors, as an indication of a function in social bonding. We're also keen to conduct more detailed analysis of allokelping and skin condition over time to determine what benefit the behavior is giving the whales." The research has been published in Current Biology. New Discovery of Deep Sea 'Spiders' Is Unlike Anything We've Seen Before Entire Genus of Jumping Spiders Found Hidden in New Zealand New Clues Emerge on How Life Survived 'Snowball Earth'
Miami Herald
23-06-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
Drones spot ‘first evidence' of orcas making tools, study says. ‘Remarkable'
Over the years, orcas have been seen partaking in some peculiar practices, from sinking sailboats to wearing salmon 'hats.' Now, the apex predators have been observed engaging in a 'remarkable' new behavior: fashioning tools from underwater plants to massage one another. The discovery — published June 23 in Current Biology — constitutes the 'first evidence' recorded of tool-making by marine mammals. 'We were amazed when we first noticed this,' Michael Weiss, the director of the Center for Whale Research (CWR), said in a University of Exeter news release. Allokelping Researchers from both institutions stumbled upon the previously unknown behavior while flying drones over the 'southern resident' orcas in the Salish Sea, located between Washington and British Columbia. 'I was watching one of those really close-up videos when I saw something that looked like a brown stick between two whales that were in contact with each other,' Rachel John, an Exeter master's student, said in the release. Researchers realized this was not an isolated incident. Close analysis revealed it happened again and again — and involving the same steps each time. Whales were seen biting off the tips of bull kelp stalks, placing them between themselves and another whale and then rolling the stalk between their two bodies over long periods — with the longest lasting 12 minutes. This newfound behavior — dubbed 'allokelping' — is distinct from 'kelping,' a phenomenon previously observed in multiple whale species, wherein whales move kelp with their bodies, heads and fins. Allokelping, by contrast, involves deliberately selecting, trimming and manipulating kelp with a partner — qualifying it as tool-making, previously thought to be the exclusive domain of land animals. Researchers documented allokelping on eight separate days out of the 12-day study period, indicating it could be a very common behavior among southern resident killer whales. Social bonding and good hygiene It's not exactly clear why the killer whales rub themselves with kelp stalks, but a few hypotheses were put forward. One is that the behavior — seen among relatives and similar aged animals — plays an important part of the whales' social lives. 'We know touch is really important,' Darren Croft, the executive director of the CWR, said in the release. 'In primates – including humans – touch moderates stress and helps to build relationships. We know killer whales often make contact with other members of their group – touching with their bodies and fins – but using kelp like this might enhance this experience.' Allokelping could also benefit orcas' skin (some dermatologists have lauded its effects on human skin as well). 'Whales and dolphins have a variety of strategies to help them slough dead skin, and this may be yet another adaptation for this purpose,' Croft said. Bull kelp, a type of algae, is also known to have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. Critical moment The finding comes at a critical moment for southern resident killer whales as just 73 individuals remain, according to the CWR's latest census, conducted in July. The whales primarily feed on King salmon, also known as Chinook, a species that experienced significant declines due to climate change, over-fishing and habitat destruction. The future of the whale population — which does not interbreed with others — looks 'very bleak,' Weiss said. 'We're not seeing the birth rate that's required to sustain the population,' Weiss said. 'Under the status quo, all of our projections indicate the population will continue to decline.'
Global News
23-06-2025
- Science
- Global News
Orcas use kelp tools to groom, researchers say
In pricey spas, kelp facials and body wraps can set the esthetically inclined human back hundreds of dollars. But in the Salish Sea off British Columbia, southern resident killer whales are also using the sea plants for what scientists suspect are grooming purposes. Researchers who have spent years studying the endangered whales say higher quality drones helped them spot the whales regularly breaking off pieces of kelp to use as a tool, pressed between their bodies. Michael Weiss, chair of the Center for Whale Research, based in Washington state, said the whales were spotted on video last summer rubbing bull kelp between their bodies. 0:30 New orca calf spotted in Salish Sea Research in the new edition of the journal Current Biology hypothesizes both hygienic and social purposes. Story continues below advertisement 'Other researchers have seen dolphins and whales using elements of their environment, or objects, to groom themselves. They'll rub themselves on rocks and sand and kelp to maintain their skin surface,' said Weiss, lead author of the study. 'And we also have seen whales and dolphins rub on each other to potentially remove parasites and dead skin.' Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy But the southern residents' use of both types of behaviour at once has not been seen in other whales, Weiss said. 'We haven't seen any reports of whales combining those two things and using an object to enhance this kind of social touch.' 1:48 B.C. conservationists disappointed over lack of action to protect southern resident killer orcas The researchers observed the behaviour in southern residents across all social groups, both sexes, and all age classes. Weiss said other mammals, including primates, do use tools and groom each other, but the whales' situation is distinct, in part because two animals are getting shared benefits. Story continues below advertisement 'We don't have one whale with a stick scratching the other one. We have two whales with kelp between them simultaneously rubbing it against each other. And that's really unique,' he said He said primates rarely use grooming tools unless given them by humans. 'This kind of widespread, common behaviour in the population — everyone seems to be doing it in the southern residents, they're doing it all the time — there's not really any examples of anything like that, where it's become commonplace in social interactions to use a tool to enhance that interaction,' he said. 'So I think it's really special and it's a brand new context for tool use in marine mammals. It's not something we've seen marine mammals use tools for before.' 2:08 Close-encounter with orca pod in Horseshoe Bay Weiss said the next steps for researchers are seeing how the skill is learned, understanding more about the whales' skin conditions, and taking a closer look at the social bonds the use of the kelp helps create. Story continues below advertisement 'Seeing if whales who perform this behaviour together are more likely to then co-operate in other ways later. Are they more likely to chase fish together? Are they more likely to share food with one another, or do other social interactions?' he said. The southern resident killer whales are a critically endangered, with fewer than 80 individuals left in the Pacific Northwest. Weiss said the research is another example of why it is important to protect the population. 'When we're talking about conserving this population, we're not talking just about conserving 73 individual animals. We're talking about conserving a unique culture with unique behaviours that if we lost them, we'd never see again,' he said. 'This is just another example of the fact that these separate populations of whales are not interchangeable, they're not fungible. They are special and losing them is a loss for the world. It's a loss of something unique from the world.'
