Saving Luna - A powerful film

On October 15th, Saving Luna premiered at The Pickford Cinema in Bellingham. It was my second time seeing the film, and I found it just as powerful, if not more so, the second time around.

For full review, Saving Luna - A powerful film

NOAA programs - where is the one for orca watching in WA?

Florida has Dolphin Smart and New England has Whale Sense. So why doesn't Washington have a program like either of these? So much has been said about the proposed new vessel regulations for the southern resident orcas, why hasn't NOAA proposed a program for the Pacific Northwest?

NOAA has the Be Whale Wise website. Why hasn't NOAA thought of turning Be Whale Wise into a program like Dolphin Smart and Whale Sense? All the money that has been spent on putting forth these proposed new regulations should have been used to set up a similar program for the Pacific Northwest. For full article, click here.

Dolphin Smart . . .why not Orca Smart?

Much has been written lately about the new vessel regulations and the southern resident orcas. NOAA already has a program in place that could solve this whole issue if it were adapted to the Pacific Northwest.

The Dolphin Smart program

The Dolphin Smart program was developed by NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and National Marine Fisheries Service, the Dolphin Ecology Project, and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.  It is geared towards the safe and responsible viewing of the dolphins in the Florida Keys. This area has many businesses who conduct dolphin tours, much the same as Anacortes and the San Juan Islands have many businesses who conduct orca tours. Full Story Here

NOAA - The final meeting on the new orca regulations

The final meeting on NOAA's new regulations regarding vessel traffic was held last night in Friday Harbor. Originally scheduled for Grange Hall, the meeting had to be moved to the Friday Harbor High School when over 250 people showed up.

The meeting was started with an overview of the new proposals by Lynne Barre and Donna Darm of NOAA, This was followed by opening up the floor to comments from those attending. Each was limited to two minutes, and the moderator did a wonderful job of keeping to that time limit and keeping control.

The Issue of Enforcement

The majority of the comments disagreed with NOAA's proposals. Many felt that new regulations were not necessary, and the orcas would be better served if the present ones were enforced. The issue of enforcement was one of the two most popular subjects last night. Many of the speakers pointed out that it is the pleasure boats that were the problem, and not the whale watch boats, and that often the whale watch boats would radio the pleasure boats to tell them to slow down as the orcas were present. It was also pointed out that the boater education program that all boaters are required to attend makes no mention of how a boater is to behave around the orcas. This is definitely a topic that needs to be addressed.

Salmon Recovery

The second topic that was mentioned the most was that of salmon recovery. Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research started the ball rolling stating in effect that the boats do not bother the whales and what is important is that we have to get them fish. Many others echoed Ken's comments.

Salmon Recovery and Enforcement

It was, however, Monika Wieland, author of Orca Encounters who brought both of the issues together in her brilliant statement. She said, "The Southern Residents were only listed as endangered after they were designated as a distinct population segment, which defines them as separate not only from other cetaceans, but from other members of their own species. It seems inconsistent, then, that so much of the science cited in the proposal focuses on a wide variety of other species from other places. As one example, I’ll point out that a primary citation for the impact of kayaks on killer whales comes from studies of Steller sea lion haul outs in Alaska.

Of the science that does specifically focus on the Southern Residents, the results are tenuous at best. If you talk directly to the researchers you will realize many of the results are more inconclusive than indicated in the proposal. Even if you accept their findings, for instance that whales do more surface active behaviors or vocalize louder in the presence of boats, you have to realize that these changes in behavior are not biologically significant. I understand that ideally we don’t want humans to impact whale behavior in any way, but when talking about their survival, extra tail slaps or louder calls are not going to make or break this population.

No matter how many regulations we put in place, there will continue to be violations. Not just because these regulations would be difficult to enforce, or the fact that there is insufficient enforcement for even our current regulations, but because after spending nine years observing these whales from boats and shore, it is clear to me that they are going to do whatever they want to do whether boats are there or not. They will chase salmon under boats if that’s where they want to feed, they will change direction and pass near a boat if that’s where they want to travel, and they will even seek out boats like freighters (the loudest, largest, and fastest moving vessels the whales routinely encounter) just to surf in their wakes for the fun of it like I saw them do a few weeks ago.

So much time and effort has been focused on the vessel issue. I wish this much energy was being put towards salmon recovery, the true deal breaker for the Southern Resident orcas."

Bravo, Monika!

Other speakers made comments on the vessel regulations and salmon recovery issues. Examples were that NOAA needed to listen to Ken Balcomb who knows more about the southern resident orcas than anyone else on the planet, and was, in fact, given the title of "Mother of all Whale Watchers".

The Pacific Whale Watch Association

The Pacific Whale Watch Association recommended a slow go zone, rather than a no go zone. The no go zone was a very unpopular issue last night as it affects not only the whale watch industry, but also fishing vessels. Most agreed that a compromise was needed. Other members of the PWWA pointed out how many people are educated and inspired to change the way they live their lives after see the orcas. People come from all over the world just to see the southern resident orcas. Not only do they get to see the orcas, they also receive educational information on how to make changes in their lifestyle to help our environment.

In Conclusion

NOAA has a lot of thinking to do, and it was suggested by many that they go back to the drawing board as what they have proposed is impractical, in light of the lack of enforcement. It was also suggested that they expend their energy towards salmon recovery as that is a much bigger issue for the future of the southern resident orcas. One gentleman also suggested that NOAA give the orcas more credit as he said, "the whales are not as dumb as NOAA".

For those unable to attend the meetings, comments can be sent to NOAA at orca.plan@noaa.gov The cut off date is October 27.

---

For More Information:

Proposal by NOAA Fisheries on vessel traffic near Southern Resident Orcas

NOAA's proposal on vessel traffic & the southern resident orcas

New Proposed NOAA regulations - A Counter proposal from the Pacific Whale Watch Association

The final and most important phase of the retirement of orca Lolita

The Third Phase

The third phase of Lolita's retirement plan is the procedure for her potential reintroduction to L pod, her family. This would begin after she successfully completes 1-2 months of boat-follow exercises. At this point, her health and stamina will be judged to see if how she compares with the other resident orcas.

Read "The final and most important phase of the retirement of orca Lolita"

Google and Examiner.com

Google is no longer picking up my articles on Examiner.com. I am upset as I know a lot of people were following them on there. I will post the links on here from now on. If you add this blog to your favorites, the new links will show when I publish.

Puget Sound Marine Life Examiner

The retirement plan for an orca named Lolita - Phase Two

Photo ©Peter Pijpelink

Phase Two

Lolita will be given all the time she needs to become accustomed to her new seapen, surroundings, and staff. When she displays no abnormal stress and exhibits normal physical parameters, rehabilitation will begin.

The team will be partly following the steps put forth in Project Deep Ops: Deep Object Recovery with Pilot and Killer Whales, NUC TP 306 by C.A. Bowers and R.S. Henderson. In this study, two orca were kept in seapens in Hawaii while being trained to follow boats more than ten nautical miles and dive hundreds of feet deep. This is called boat-recall training.

To read the entire article, go to "The retirement plan for an orca named Lolita - Phase Two".

An Orca Named Lolita - The Plan for her Retirement - Part 1

Monday marked Lolita's 39 years in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium. There has been an ongoing campaign to let Lolita retire. A number of people have contacted me to voice their opposition to this thinking that we plan to just release her back into the wild. This is not the case. I have also received a number of emails about Keiko. For the differences in the two cases, please read, "Keiko and Lolita: Same or Different".


For more on the retirement plan for Lolita, go to: "An Orca Named Lolita - The Plan for her Retirement - Part 1"

An Orca named Lolita - Where it all started

The year was 1964. The World’s Fair was being held in New York City, the Olympics were in Tokyo, and the US was watching "Flipper" and "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" on the TV. At the same time, the Vancouver Aquarium in Canada decided that they wanted a sculpture of an orca.

Read complete article here

How you can help Lolita - Worldwide event - September 13th

This is a worldwide event!

Anyone from around the world can help! You do not need to live in Florida to help Lolita, anymore than you need to live in Taiji to help the dolphins! This event is scheduled for Sunday, September 13, 2009. We are asking people to call, fax, email, or snail mail the Miami Seaquarium and tell them it is time for her to retire! September 14th marks 39 years Lolita has been at Seaquarium. She has well earned her retirement!

Ways you can help 

Click here for how you can help!

An Orca named Lolita

The other day I posted Part 8 on The Penn Cove captures. Today is the 39th anniversary of that day. 39 years that Lolita has been in captivity, and 39 years since the others were captured and 5 were killed in the process. Of the five, four were babies who were ripped away from their mothers. Witnesses who were there at the time were powerless to do anything as the capture team was armed with guns to keep them away. The witnesses say to this day they can hear the screams of the orca mother and babies as they tried to reach each other and could not. I know there is a big walk planned for Miami today to protest Lolita's continued captivity. I only wish I could be with them, but I am there in spirit.

This morning while watching "A Lion named Christian" on Animal Planet, I suddenly realized the correlation between Christian and Lolita. The difference is that Ace and John did an unselfish act and allowed Christian to go free. Arthur Hertz, owner of the Miami Seaquarium, will not let Lolita go free. Letting go is hard, but it's time to let her go, Arthur. In fact, it's long past due. Lolita has been in captivity for 39 years today. She needs to be free to be with her family and swim in the waters where she was born. 

An Orca named Lolita - Part 8 - The Penn Cove captures

An Orca named Lolita - Part 9 - A Lion named Christian

An Orca Named Lolita

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article on Lolita, the orca at the Miami Seaquarium. I received such a response that I had to keep writing. Something inside me is pushing me on to tell her story to the world. I just uploaded Part 7 of An Orca name Lolita.

Lolita was one of the orcas captured on August 8, 1970 in Penn Cove on Whidbey Island, WA. She was sold to the Miami Seaquarium where she has been held captive since that time. She is housed in a tank that is illegal according to the Animal Welfare Act, but nothing has been done to get her out of there.

Orcas are social creatures and live in pods. Lolita has not seen another orca since 1980 when her companion orca, Hugo, died.  Hugo developed a brain aneurism after banging his head repeatedly against the walls of the tank in an effort to get out.  In essence, he committed suicide. 

Orca Network had tried for years to get Lolita out of there. What is it going to take to get this accomplished?  The Center for Whale Research has devised a total plan for her rehabilitation and reintroduction back to her pod. For those who want to compare her to Keiko, please go read Part 7 where I address the differences. 

How You Can Help!

Write to APHIS and ask why this has been allowed to go on for so long and then ask them when they are doing to do something about it!  

Write to: Secretary Tom Vilsack

Secretary of Agriculture

USDA/APHIS/AC

4700 River Road, Unit 84

Riverdale, MD 20737-1234

Then write to President Obama and ask him why APHIS is not doing their job and how long he’s going to allow this travesty to continue.

President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC  20500

Make your voice heard! It is time for Lolita to be retired and for her to come home.

An Orca Named Lolita

Where Lolita Belongs - with her family

I have just finished two articles on Lolita, posted on my Examiner.com page (see link below).

On August 8, 1970, she was taken from her home in Puget Sound and sold to the Miami Seaquarium. She is being kept in a tank that is much too small for a creature of her size, and is, by government standards, illegal. So WHY isn't someone doing something about this?

It is time to get answers to why something has not been done about this by now.

It is time for her to retire. She was not put on this earth to be kept captive or made to perform every day.

She is a creation of our earth and her home is Puget Sound.

Her family is here waiting for her return.

It is time for her to come home.

Please read her articles on Examiner.com. I'll be writing soon about how you can help. Go read An Orca Named Lolita

Thanks,

Carole

Life as a writer!

Wow, the life of a writer is a busy one!  I now have 13 articles up on my page. I wrote quite a few on the orcas: how to photograph them, how they are named, how to identify them, what to look for when whale watching. I am now branching out and starting to write about the other marine mammals. 

Today's piece was on the Pacific harbor seal. I have to admit that I am having a lot of fun with this, although it is rather time consuming. But I have received some lovely emails in response to what I have written, so that makes it all worth it. I even heard from someone in Capetown, South Africa!  I had no idea people that far away would be reading articles about Puget Sound. Amazing!!

Visit my page here:  Puget Sound Marine Life Examiner

Photo ©2008 Carole May - May not be used without permission. 

From Photographer to Writer

A classmate from my Marine Naturalist course is also a writer on Examiner.com. She emailed me about three weeks ago and asked if I'd ever thought about doing something like that. She told me all about it and I was psyched! She said that with my love and passion for the orcas and my photography, I'd be perfect to write on the marine mammals of Puget Sound. I filled out the application and was accepted!  I now have my own page as the Marine Mammal Examiner of Puget Sound. I've written a few articles and will be writing more on events, ways of whale watching, and general information about the orcas and other marine life.

You can visit my page here:  Puget Sound Marine Life

Photo ©2009 Carole May - May not be used without permission. 

Happy Reading!

Just Missed Them!

I went to San Juan Island yesterday and just missed the orcas by 40 minutes. Frustrating to say the least!  The ferry arrived in Friday Harbor at 10:00am, but the earliest shuttle to Lime Kiln Park was 10:40, which arrived at 11:00am. When I got there, I was told that the orcas were around from 10-10:20am, and then headed north. I stayed at the park hoping they'd turn around, but no such luck.

I headed back to Friday Harbor, grabbed a bite to eat, then went to The Whale Museum for a wonderful talk on elephant seals by Dr. Joe Gaydos.  Joe is a Wildlife Veterinarian and Regional Director of the SeaDoc Society. I learned many interesting things about the elephant seals including their ability to dive to depths of a mile!  They are also one of the few species who have come back from extinction. I came away with a new appreciation for these wonderful beings!

The next lecture is July 15th with Mike Ford who is going to talk about fatherhood in the Southern Resident Orca community. Being a matrilineal society, the fathers of the youngsters are rarely spoken about since it's hard to determine who the father is. I'm sure Mike's research will be enlightening on this topic!

Who Names the Southern Resident Orcas?

In the Puget Sound area, we have three pods of orcas known as the Southern Residents. I am often asked how our orcas got their names.  

Each orca has both a scientific name and a regular name.  Their scientific name is given to them by the Center for Whale Research. The letter designates to which pod they belong: J, K, or L. The number following the letter is the order in which they were named. J1 was the first member of J pod to be named, J2 the second, and so on. Our newest calf in J pod is J45.

Their regular name is given to them by The Whale Museum. Calves are named after they have survived their first year.  Members of the museum send in their choices for names, a list of favorites is compiled, and a vote is held. All members of the museum are eligible to vote.  One of the cutest sets of  names belongs to J22 who was named Oreo, and her offspring who are J34 DoubleStuf and J38 Cookie. J1 who is probably the most famous is Ruffles because of his tall, wavy dorsal fin. And J2 is the oldest at present. She is Granny who is approximately 98 years old.

A complete set of our orcas scientific names and their regular names can be found on The Whale Museum’s website.

An Exciting Orca Day to Remember!

I went out yesterday on a whale watch boat, and it was a most memorable trip! We started off the day seeing a beautiful mama black tail deer on the shore with her two little ones. I think we all knew that it was the start of a special day!

As we got out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, we started seeing a number of orcas. There was a 

lot of activity going on from spy hopping to breaching, tail lobs, and cartwheels.  But what made the day was being able to watch two orcas mating. It was like watching a water ballet amongst two of the most magnificent creatures on the planet.  I managed to get a few photos of the event and now we just have to wait 17 months to see if we have a new little one :)

I added many of the photos to my website, Whales And Sails, Etc. And again, I will be giving the proceeds of the sale of these photos to the Soundwatch program at The Whale Museum. There are two galleries for June 21st: the first contains the photos of the orcas and minke whales, and the second contains the mating photos.

ORCA Awareness Month

On February 5, 2009, Governor Christine Gregoire of Washington once again declared June to be Orca Awareness month.

In the proclamation, the Governor proclaims that the orcas are still on the endangered list (they were added in November, 2005). She also proclaims that various organizations will hold events during the month to make the public more aware of the conditions surrounding the orcas and what they can do to help.

We need to appreciate these wonderful beings that we are so fortunate to have in our midst. To be able to go to Lime Kiln Park and watch them from the shore is an experience that should be shared by all for years to come. I had that experience for the first time over Memorial Day weekend. Prior to that, I had only seen them from whale watch boats. It is a totally different experience to see them from the shore. 

We certainly do need to appreciate their presence in our waters and do whatever we can do to speed up the efforts to recover the population.

Certified Marine Naturalist

I completed all the requirements for the course and finished my practicum this past Tuesday. I am now a Certified Marine Naturalist. I'm not quite sure what I want to do with this, but I know my life is going in this direction. At this point, I'm volunteering at the Whale Museum and taking note of the questions people ask. I want to do a lot more research into different areas of marine life, and possibly next year get a part time job on a whale watch boat. I don't quite feel ready for that this year, and most of the boats do their hiring in the spring for the coming summer.  

I've also always had a desire to write a book, so perhaps I will pursue that venture.  Since I'm retired, I have the time. I would like to spend my time this summer going out and photographing as much as possible so that I could use my photos in my book.

I'd also like to go into schools to talk to the children about the marine mammals of Puget Sound, so that will be something else I'll be looking into for the coming year.

At any rate, I am very happy with my accomplishments :)

The Etc. Part of Whales And Sails, Etc.

My two favorite passions when it comes to photography are whales and boats, hence the name Whales and Sails. But I also like to capture beautiful landscapes, animals, birds, flowers, etc. This is where the Etc. part comes in.

I recently entered two local photo contests. The first was sponsored by the Whatcom Educational Credit Union (WECU), with the winning photos being featured in their 2010 calendar. I entered a photo called "A Day on the Farm", which is a landscape of Mt. Baker in the background and a farmer in a tractor in the foreground. It won the contest and will be featured for the month of June!

I also entered it into the Essence of Bellingham Photo Contest where it received Honorable Mention.  And one of the others I entered "Winter Sunset" (pictured above) won Best of Subject in the Sunrise Sunset category.  The photos will be on display at City Hall starting the 26th of June, then at one of the Downtown Art Walks, and they will also be featured on Bellingham's TV channel 10.

You can see these two photos on my website Whales and Sails, Etc.  Click on Photo Contest Winners!  You can also order copies of the prints on the website.  Enjoy the beauty of the earth!

The Whale Museum, Friday Harbor, WA

To complete our marine naturalist training, and to be certified, we are required to do a practicum consisting of ten hours at The Whale Museum.  I completed four hours last Friday, and another four yesterday.

I have to say that it has thus far been a very rewarding experience! The students have been asking some very good questions, and I was happy to answer all of them. I also had a number of questions from adult visitors, both from the US and aboard.  A number of them were quite interested in the transients, and I explained the differences between them and our southern resident orcas.

Of course, while answering questions, one always realizes how much one still needs to learn. I've ordered a few more books and am using the time on the ferry to read and further my knowledge. I also have a personal belief that when I don't know the answer to a question, I do my best to find out, so that if another person asks that question, I will hopefully have the answer.  This has lead to a number of hours of googling when I get home :-)  I don't mind, as I remember one of my favorite teachers saying that we should learn one new thing each day. The questions at the museum are certainly leading me to do just that.

I'll be at the museum again next Tuesday to finish my ten hours, but I'll continue to go and help. I really enjoy what I'm doing now and want to continue.  For more information on The Whale Museum and how you can help, click here.

The proceeds of the sale of my photographs taken over Memorial Day weekend will go directly to the Soundwatch program at The Whale Museum.  To see the photographs and purchase copies, click here.

Memorial Day Weekend - Sunday - Graduation and More Orcas!

We started our day with a boat trip hoping to see the orcas, but they had gone up north. We did get to see a few minke whales, some harbor seals, quite a few birds, and some lovely scenery. We had a talk by Kari from the Soundwatch program*, and then we had our graduation on the boat. We had a super delicious cake made by Jenny, the director of the Whale Museum, and we all got certificates which declared us to be "Marine Naturalists".  We have to complete a 10 hour practicum and then we will be certified. 

When we got back a lot of us went out to lunch to celebrate. As we were eating, our instuctor, Cindy, came into the restaurant to tell us that the orcas were at the lighthouse. We quickly finished eating, paid the bill, and headed for the lighthouse!

When we got there the orcas were quite playful and putting on a wonderful show.  One of my favorite photos is one I titled "Mother and Child" as it's J14 (Samish) with new little J45. 

While we were all enjoying the orcas, there was a boater who came VERY close to hitting one of them.  Thankfully, a woman on a whale watch boat got a photo of the boat and its close proximity to the orca, and I got a shot of the boat showing the boat's ID number. We all filled out incident reports with NOAA, and at last word, they were looking into this incident. I was contacted for a copy of my photo which I gladly provided. I hope they throw the book at that boater.

For more photos from this wonderful weekend, please go to my website, Whales And Sails, Etc.

Memorial Day Weekend - Saturday - More Orcas!

I had class starting at 10:00am and going till around 4:00pm.  As soon as class was over, a number of us headed to the park to see if the orcas were there.

The orcas arrived just before 5:00pm coming from the south and heading north.  After they had all gone past, just about everyone left for the day.  A few of us diehards remained to enjoy the beautiful weather and just in case anymore orcas came by.  Well, again we were not disappointed as the ones that had gone north turned around and came back!  We had J14 (Samish) with her new little one, J45, along with J30 (Riptide), and J26 (Mike).  They stayed until almost 7:00pm and we were treated to spyhopping, breaching, tail slaps, and those of us with cameras got some wonderful shots!  Little J45 looked like his mom had told him to go practice his breaching as he was up and down over 20 times!  He was also having fun doing tail slaps. We were definitely glad we stayed :)

Memorial Day Weekend - Friday - Orcas, Orcas!

On April 25th, I started the Marine Naturalist course at the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. The course was 5 weeks long, with the last two sessions being held on Memorial Day weekend. I chose to spend the entire long weekend on the island and was very glad I did!

I arrived on Friday, and went straight from the ferry to Lime Kiln State Park, also known as Whale Watch Park.  The orcas had not yet arrived so I enjoyed the picnic lunch I had packed, read my book, and waited. They did not disappoint!

We had heard that J Pod was spread out, and that proved to be true. At around 2:00pm Ruffles (pictured above) showed up, followed close behind by Granny. 

We then waited for about an hour and the rest of the group arrived. You can see more photos from May 22, along with others from the weekend at Whales And Sails, Etc.   Click on NEW Orca Photos.

My New Website - Whales and Sails, Etc.

I've added to my list of websites. I've always had a homepage of sorts, with my personal interests. Then when I decided to really focus on my photography and the orcas, I created CaroleMay.com. I have since received a number of requests for prints of my photos, so I have just set up WhalesAndSails.com  When it comes to my photography, my two main passions are the whales (orcas and grays) and sails (boats of any kind, large or small).  

I've been working hard on Whales And Sails, Etc. There are many more photos up now. I've added to the Working Boats of the Pacific Northwest, the Washington Scenics, and many more orca photos.  I'll be taking a lot more this year and am looking forward to seeing the gray whales within the next couple of weeks.