Washington state's killer whale officially listed as endangered today

SEATTLE — The listing of Washington state's killer whale population as an endangered species — long awaited by the environmental community — takes effect today.

What will change for the orcas that spend their summers chasing salmon around the San Juan Islands?

Not much, at least not at first.

The southern resident orca population numbers 89 animals, down from an estimated high of about 125 in the 1960s, when now-banned captures for marine aquariums began. The killer whales have been protected since 2002 as a depleted species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which requires a conservation plan.

The Endangered Species Act listing, announced late last year, requires a more demanding recovery plan, so the National Marine Fisheries Service is upgrading the conservation plan it prepared earlier.

"We intend to issue that shortly," probably this spring, said Bob Lohn, the agency's Northwest regional director.

"We hope the recovery plan will be much more action-oriented than research-oriented," said Kathy Fletcher of the People for Puget Sound. "Research is fine but we think they've mistaken research for action."

The next big step is defining the orcas' critical habitat.

"That's the tool that adds something to the protections for the whales," Lohn said. NMFS expects to issue its report on proposed critical habitat soon — perhaps within a month.

At least one public hearing is likely, "depending on the level of interest," Lohn said. "We expect to be held accountable for our reasons and the science behind it."

The whales' acoustical environment is critical to ensure their ability to find food through hearing and sonar-like echolocation, said Fred Felleman of Ocean Advocates. That could raise questions about vessel noise in the state's bustling Northwest inland waters and perhaps military sonar testing.

Also critical is the physical environment for forage fish such as herring, which are a central food source for salmon — a staple of the southern resident orcas.

Or, as Felleman put it: "The acoustical environment so they can find the food, and the physical environment so there is food to be found."

Once critical habitat has been defined, anyone planning activity in those areas — projects that involve federal funding, agencies or permits — must consult with NMFS beforehand. "Strictly private activity is not regulated under critical habitat," Lohn said.

"That's one of the places where the Endangered Species Act really has teeth," Fletcher said of the consultation requirement. Her group hopes NMFS will be looking closely at a contested bid for expansion of a gravel-mining operation on Maury Island, southwest of Seattle.

"It triggers a consultation," Lohn noted. "It doesn't automatically trigger restrictions."

"We'll be looking to determine as best we can the likely effect on killer whales," he said, "which is different from saying whether we think the activity is a good thing or a bad thing."

"Critical habitat would provide an additional layer of protection to ensure that we actually see recovery of the southern residents" — not merely maintenance of the status quo, said Brent Plater with the Center for Biological Diversity, lead author of the petition to list the orcas as an endangered species.

Food availability and toxic contamination are two critical issues for orcas, he said, adding that critical habitat could include areas the whales' prey need for spawning.

Protecting critical habitat appears to double the chances for species recovery, Plater said. "If you don't protect the homes they need to survive, you can't expect them to start recovering."

He's wary of the Bush administration, saying political expedience often is a factor in critical habitat designations. "The ESA itself is in danger in Congress," Plater added, "If the Endangered Species Act is rolled back ... you can rest assured that the legal protections that the southern residents need and deserve to survive and recover will be lost."

Susan Berta of Orca Network said she's optimistic.

"People are beginning to understand just how unique and amazing they are and how lucky we are to have the southern resident population in this urban fishbowl," she said, noting that "our burgeoning population is having an impact on the salmon and the orcas."

NMFS enforcement officers will be monitoring whale-watching operations very closely now, Lohn said. There are no proposed changes in the rules, which bar harassment of orcas and operation of engines within 100 yards.

"Our enforcement strategy is to try to make sure people are aware of these animals and treat them with great respect," he said. "We've found it's more important to have people conscious of these animals and really trying to stay out of their way ... than to be out there with a measuring tape arresting everyone who crosses a hypothetical line.

"We're much more interested in getting people to understand and behave themselves."