People in the Puget Sound area have been reporting some rare
visitors to our waterway in recent years — including bottlenose
dolphins, common dolphins, a sperm whale and even a ringed seal
from the Arctic.
Bottlenose dolphins, such as
these seen from a NOAA vessel on the East Coast, are being spotted
more often in Puget Sound
Photo: Allison Henry, Northeast Fisheries Science
Center
Sudden appearances of these marine mammals have come as a
surprise, because the animals are outside their normal habitat.
Puget Sound may be too cold or too warm or not deep enough for
these animals to flourish, or so experts have thought.
I am always interested when I hear about strange visitors, and I
was pleased to tell the stories of seven marine mammal species that
are not supposed to be in Puget Sound. They include Miss and Stump,
a pair of bottlenose dolphins that worked their way up the West
Coast from Southern California and now seem to be making their home
in the cooler clime of Puget Sound. Check out my story in the
Encyclopedia
of Puget Sound.
Who the heck are these guys featured in this video posted on
Facebook by
meteorologist Nick Allard of KIRO-7 TV?
Pacific white-sided dolphins? Common dolphins? Dall’s porpoises?
Harbor porpoises?
Based on the conflicting comments on Nick’s Facebook page, as
well comments on reposts, a lot of people are insisting that they
know what these animals are. But even some longtime Puget Sound
residents got it wrong.
Annie Douglas of Cascadia Research took a look at the video,
posted here with Nick’s permission. These creatures, she said, are
long-beaked common dolphins.
Last summer, after these common dolphins first showed up, Annie
wrote a
blog post about their usual travels, noting that they are
normally seen in Southern California and Mexico. It appears that
they survived the winter a long way from home and have stayed in
South Puget Sound, where Cascadia researchers are keeping track of
their movements.
Rare long-beaked common
dolphins have been spending time in South Puget Sound.
Photo courtesy of Nick Allard
They appear to be generally healthy, Annie said. She has heard
reports of their feeding on small fish, and their energy level
remains high as they “porpoise” out of the water and do other
acrobatic feats.
Before this group showed up last year, the only previous
confirmed sighting of long-beaked common dolphins was during the
summer of 2003, when several individuals were seen in various
locations, including the Boston Harbor area near Olympia, Dalco
Passage near Tacoma and Whidbey Island.
Here’s how Annie describes the species:
“In appearance, they have a distinct black cape that extends
into a saddle below their dorsal fin, a light underbelly, and a
distinct dark eye to pectoral fin stripe. Their average length is
6-8.5 feet and they can weigh up to 500 lbs.
“They can be distinguished from harbor porpoise and Dall’s
porpoise — the two species of porpoise commonly encountered in
Puget Sound — by morphology, pigmentation, shape and behavior. Both
porpoise species have fairly triangular dorsal fins, whereas the
long-beaked common dolphin has a more ‘traditional’ falcate-shaped
(curved) dorsal fin. Dall’s porpoise are all black with a white
patch on their sides, and harbor porpoise are all gray-brown.
“Neither of the porpoise species expose much more than their
back and dorsal fin when they surface, although Dall’s porpoise
will often create a noticeable ‘rooster tail’ splash when swimming
at top speed.
“Long-beaked common dolphins often leap out of the water so that
much of their bodies are exposed, and they are also more likely to
play in the wake of a boat than either of the local porpoise
species. Pacific white-sided dolphins commonly found along
Washington outer coast are occasionally found in the Strait of Juan
de Fuca. They behave similar to the long-beaked common dolphin;
however, they have a larger dorsal fin and more complicated black,
gray and white pigmentation.”
Annie asks that people report sightings to Cascadia and send
along any photos and videos to ABDouglas(at)cascadiaresearch.org.
Sightings also can be reported by phone, (360) 943-7325.
Annie reminds boaters to stay at least 100 yards from marine
mammals (200 yards for killer whales). It is illegal to harass,
chase, feed or otherwise interfere with them, as provided by the
federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.
I’m sorry to report that the bottlenose dolphin we’ve been
talking about recently was found dead on a beach near Nisqually.
The dead dolphin was spotted Tuesday in the area where it was last
seen alive and swimming two weeks previously.
John Calambokidis of Cascadia Research reported that an
examination of the animal on Thursday failed to reveal any obvious
cause of death. The dolphin was thin, but it clearly did not starve
to death. Significant skin lesions were evident, and examiners
found hemorrhaging around the jaw. That would be consistent with
what would have occurred from thrashing around on the beach.
The animal was a male who had not yet reached maturity.
Tissue samples were fresh enough to be sent away for microscopic
examination, and tests will help determine the dolphin’s toxic
load. Such pathology may or many not help determine the cause of
death.
—–
Cascadia Research is reporting a series of sightings of a
bottlenose dolphin in Puget Sound — something that nobody expects
to see in the cool waters of the Northwest.
A rare bottlenose dolphin
has been sighted swimming around in the cool waters of Puget
Sound.
Photo by Josh Oliver, courtesy of WDFW and Cascadia
Research.
Does anybody remember Flipper from the television show in the
1960s? Of course, Flipper was a bottlenose dolphin, a creature
normally found in tropical waters.
John Calambokidis of Cascadia reports that the dolphin was first
spotted in mid-December around the Port of Tacoma. Since then,
sightings have been reported in the Redondo Beach near Des Moines
and most recently in Budd Inlet near Olympia, where the animal was
seen starting Sunday.
John said he is aware of only two other occurrences of
bottlenose dolphins in Puget Sound. The first was an adult male
that washed up dead in Samish Bay near Bellingham in 1988. The
other one showed up early last year and was seen in various places
in South Puget Sound during June. It was assumed that this was the
same animal that washed up dead near Steilacoom in Pierce County on
July 18.
The dolphin traveling about Puget Sound at this time appears to
be in a reasonably fit condition, according to a report on Cascadia’s
website, but it does have some kind of skin condition.
Cascadia, along with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
and the Northwest Marine Mammal Stranding Network, are continuing
to monitor the animal’s movements and condition.
Anyone who spots the dolphin is asked to call Cascadia at (360)
943-7325 or toll-free (800) 747-7329.
Photo by Josh Oliver,
courtesy of WDFW and Cascadia Research.
UPDATE, Dec. 6
Late this afternoon, Cascadia
Research posted preliminary results of a necropsy of the
Bryde’s whale conducted today. Findings included the following:
“The whale was an immature male measuring 34′ 5” which
externally appeared to be a female but which internal examination
determined was a male.
“There were at least five significant injuries on the whale,
not just the two that were visible when the whale was alive. The
most serious was the one visible when the whale was alive and a
close examination of this showed that this blow was not only deep
but had sheered off the top portion of at least two vertebra. While
this injury appeared to be the likely cause of death of the animal,
close examination confirmed the sighting reports that this injury
had occurred many weeks or months previously.
“The cause of all the major injuries and death of the animal
still appears to be one or more vessel strikes.
“The whale was not in great nutritional condition with a fairly
thin and not very oily blubber layer.”
—–
The rare 40-foot whale that lingered in Totten Inlet near
Shelton apparently died sometime Friday or early Saturday. Up until
then, researchers were feeling helpless to assist the dying animal
or even put it out of its misery.
A severe injury to the
whale in Totten Inlet became apparent last week.
Photo courtesy of Cascadia Research
After its death, the whale was identified as a female Bryde’s
whale, an extremely rare species in northern waters, let alone
Puget Sound. Curiously, another Bryde’s (pronounced “broo-dess”)
whale came into Puget Sound near the beginning of this year and
also died in South Puget Sound. Check out the
Jan. 19 report by Cascadia Research.
This second Bryde’s whale in Puget Sound was spotted on Nov. 25,
although possibly related reports go back to Nov. 13. See Cascadia’s
ongoing updates for details. A huge chunk of flesh was missing
from the whale’s back, presumably caused by a large boat
propeller.
When I talked to Cascadia’s John Calambokidis on Friday, I asked
a series of questions about possible medical treatment for the
animal and the potential for euthanasia — assuming researchers were
convinced that the whale would die anyway. I was a little surprised
to learn that John and others — including veterinarians — had
already considered and rejected most options. They were feeling
pretty helpless to do anything but wait.
