The ongoing shutdown of the federal government has kept federal
marine mammal biologists and administrators from paying close
attention to the critically endangered Southern Resident killer
whales. The folks I know at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science
Center must be going crazy over their inability to do their jobs,
which have always been central to the survival of our beloved
orcas.
To take a breath sample, mist
from an orca’s blow is collected at the end of a long pole then
tested for pathogens. // Photo: Pete
Schroeder
But now a coalition of non-government orca experts plans to step
in to at least conduct an initial health assessment of two orcas
showing signs of “peanut head,” an indicator of malnutrition that
frequently leads to death. Initial plans for taking minimally
invasive fecal and breath samples were developed during a meeting
of the minds on a conference call yesterday. Further efforts, such
as medical treatment, would need special authorization from federal
officials.
I won’t go into further details here, since you can read the
story published this morning by the
Puget Sound Institute.
Treaty rights related to orcas
After all my years of covering killer whale issues, it is
interesting to see the emergence of the Lummi Nation as a major
participant in the orca discussions. Kurt Russo, senior policy
analyst for the Lummi Sovereignty and Treaty Protection Office,
told me that tribal members have a spiritual connection with the
orcas that goes back thousands of years. The inherent right to
commune with the “blackfish” or “qwe i/to! Mechtcn” was never
superseded by treaties signed between the tribe and the U.S.
government, so these rights still stand, he said.
The Lummi Nation, an Indian tribe near Bellingham, recently
joined the 25-year-long struggle to bring the killer whale named
Lolita back to her home waters of Puget Sound, where she was
captured and removed 47 years ago.
The tribe’s involvement could change the nature of the ongoing
battle entirely, according to Howard Garrett of Orca Network, who
has been leading the effort.
Trailer to a movie in
production about the Lummi Nation's effort to bring Lolita
home.
“I feel like we are at a whole new level of synergy and mutual
support as we bring out our passions and abilities and professional
skills,” Howie told me during a phone call from Miami, where he and
Lummi leaders were visiting the 52-year-old whale.
Lolita, also known by her Native American name Tokitae, has
lived all these years in a relatively small tank at Miami
Seaquarium, performing twice each day for visitors to the marine
park.
Members of the Lummi Nation contend that what happened to
Tokitae was a kidnapping, and her aquatic prison violates native
traditions that hold orcas in high esteem. An estimated 40-50 orcas
were captured or killed during roundups during the late 1960s and
early ‘70s, officials say, and Tokitae is the last living orca
taken from Puget Sound.
“There is no way they should be getting away with putting these
mammals in captivity for a show,” Steve Solomon, Lummi Natural
Resources Commissioner, said in video segment for
WPLG Channel-10 News in Miami. “Those are our brothers and
sisters that were taken.”
Some have compared Lolita’s capture and removal with actions
surrounding Indian boarding schools, where Native American children
were taken after being forced to leave their families and give up
their native culture.
Orca Network and other groups have proposed bringing Lolita back
to Puget Sound and caring for her in a blocked-off cove on Orcas
Island until she is ready to head out into open waters, possibly
joining her own family. Orca experts believe that her mother is
Ocean Sun, or L-25, and that Lolita would be able to recognize the
voice of her mom and other L-pod whales.
The cost of the proposed sea pen on Orcas Island and moving the
whale by airplane is estimated to cost about $3 million. Howie said
he has no doubt that the money can be raised, especially with the
help of the Lummi Tribe. Orcas Island is just across Rosario Strait
from the Lummi Reservation west of Bellingham.
There is some talk that the Lummi Nation could use its treaty
rights to force action if the Miami Seaquarium continues to resist.
The Lummi are signatories to the Point Elliott Treaty, which
guarantees the right of native people to hunt, fish and gather
shellfish. Courts have ruled that tribes also have a vested right
in protecting the habitat, but their moral argument to bring Lolita
home might be stronger than their legal one.
Eric Eimstad, general manager of Miami Seaquarium, said the
killer whales in Puget Sound are listed as endangered, and there
are clear concerns about their lack of food, boat noise and
chemical runoff.
“The focus should not be on a whale that is thriving in her
environment in Miami,” Eimstad said in a
statement.
“After more than 47 years, moving Lolita from her pool, which
she shares with Pacific white-sided dolphins, to a sea pen in Puget
Sound or anywhere else would be very stressful to her and
potentially fatal,” he continued. “it would be reckless and cruel
to treat her life as an experiment and jeopardize her health to
consider such a move.”
Experts can be found on both sides of the issue, and nobody
denies that Lolita’s tank is smaller than any captive orca habitat
in the U.S.
While in Miami today, Howie was able to watch Lolita in action.
He told me that he wore a floppy hat and sunglasses to escape
notice, since he has been kicked out of Miami Seaquarium several
times for being an “activist.”
“She is looking good,” Howie said of Lolita. “It was encouraging
to see that she is not weak. In fact, she is strong. She made four
breaches up and out of the water.”
That’s a good indication that this whale could not only survive
a flight across the country, but she could thrive, he said. Any
treatments she gets, such as antibiotics, would be continued as
long as necessary.
Meanwhile, the Lummi contingent is planning a 30-day journey
throughout the country to raise awareness about the plight of
Lolita. They will take along a large totem pole of an orca, which
is now being carved.
Former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, who is hoping to be
Florida’s next governor, has signed onto the campaign to bring
Lolita home. He opened a press conference yesterday in which he was
joined by numerous supporters, including Lummi leaders.
“The time is right to do the right thing and finally free this
captured endangered whale,” Levine said. “It was my honor to host
the Lummi Nation on this historic day, as we continue the fight to
bring Tokitae home to her native waters.”
The first video on this page is a trailer for a movie in
production. Producers Geoff Schaaf and Dennie Gordon of Los Angeles
are following the Lummi involvement in the tale of Tokitae, which
they say is emblematic of the larger story about saving the salmon
and all the creatures that live in the Salish Sea.
The second and third videos make up an excellent two-part series
by reporter Louis Aguirre of Miami’s WPLG-Channel 10 News. He digs
into the controversy over Lolita, including a visit to Puget Sound
and what could be Lolita’s temporary home near Orca Island.
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission this week released two new
videos, including one that shows how tribes are using their treaty
rights to protect the environment on behalf of all Northwest
residents.
The video was released under the commission’s new communications
banner, “Northwest Treaty Tribes: Protecting Natural Resources for
Everyone.”
The video describes the Lummi Nation’s success in getting the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reject the Gateway Pacific Terminal
at Cherry Point near Bellingham. If approved, the shipping terminal
could have been the transfer point for up to 59 million tons of
Montana coal each year. The coal would be transported by train to
Cherry Point and onto ships bound for China and other Pacific Rim
countries.
The Corps of Engineers halted the permitting process last May,
saying the project was too big to be considered de minimis, and it
would violate the tribe’s treaty rights to take fish in the usual
and accustomed area. See
news release.
The video does a nice job of explaining the tribe’s position and
the ecological value of fish, including a Cherry Point herring
population that has declined so severely that it can no longer
support the food web as it once did. Also described well are the
cultural values of the Cherry Point site and longtime fishing
practices.
