Tag Archives: satellite tagging

J pod will be tracked by satellite again this year

A 24-year-old male orca named Blackberry, designated J-27, has been carrying a satellite transmitter since Monday, allowing experts to track the movements of J pod.

Map of J-27 shows 38 hours of travel, ending travels from 9:43 a.m. today. Downloaded by Robin Baird
Map of J-27 shows 38 hours of travel, ending at 9:43 a.m. today. // Downloaded by Robin Baird

The research project, started in 2011 and led by Brad Hanson of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, is designed to figure out where J pod goes in winter and early spring. J pod does not seem to travel far down the West Coast, as K and L pods do.

As luck would have it, the satellite tag was in place Wednesday when a portion of J pod headed into East Sound on the south side of Orcas Island. A day later, they were seen by observers with a new calf, J-50, which I reported in Water Ways yesterday and updated today. Nobody seems to recall the whales ever going into that waterway, as suggested by comments to a post on Orca Network’s Facebook page yesterday at 5:19 p.m. It’s long been speculated that orcas seek out calm waters, when possible, to give birth.

The mother of J-50 is still a mystery, though it could be solved as observers notice which adult female is spending the most time with the young animal.

After J-27 was tagged about equidistant from Sequim, Whidbey Island, San Juan Island and Victoria, the whales worked their way through the islands near the Canadian border, then moved north to Texada Island in the Strait of Georgia, east of Comox, B.C. As of this morning, they were still traveling around that general vicinity, as you can see from the map on this page and previous maps on the project’s webpage. The page called “2015 Southern Resident Killer Whale Satellite Tagging” also contains information about the project’s goals.

I have written about these tagging efforts and the controversy surrounding them since permits were first proposed under the Endangered Species Act. You’ll find last year’s stories and links to previous stories in Water Ways on Jan. 3, 2014, and later on Jan. 14, 2014. You can also search the blog for “satellite and orcas” to find just about everything I’ve blogged about on the topic.

J-27 and other members of J pod moved into East Sound near Orcas Island on Monday. The cluster of points represent travels between 4 and 5 a.m. the next morning. A newborn orca was spotted Wednesday.
J-27 and other members of J pod moved into Orcas Island’s East Sound on Monday. The cluster of points represents travels between 4 and 5 a.m. the next morning. A newborn orca was observed on Wednesday. // Downloaded by Robin Baird

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J pod orcas head out to Pacific Ocean

For the past 10 days, L-87, and presumably J pod, seemed happy to just hang out around Texada Island in Canada’s Strait of Georgia. Then they headed south around the southern end of Vancouver Island and into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, according to researchers with the NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

orcas 1-14

As of this morning, the killer whales had just entered the open ocean, as shown in the map on this page.

L-87, a 22-year-old male orca who travels with J pod, has been tracked by satellite since Dec. 26, when researchers attached a transmitter to his dorsal fin in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. See Water Ways, Jan. 3, 2014.

The pod’s movements around Texada Island can be seen on the series of maps updated every few days by the researchers, led by Brad Hanson. Check out 2014 Southern Resident Killer Whale Satellite Tagging.

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Researchers launch winter tracking of killer whales

UPDATE: Tracking J pod from 6 p.m. Monday to 9 a.m. Thursday, using a satellite tag attached to J-26. This is the northwest corner of Washington state, with Vancouver Island to the north.
Map: National Marine Fisheries Service

A team of killer whale researchers is tracking J pod by satellite, after attaching a special radio tag to J-26, a 21-year-old male named “Mike.”

Brad Hanson, who is leading the research team from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, said the tagging occurred Monday without incident as darkness fell over the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

“This is really exciting,” Brad told me today by cell phone from the NOAA research ship Bell M. Shimada. “This is something we have been planning on doing for quite a few years now. Everything worked out to encounter the animals in decent weather condition.”

The map above shows where the whales have traveled since Monday afternoon. A website showing the tracks, including an explanation of the project, will be updated roughly once a day.

The goal is to learn where the Southern Resident killer whales go in winter, what they’re eating and why they choose certain areas to hang out. Until now, these questions could not be answered well, because winter sightings were fairly limited.

When I talked to Brad about 4 p.m. Wednesday, the Shimada was towing an acoustic array near Port Angeles, as the researchers listened for the sounds of killer whales that might venture into the strait.

J pod was fairly spread out Monday during the tagging operation, and visibility was low Tuesday during heavy rains. As the whales headed out into the ocean, the crew decided to stay in the strait to avoid 20-foot seas and heavy winds off the coast. They could have followed the whales out, Brad said, but the satellite tag allows the crew to keep track of their location. In rough seas, there’s a risk that the research equipment will be damaged.

“Everything is weather-dependent,” Brad said. “Our plan is to try to catch up with them as soon as we can.”

The goal is to collect fecal samples and fish scales — as the researchers do in summer when the whales are in the San Juan Islands.

“That data is extremely valuable in determining the species of fish,” he said, “and if it’s chinook, what stocks are important.”

The satellite tagging has been controversial among some researchers and killer whale advocates, but it was approved following a study of the potential risks and benefits. See Water Ways entries from 2010:

Orca tagging raises questions about research, Dec. 8, 2010

Orca researchers divided over use of satellite tags, Dec. 28, 2010

The researchers are scheduled to be out with the whales until March 7.

“We’re keeping our options open,” Brad said. “We will spend as much time with Js as we can. It looks like we could get one low-pressure system after another, as is typical for February, but we might get a break on Friday. Sometimes we’ll get these holes in the weather system.

“Right now, we’re basically hanging out in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. If other animals come in, we hope to detect that.”

The tagging permit allows for up to six orcas to be tracked each year, but nobody expects the number of tagged animals to be close to that.

Data from the satellite transmitter is relayed to a weather satellite as it passes over. The information is then transferred to a processing center that determines the location of the transmitter. Through the process, the information gets delayed a few hours.

Also on board the research vessel are seabird biologists and other experts taking samples of seawater and zooplankton and collecting basic oceanographic data.

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Orca researchers divided over use of satellite tags

Early in December, I wrote about a plan to attach satellite transmitters to selected Puget Sound killer whales by shooting darts into their dorsal fins. At the time, lots of people offered questions and concerns, but few had taken a strong position. See my story in the Kitsap Sun of Dec. 5.

Since then, Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research and others involved in research, education and advocacy have come out against the tagging program as currently proposed. On the other hand, several other researchers are encouraging the federal government to push the tagging program forward.

After 140 days, marks are apparent where barbs of satellite tag entered the dorsal fin of the transient killer whale known as T-30.
Click to enlarge

As Ken explained it to me, his bottom line is that the information gathered by tracking the whales by satellite may not be worth the injury caused by shooting barbed darts into the whales’ fins. He argues that more follow-up investigation is needed into the short- and long-term effects of the darts, which eventually work their way out.

Ken was actually the first to apply for a permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service to conduct the tagging program with barbed darts. While not wishing to criticize his fellow researchers, Balcomb said he had been overly assured that the risk of injury was exceedingly small.

“I was shown pictures of almost-healed wounds,” Ken told me. “I was given assurance that there was not an issue. I didn’t even think about these titanium leaves coming out and leaving a hole that size (in the fin).”

The current design of the dart used to attach satellite transmitters to killer whales.

The turning point was when Ken saw a photo of a transient killer whale, T-30, who had carried one of the satellite tags. (See the picture, above right.) He said the long-term scarring was “ugly and unacceptable to me personally,” and he believed that many whale supporters also would object.

Ken turned down the approved tagging permit — in part because it was granted as an amendment to his existing permit for photographing and identifying orcas as part of his ongoing census. If unacceptable injury were to occur to the subject whales, he said, his entire permit could be suspended. That, in turn, would prevent him from continuing the identification work he has done for more than 30 years.

Ken elaborated in a Dec. 18 letter written to the National Marine Fisheries Service:
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