Wednesday was Give BIG day in Seattle, sponsored by the Seattle Foundation. This was the first year that The Whale Trail participated – thanks to everyone who donated!

On May 24th, we’re headed up to Saturna Island for the Moby Doll Symposium. The Symposium marks the 50th anniversary of the capture of Moby Doll, which started a very sad chapter in our history with orcas. The focus of the symposium is how our attitudes about orcas have changed since then, and what we have learned. We are bringing plenty of pictures of Springer, whose story is a happy bookend to the capture era in the northwest, and living proof of a profound cultural shift.

We will also be welcoming East Point to The Whale Trail! We can’t wait to see the Lighthouse in person, and meet all the orca fans on Saturna. Of course, we will also be watching for whales. With any luck, it will look like this.

June is the start of Orca Month in Washington State, and we can’t think of a better way to kick it off than with a presentation by Erich Hoyt! Erich is coming to Seattle on June 8, to give a talk at the Hall at Fauntleroy in West Seattle, hosted by The Whale Trail. Our friends from Seal Sitters and Toxic-org will also be there, and Whale Trail core team member NOAA Fisheries. Rumor has it that a 23-ft inflatable orca may also make an appearance.

Almost everything I know about orcas, I first learned from reading Erich’s book, “Orca: The Whale Called Killer”, way back in the early 80s. I can’t wait to hear his stories in person, from the early days in Johnstone Strait to his current work in the Commander Islands, and promoting marine mammal protection areas around the world. 

Like The Whale Trail itself, bringing Erich to Seattle is a dream coming true. Thank you for being part of it. Seattle-ites, hope to see you on June 8 (buy your tickets now!). Wherever you are reading this, I hope you are enjoying a beautiful May.

See you on The Whale Trail!
Donna 

White orca “Iceberg”, Commander Islands, Far East Russia. Photo by Evgeniya Lazareva, Far East Russia Orca Project (FEROP, WDC). All rights reserved.

Erich Hoyt’s first killer whale expedition to Johnstone Strait sailed from Victoria, BC in June 1973, 40 years ago this June. He proceeded to spend parts of the next 10 summers with orcas, culminating in his now classic book Orca: The Whale Called Killer. He went on to study and work on conservation projects related to other whales, dolphins, sharks, deep sea creatures, ants and social insects, working in Costa Rica, Japan, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, Argentina, Chile and other countries. 

The whales in the worlds’ oceans are under unrelenting pressure, from increased noise, ship strikes, and hunting. The southern resident orcas (J, K and L pod) are endangered and could disappear from Northwest waters in as few as 100 years.

Are you ready for some good news? This story isn’t over yet, and you can make a difference. Contribute to The Whale Trail on May 15th and help write a better next chapter for the whales.

With your support, we’ll continue to extend the Whale Trail around the Northwest, throughout the orcas’ range. We’ll deliver the programs that are already changing awareness, and converting awareness to action.

The Whale Trail is creating a simple and powerful piece of common ground. We need your help more than ever. Make your donation dollars go farther, and give BIG to The Whale Trail on May 15th.

Whale-sized thanks to the Seattle Foundation, and everyone who is making this possible

Donna

The first Whale Trail sign to be installed on the Washington outer coast will be dedicated at Kalaloch Lodge on April 11 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm. The ceremony will feature a keynote address by Jefferson County Commissioner Phil Johnson, and representatives from Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Olympic National Park and The Whale Trail. The event is free and open to the public.

The program will also feature Hoh tribal storyteller Viola Riebe, Director of Cultural Resources. Viola was featured in the film Run to High Ground!, a Native American story about tsunamis and earthquakes, and co-author of the chapter on the Hoh Tribe in the book, Native Peoples of the Olympic Peninsula: Who We Are.

“Whale Trail signs are simple but powerful reminders that orcas and other marine mammals live in our waters,” said Donna Sandstrom, executive director of The Whale Trail. “The Kalaloch sign encourages visitors to look at this spectacular seascape with a deeper understanding of the diversity of life it supports, and our role in protecting it.”

Twenty-nine species of marine mammals live in or pass through the waters of the sanctuary. At vantage points in the Olympic National Park, visitors might spot migratory gray whales, sea lions, harbor porpoise, harbor seals, sea otters and orcas.

“I was a commercial fisherman for 12 years,” said Jefferson County Commissioner Phil Johnson. “I had the opportunity on many occasions to observe these amazing creatures up close and spotting a pod of whales was always the high point of a trip.”

“No one walks away from an encounter with an orca or grey whale without being awestruck and hopefully eager to learn more,” said Carol Bernthal, Superintendant of Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. “The health of the ocean is challenged right now by big issues like climate change and ocean acidification and it will take the political will and actions at the local and international level to make the necessary changes in policy to better protect our ocean. It starts with awareness of the need to protect these places and animals.”

“We are happy to have provided the funding and staff support for producing signs at Kalaloch, Snow Creek, and Port Angeles in partnership with The Whale Trail and Olympic National Park,” said Bernthal.

The Whale Trail sign at Kalaloch is the first sign placed within the Olympic National Park. “We are pleased to host this stop on the Whale Trail and grateful for the strong partnerships that have made this possible,” said Olympic National Park Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum.

The Whale Trail has also identified whale-viewing sites at La Push (Quileute Nation) and Cape Flattery (Makah Nation) and dozens of other sites on the Olympic Peninsula and in Puget Sound, http://thewhaletrail.org/sites.

Through its current signs alone, including two on every Washington State ferry, The Whale Trail reaches more than 22 million people each year.

CONTACT: Donna Sandstrom, The Whale Trail, (206) 919-5397 Kathy Steichen, Olympic National Park (360) 912-2770 Jacqueline Laverdure, Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (360) 457-6622 x21

Scientists recently gathered to discuss what we know – and don’t know – about these elusive animals. What is their range? What do they eat?

Like their cousins the orcas, harbor porpoise are an indicator species for the health of Puget Sound. How are they doing?

Join us for on March 28 at C&P Coffee for the next Orca Talk, featuring John Calambokidis,  founder and director of Cascadia Research. John and his colleague Jessie Huggins are leaders in the transboundary effort to assess and monitor the health of the harbor porpoise population in the Salish Sea.

John is a renown biologist who directs long-term research on the status, movements, and underwater behavior of blue, humpback, and gray whales. In 2010, John conducted the necropsy on the gray whale that stranded on Arroyo Beach in West Seattle.

What: History and Changes in Harbor Porpoise in the Salish Sea Presentation by John Calambokidis, hosted by The Whale Trail
Where:C&P Coffee Company, 5612 California Ave SW
When: Thursday March 28, 6:30 – 9
Cost: $5 suggested donation, kids free. –Tickets available at brownpapertickets.com
Contact: donna@thewhaletrail.org, 206.919.5397

Buy tickets early! Space is limited and this will likely sell out.

This is the third in a series of Orca Talks hosted by The Whale Trail in West Seattle. The event also features updates from Robin Lindsay (Seal Sitters), and Diver Laura James (tox-ick.org and Puget Soundkeeper Alliance), and photography and art from Judy Lane and Mike Russell. About the Speaker John Calambokidis is a Research Biologist and one of the founders of Cascadia Research, a non-profit research organization formed in 1979 based in Olympia, Washington. He periodically (1991-2010) serves as an Adjunct Faculty at the Evergreen State College teaching a course on marine mammals. His primary interests are the biology of marine mammals and the impacts of humans. As a Senior Research Biologist at Cascadia Research he has served as Project Director of over 100 projects. He has authored two books on marine mammals ( the award-winning Guide to Marine Mammals of Greater Puget Sound from Island Publishers, with R. Osborne and E.M. Dorsey and Blue Whales from Voyageur Press, with G.H. Steiger) as well as more than 150 publications in scientific journals and technical reports. He has conducted studies on a variety of marine mammals in the North Pacific from Central America to Alaska. He has directed long-term research on the status, movements, and underwater behavior of blue, humpback, and gray whales. His work has been covered on shows by Discovery Channel and others and is featured in a National Geographic TV special and magazine article released in March 2009.

Diver Laura James (tox-ick.org and Puget Soundkeeper’s Alliance) is featured in this PBS story about stormwater runoff and its impact on Puget Sound. Reducing volumes of and improving the quality of runoff is the key to the health of Puget Sound, which in turn is key to the survival of the southern resident orcas. The science of managing stormwater runoff is still young.  Take a look!

Watch Seattleites Make Rain Gardens to Curb Stormwater Pollution on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

The orcas were identified at transient group T002. The seals had plenty of reason to be jumpy, but not the surfers.

Orcas have never attacked humans in the wild, even during the captures when their calves were being taken from them. Let’s just put that misconception to rest!

Happy weekend, everyone - 

Read more at the Olympian (http://www.theolympian.com/2013/02/27/2440489/harbor-porpoises-making-a-comeback.html)

Thanks to Mike Sato at Salish Sea Communications for the story tip. And if you don’t already, subscribe to his daily newsletter!