“Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed; if we permit the last virgin forests to be turned into comic books and plastic cigarette cases; if we drive the few remaining members of the wild species into zoos or to extinction; if we pollute the last clear air and dirty the last clean streams and push our paved roads through the last of the silence, so that never again will Americans be free in their own country from the noise, the exhausts, the stinks of human and automotive waste.” — Wallace Stegner, letter to David E. Pesonen of the Wildland Research Center, 3 December 1960

The end of 2005 has been stricken by ecological markers great and small - worthy of two quotes instead of one as we start the New Year.

Fisheries Agency Lists Puget Sound Killer Whales As Endangered
   On Nov. 15, a group of killer whales that visits Puget Sound every summer, often staying and feeding in our local Dyes Inlet, was listed as an endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries Service).

Known officially as Southern Resident killer whales, they were proposed a year ago for “threatened” status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). A species listed as threatened is at risk of becoming endangered; an endangered species is one at risk of extinction.

“Recent information and further analysis leads our agency to conclude that the Southern Resident killer whale population is at risk of extinction, and should be listed as endangered,” said Bob Lohn, regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries Service's Northwest region. “By giving it protection under the ESA, we have a better chance of keeping this population alive for future generations.”

All killer whales are members of the toothed-whale family and belong to the same genus and species, Orcinus orca. However, there are two forms of killer whale found in Puget Sound, called “residents” and “transients.” Some taxonomists believe that some differences between forms of killer whales may be great enough to further sub-divide the species.

As the terms transient and resident imply, the two forms of killer whales have different behavior and movement patterns, but both forms can be found seasonally in Puget Sound. Transient killer whales travel in smaller groups (called “pods”) and hunt other marine mammals for food.

Resident killer whales spend more time in the Sound, travel in larger pods and eat mostly fish. Southern Resident killer whales are fish eating with a seasonal (summer) home range that includes Washington and southern British Columbia waters (Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the southern Strait of Georgia). Along the north Pacific coast, resident killer whales occur from Oregon and Washington to the Bering Sea. In the Pacific Northwest, the two closest resident killer whale communities (groups of pods that share a common home range), are the Southern Residents and the Northern Residents, which live in northern British Columbia and southeast Alaska.

The Southern Resident killer whale population experienced a 20 percent decline in the 1990s, raising concerns about its future. Many members of the group were captured during the 1970s for commercial display aquariums.

The group continued to be put at risk from vessel traffic, toxic chemicals and limits on availability of food, especially salmon. It has only a small number of sexually mature males. Because the population historically has been small, it is susceptible to catastrophic risks, such as disease or oil spills.

Southern Resident killer whales already are protected, as are all marine mammals, by a 1972 law, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, under which the whales were officially listed as a depleted stock more than two years ago. A proposed conservation plan required by the depleted designation was published last month laying out the steps needed to restore the population to full health.

The new listing under the ESA will require federal agencies to make sure their actions are not likely to harm the whales. NOAA Fisheries Service said its ongoing efforts to restore salmon stocks in Puget Sound should benefit the whales. Other federal agencies' efforts are likely to focus on toxic chemicals and vessel traffic.

The population peaked at 97 animals in the 1990s and then declined to 79 in 2001. It currently stands at 89 whales, including a solitary male that has taken up residence in a small inlet in British Columbia.

Although researchers have collected more than 30 years' worth of information on the Southern Residents, agency biologists said there are major gaps in knowledge, such as where the animals go when they're not in local waters. Because killer whales may live up to 90 years in the wild, existing data doesn't cover even one full life span for older animals. Research by NOAA Fisheries Service scientists to fill these gaps will continue, the agency said.

Killer whales grow to considerable size. The males can reach lengths of 25 feet or more and weigh 10,000 pounds. Females are typically a little smaller. They range all over the world, including the Atlantic Ocean and as far north as Iceland, as far south as Antarctica.

Most of the information we have about Southern Resident killer whales has been collected in Puget Sound during the summer months. Very little is known about their movements or feeding areas during the winter. In 1999, for the first time, scientists observed resident whales from Puget Sound as far south as Monterey, California.

As far as we know, the number of Southern Resident killer whales has never been large, perhaps numbering between 100 and 200 before 1960. Live captures of whales from the Southern Resident community, for the public display industry, reduced the number to fewer than 70 in 1973, when an annual killer whale census of the population began. The 2003 census counted 84 Southern Residents, including a solitary killer whale that has been living off Canada's Vancouver Island since 2001. The 2003 number doesn't include two calves spotted that year; they won't be officially added to the population unless they are seen again in 2005. The peak number was reached in 1996 when 97 whales were counted. There is no comprehensive worldwide estimate of the total number of killer whales.

NOAA Fisheries Service is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation's living marine resources and their habitats through scientific research, management and enforcement. NOAA Fisheries Service provides effective stewardship of these resources for the benefit of the nation, supporting coastal communities that depend upon them, and helping to provide safe and healthy seafood to consumers and recreational opportunities for the American public.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners and nearly 60 countries to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes.

For more information and updates on the Web visit: This Link; NOAA Fisheries Service: www.nmfs.noaa.gov or NOAA at: www.noaa.gov.

South Dyes Inlet Restoration Project Underway
   The South Dyes Inlet Restoration Project kicked off with a public meeting on Dec. 8, 2005 at the Kitsap Lake Elementary School Library in Bremerton. With funding from the Washington State Department of Ecology and Kitsap County Surface and Storm Water Management Program (SSWM), the Health District will work to reduce pollution levels in South Dyes Inlet to protect recently opened shellfish beds.

In 2003, the Washington State Department of Health upgraded half of Dyes Inlet's 3,000 acres of shellfish beds. The upgrade was the result of efforts by Kitsap County, the City of Bremerton, the Health District, and the Kitsap Conservation District to fix pollution sources.

Health District water quality data shows that Ostrich Bay Creek and Phinney Bay Creeks are among the most polluted creeks in Kitsap County for fecal coliform bacteria. Bacterial pollution sources can include storm water runoff, failing sewer infrastructure, failing septic systems, and pet and urban wildlife waste.

During the next two years, property owners and tenants in the Ostrich Bay Creek and Phinney Bay Creek basins will be asked to participate in pollution reduction efforts. Health District staff will contact residents to arrange a brief meeting on their property, provide septic records and tips to get the most life out of septic systems, and general information on protecting water quality. Staff will also provide free technical assistance regarding the repair of failing septic systems.

For more information, Ostrich Bay Creek residents can contact Michael Drew at (360) 337-5626, drewm@health.co.kitsap.wa.us, and Phinney Bay Creek residents can contact Leslie Banigan at (360) 337-5627, banigl@health.co.kitsap.wa.us.

City Of Poulsbo To Address Sewage Spills
   The third sewage spill in less than 10 months occurred at the Marine Science Center pump station in downtown Poulsbo on Dec. 10. After a visit by the Public Works staff, raw sewage erupted from a manhole cover between the pump station and a nearby restaurant. The 1000-gallon spill was attributed to a power outage exacerbated by failures in the City's telemetry system that would have monitored the operation, human error, and lack of training on behalf of Public Works department personnel to conduct proper emergency procedures.

A 532,621-gallon spill of raw sewage discharged from a hole in the 4,000 ft iron ductile pipe between Lindvig Road and the Marine Science Center leaked into Liberty Bay undetected for 21 days before being reported on Sept. 29. A large amount of sewage was reported to the Kitsap County Health District (KCHD) just 150 yards north of that site along the same line back in March of 2005 prompting questions as to the aging sewer main by a local environmental group.

The recent report of raw sewage in Liberty Bay due to this calamity of errors and poor environmental emergency protocols in place has caused harsh criticism as to where the City's priorities lie. Of concern is whether if they had acted sooner to provide the City with the environmental safeguards it needed following the greatest catastrophe in its 120-year history, whether this latest tragedy could have been averted. An editorial published in the local North Kitsap Herald entitled “The Bay versus the budget battle” enlightened its readers as to just what one gallon of milk looks like in a supermarket explaining, “imagine there aren't 30 or 40 such containers but about 1000… of untreated sewage running up manholes and down into Liberty Bay.”

It went on to say, “The point is that no matter whether we're spilling more than a half-million gallons or a thousand, the City of Poulsbo needs to put this problem at the top of its to-do-list. We suggested it take care of the problem soon after the September incident. It didn't happen. Gotta wait for the 2006 budget the city council reasoned. As the governing body of Poulsbo, we feel they failed residents by not acting sooner. The Public Works department should have been directed to immediately review any and all potential shortfalls in the system. Apparently, the health of Liberty Bay isn't a top priority of the city council and mayor,” concluding that “In the meantime the environment has taken a back seat to development plans (i.e. Olhava… a new city hall.) in Poulsbo.”

Public works Director Jeff Lincoln is expected to propose a budget increase to cover the increased costs needed to bring all of the city's water and sewer installations on to the new telemetry unit, provide training to personnel, to review emergency procedures, and to change inspection and reporting requirements.

Here's hoping that all of these agencies keep their resolutions and make 2006 a banner year for the environment. Happy New Year.