Question re orcas in the PNW

[Windwalker]

Orcas don't like the taste of neoprene.

The only case I know of where a wild orca bit a human was a reseacher in Argentina who was studying seals and sea lions. It seems that the orca grabbed him in the mess of bodies and promptly spit him out.

I'm not afraid of being bit.. Orca are Friendly animals, they are curious too (sometimes). My main fear is not being noticed by the orca and getting hit by a tail. or Squashed between two of them. I have seen them up close, and I am sure they don't mean harm, but their innocence might turn their Orca play into a sinister game of dead diver.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

There are actually three resident pods ... and the occasional transient pod. Resident pods (J, K, and L ... if I recall properly) eat salmon. The transients come in and thin out the seal population.

I just saw on the news this morning that there's currently a transient pod somewhere quite close to the Seattle area (the residents typically stay out near the San Juan Islands).

I'm with Windwalker ... imagine having 9 tons of exuberant orca breaching (and landing) in your vicinity ... :dropmouth

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[IndigoBlue]

... imagine having 9 tons of exuberant orca breaching (and landing) in your vicinity ... :dropmouth

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

That would strike me as one of those once in a lifetime experiences that I would treasure more than almost anything. Even with only 10 ft vis.

 

[archman]

The single most important factor why attacks from killer whales are so rare is that you have almost nobody willingly to dive with them. EVERYBODY frowns on it. Unlike sharks, most divers and dive ops can figure out if a pod's coming into an area... if so they very rarely do the dive, nutty wildlife videographers excepted.

 

[Delta_P]

Vis is supposedly cloudy and less than 15 ft, due to conditions in the strait. But with the abundance of orcas, it should be possible to freedive or scuba among the orcas.

Anyone know of any diving ops that go there for orca tours?

We have laws against interfering with whales like this. A tour operator on the southern end of the island was recently fined $6,000 for getting too close to a pod. Even with your favourable exchange rate you'd still need to leave a hell of a tip to make up for it.

 

[Rick Inman]

Hel-looo! And the name of this forum is...????

 

[IndigoBlue]

We have laws against interfering with whales like this. A tour operator on the southern end of the island was recently fined $6,000 for getting too close to a pod. Even with your favourable exchange rate you'd still need to leave a hell of a tip to make up for it.

Do you know what the distance requirement is?

Surface photography may be the only feasibility.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Last time I checked ... which was about 3 years ago, there was no "distance requirement" with regard to proximity. The rule (and I'm not even sure it's a law) is that you turn off your engine within 100 yards of a pod. If you are lucky, they will come to you ... I've had them swim directly underneath our boat and breach so close that everybody on board got wet.

Sea kayakers routinely approach orcas, which I would not do because sea kayaks are quiet ... the orca cannot hear them approaching ... and it's not smart to startle a wild animal that outweighs you by orders of magnitude.

FWIW - I know of one diver ... who posts here on occasion ... who dropped off the stern of a dive charter into a pod once. This happened off the coast of Quadra Island. He didn't gear up ... just grabbed his fins, mask, and snorkel and stepped off the boat. Canada, however, has different proximity rules ... up in the Gulf Islands I've witnessed those large RIB whale-watching boats almost run over an orca trying to get close enough so their clients could take pictures.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[archman]

Clauses 18, 19 and 20 of the Marine Mammal Protection Regulations 1992

18. Conditions governing commercial operators and behaviour of all persons around any marine mammal - Every commercial operator and every person coming into contact with any class of marine mammal, shall comply with the following conditions:

(a) Persons shall use their best endeavours to operate vessels, vehicles, and aircraft so as not to disrupt the normal movement or behaviour of any marine mammal

(b) Contact with any marine mammal shall be abandoned at any stage if it becomes or shows signs of becoming disturbed or alarmed

(c) No person shall cause any marine mammal to be separated from a group of marine mammals or cause any members of such a group to be scattered

(d) No rubbish or food shall be thrown near or around any marine mammal

(e) No sudden or repeated change in the speed or direction of any vessel or aircraft shall be made except in the case of emergency

(f) Where a vessel stops to enable the passengers to watch any marine mammal, the engines shall be either placed in neutral or be switched off within a minute of the vessel stopping

(g) No aircraft engaged in a commercial aircraft operation shall be flown below 150 metres (500 feet) above sea level, unless taking off or landing

(h) When operating at an altitude of less than 600 metres (2000 feet) above sea level, no aircraft shall be closer than 150 metres (500 feet) horizontally from a point directly above any marine mammal or such lesser or greater distance as may be approved by the Director-General by notice in the Gazette, from time to time based on the best available scientific evidence

(i) No person shall disturb or harass any marine mammal

(j) Vehicles must remain above the mean high water spring tide mark and shall not approach within 50 metres of a marine mammal unless in an official carpark or on a public or private slipway or on a public road

(k) No person, vehicle, or vessel shall cut off the path of a marine mammal or prevent a marine mammal from leaving the vicinity of any person, vehicle, or vessel

(1) Subject to paragraph (m) of this regulation, the master of any vessel less than 300 metres from any marine mammal shall use their best endeavours to move their vessels at a constant slow speed no faster than the slowest marine mammal in the vicinity, or at idle or "no wake" speed (m) Vessels departing from the vicinity of any marine mammal shall proceed slowly at idle or "no wake" speed until the vessel is at least 300 metres from the nearest marine mammal, except that, in the case of dolphins, vessels may exceed idle or "no wake" speed in order to outdistance the dolphins but must increase speed gradually and shall not exceed 10 knots within 300 metres of any dolphin

(n) Pilots of aircraft engaged in a commercial aircraft operation shall use their best endeavours to operate the aircraft in such a manner that, without compromising safety, the aircraft's shadow is not imposed directly on any marine mammal

19. Special conditions applying to whales - In addition to complying with the provisions set out in regulation 18 of these regulations, every commercial operation and every person coming into contact with whales shall also comply with the following conditions

(a) No person in the water shall be less than 100 metres from a whale unless authorised by the Director-General
(b) No vessel shall approach within 50 metres of a whale, unless authorised by the Director-General

(c) If a whale approaches a vessel, the master of the vessel shall, wherever practicable -

(i) Manoeuvre the vessel so as to keep out of the path of the whale, and

(ii) Maintain a minimum distance of 50 metres from the whale

(d) No vessel or aircraft shall approach within 300 metres (1000 feet) of any whale for the purpose of enabling passengers to watch the whale, if the number of vessels or aircraft, or both, already positioned to enable passengers to watch that whale is 3 or more

(e) Where 2 or more vessels or aircraft approach an unaccompanied whale, the masters concerned shall co-ordinate their approach and manoeuvres, and the pilots concerned shall co-ordinate their approach and manoeuvres

(f) No person or vessel shall approach within 200 metres of any female baleen or sperm whale that is accompanied by a calf or calves

(g) A vessel shall approach a whale from a direction that is parallel to the whale and slightly to the rear of the whale

(h) No person shall make any loud or disturbing noise near whales

(i) Where a sperm whale abruptly changes its orientation or starts to make short dives of between 1 and 5 minutes duration without showing its tail flukes, all persons, vessels, and aircraft shall forthwith abandon contact with the whale

20. Special conditions applying to dolphins or seals - In addition to complying with the conditions set out in Regulation 18 of these regulations, any commercial operation and any person coming into contact with dolphins or seals shall also comply with the following conditions:

(a) No vessel shall proceed through a pod of dolphins:

(b) Persons may swim with dolphins and seals but not with juvenile dolphins or a pod of dolphins that includes juvenile dolphins
(c) Commercial operators may use an airhorn to call swimmers back to the boat or to the shore

(d) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this regulation no person shall make any loud or disturbing noise near dolphins or seals

 

[archman]

Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, dolphins are pretty loose on the regulation side. But seeing as how most pods are the maternity type and usually have juveniles present, you're not supposed to dive with 'em. Of course most people can't tell the difference between an adult and a juvenile, or aren't even aware of these regulations. I'm embarrassed to say that I wasn't very clear on it until looking it up just now. Yes, ME.

Technically killer whales are just abnormally large dolphins. I don't know if this is how the Act sees it. They might fall under the much stricter rules for whales.

Local regulations may also come into effect. I know the Puget Sound resident pods are being lobbied for special protection do to their genetic distinctiveness.