By Susan Berta | Project Coordinator
Orca Network is excited to see our "Whale Sighting Network" pod increase in size and scope, with over 10,000 on our Whale Sighting Network email list; and our Orca Network Facebook page is now over 62,000 "Likes" and is a popular place for people to find out where the whales are, and to learn how to help them.
We love receiving your whale reports, and it's fun to learn about different encounters with the many species in the Salish Sea and beyond that are reported to us, often along with stunning photographs. We have created a community of caring eyes on the ocean, to share stories, actions, issues, and events with each other, all helping to increase our collective knowledge about the cetaceans who are our neighbors.
But these sightings provide more than just basic location information, or pretty pictures. The data collected through each report becomes part of our Sightings archives, and those archived reports have provided data about changing populations of orcas, humpbacks, and gray whales in our area. We have learned things about our small local Gray whale community and their prey (ghost shrimp) through changes in their feeding areas. Our sightings have shown that the Humpback whale sightings are increasing, and Transient, marine-mammal eating orcas are frequenting the inland waters of the Salish Sea more often, while the salmon-eating Resident orcas have been around less in recent years. So much so, that last summer there were fewer sightings of all three of the Southern Resident pods (J, K and L) in the San Juan and BC Gulf Islands than has ever been witnessed in the 35+ years the research and annual survey has taken place.
So enjoy watching the whales, if on a boat, remember to keep your distance (200 or more yards from orcas, 100 or more from other whales and marine mammals) and send us your whale reports and photos. And remember each report you send adds to the data so valuable to researchers who are doing their best to help our whales be healthy and well fed for future generations to come.
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