...with the winds and the storms we have had here the last few days, I cannot help but be grateful, grateful for where and when Rhapsody died, and grateful to the person who saw her and knew the importance to save her is the only way she could now be saved...
..if all that had not occurred we would have never known what happened, instead she would have just not returned with the rest of J pod...
...to see her on the TV news was a shock for sure...'here I am' it felt like she was saying...
...it's beyond the point of 'oh, how sad' it's beyond the point of 'cause of death undetermined'...and shrug our shoulders and move on...no!
...Rhapsody gave us her life and the life of her unborn calf...
...what more is needed?
...her breaches are now silent and they will be missed...
...were there more to those breaches that we didn't see?...
...was she telling us something but we couldn't hear?
...with our eyes or our ears not going beyond...
...but, no, the salmon call has been out for a long long time...
...please, do something now...
...it must come quickly, the whales don't have much time...
...to fix the main issue of starvation is on the line...
...now it's back to pouring over images from the last several years...already they are revealing things that might not have been known before...
..lest they be forgotten, three others in 2014 died...
Lulu L-53, was known as the L pod breacher...during the summer she would often be seen with Group B...
...we can't just remember them, something has to be done to stop all this dying.
are you familiar with 'the canary in the coal mine' phrase?...for more than 10 years the whales have been referred to like 'the canary in the coal mine'.
Miners used to take a canary in a cage down into the mine and when the canary stopped singing they had better get out or they too would die. 'an indicator' those canaries were...and that's what the whales are 'indicators' as to what has been and continues to go on...and that affects the humans...
...and that's just beyond sad...
11 comments:
So what's the answer? What can the general public do?
I am SOO sad!!!
Thanks for your question Robin.
Lots of thoughts here...Start at home - reduce, reuse, recycle on the next level deeper than you already are...and those chemicals that some people use, they go down the drain...may want to think twice. Starting there gets a person even more aware.
Link to the Center for Whale Research page and to The Whale Museum page for more on 'what you can do.' Become a member of those organizations.
Get involved with stream restoration and clean up. If you are in Puget Sound find WhaleScout - google it. Whitney is awesome and is heading up action events to clean streams. When she watches whales her motto is 'turn whale people into salmon people.' If you don't live where there are salmon streams what kind of fish live in the streams near where you live.
The C.A.L.F. workshop hosted by The Whale Museum in November...out of it came a grassroots group to take it to the legislature...contact TWM for contact info I think...
...eat salmon? where does it come from? don't know? ask. If they can't tell you say "no thank you" and buy something else. Don't be embarrassed to stand up for the orcas. Refer to the Monterey Bay Seafood watch cards - a good guide for seafood. Go fishing for Chinook salmon? Try something else maybe you'll find something sustainable and tasty too.
Live nowhere near where the whales are? Take your knowledge of these whales and go educate others about the orcas and the salmon. Over 137 species rely on salmon and humans are just one of them. The life cycle of salmon is fascinating. Teach the kids - they are the future. Each person can learn from their own surroundings and then go and teach it to another and another...
To me the easiest answer is to stop fishing these waters for salmon for 'x' number of years or greatly change the manner in which it is done...but that's one for the regulators to decide.
Hi Karen,
No words, just hugs.
One more question - should I never eat any salmon at all? I know it's just one person - but I'll do it if it helps. I know the farmed salmon is bad and the orcas like chinook. You said to ask people where it comes from? Can you please expand on that? I do everything else. If you read between my lines, I feel HELPLESS and SAD and want to help but I seriously don't know what to do as a regular Puget Sound resident myself.
Hi Robin,
It's not about never eating salmon again. By asking at a restaurant or the grocery where your salmon came from, and I'll add - if salmon species not listed what species it is-, you are being an informed consumer. You are also educating the person on the receiving end of your politely asked question. The whales don't eat all the salmon species. For example they say they don't eat Pinks. Those salmon are only 4 to 5 lbs and would be like you or me eating one piece of popcorn.
Feel your helplessness and your sadness for it is real. Then move beyond it and harness that energy in a way that no longer causes you to feel helpless or sad. Learn about the different species of salmon and which ones the SRKWs eat and at what times of year, because it does differ.
Find Whale Scout and get involved when there are stream cleanups if that interests you; Orca Network in Puget Sound for information about events and locations of the whales when they are in PS. There are other organizations as well. Explore and find one(s) that meet your interests in doing good things for the salmon and the whales.
Explore the Center for Whale Research website and The Whale Museum website to learn more about the whales. Google 137 species and find the list of what depends on the salmon. There's so much more.
It is important that you honor yourself by acknowledging your feelings. Then get moving and be an advocate for helping this community of orca whom we all dearly love.
The whales need the humans to make sure they have an abundance of food. You are becoming part of that community of people. Now take that sadness and helplessness and by the end of the day look back at what you did that was 'whale central' related.
Then do it again tomorrow and before long you will see positive results of your actions.
Don't try to do it all in one day, but instead look at it as making changes for healthier salmon which can equate to more food for the whales.
Knowledge and action (one step at a time) outweighs helpless and sadness by 1000% !
I don't have all the answers but I hope this has helped you.
Very sad jeanne!kisses and hugs from spain:((I read these news a few days ago, also at your blog:(...do you know what happened to J-32? I mean, do you know anything about the results of the necropsy? She looked healthy at the photos, jumping and pregnant...I read somewhere that may be she had complications in her status (being pregnant).
What do you think about that? Here at the mediterranean sea we had some problems with morbilliviruses that caused the dead of lots of striped dolphins:( also last year lots of botlenosed dolphins were found death in the east coast of U.S (because of polution or health issues aswell). Do you have the researchers, information about the health conditions of the killer whales at the west coast?
Have a very nice day Jeanne and keep informing us please:)
Manuel, your comments came just after I saw the preliminary necropsy report by Ken Balcomb, the head of the Center for Whale Reserach. http://www.whaleresearch.com/
or see the link on the left column of my blog.
Good morning again Jeanne! So her dead is caused by complications with her pregancy (apparently the fetus died before the mother and she had problems expelling it...). So so sad:(. There is more information that worries me a lot... The fat lawyer very thin (because of the lack of salmon), the significant levels of pollution in those whales and that you only have there 12 reproductive females!
I hope people and the government will make something to protect this whales! They must do it! You have a privilege having those whales, that nature, and it would be an incredible lose not only for US and Canada but for the whole planet if they finally dissapear:(. Hope I could make something more than stay at home writing here (it's always a pleasure to write at your blog but I'm sure you know what I mean)...
What about the other pods Jeanne? All those bad news can be aplied also for the rest of the residents in vancouver island?
Hi Manuel from Spain.
Replying to your comment at about 3:30a.m. my time, I have been hearing J Pod on the Lime Kiln hydrophones for the last 40 minutes.
In answer to your question, this applies to J, K, and L pods - who are salmon eaters. The transients, the ones I think you are asking about, eat marine mammals, which are abundant all year long, yet they say that the transients carry a higher toxin load than the SRKWs. And since they have an abundance of food they don't need to take from their fat layer. The Center for Whale Research are the experts, so keep aware of their information.
Whales gone from the hydrophones now...going back to sleep...
Ohhhh!!! I'm also on the hidrophones!but now no luck...i will try later:)thanks for the information jeanne! Good night and sleep well:)(waiting for your book!:))
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