Orcasphere

It was like watching a lecture by a 19th century anthropologist just back from a scientific expedition deep in the Amazon jungle, enthralling the audience with incredible tales of outlandish natives and their curious customs.

I’ve been enjoying using orcasphere.net as a forum for sharing breaking news about southern residents, salmon, and related environment issues.  In the hopes of inspiring others to join me, this post is the first in a series that describe how I interact with the Orcasphere.  I’m even going to try screen-casting some demos! At the [...]

Today’s the last day for killer whale advocates to ensure that the southern residents get some consideration in the power plan that guides the Pacific Northwest on a 20-year horizon and won’t be reviewed for 5 years.  Currently, the complete plan PDF itself does not even include the words “orca” or  “killer whale.”  Clearly the [...]

Interesting to see the Holt et al, 2009, paper still in the popular press.  This article provides a nice summary and connects the study to the proposed orca-vessel regulations. http://www.seattlemet.com/issues/archives/articles/orcas-salmon-1109/

This story makes it clear to me that Oregon is WAY ahead of Washington on dam removal.  Whether it’s breaching of small dams like Savage Rapids or open discussion of lower Snake River Dam removal, Oregon is setting an inspirational pace in the 21st century. All this is coming from a region/State where the spotted [...]

I recently learned about a new initiative that is wirelessly networking environmental sensors on buoys around the Salish Sea.  Developed by a wireless company called Intellicheck/Mobilisa in Port Townsend, most of the buoys provide real-time weather data, video, and/or surface water measurements.  The NPB-1 buoy, however, offers real-time profile data from north-central Puget Sound (temperature, [...]

<More photos> Just back from the meeting in which NOAA invited the public to comment on the proposed rules for vessel-orca interactions.  Before a captive audience of Pacific salmon and rockfish, the 2.5 hours of public comment was dominated by the commercial whale watch, recreational and commercial fishing, and kayaking industries.  It seems like a [...]

In a bit of press coverage related to a new publication by John Ford et al. we orca advocates are again getting the confusing message: southern residents need a place at the table where Chinook salmon management is derived, but it’s sure to be nearly impossible to represent them.  I say it’s time to stop [...]

Here is a great close-up of the teeth of an offshore killer whale from Rachael Griffin’s blog.  Can you imagine the orca-shark battles and chewing that might have caused such incredible wear on so many huge teeth?!

This oregonlive.com article presents some great factoids for the orca conservationist.  These are my favorite excerpts: The total spent by the agency [BPA] since 1978 is about $12 billion. That spending shows up in your power bill. About 15 percent, or $11, of the average Nortwesterner’s monthly electricity charges goes towards salmon, according to the [...]