By Yereth Rosen
Anchorage, Alaska - American officials said on Thursday they are granting special protection to a small group of Alaska killer whales that have dwindled in number since some members were seen swimming through oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill.
The AT-1 killer whales, which bear distinctive black and white markings, make special calls to each other and differ genetically from other whales, have been designated as depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the National Marine Fisheries Service said.
That listing authorises the federal agency to create a conservation plan for the whale stock, which numbered 22 in 1984 but is now down to eight or nine and is not producing any calves.
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| 'We need to see what we can do to aid their recovery' |
"The number of animals in this group has dramatically decreased since 1989 to the point where this particular stock of killer whales may disappear from the ocean," Dr James Balsiger, Alaska regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, said in a news release. "We need to see what we can do to aid their recovery."
The whales swim between Prince William Sound and the waters of Kenai Fjords National Park, both areas affected by the 11 million gallon (42 million litre) 1989 spill.
The AT-1 transient killer whales feed on porpoises and seals. Their diet, behaviour and calls are different from those of the approximately 362 fish-eating resident killer whales in Prince William Sound and Kenai Fjords, according to the agency. Killer whales are also known as orcas.
The depleted designation comes in response to a petition filed in 2002 by environmentalists.
Brent Plater, staff attorney for the Centre for Biological Diversity, one of the petitioners, said he was pleased with the action.
"This is a monumental moment in the management of marine mammals," Plater said. "It's the first time that the federal government has ever recognised that transient killer whales are not just one gigantic, amorphous population in the gigantic ocean."
Up to now, the AT-1 stock had been managed as part of the broader population of 346 transient killer whales that roam the eastern North Pacific, the National Marine Fisheries Service said.
Just what is ailing the AT-1 whales remains unclear, Plater said. The problems appear much deeper than encounters 15 years ago with spilled oil, he said.
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