Could young orca have been 'blown up' by navy?

The image alone suggests that the young orca was killed in a terrible manner -- but could it have been "blown up" during naval training exercises?

The 3-year-old female orca, which belonged to the endangered Southern Resident orcas of the Pacific Northwest, washed ashore on a beach in Washington state on Feb. 11.

Since then, speculation has increased regarding what might have killed the orca, which is known as L-112. Pressure on the U.S. Navy and Royal Canadian Navy to stop using sonar and conducting military exercises within critical orca habitat also has increased.

(There are fewer than 90 Southern Resident orcas, an extended family comprised of the J, K and L pods. They range from Monterey to northern British Columbia and utilize protected inshore waters off Puget Sound, mostly during the summer.)

The Royal Canadian Navy acknowledged using sonar off the Puget Sound/Vancouver Island area on Feb. 6, but has stated that there were no reports or indications of marine mammals in the vicinity.

A necropsy found the orca had suffered from blunt force trauma to both sides of its head and to its right side but the cause of death her not yet been determined.

Ken Balcomb, director of the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Wash., has implied that  sonar alone could not have caused such extensive damage. The researcher is quoted in the San Juan Journal as saying, "Clearly the animal was blown up."

Balcomb, in Canada's CBC News, explained that the blunt force trauma did not appear to have been caused by the bow of a ship and added that he suspects the orca was killed by an explosive device deployed by the U.S. Navy during training exercises.

"I suspect she died in U.S. waters. And probably from an explosion," said Balcomb, who is hoping a National Marine Fisheries Service investigation will provide more insight into recent naval activities. "We're seeking information about what explosions at least the navy would be aware of."

The U.S. Navy has denied using explosives in the area in February.

The Kitsap Sun's Christopher Dunagan reported: "According to a permit issued under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Navy is allowed to conduct an average of 30 bombing exercises each year. That includes the use of 500-pound Mark-82 aerial bombs — although the Navy says the actual number of exercises does not come near that number."

Joe Gaydos, a veterinarian with The SeaDoc Society who participated in the necropsy, told  Dunagan that the orca showed signs of a type of trauma that might be what a human would experience if dropped from a helicopter onto soft ground.

Blast trauma can be similar. Trauma caused by sonar is different from blunt force and blast trauma.

L-112 was "massively bloody in the ears and at the base of the ears," Balcomb said, implying that the damage was caused by a blast.

The Southern Residents will return to the Puget Sound area en masse in the summer. At that time researchers will conduct a census and try to determine if other pod members are missing.

"Chances are some other whales got killed, too," Balcomb said.

Comments

[MercuryGlass]

Tracey, the reports I heard on the news say that other folks with hydrophones heard explosions the night of the exercise in question. If that is true, then someone used ordnance and of course the U.S. Navy knows whose ordnance it was. My husband was a public affairs officer for a bit...and I know they don't tell you everything...No insult intended.

If it wasn't us, it was the Canadians. The trauma to her body wasn't a spontaneous occurrence.

There is no defense for this. The Navy is aware that these sentient animals can be silent for many hours at a time. Just because an observer on watch didn't spot them or hear them doesn't mean that they weren't nearby. You roll the dice every time you claim to know that there are no whales about.

I know the navy has to train. Chinese subs surfacing without warning among U.S. Naval vessels is disconcerting to say the least...But damn it gentlemen, the Navy needs to move their sonar and weapons training out to the Pacific and out of Puget Sound! NOW!

I'm not for it, but maybe it is finally time to satellite tag members from each pod: J, K and L so that you might have a more precise idea of where they are before one or both of our navies or coast guards starts blowing stuff up. Of course that info should only be handed out on a need to know basis...not for use by commercial operations.

Be prepared for the blowback from tens of thousands of whale watchers that travel here from all over the globe...

[Sharon McCarry]

Hi my name is Colm. I am 8 and a half and live in Montreal West. I know a lot about orca whales. I would like to learn more about the baby orca that died. Is Free Willy in the baby orca's pod? What other whales are in the pod? Why did the Navy choose to go to that place in the ocean? I think they should have been more careful. Thank you.

[Howard Garrett]

After US Navy exercises in the Bahamas killed a dozen beaked whales of different species, and a minke whale, the public affairs officers denied having used powerful sonars for about a year, until the forensic evidence became overwhelming, at which point they belatedly admitted having done so. In the case of L112, ALL the evidence points to detonation by explosives. The Navy has listening devices up and down the coast and would be aware of any such detonations, so if some other source blew up L112 (and probably her family) it would benefit the Navy to provide that information.

[Kenneth Balcomb]

The point is that the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary is part of the larger Northwest Training Range Complex that has been used for at least fifteen years as a bombing range, and for other military activities. Aside from the absurdity of conducting high explosive bombing exercises in the core foraging habitat of an endangered species, the stranding record demonstrates ample evidence of potential impacts in the form of numerous blunt force trauma victims (marine mammals) washing ashore over the years. The law requires that these strandings be investigated along with reports of the authorized military training activities so that potential impacts can be evaluated. The first ever Navy report of training activities in the NWTRC was issued July 1, 2011 and it was CLASSIFIED, rendering investigation impossible! My request was for an enforcement investigation to be conducted in which all relevant information would be forthcoming, including sensor data and classified information that is not available from public affairs officers. Who jumped to a conclusion? See our website, whaleresearch.com.

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really a bad thing!

[Tracey Moriarty]

I am a public affairs officer for the U.S. Navy's Energy and Environmental Readiness Division. I can tell you that the U.S. Navy did not conduct any training with sonar or explosives in the Pacific Northwest for at least a month before the orca stranded. Examination of the animal by state wildlife officials and private research organizations indicates the orca died just two to four days prior to stranding. So, it is inaccurate and inappropriate to jump to a conclusion that the Navy is somehow associated with the young orca's death.