Meeting with the Lummi nation for southern orcas

Meeting with the Lummi nation for southern orcas
22.08.2019
San Juan Islands
Meeting with the Lummi nation for southern orcas
Natural habitat

The San Juan Islands, Orca, Lopez, were the Lummi People’s territory for more than 4500 years when the Europeans arrived. They were left only a piece of land on the mainland near to a swamp. These native American people, who are very in touch with Nature, considering the orcas of the South as their brothers and sisters « who live under water », this constitutes the Lummi nation. They invited us to a ceremony of rare depth.

We met with them shortly after filing a complaint for the release of Lolita, their sister who was taken prisoner in the waters of the Salish Sea in 1970 and has since been held at the Miami Seaquarium. They claim that it should be returned to them. For them, this capture is a theft from their heritage, and more. We told them of our concern about Inouk, and told them about our fight in memory of Valentin and Freya, who died in the pools of the French park Marineland. They greeted us generously and spoke words for them during the ceremony.

Brothers and sisters of the orcas

Shells poured from one hand to another, in a shamanic trance, Richard Salomon told us how the ancestor of his people went underwater dressed in a black and white coat like an orca, and lived their for a while. One day, he came back, put down his « orca coat », and became a human again. According to the legend, he asked his grand-mother if he could go back with the orcas. She agreed at one condition that he brought food to her every day.

So, each year, at the same time, they visit him, with as an offering a wild royal salmon, called Chinook, just freshly caught and to whom they gave his freedom.

A profound honour to attend this sacred ceremony

Invited to attend this traditional and very moving ceremony in tribute to the recently-deceased Southern Resident Killer Whales, Scoter (K25), Nyssa (L84) and Princess Angeline (J17) (Tahlequah‘s mother, bereaved, inconsolable of the death of her baby) we could see how dramatic the situation was. No royal salmon could be found near the fishermen that day because none had been caught. No southern orcas, either. And for good reason..

The extinction of the royal salmon entails the extinction of the Southern Resident Killer Whales

Between Seattle and Vancouver, off the coast of Anacortes, the Salish Sea has, over time, been drained of its abundant fish. The Lummi are also fighting against the construction of a pipeline wanted by Canada. The maritime area is already crisscrossed with tankers, which are so polluting and noisy… We came across so many during the few hours of the ceremony that it was difficult to count them. They will be seven times more numerous once the pipeline is in operation.

With the last three deaths-officialised on August 6^th, 2019 by the Centre for Whale Research-after a month without being seen anywhere, the last resident orcas of the South have gone from 76 to 73 individuals. Their survival is hanging by a thread

The ceremony still took place without salmon or orcas. A stone’s throw away from the beach where his people lived for thousands of years, near a promontory which is a sacred burial site, surrounded by the Lummi police, a documentary team and our team, the shaman intoned the sacred songs, these calls and thanks to Nature accompanied by dances, movements taken from crabs with pincers raised up to the sky. A shocking moment in the face of the courage of this people who refuse to give up hope for those they consider their family. To save the orcas, according to the Lummi as for us, it is clear that humanity must listen to its heart and stop seeking profit at all costs.

Whale Prison: three new orcas have been released

Whale Prison: three new orcas have been released
19.08.2019
îles Shantar
Whale Prison: three new orcas have been released
Natural habitat

The release of three new orcas from a « Whale Prison » took place last August 6th despite some resistance or even sabotage…

As one witness recalls: « The orcas were ready to go to sea immediately after they were back in the water. A floating pen had been prepared, but it did was not necessary. They were released from their containers directly offshore, the three orcas were seen circling near to the shore in a tight formation, appearing once then plunging below the surface. It was amazing! »

It is difficult indeed to imagine the immense happiness of these prisoners who have finally found the ocean after a year of suffering. But if this operation is to be announced as a success, it has not always been the case, alas, previous transfers were not the same.

On June 20th, the first convoy

On June 20th, the first convoy left Srednyaya Bay for the Shantar Islands region, taking with it three orcas and six beluga whales. They had endured a particularly difficult journey. We saw images of one beluga being lifted by a crane and leaving a puddle of blood on the floor. Cetaceans were thrown into the sea like objects, while their muscles were still stiff from the long days spent under the sun in metal containers. These terrible scenes have aroused the indignation of experts and from social media. And yet, if we are to believe the satellite beacons, the three orcas released then would have taken the right direction, away from their place of capture.

July 16th, a second disturbing transfer

Since then, orders from above have been administered, because on July 16th, the second transfer was less brutal. This time there were only three orcas. The journey was faster and their release was partially filmed. Two adult orcas have in turn returned to freedom. They unfortunately had to leave behind little Alexandra, too fearful, too attached to humans no doubt, to dare to follow them off. She begged the fishermen for a few days for her fish, but according to the most recent information, she is now heading for Sakhalin and feeding by herself.

August 1st, beginning of the third transfer of orcas

It ended six days later with the obviously successful release of Tihon, Gaika and Zoya, released into the Okhotsk Sea. For the first time, observers from Greenpeace Russia were able to monitor the release process. Pampered like queens, the orcas even had the privilege of being refreshed by ice in their container. They departure in formation, straight out to sea, gives hope for the best in regards to the success of their journey.

A fourth release is coming

Two orcas and eighty-one belugas are still waiting in their enclosures of the whale prison. In the coming days, a fourth release is planned. There is not much time left until winter, but there are still a lot of captive beluga whales waiting to be counted again, and their future is very worrying.

Concerns also, rumours that tell us that besides Cyril, a second killer whale would have died in his enclosure or that a beluga whale was found floating not far from the beach. Some even claim that the two belugas recently flown to the first Tibetan Dolphinarium were part of the June convoy.

Entrusting the rehabilitation of the ten orcas and the 87 belugas to their former kidnappers, under the complicit supervision of the scientific institute VNIRO with the Russian justice system, there was bound to be some resistance or sabotage.

It is good that President Putin is vigilant, especially with animal rights defenders and international opinions. Regardless of the concerns that follow-on from releases, especially from belugas, One Voice is pleased to see eight orcas already making successful inroads to their group and their families. The « Russian method » is certainly cavalier but sometimes it works!

Here the ocean is dying, and the southern orcas with it

Here the ocean is dying, and the southern orcas with it
13.08.2019
San Juan Island
Here the ocean is dying, and the southern orcas with it
Natural habitat

The end of a world. Southern residents killer whales have not been seen for weeks off San Juan Island. Overfishing and dams are starving them out, there are no more fish or so little in this sea that was once the cradle for hundreds of them. Here it is a species that is dying, the very one that has also paid a heavy price to the captive entertainment industry. We are there with our scientific partners, to try to save them.

We are here facing a beautiful landscape. The sun spreads its rays upon a rock face which projects into the Salish Sea, west of Seattle, on the northern edge of the United States. Here the Pacific Ocean surrounds the islands San Juan, Lopez, Victoria and Orca. And yet…

Last year again, humpback whales or Minke whales shared this marine territory with seals, porpoises and Southern resident killer whales. The transient orcas were only passing through this period, as migratory birds do elsewhere.

In the sky, seagulls, of course, but also guillemots and puffins with beaks of a resplendent colour, as well as the majestic bald eagles (the « American eagle ») who over look them all from above the top of pine trees at the edge of the coast.

The sky is almost empty and the sea, almost flat.

This year has a bitter taste. Ken Balcomb, whom we joined at the Centre for Whale Research (CWR), of which One Voice is a member, confirms what we feared: there are no more fish. Not enough to feed all of this exceptional wildlife anyway. Southern orcas need more than sixty kilos of fish a day. For the sake of saving energy, their appetite is more for the larger fish, like for example the royal salmon. Overfishing prevents the renewal of the species, dams built upstream of the large rivers prevent the salmon from returning to their spawning grounds. The few who reach there are fished in the artificial lakes created by these dams and never reach the ocean, where the killer whales are dying one after another. Royal salmon and the orcas of the South are all slowly dying.

Lolita’s family, pods J, K and L, as they are known, have been decimated. No viable offspring has survived now for three years. Neither Tahlequah’s baby nor Scarlet … In the past, they had time to sleep and play. Now everything is centred on foraging, and the intense stress of hunger that plagues them all.

It’s a tragedy that is played out on deaf ears

But other orcas are visible and are doing, very well. These are the « transient » orcas. They spend every summer in the Salish Sea, and do not suffer from starvation because they feed upon mammals and not fish. Tourists looking to see orcas are not disappointed… And no one wants to spoil their fun by telling them about the invisible drama unfolding that is the orcas of the South. However, it is of the utmost urgency that people know this on this naturally wonderful site, as for the different tigers (Bengal, Sumatra, Bali, Siberia…), it is a whole ecosystem that is wiped out from the planet, as are the large primary forests. And that, in the general indifference! In the ocean, it’s harder to imagine this with aerial views. And once the damage is done, it’s irreversible.

Awareness work must be conducted urgently on this disappearance! One Voice has spent the past year campaigning with your help alongside the San Juan Island-based Centre for Whale Research to reopen the dams. This summer we visited scientists who have been working there for more than 40 years. We also met Native Americans who consider these orcas as members of their family. We cannot let Southern Resident Orcs disappear without doing anything!

The cry of the cormorants? Must be urgently answered!

The cry of the cormorants? Must be urgently answered!
27.07.2019
France
The cry of the cormorants? Must be urgently answered!
Natural habitat

One Voice calls for action: a public consultation is launched around a ministerial decree opening the door to a mass killing of great cormorants (150 000 birds over a three-year period). The reason? To protect fish farms and river fish from this protected natural predator. Completely mind-blowing!

All agree that the shots of « destruction » cannot regulate a population of breeding birds, especially in accordance with the precise levels of the department. But here we are: by a prefectural decision, these big cormorants, birds protected by the law and by a European directive, are declared huntable by departmental quotas because they extensively harm the pisciculture farms and even certain species of wild river fish, also protected and especially coveted by fishing companies.

The State and its local agents, the Prefects, are diligently responding to the wishes of an economic sector that does not take the time to find alternative methods: No less than half of the large cormorants wintering in France are affected by the planned destruction by shooting in 88 metropolitan departments. 50,000 birds per year…

Deadly and unjustified decree

A similar decree framework has already been taken on in 2016 for the last three years, in the same proportions and at the time could not be thwarted by the mobilization of citizens. This new public consultation, open until July 31^st (go quickly and give your opinion using the arguments already cited in this article!), It’s the opportunity to say no, and to say that the solution does not lie in mass shootings of « Destruction ». What’s even crueller, is that these protected birds are fired at with light cartridges which are regulated: shot and injured, they often suffer in agony for hours!

The National Council for the Protection of Nature this time unanimously gave an unfavourable opinion to the renewal of a measure that only pleased a few economic actors, and of course the fishermen and hunters. All these arguments did not make the ministry retreat:

• shooting is ineffective in controlling overwintering populations in each department;
• It has not been demonstrated that these shootings can reduce the predation levels of these piscivorous birds, especially in open waters where the protection of fish depends on several other factors (predation by other animals, including types of catfish, quality of the water, etc.); in addition, cormorants feed mainly on abundant prey such as cyprinids or even exotic species (catfish and perch);
• The large cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) targeted by the decree are very similar to another subspecies of cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo), whose populations In France are unstable. It will be difficult for hunters to judge between killing the « right » birds;
• The exact justification for requesting open water shooting has not been made, nor do the pond farmers produce any departmental economic statistics on the impact of this type of predation from the Great Cormorants who winter in France.

As in other cases, the only response here would be through destruction to protect an economic activity in a natural environment that a bird cannot understand. Of course, French fish farming is going through a difficult time in competition with other countries that are curiously not experiencing the same problem. They are struggling trying to make a profit and when it is declared impossible to equip whole hectares of ponds with systems to scare off or to protect (via netting), scapegoats are quickly found. All animals like this are declared harmful because of their survival and their dependence on the type of prey available. However, regulations require us to look for alternative solutions before drawing and aiming rifles against wildlife…

Pack it in and protect your farms!

Last February, a fish farmer from the department Deux-Sèvres sued the state for the damage suffered by its exploitation since the arrival of cormorants on the property. The man, who can not invest the estimated 500,000 euros to effectively protect his pond, has still obtained 800€ compensation per hectare per year over the period from 2010 to 2015, a total of 160,000€. « Being located in a natural area of ecological, faunistic and floristic interest, I can not even destroy the nests », he deplores, reserving the right to bring a new legal procedure for the period 2016-2020, if the State, with consequently our taxes, can not find a solution to its problem.

But slaughtering these birds is not a solution. Exercise more regular monitoring, protect the ponds… Of course, it is expensive, like working differently with better quality water, controlling the effluents of agriculture. But is this not the job of professionals, improving and tracing their production? No, instead of this, and despite of the help available in Europe, it is preferable to incriminate the so called « pests », all those animals to whom not one has the right to life.

The great cormorant is the tree that hides the forest: there are many concerns regarding other fish-eating animals (herons, bitterns, kingfishers, storks, otters, mink…). Should we kill them all in the name of a scared economic activity ? What are the answers to the reasons why cormorants colonize ponds and rivers in France by leaving their typical habitat (the large estuaries, the coasts of the sea or the beds of the great rivers of Europe)? Will mass fire change anything?

Finally, if we really wonder about the balance of natural populations in our ponds and rivers, the prey-predator relationship, why do we rather not ask the questions about the place of human fishing in so-called threatened environments?

The fishermen are obviously mobilized in favour of this current situation. The number of comments requiring the eradication of these birds that deprive them of their catch is impressive. We must spread the word in these final days to massively oppose this killing. Act now!

Anyway, if the mobilization fails to stop the ecological slaughter that is being prepared, we will attack the ministerial decree in court so we can restore the rights of these large birds, remember they are protected. Such exceptions to their protection are unjustifiable!