Wildlife biologist Brad Hanson to speak on Orca travels

Three pods of Southern Resident Killer Whales, commonly known as orcas, spend most of the summer months in the waters around the San Juan and Canadian Gulf Islands, where they forage for Chinook salmon. Until recently, however, little was known about their travels during the rest of the year — from fall through spring — as these whales had been spotted only infrequently during this period.

October 19, 2016 4:58 pm
Bob Dash photo
Bob Dash photo

Three pods of Southern Resident Killer Whales, commonly known as orcas, spend most of the summer months in the waters around the San Juan and Canadian Gulf Islands, where they forage for Chinook salmon. Until recently, however, little was known about their travels during the rest of the year — from fall through spring — as these whales had been spotted only infrequently during this period.

Now, thanks to research by a team of scientists at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle led by wildlife biologist Brad Hanson, much more is known about where these whales go in the off-season. On Saturday, Oct. 29, he will present an Orcas Currents lecture on “The Secret Travels of Killer Whales” beginning at 2 p.m. in the Orcas Island Community Church on Madrona Street. Admission is free but donations are welcome.

Hanson’s group has been using GPS tracking systems attached to the dorsal fins of selected whales to fill this gap in the scientific understanding of their behavior. Early results indicate that the whales travel great distances, migrating south along the Pacific Coast in winter and spending substantial time feeding near the mouth of the Columbia River. This information should prove important in revising the geographical extent of the critical habitat for these iconic but endangered marine mammals.

After earning his Ph.D. from the University of Washington, Hanson worked at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle. Now serving as Wildlife Biologist at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center, he leads the Marine Mammal & Seabird Ecology team studying the foraging and habitat of Southern Resident Killer Whales as well as assessing the health of Dall’s and harbor porpoises.

This event is cosponsored by the SeaDoc Society, whose Director Joe Gaydos will introduce Hanson and lead a discussion of this research after the lecture. As part of this conversation, he will address questions about the death of killer whale L-95 and its connection with the satellite-tagging program, which has been recently mentioned in the press. Gaydos was involved in this whale’s necropsy and is knowledgeable about it.