Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Saturday 18 auguSt 2018

Group sues to expand protected orca habitat along West Coast

By GENE JOHNSON her with an antibiotic dart federal agencies must en-
Associated Press and dropping live salmon sure that activities they pay
SEATTLE (AP) — An envi- from a boat into the water for, permit or carry out do
ronmental group sued in front of her. not harm the habitat.
President Donald Trump’s They didn’t see her take Nevertheless, the orcas’
administration Thursday to any of the fish, and the pod population has remained
make officials move more has moved to open water dangerously low, increas-
quickly to protect the Pa- off Vancouver Island, de- ing the risk of inbreeding,
cific Northwest’s endan- laying any further interven- which could further hurt
gered orcas. tion. their long-term survival.
The recent grieving of one Michael Milstein, a spokes- In 2014, the center filed a
whale for her dead calf man for NOAA Fisheries, petition seeking the criti-
and scientists’ extraordi- said Thursday the agency cal habitat designation for
nary attempts to save an- agrees the situation for the an area from the north-
other from starvation high- orcas is dire. west tip of Washington to
light the urgency of their “We continue to work hard Point Reyes, California, out
plight, the Tucson, Arizona- to protect and support the roughly 47 miles (76 kilome-
based Center for Biological recovery,” Milstein said. ters).
Diversity said as it filed the The orcas that return to The agency accepted the
lawsuit in U.S. District Court Puget Sound every sum- petition and said it intend-
in Seattle. mer are genetically distinct ed to develop and publish
There are just 75 orcas from other killer whale pop- a rule for public comment
remaining in the Pacific ulations around the world in 2017, but none has been
Northwest population, the and differ from some of the offered.
lowest number in 34 years. others in eating primarily Milstein said in an email the
They’re struggling with a salmon, rather than seals or work continues: “This ef-
dearth of chinook salmon, other marine mammals. fort involves the analysis of
their preferred prey, as well They were listed as endan- recent information about
as toxic contamination gered under the Endan- the ecology and behavior
and vessel noise. gered Species Act in 2005 of southern resident killer
The lawsuit says the Na- after the center sued to get whales.”
tional Marine Fisheries Ser- In this Jan. 18, 2014, file photo, an endangered southern resident the status. On its website, the agency
vice has failed to act on female orca leaps from the water while breaching in Puget The following year, the fish- also said it must consider
the center’s 2014 petition Sound, west of Seattle. eries service designated the benefits and impacts,
to expand habitat protec- Associated Press the inland waters of Wash- including to the econo-
tions to the orcas’ forag- people delay action is a ated that researchers have ington state as critical habi- my and national security,
ing and migration areas off step toward extinction for taken unprecedented ef- tat. of designating particular
the coasts of Washington, these whales.” forts to save her, injecting The designation means areas.q
Oregon and California — The three orca pods that
even though the agency make up the so-called
agreed in 2015 that such a southern resident popula- Stinky ‘corpse flower’ in full bloom in California
move was necessary. tion have not successfully
The center says the protec- reproduced since 2015. SAN MARINO, Calif. (AP) — spectacular,” she said. in the next few days, Black-
tions would help reduce One orca, known as J35, Visitors were flocking to the Corpse flowers typically burn said.
water pollution and restrict drew international atten- Huntington Library in South- take 15 years to reach a The Huntington is seeing
vessel traffic that can inter- tion as she carried her dead ern California on Friday to mature blooming size, and more visitors than normal
fere with the animals. newborn on her head for get a whiff of a so-called blooms usually only last 24 because of the flowers, she
“Time is running out fast for more than two weeks — corpse flower, known for hours. The foul odor the said.
these magnificent, intel- covering more than 1,000 the rotten stench it releases plants emit attracts insects “The great thing about
ligent orcas,” Catherine miles (1,600 kilometers) — in when it blooms. for pollination. The plants these flowers is they’re so
Kilduff, an attorney with a vain effort to help it live The flower, nicknamed don’t emit the foul odor un- unusual-looking and have
the organization, said in an and breathe. “Stink,” began blooming til they bloom. this reputation for smelling
emailed statement. She finally dropped the unexpectedly on Thursday The plant is one of the three really bad, it gets all kinds
“It’s heartbreaking to decomposing calf and re- night, Huntington spokes- corpse flowers expected of people really interested
watch them starving to turned to feeding and frol- woman Lisa Blackburn said. to bloom within the next in botanical science,” she
death and mourning their icking with her pod. “We thought we had a few week. The two other flow- said.
dead calves. Another killer whale, more days to go. But it was ers, nicknamed “Stunk” “It’s just a charismatic
Every day that Trump’s 4-year-old J50, is so emaci- ready and it was pretty and “Stank,” should bloom plant.”q