3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2018
Scientists deliver live salmon to sick orca
By JOHN RYAN
KUOW
Scientists have taken an
unprecedented step to save
one of the Salish Sea’s 75
endangered orcas: They tried
to feed her in the wild.
Onboard a Lummi Nation
police boat off San Juan
Island, biologists dropped
eight Chinook salmon, one by
one, into a plastic tube off the
boat’s stern on Sunday. The
tube disgorged each thrash-
ing fish into the path of the
emaciated young killer whale
known as J50.
The dinner delivery by
boat was a test run for a new
way of medicating one of the
ocean’s top predators.
“This type of thing has
never been tried before, and
there were lots of potential
things that could potentially
go awry,” National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administra-
tion biologist Brad Hanson
said. “So we were very, very
pleased that we were able to
do this.”
Yet it’s unknown whether
the 3½-year-old cooperated
and ate her dinner. Hanson said
they did not see her change
course as she approached the
spot, about 100 yards in front
of her, where the salmon had
been released.
The weekend’s new moon
brought strong tides and cur-
rents that roiled the waters
as well as any evidence of
salmon being chomped.
“Any scales or prey
remains that would’ve been
in the water would’ve been
obscured by current,” Han-
Alan Berner/The Seattle Times
Live Chinook salmon aboard the King County research vessel SoundGuardian are released into waters off San Juan Island.
son said. “It was quite rough
in this particular area.”
These salmon, Chinooks
from the Marblemount Hatch-
ery 78 miles up the Skagit
River, had not been medi-
cated, but future deliveries of
the orcas’ favorite food could
be dosed with antibiotics or
other medications.
Vancouver Aquarium vet-
erinarian Martin Haulena
described J50 as “incredi-
bly skinny.” He said she had
“a very distinct depression
behind her head” caused by
her lack of blubber.
Scientists don’t know
exactly what ails this orca but
have observed her emaciation
and, over the weekend, her
difficulty keeping up with her
relatives.
“She was essentially slog-
ging along and not necessarily
able to keep up with the rest
of the whales,” Hanson said.
“We haven’t seen her partake
in any socialization, where she
would be splashing around.”
At times, strong tidal cur-
rents actually pushed J50
backward even as she tried to
swim forward.
Haulena was part of a
crew that used a dart gun and
a 10-inch dart to administer
a broad-spectrum antibiotic
to J50 from 50 feet away on
Thursday.
They took the action
despite not knowing whether
the antibiotic would do any
good. Antibiotics do not cure
viral diseases, for example.
“If you had one chance
of delivering something that
would have a likelihood of
helping this animal without
harming this animal, given
what we know, what would
it be?” Haulena said. “The
consensus was it would be a
long-lasting antibiotic.”
Haulena’s medical marks-
manship delivered at least a
partial dose of the antibiotic
Convenia into the whale as
it surfaced. Convenia, mar-
keted mainly for skin dis-
eases in dogs and cats, can last
up to two weeks in domestic
animals.
“We followed this whale
for about six hours, and out
of six hours, we had probably
just two chances,” Haulena
said.
He said the dart found its
mark, but he noticed some
medicine spraying out as the
dart hit.
“It’s not an easy target, and
their skin is kind of rubbery,”
he said.
On Saturday and Sun-
day, researchers were able
to obtain fecal samples that
might help them pinpoint any
diseases J50 is suffering and
what medical treatment to
pursue. The main problem:
they’re not sure if the sample
came from J50, its mother or
its sister, since the three were
swimming together at the
time.
Nor do these extraordi-
nary, emergency measures
on behalf of one orca address
the problems that have endan-
gered her and her salmon-eat-
ing relatives: primarily a
dearth of Chinook salmon, an
excess of toxic pollution and
vessel noise.
Another whale in J-pod
recently carried her dead new-
born calf for more than two
weeks, in a display of mourn-
ing that grabbed the world’s
attention and that scientists
called unprecedented.
Monday morning, J50 and
her family group were seen
swimming west toward the
Pacific, off the southern shore
of Vancouver Island.
This time of year, the
whales typically head out to
sea for several days or more,
according to scientists. They
said their team is on standby
to conduct more veterinary
assistance once J50 returns
to the sheltered waters of the
Salish Sea.
Breathing wildfire smoke could have long-term consequences
By COURTNEY FLATT
Northwest Public
Broadcasting
The skies across much of
the Northwest are choked with
smoke from wildfires.
Air quality east of the Cas-
cade Mountains has deterio-
rated as wildfires burn across
Oregon and Washington state.
In southern Oregon, the air is
hazardous. In central Washing-
ton, air quality is unhealthy for
everyone.
“The acute effects cause
irritability, nausea, shortness
of breath,” said Sam Joseph,
a pulmonary and critical care
physician and professor at
the Washington State Univer-
sity Elson S. Floyd School of
Medicine.
While the air might be
annoying on a day-to-day
basis, doctors say chronic
exposure to smoke, year-in and
year-out can lead to long-term
health problems, especially for
people with underlying heart
and lung problems, children
and senior citizens.
Joseph said long-term expo-
sure to wildfire smoke can lead
to chronic cardiovascular dis-
eases, like heart attacks (both
fatal and nonfatal), irregular
heartbeats and increased sever-
ity of asthma. These health
problems are most troublesome
for people who already experi-
ence heart and lung issues.
“That is what we’re most
concerned about, not only the
acute but the long-term effects
(of wildfire smoke exposure),”
Joseph said.
He said many studies have
shown an increase in prema-
ture death for people with heart
WANTED
Buehler: Nearly 14,000 people
are considered homeless in Oregon
Continued from Page 1A
Buehler did not give an
estimate on the total cost of
the project.
Gov. Brown’s campaign
said Buehler’s plan “doesn’t
add up.”
“Building 8,000 shelter
beds will cost 10 times the
$10 million he’s proposing to
spend,” said Christian Gas-
ton, a spokesman for the Dem-
ocrat’s campaign. “If half of
those are supportive housing
units, the price tag will climb
higher. This isn’t a serious
proposal.”
Buehler’s seven-point plan
includes the following:
• Convene a statewide sum-
mit on solving homelessness
and create a position of a state-
level chief homeless solutions
officer. The homeless solu-
tions officer would be autho-
rized to lead efforts to align
state, federal, local, nonprofit
and private sector policies and
resources toward common pri-
orities and goals.
• Dedicate state Medicaid
dollars for both physical and
mental health care to commu-
nity-based, street-level clin-
ics for homeless populations.
Seek state legislation and
changes to Oregon’s federal
Medicaid agreement to allow
the program.
• Allocate $10 million in
the 2019-20 state budget,
combined with communi-
ty-based resources, to create
an additional 4,000 tempo-
rary emergency shelter beds
and 4,000 long-term support-
ive-housing beds to move peo-
ple from streets and camps to
shelters with access to transi-
tion services and longer-term
treatment.
• Provide local govern-
ments stronger legal tools to
manage and regulate activ-
ity on streets and sidewalks.
Introduce legislation mod-
eled after House Bill 2963
from 2013 to help clarify the
state law giving local jurisdic-
tions the right to more strictly
regulate street and sidewalk
activity.
• Establish the Oregon
Workplace Housing Assis-
tance Fund, a $50 million,
five-year fund to provide up to
three years of rental assistance
to working families.
• Address Oregon’s hous-
ing supply shortage and afford-
ability crisis. An example is to
and lung diseases who breathe
in wildfire smoke over long
spans of time.
“In all smoke exposure,
you’re exposed to lots of par-
ticles and chemicals,” Joseph
said. “Some of the chemicals
include carbon monoxide and
carbon dioxide and particulate
matter, which we call soot.”
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remove barriers to developing
more multifamily apartments,
innovative modular and tiny
homes and communal neigh-
borhood arrangements.
• Establish a Gover-
nor’s Council on Re-entry
Employment where employ-
ers and nonprofits can coor-
dinate efforts to teach life and
workplace skills and train and
employ formerly homeless
people. Direct Regional Solu-
tions Centers to work with
trade unions and industry to
connect transitional home-
less to intensive job train-
ing programs that lead to
career and technical education
apprenticeships.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
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Dept. of Public Health
503-325-8500
Mon-Fri 9am - 7pm
Sat 9am-6pm | Sun 12-5pm
133 S. Hwy 101 Warrenton
503-861-0850