A7
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2019
Scientists discover different
kind of killer whale off Chile
cil when it comes to assess-
ing the fi sheries in light
of declining killer whale
populations.
Some on the coun-
cil want to make sure any
investigation takes into
account a wide amount of
factors that could be impact-
ing salmon populations and,
as a result, impacting orcas.
“Often fi sheries become
the fi rst knob to turn and the
easiest knob to turn,” said
Brett Kormos, a council des-
ignee for Chuck Bonham of
the California Department
of Fish and Wildlife.
“We know the fi sheries
themselves have not been
robust and healthy,” Thom
said. Nor is it clear if sim-
ply providing more food
means the Puget Sound
orcas would rebound given
other pressures in the
environment.
One of the biggest chal-
lenges for salmon abun-
dance — as well as orca
abundance — is habitat,
Thom said.
Fishery managers and
state and tribal partners are
working on habitat protec-
tion and recovery and to
negotiate harvest reductions
on salmon runs.
“But we do need to make
sure fi sh management is
doing the right things in the
right places to move us for-
ward,” he said.
The consultation is a
long-term plan, unlikely to
provide information for the
2019 fi sheries.
But the National Marine
Fisheries Service asked
the council to begin tak-
ing steps to develop a long-
term approach. The agency
will be evaluating informa-
tion about projections for
the abundance of Chinook
salmon in 2019. Future
planning will likely be dis-
cussed at a council meeting
in April.
Continued from Page A1
By SETH BORENSTEIN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — For
decades, there were tales
from fi shermen and tour-
ists, even lots of photos, of
a mysterious killer whale
that just didn’t look like all
the others, but scientists had
never seen one.
Now they have.
An international team of
researchers says they found
a couple of dozen of these
distinctly different orcas
roaming in the oceans off
southern Chile in Janu-
ary. Scientists are waiting
for DNA tests from a tissue
sample but think it may be a
distinct species.
The National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration felt confi dent enough
to trumpet the discovery
of the long rumored killer
whale on Thursday. Some
outside experts were more
cautious, acknowledging
the whales are different, but
saying they’d wait for the
test results to answer the
species question.
“This is the most differ-
ent looking killer whale I’ve
ever seen,” said Robert Pit-
man, a NOAA marine ecol-
ogist in San Diego. He was
part of the team that spotted
the orcas off Cape Horn at
the tip of South America.
How different? The
whale’s signature large
white eye patch is tiny on
these new guys, barely
noticeable. Their heads are
a bit more rounded and less
sleek than normal killer
whales and their dorsal fi ns
are narrower and pointed.
They likely mostly eat
fi sh, not marine mammals
like seals, as other killer
whales do, Pitman said.
Fishermen have complained
about how good they are at
poaching off fi shing lines,
snatching 200-pound fi sh
Orcas: Agency is
looking at an overall
management framework
Paul Tixier
Scientists are waiting for test results from a tissue sample, which could give them the DNA
evidence to prove the type D killer whale is a distinct species.
away.
Pitman said they are
so different they proba-
bly can’t breed with other
killer whales and are likely
a new species. At 20 to 25
feet long, they are slightly
smaller than most killer
whales. In the Southern
Hemisphere, killer whales
are considered all one spe-
cies, classifi ed in types
A through C. This one is
called type D, or subantarc-
tic killer whales.
Michael
McGowen,
marine mammal curator at
the Smithsonian, said call-
ing it a new species without
genetic data may be prema-
ture. Still, he said, “I think
it’s pretty remarkable that
there are still many things
out there in the ocean like
a huge killer whale that we
don’t know about.”
Scientists have heard
about these distinctive
whales ever since a mass
stranding in New Zealand
in 1955. Scientists initially
thought it could be one fam-
ily of killer whales that had
a specifi c mutation, but the
January discovery and all
the photos in between point
to a different type, Pitman
said.
He said they are hard to
fi nd because they live far
south and away from shore,
unlike most killer whales.
“The type D killer whale
lives in the most inhospita-
ble waters on the planet. It’s
a good place to hide.”
Pitman got interested in
this mysterious killer whale
when he was shown a pho-
tograph in 2005. When he
and others decided to go
fi nd them, they followed
the advice and directions of
South American fi shermen,
who had seen the whales
poaching their fi sh.
After weeks of waiting,
about 25 of the whales came
up to the scientist’s boat,
looking like they expected
to be fed. Equipment prob-
lems prevented the scien-
tists from recording enough
of the whale songs, but they
used a crossbow to get a tis-
sue sample. Pitman said the
whales are so big and their
skin so tough that it didn’t
hurt them, saying the arrow
“is like a soda straw bounc-
ing off a truck tire.”
Pitman said he’ll never
forget Jan. 21, when he
fi nally saw his fi rst and then
a bunch of the type D orcas.
“For 14 years I was look-
ing for these guys. I fi nally
got to see them,” Pitman
said.
He
acknowledged
that he did sound like
the revenge-seeking cap-
tain in the classic novel
“Moby-Dick.”
“I guess I know how
Ahab felt, but for a good rea-
son,” Pitman said.
management perspective,
(that what we do) doesn’t
impede their recovery mov-
ing forward,” said Barry
Thom, regional administra-
tor for the National Marine
Fisheries Service .
At a Pacifi c Fish-
ery Management Council
meeting Thursday, Thom
announced the agency’s
intention to re initiate an
Endangered Species Act
consultation to reassess the
effects of fi sheries on the
orcas. The council helps set
ocean salmon harvests of
Oregon, Washington state
and California.
The agency is also look-
ing at an overall manage-
ment framework that would
help fi shery managers make
decisions in years when, for
example,
environmental
conditions — such as warm-
er-than-average waters —
might impact the availabil-
ity of salmon and pose a risk
to orca recovery.
A National Marine Fish-
eries Service consultation in
2009 concluded that fi sher-
ies overseen by the c ouncil
did not jeopardize the sur-
vival and recovery of the
w hale population.
The Wild Fish Conser-
vancy and the Center for
Biological Diversity have
fi led an intent to sue, argu-
ing that coastal salmon fi sh-
ing impacts the orcas’ sur-
vival, Thom said.
Chinook salmon runs
throughout the year are an
important part of the orcas’
diets. Certain fi shed runs,
including those that return
to the lower Columbia
River, are especially critical.
But many West Coast
fi sheries
have
seen
decreased salmon stocks
over the years — a con-
cern to some on the Pacifi c
Fishery Management Coun-
Rentals: ‘Please do not take away these tools from the communities’
Continued from Page A1
“Reasonable restrictions
on short-term rentals are
essential to prevent Astoria
from suffering the fate of
other coastal communities
whose residents are slowly
but steadily being driven
out in favor of commercial
rental property owners,”
Astoria Mayor Bruce Jones
wrote in a letter.
“Astoria has taken steps
to create reasonable restric-
tions on short-term rent-
als through a public pro-
cess, and prohibiting our
ability to take such steps
will result in a more rapid
increase in the cost of per-
manent housing for res-
idents, and a signifi cant
degradation of the unique
small town qualities which
make Astoria a desirable
location for visitors and
residents alike.”
The legislation would
impact cities like Gearhart
and Manzanita, which have
both capped the number of
rentals , and interfere with
Seaside’s practice of only
allowing vacation rentals
in certain zones as a condi-
tional use.
“Please do not take
away these tools from the
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Markers on a map at Gearhart City Hall indicate the location
of vacation rental properties.
communities. Each com-
munity has unique issues
that make an over-arch-
ing prohibition even more
contrary to the livability
goals that are identifi ed in
each town’s c omprehen-
sive p lan,” Seaside City
Councilor Tom Horning
wrote . “SB 621 protects
outside real estate inves-
tors and corporate interests
at the expense of commu-
nity livability and afford-
ability, and it heads off
potential solutions to these
problems.
“Allow us to handle our
problems without outside
interference.”
Proponents of the bill
argue that the role vaca-
tion rentals play in the
housing crunch is over-
stated, and that the vaca-
tion rental industry creates
jobs, brings in tax revenue
and allows people to afford
their homes.
Colleen Easlon, who
operates vacation rent-
als out of Port Orford, told
the S enate businesses like
hers play an integral role in
supporting a local tourism
economy.
“The industry has been
fantastic for our little com-
munity,” Easlon said.
But organizations like
the League of Oregon Cit-
ies and the Oregon Coast
Alliance are concerned
about the broader impli-
cations the bill could have
for livability and long-term
land use planning.
Gutting a local gov-
ernment’s control over
how it can resolve or mit-
igate disputes between vis-
itors and residents will
lead to more community
tension, said Cameron La
Follette, executive direc-
tor of the Oregon Coast
Alliance.
“It would eliminate the
ability of residents and
local governments to regu-
late livability, which is ter-
rible for a land use program
and a disaster for people on
the coast,” La Follette said.
Taking away a city’s
ability to decide where
and how vacation rentals
should operate reduces the
ability to keep the integ-
rity of commercial and res-
idential zones, said Erin
Doyle, an i ntergovern-
mental r elations a ssociate
with the League of Oregon
Cities.
“There’s an expectation
when you buy a home in a
residential area it will be
residential, not a commer-
cial area … and (vacation
RV
rentals) are businesses,”
Doyle said.
Many cities have spent
years working on regu-
lations that address these
issues, and that indepen-
dence should be respected,
Doyle said.
“To have it all undone
would reopen a lot of
wounds for cities who
adopted policies they are
now getting used to ...
and those cities who don’t
want (vacation rental reg-
ulations) just don’t have
them,” she said. “There’s
no need for a state
pre-emption.”
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