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Howe Sound transforming

Humpback whales, orcas, herring and pink salmon fascinate human visitors

A transformation is taking place in the waters of Howe Sound. Researchers, residents, boaters and visitors are seeing things in the waters that haven't been seen for years or even decades.

Pacific white-sided dolphins have been spotted along with orcas and humpback whales in recent months — since the beginning of September several boaters and residents have captured orcas and humpbacks on video.

On Saturday, June 7 a pod of killer whales entertained boaters on Howe Sound when a group of at least four whales swam all the way to the tip of the sound. This followed another reported killer whale sighting on June 15.

The whales visiting Howe Sound are transient orcas, explained Kate Birdsall of the Vancouver Aquarium, who is keenly interested in the killer whales and other cetaceans found in B.C. waters.

They are also known as Biggs, she said — a nod to whale researcher Dr. Michael Biggs.

"Anecdotally most scientists will tell you there has been an increased use of the Strait of Georgia and places like Howe Sound by Biggs, or transient killer whales, or the marine-mammal-eating type of killer whale in the last few years," said Birdsall.

The data collected from citizen scientists by the BC Cetaceans Sightings Network comes from mariners, coastal residents and others who spend time on or near the water. They report the whales, dolphins, porpoises and sea turtles they see. Birdsall said the information gathered through opportunistic sighting reports isn't solid enough at this point to be considered anything more than anecdotal evidence, but researchers are analyzing the data collected so far by citizen scientists.

Research into the orca whales has revealed they come in three varieties. A great deal is known about the resident orcas — they feed on salmon and sharks — though very little is known about shark-eating, off-shore orcas.

According to Birdsall, the Biggs seen in Howe Sound feed primarily on harbour seals.

While Birdsall and other whale researchers are still pulling the opportunistic sighting information together she is able to confirm that killer whale sightings in Howe Sound are increasing.

"That is probably attributed to the fact that we have nice big, healthy populations of harbour seals," said Birdsall. "Harbour seals are their main prey species. They eat a different variety of marine animals but they eat an awful lot of harbour seals."

Up until the 1970s harbour seals were culled due to the belief they were taking too many salmon.

"Harbour seal populations were quite low and then they built up and built up over the last couple of decades," said Birdsall. "The Biggs, or transient killer whales, are realizing there's a lot here and they're using that area more and more."

Harbour seals eat small reef and shallow-dwelling fishes like rockfishes, greenlings, smelt, perch, herring and flatfishes. They also feed on salmonids, as they leave their river homes.

"Howe Sound is interesting as well in that we've seen a big increase in Pacific white-sided dolphins in Howe Sound since about 2010," said Birdsall. "We had almost never seen reports of Pacific white-sides prior to 2010. They were really rare in Howe Sound and then — boom — they were there. They use that area particularly in the wintertime and in the spring."

While the number of whales and dolphins is rising, so too is the number of pink salmon returning to spawn in the rivers emptying into Howe Sound.

Brigid Payne, an assistant area chief with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, played a role in opening Howe Sound to commercial seine fishers in August for the first time in decades. Her department cleared the way for seven boats to participate in a three-day pink salmon fishery between Aug. 22 and 24. At any given time two boats were fishing between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

"People were quite pleasantly surprised with the amount of fish that they were able to harvest," said Payne.

A final report was released this week indicating 282,411 pink salmon were caught at the top of Howe Sound. It was a targeted harvest, so all other fish species had to be thrown back into the water. Payne reported that seven Chinook and 14 Coho were also caught. And, surprisingly, seven sockeye were pulled out of the water. More than half of the inadvertently caught sockeye were noticed right away and put back into the water. Two Chinook and three Coho weren't noticed in time to be returned to the water alive.

Sockeye is a species that isn't known to use Howe Sound rivers for spawning.

"I have heard about the odd sockeye encountered in the Howe Sound system," said Payne.

The sockeye caught in Howe Sound might have been Fraser River fish that strayed off course, she said. DNA sampling will be done to determine where those sockeye came from.

There isn't any comprehensive study data available to link the increased pink salmon return to harbour seal population growth in Howe Sound, and increasing reports of whale sightings, but there is enough evidence to draw some lines to connect the anecdotal information.

Payne called the increased number of pink salmon in Howe Sound a good news story that is positive for other Howe Sound species connected with pink salmon, like harbour seals, which feed on the salmonid. The harbour seals in turn are food for orcas.

The increase in whale and dolphin reports comes as industrial activity along the shores of Howe Sound decreases. Howe Sound Pulp and Paper at Port Mellon is a modern mill producing much less pollution now compared to its early days when toxins discarded from the mill turned up in the shellfish in the area around the plant.

The Woodfibre Pulp Mill south of Squamish stopped operating back in 2006. In the years before it ceased operations the pulp mill just south of Squamish reduced the amount of dioxins and furans it dumped into Howe Sound. Mercury and other pollutants were removed from the former chemical plant site in Squamish and the acid mine drainage flowing out of the old mining shafts at Britannia Beach has been going through a treatment facility since 2005.

While there is an apparent blossom in species in the sound sunflower starfish are dying at a catastrophic rate. Scientists are looking into the cause. See page 28 for more on that story.