Scat tested for clues to Northwest orca decline

The lack of prey may not be the only barrier to orca feeding. Vessel noise may disrupt the mammal's ability to find food.

To date, four citations have been issued under a new state law designed to keep vessels farther away from whales. Among the offenders were two different Canada-based whale-watching operations ticketed for coming within 300 feet of the orcas, said Sgt. Russ Mullins with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

NOAA Fisheries is also writing new rules for vessels operating in federal waters.

Lack of food leads to other problems, including increased susceptibility to disease, said J.Pete Schroeder, a marine mammal veterinarian and director of research with Global Research and Rescue.

Schroeder and others have been capturing the breath droplets the whales emit from their blowholes.

They're studying potentially harmful organisms in the thin sea surface layer of the Puget Sound and in the breath samples of the orcas.

Schroeder found that the orcas carry at least 13 antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Pathogens normally live in blowholes and upper respiratory tracts without causing disease, but whales with a suppressed immune system can become infected.

"There are diseases out there that can wipe out this population," Gaydos said.

All of this collective research will enable scientists to build a health assessment profile for the individual whales, Schroeder said.

Advocates argue that the orcas' problems should be seen as a call to action to clean up Puget Sound because the whales' decline means something far greater that losing the species itself.

"It means that the whole habitat is losing its ability to sustain life," said Howard Garrett, director of the Orca Network.

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