U.S. Coast Guard and federal fisheries officers responded to a sunken fishing vessel Saturday off San Juan Island in Haro Strait, critical habitat for endangered southern killer whales in the area. The 49-foot vessel went down west of Sunset Point with an estimated 9,800 gallons of diesel and oil on board, the United States Coast Guard Pacific Northwest said. Sunset Point is about 30 nautical miles from Sydney, across the international border. All the crew on board were rescued by a good Samaritan, the Coast Guard said. There were immediate concerns that the spill would affect the killer whale, whose population has struggled and is down to just 74 animals. The Washington-based Orca Network, which monitors orcas in their traditional summer feeding grounds in the Salish Sea, said all three pods of orcas were in the area “a short distance south of the spill” early Saturday night. On Sunday afternoon, Orca Network’s Susan Berta said the orcas were back. “The resident pods reached southern San Juan Island and were heading north toward the spill in the evening, but luckily they turned south,” Berta said. He said several agencies heard hydrophones off North San Juan overnight, and it is believed the orcas never entered the area of the spill. Berta said the Orca Network’s whale watching network continues to monitor all whales in the area and remains in contact with federal authorities throughout the incident response. The US Coast Guard coordinates with San Juan Island-based Sound Watch and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to monitor the location of the orcas and is ready to keep the orcas away. The Coast Guard said all agencies are “ready to deploy authorized deterrents.” Because orcas are acoustic animals, NOAA said using loud or disturbing sounds is one way to keep the whales away from an oil-contaminated area. Some of the methods likely to be used if the whales get too close include low-level helicopter flights to remove them, or plunging long metal pipes into the water and hitting them with hammers. NOAA also considers underwater firecrackers, often called seal bombs, to deter orcas. Ironically, the small charges were used in the 1960s and 1970s to help capture killer whales for public display in aquariums. “We are now using historical knowledge of whale behavior during these captures to support whale conservation,” NOAA’s website said. NOAA said southerners are a small and social population of killer whales, “so an oil spill could have significant effects on the entire population if it were in the wrong place at the wrong time.” The Canadian Coast Guard said Sunday that ships and resources on this side of the border are on standby. “The US Coast Guard is in charge of this incident,” spokeswoman Michelle Ibaugh said in a statement. “However, the Canadian Coast Guard is working closely with the USCG and stands ready to respond and assist as required.” The cause of the ship’s sinking was not immediately known. The Aleutian Isle reported it was in the water at about 2 a.m. Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound said personnel spotted an oil sheen about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long at about 5pm on Saturday. Some of the glow had entered Canadian waters, Petty Officer Michael Clarke said Sunday. The U.S. Coast Guard was working with the Canadian Coast Guard, the San Juan County Office of Emergency Management, the Washington State Department of Ecology and the nonprofit Oil Spill Islands Association to contain and recover the spill, Clark said. US Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Brian Dykens said in a statement: “We are working with government and industry partners to ensure an effective and efficient containment and recovery response. The public, the environment and protected marine species are our top priority.” — with files from The Associated Press
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