Porpoise Research Project Opposed By Congressman Research Under Way In San Juan Islands

U.S. Rep. Jack Metcalf is calling for a halt to a federal research project in the San Juan Islands that involves bolting a “satellite pack” to the dorsal fin of Dall’s porpoises to learn more about their numbers and habits.

In a letter to National Marine Fisheries Service researcher Brad Wilson, who is based at the agency lab here and overseeing the capture and tagging of the marine mammals in the waters north of Puget Sound, Metcalf said he wanted further study of the project’s impact on the porpoises.

A reply to Metcalf, being prepared at the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, had not been completed by the close of business Friday, spokesman Gordon Helm said. He declined to characterize the agency’s response.

“We’re not going to stop right now till the Washington, D.C., office … tells us to,” said Howard Braham, director of the NMFS laboratory here.

The porpoise population cannot be evaluated “properly without capturing some of the animals and tagging them,” said spokesman Brian Gorman in the agency’s Northwest regional office.

The research is aimed at determining how much mortality the population can stand without being threatened. Porpoises are among species vulnerable to “incidental kill” by commercial fishing boats.

“They get caught in fishing nets all the time. It’s just a fact of life,” Gorman said.

Without accurate data, fishing could be curtailed unnecessarily to protect the porpoise, he said, noting the agency had in the past shut down fishing in Maine to protect seals.

“Lack of good scientific information poses a real threat to the commercial fishing industry in some areas,” Gorman said.

He noted that the research permit - to allow tagging of 25 porpoises a year for five years - was issued only after a public-comment period.

No comments were offered after notice was published in the Federal Register, Gorman said, “which animal-rights groups monitor fairly closely.”

Metcalf, a conservative Republican whose 3rd District includes the San Juans, said he had received complaints from people operating whale-watching boats in the area who fear the activity might make the porpoises less likely to “bow ride” - ride the waves created at the bow of the boats as they surge through area waters.

“Bow-riding porpoises are an exciting adjunct to the whale-watching business,” the Progressive Animal Welfare Society said in a Friday news release declaring its support of Metcalf in this matter.

Also, Metcalf said in the letter dated Wednesday, “Supposedly this device will increase the drag on these animals by 18 percent, not to mention disturbing them in their natural environment.”

PAWS said that drag would put tagged porpoise at a disadvantage when pursued by killer whales, a natural enemy.

Braham said the devices would have little effect on the outcome of that endless life-and-death game.

“Do you honestly think there’s a killer whale in the world that can’t catch a porpoise?” he said.

“Trust me,” Braham said. A killer whale could catch an adult porpoise “even if it had a jet pack.”

In fact, he said, killer whale sonar may detect the presence of the device and avoid tagged porpoises.

As for the bow-riding issue, Braham agreed “this particular species likes to do that a lot.”

But he said the small, lightweight, streamlined packs - bolted on with fasteners designed to corrode and drop off after several months - do not appear to change tagged porpoises’ behavior in any way.

He said one porpoise was tagged and released and was “immediately bow-riding and doing exactly the same things it was doing before. It still is.”

Metcalf said the study seems to be important, but suggested it “could be done with considerably less harassment to the dolphins with the aid of photography.”

Braham said that’s not an option. Because the porpoises are such fast swimmers, he said, “photography has not proven to be a good way to identify individuals.”

The “backpacks” being attached to the leading edge of some porpoises’ dorsal fins contain satellite communications that will enable researchers to track their movements and figure out whether there is one large community or several smaller ones, whether any particular areas require protection for the porpoises’ use, and whether they are reproducing at a sufficient rate to keep the population viable.

Similar data will be collected for harbor porpoises, he said.

Gorman also stressed the need for good, up-to-date data.

“Without knowing how many animals can die without harming the population, no mortalities would be acceptable,” Gorman said. “We would have to say no animals can be accidentally killed … so there would be no fishing.”

Asked if it hurt the animals to attach the devices, Braham said the dorsal fin has very few nerves and is mostly connective tissue. He said the pain was “probably not even close to what it would be for piercing your ears.”