Oil Spill Response

Oil spills have been identified as a risk to killer whales and other marine mammals. The Endangered Species Act Recovery Plan for Southern Resident Killer Whales includes actions to minimize the risk of oil spills, including developing strategies to deter whales from entering spilled oil. We acknowledge that preventing an oil spill is the best way to protect whales and the environment. You are encouraged to review information in the Recovery Plan for more information on spill prevention. In the event of a spill, however, it’s important for us to be prepared for a response that will minimize impacts.

The NW Area Contingency Plan is the guidance for spill response in the Northwest. Under it, the Wildlife Branch coordinates all personnel working with wildlife, including federal, state and local agencies, and commercial and non-profit organizations.

A draft appendix for the NW Area Contingency Plan, below, addresses killer whale issues. This oil spill response plan includes information on some tools and techniques that could be used to minimize exposure of killer whales to spilled oil. It's designed to inform the Wildlife Branch, in coordination with NOAA, about options for monitoring and hazing whales during an oil spill response.

This plan was drafted from information gathered at an October 2007 meeting jointly hosted by NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Region and the SeaDoc Society, a program of the University of California-Davis Wildlife Health Center, School of Veterinary Medicine. Detailed meeting notes, including literature cited, are available at:
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/whc/seadoc/pdfs/kw_mtg_notes_oct07.pdf The first draft of the plan was released for review. Comments have been incorporated into this draft, which has been submitted for consideration for inclusion in the NW Area Contingency Plan.

Killer Whale Oil Spill Contingency Plan Draft Appendix (PDF 50KB; submitted Apr. 11, 2008)