Seven Puget Sound Killer Whales are Missing!!!

In nearly a decade, reasearchers are seeing the greatest decline of ocars whales in history, as seven Puget Sound Killer whales are missing, now assumed dead. This is a major problem says, Ken Balcomb, a senior scientist at the Center for Whale Research on San Juan Island,"This is a disaster. The population drop is worse than the stock market." As of now only 83 of the whales remain in the world. Balcomb then states that this did occur back in 1991 when researchers also tracked the death or disappearence of seven whales. After looking over cerent circumstances, Balcomb says that the decreases of chinook salmon, key food for these whales may be a reason for these unsual deaths. The population reached 140 in the last century, and were listed endangered in 2005. We may be in the beginning of another decline in the population," said Howard Garrett, director of the Orca Network, a nonprofit education and advocacy group. "The whales recently have been traveling over greater distances than usual, suggesting they may be ranging farther for food," said Brad Hanson, a wildlife biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. "Lack of food may be a concern, but it's too early to know the reason for the unusual number of presumed deaths," he said. The loss of prey is know as to be the biggest threat to these whales. Whale-watching tour boats and underwater sonar tests by the Navy also have been concerns. In the late 1960s and early '70s, the population fell as dozens were captured for marine parks. "The whales were making an apparentg comeback in recent years, reaching 90 in number in 2005, "but it's been a downhill trend now for three years," Balcomb said. Of the seven missing whales, there were to female who had just had claves. Of the claves one is missing and one is not. "It is not unusual to lose older or younger whales, but losing two females in reproductive prime is "a bit of a concern, since they typically have a high survival rate," Hanson said. "One female whale, known to scientists as L-67, had the potential for two or three more calves," Hanson said. A juvenile killer whale from Washington waters, a mother named Luna, she made the paper in 2001. Seperated form his pod he later was found in Nootka Sound, off the west coast of Canada's Vancouver Island, Luna was later reported dead after being hit by the propeller of a large tugboat. L-67 showed signs of depresion, as not eating, before disappearing. Some other whales like, K-7, the 98-year-old matriarch of K-pod, and L-101, a 6-year-old male who is a brother of "Luna." A clave J-43 was born in November but reporters say that she most likely didn't survive the winter. "The whale census may increase if baby orcas are born this fall. And there's a slim chance the whales may reappear elsewhere, as "Luna" did," Hanson said. But Balcomb said,"We've been monitoring. They're just gone."