Rantz: Inslee’s orca task force could actually be hurting the whales

Governor Jay Inslee, our absent leader busy trying to salvage his presidential campaign, is doing more harm than good when it comes to saving the Southern Resident orcas, at least when it comes to one idea recently instituted.

Inslee’s Southern Resident Killer Whale Task Force just recommended a ban on whale watching, which, according to KING 5, was just put into effect. Only, the ban actually hurts orcas according to one expert, and they didn’t even go through some basic review.

“I think going straight into a moratorium now, it’s going to be bad for the whales overall,” said Orca Conservancy Chief Scientist David Bain told KING 5. “On the water, the whale watch operators play a role in managing the behavior of other vessels. So, some people consider it a disadvantage that you can look out and see the whale watching boat and know where the whales are. But we are asking vessel operators to slow down when they are a half-mile away from the whales now. That means the sport fisherman who is running from port to his favorite fishing hole; he’s going to be going fast and not realize the whales are there. But if he sees the whale watch boats, he’ll know he needs to slow down.”

In their draft report, the Task Force took small vessels for whale watching to task for producing “relatively high-frequency underwater noise that can mask echolocation, making it more difficult for Southern Resident orcas to find and capture prey.“

But Bain says the task force pushed through their recommendation without doing any meaningful scientific research.

“The task force members got a packet that had details about all of the things that they were going to be voting on,” Bain told KING 5. “They had time to review it and understand the issue. This idea did not go through that process. It’s something somebody brought up in a discussion, and then 15 minutes later they are voting on it. Nobody took the time to ask what the science was and why the vessel working group did not support it in the first place.”

This is, of course, one expert’s take on an issue that surely has many sides. But it would appear that the unelected group went into the process already wanting to institutes plans without vetting them beyond their own preconceived notions. That’s obviously dangerous.

If the governor would stop pushing his presidential campaign, perhaps he could have stopped this from happening. But, with much of what Inslee tackles, this just gives the appearance of doing something that matters.

Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday mornings from 6-9 a.m. on KTTH 770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here.

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