 July 03, 2003
"It's uncommon for a false killer whale to be this far north," said Dr. James Balsiger, Administrator for the Alaska Region of NOAA Fisheries. "We would like people to keep their
False killer whales, Pseudorca crassidens, are small black whales, sometimes showing a faint gray on their head and throat. They grow up to 20 feet long, and weigh up to two tons. They have a tapering, rounded snout that overhangs their toothed jaw and 'shoulders' at the leading edge of their flippers. A small black whale trailed the Soso, a 24 foot sailboat, for about two and a half hours on May 19 between Grand Island and the Juneau harbor. The Soso is a recreational boat, skippered by Noel Cada who hails from Fox Island in south Puget Sound. Cada reported his experience to whale researchers in Sitka when he stopped there in June. The researchers collected copies of his photographs and took them to experts at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory (part of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Seattle). From the photos, the experts were able to confirm that Noel Cada had been followed by a false killer whale. "The unusual thing about this sighting is that the whale is solitary," said Sally Mizroch of the National Marine Mammal Laboratory. "Pseudorca are most usually found in long-term social groups." Those groups sometimes number more than a hundred whales, Mizroch said. Some experts speculate that the Juneau-area false killer whale could be the same solitary whale that has been following boats in the waters off Vancouver, British Columbia since 1990, earning nicknames like 'Willy', 'Foster', and 'Rufus'. That whale has gone 'missing' from Vancouver recently, and a solitary false killer whale - which experts theorize could be the same individual - has been seen further north along the coastline, most recently following a boat near Prince Rupert, British Columbia. "We haven't been able to positively identify the Juneau-area false killer whale individual from the photos we have so far," said Dr. John Ford of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Nanaimo, British Columbia. "Individual whales can sometimes be identified by unique nicks and scars on their dorsal fins. The Vancouver false killer whale has a clean fin with no unique markings: the dorsal fin maybe not distinctive enough to positively identify that individual out of a line-up of pseudora fin pictures. We are not sure if the Juneau and Vancouver photos show the same whale." False killer whales generally prefer tropical and warm temperate waters. They have been seen, rarely, as far north as Prince William Sound in Alaska. To report possible sightings of any false killer whale, telephone the NOAA Fisheries Protected Resource Division at 907-586-7235
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