Action stations

摘要

A study of orcas in Russia's Far East may provide a unique opportunity to further marine conservation. The Kamchatka Peninsula is a remote wilderness of volcanoes, canyons and forests that reaches 1,200km into the Pacific from Russia's Far East. Thesurrounding seas are rich in marine life and orcas (killer whales) can be seen regularly in summer, often close to shore. For researchers Erich Hoyt and Hal Sam, Kamchatka offered a unique chance to study an orca population that hadn't been exposed to the intensive captures, whaling and high contaminant loads that threaten others around the world. And yet this very remoteness had left the orcas vulnerable to capture for the aquarium industry: as nobody knew how many there were or how far they ranged, who would miss them if they were taken? The researchers teamed up with Russian marine biologist Alexander Burdin, from the Kamchatka Institute of Ecology and Nature Management. With backing from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, the Humane Society of the US, and the UK Sacher trusts, the Far East Russia Orca Project was established in 1999. Consisting of a team of eight Russian biologists and local technicians studying the behaviour and ecology of the orca population, the project aims to promote conservation awareness locally, nationally and internationally.