Journal
The
NEWS | Lopez man charged with assault [2] ARTS | David Bromberg comes to Friday Harbor [9] COMMUNITY | Events on the island [10]
WEDNESDAY, August 5, 2015 n VOL. 108, NO. 31 n 75¢
An afternoon snack A game changer for reservations By Meredith M. Griffith Journal contributor
A barred owl eating a snake on the west side of San Juan Island.
Cindy Hansen photo
A county coroner’s perspective What happens when some one dies in the islands? By Cali Bagby Interim editor
(Editor’s note: The following story contains information that may be disturbing for some readers.) When the call comes in, Randall Gaylord drops whatever he is working on – whether he is sitting down to a meal or prepping for an important court case. “When they come up, they become more urgent than anything else,” he said. “People need to be contacted … all of this has to happen right away, but it can be very disruptive.” As county coroner, Gaylord is the first person in line to deal with unexpected or violent deaths. Like all counties with a population less than 40,000, Gaylord is the coroner as well as the county prosecuting attorney. Since he was elected prosecuting attorney in 1994, dealing with death has become a part of his life on a weekly basis, revealing a part of the island that
is not visible to the general population. But facing death is not unique for a coroner. What makes Gaylord’s job peculiar is the absence of a morgue facility or a coroner vehicle. When tragedy strikes or even when someone passes from a long illness, what becomes of the body and what steps are taken to ensure that the person is laid to rest is more complicated in an island setting. The call to the coroner’s office is just one stop on a longer journey in the death process on the islands. “Every case has a puzzle to it,” said Gaylord. “There is always an extra element, a puzzle that we have to solve.” Cases that fall under the coroner’s office are defined as a death that is unexpected or of violent causes. If a person dies from natural causes, but was not seen by a doctor, the coroner could be called to investigate the passing. If a person is living in an isolated situation and no one knows of his/her health record, that case would also fall under the coroner’s department. This is when Gaylord has to start putting together the pieces of the person’s life. Sometimes it’s something as small as a prescription bottle that can solve the mystery by revealing the name of the doctor. If the death is not suspected to be violent, Gaylord gener-
When Ballard resident Michael Murray visited Orcas Island with his wife this March, they almost missed their ferry home. “I didn’t realize there was a reservation system, and there was a really small amount of drive-up space available,” said Murray, an entrepreneur with a background in energy conservation and software development. “We just got lucky.” He tried using his smartphone to book a spot, but it was too close to the sailing time and the reservation was not allowed. “I thought, this is going to hit a lot of people off-guard,” he said. Later, as he browsed the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) ferry reservations website, Murray saw room for improvement. “This is a great example of services that come from government agencies that are really lacking in some respects,” he said. Murray thought it would be “fun” to create his own user-friendly gateway
ally releases the body to the family as soon as possible. Otherwise the body is transferred offisland for further investigation. Evans Funeral Chapel in Anacortes is the official transport for the coroner’s office. Evans has an employee and car on Friday Harbor to deal with these cases. If for some reason the body cannot go directly to Evans, it will be taken to the sheriff ’s substation or fire stations on-island and then will be picked up by the funeral home. According to Gaylord, refrigeration is only required if a person is held for more than 24 hours. For that reason, he insists that funeral homes serving the islands make it a priority to pick up the deceased within 24 hours. According to Evans Funeral Director Joe Waham, hospice will often call and notify him that the person is expected to pass in several days. At that point he can make a reservation on the ferry in order to be at the family’s home close to the time of death. If for some reason they can’t get on a ferry in short notice they will catch the red eye boat. Waham said often families prefer some time for final goodbye with their loved one. “It is the most significant experience a family can go through together,” he said. See CORONER, Page 4
website designed to automate some functions and to take some of the frustration out of the reservations experience. “The expectations that people have of websites today are so incredibly high,” he explains. “Companies like Amazon and Netflix have literally tens of millions a year that go into website usability. We know for a fact that WSDOT does not have those kinds of resources, so there is this increasing gap between user experience and expectations, so that’s a gap I like to play in.” Murray’s new site, aptly named FlexFerry, is designed to soften some of the rigidity structured into the state reservations portal. Currently WSDOT makes 90 percent of all vehicle spaces on ferry sailings reservable. Thirty percent of available normal-height vehicle space on each ferry is released two months prior, another 30 percent at two weeks prior and the last 30 percent two days prior. Since there is no waiting list, ferry riders’ best chance See CHANGES, Page 5
WHALE PAGES This informational message on our endangered orcas is the second of five sponsored in the Journal thru our busiest whale months!!
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Keeping an eye on local Orca whales W
e have had a long and interesting history with killer whales here in the San Juan Islands. In the late 1960’s, through to the mid-70’s, killer whales (orcas) were being captured in this area for display in marine parks. Historically, killer whales had been considered by many cultures to be vicious and dangerous, and to be avoided. But once we learned a little more about these animals, our attitudes were forever changed. There were many whales captured in this era, estimates range between 30 to
45 individuals. Local governments wanted to determine just how many killer whales there were in the local population. At the time, the common perception was that there were thousands. In 1976, Orca Survey was launched as a census to determine the status of the newly defined population known as the Southern Resident Killer Whales (SKRW). Several remarkable facts were
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Above, J16 and her four offspring are shown as a family tree. The matriarch, J16, is at the top, with her descendants below, eldest to youngest from left to right. J16 had a calf in 2014-J50, not long after her oldest daughter also had a calf-J52. Newborn calves often have a grey and mottled looking saddle patch. Because calves stay close to their mothers for the first year or so of their life, they are often identified by their association with their mother rather than by their saddle patch. To identify older individual whales, look closely at the details of the saddle patch of each animal in the subgroup. Every orca whale has a distinct and unique saddle patch, much like a human fingerprint, unlike any other whale in the world. — Center for Whale Research
discovered in those early years, not only about the local orcas, but also about orcas worldwide. Most importantly, we discovered that killer whales could be identified individually based on a whitish-grey patch on their back called a saddle patch. The saddle patch, along with nicks and differing shapes of the dorsal fin, makes each killer whale unique, much like a human face. Once individuals were identified, it quickly became clear that there were far fewer animals than previously thought,
and they tended to travel in predictable family groupings. Center for Whale Research scientists helped pioneer this technique of individual cetacean photo-identification and it is now considered a standard method for research on free-swimming cetaceans worldwide. Individual identification also led to the discovery that there are different types of killer whales in this area that are dissimilar in diet, behavior and social structure. The “resident” type orcas are seen frequently in the San Juan Islands from May to October, they travel in stable matrilineal groups, and eat salmon, almost exclusively Chinook. The other common types are called “transients”. They are seen less frequently, have less stable family groups and eat
Eyepatches are important, too!
O
rca eyepatches are also an important marking used for identification. Eyepatches, the white patch above the eye, are unique to individuals just like saddle patches. Sometimes we can’t get a good look at the saddle patch, say when a whale spyhops, but we can use the eyepatch instead to identify the individual. This eyepatch photo is of the newest calf in J pod J52. — Center for Whale Research
T
he Center for Whale Research (CWR) has maintained a detailed photographic catalog of the Southern Resident Killer whales since 1976. The Center also documents the whales’ social structure, regional travel patterns, and feeding and foraging strategies throughout coastal waters from British Columbia to California. To keep updated on the Southern Residents, become a CWR member! Visit our website for more details: www.whaleresearch.com — Center for Whale Research
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marine mammals, such as seals and porpoises. From long-term observation and genetic studies it has been learned that the “residents” and “transients” do not mix and interbreed – they are very distant relatives. Worldwide, there are 10 different types or orcas, commonly referred to as eco-types. In 2005 the Southern Resident killer whales were listed as endangered in both the US and Canada. Three threats have been identified as the major factors contributing to their decline. Human disturbance, such as vessel traffic and environmental contamination are two factors. The third, and likely most devastating to the whales, is the lack of their primary prey source, Chinnok salmon. We will discuss these threats in more detail in the Whale Pages to follow.
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Look on the back page for the second installment of the Journal’s annual ‘Whale pages’, co-sponsored by the Whale Museum.