An
estimated 10 million people or more venture into coastal waters every
year to get a closer look at whales.

Killer whales may be the top of the food chain underwater, but they
stand little chance against the eco-tourists who try to catch a glimpse
of the majestic mammals rising above the water line.

"We now have more whale-watch boats than there are whales,"
said Kelley Balcomb-Bartok of the Orca Conservancy, a nonprofit
organization in Washington state that works with scientists to protect
Orcas.

All this activity is raising concerns about the whales' health and
survival.

Some scientists say noise from all the boat traffic may impair a
whale's sonar ability as much as 95 percent. The whales need sonar to
find food.

Three new studies released this month suggest the interference is
damaging the whales, whose population in the Puget Sound region has
fallen from 98 to 80 in less than a decade.

Scientists say all the traffic also forces the Orcas to move around
more, wasting energy needed for hunting food.

"I would say that at times when there are a lot of boats and
there is a lot of noise, that they are irritated,"said Tom McMillen,
captain of the whale-watching boat Stellar Sea, which takes out three
groups a day.

Scientists say the noise from the boats leads to added stress on the
animals, which are already coping with fewer salmon to eat and
increasing pollution.