Solutions for saving our salmon and orcas

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Orcas, specifically the Southern Resident killer whales that Washington state residents have claimed as a symbol of their Northwest heritage, have also become a symbol of the impacts that have been allowed to accumulate in the state waters where they live, feed and breed.

The distressed condition of the three most familiar pods of whales was laid bare before us this August through news coverage of an orca mother who kept the body of her newly born dead calf afloat for nearly three weeks. That sad spectacle was followed in September by coverage of a young emaciated adult female who trailed behind her pod mates, despite attempts to feed and medicate her, until she finally disappeared.

The death of J-50, the calf and the earlier death of a young male, lowered the population of the three whale pods to 74, from a peak of 98 about 20 years ago. And while researchers continue to follow the pregnancies of three whales, there has not been a successful birth for three years among the Southern Residents.

Compared to three other West Coast populations of orcas, the Southern Residents are the most vulnerable to the conditions that we have created for them in the waters of the southern Salish Sea and the coastal waters of Washington, Oregon and Northern California. Specifically, those impacts include drastically declining runs of chinook and other salmon on which the orcas feed; impacts from vessel noise and traffic that hampers the whales’ communication and foraging for prey; and the presence of toxic chemicals from runoff and outfalls that effect the health of the whales and their prey.


As numerous and far-ranging as those impacts, the solutions that restore the ecosystem — as well as the salmon runs and viability of the orcas — will also need to be multifaceted.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-solutions-for-saving-our-salmon-and-orcas/?utm_source=DAILY+HERALD&utm_campaign=c0a19ee9dd-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d81d073bb4-c0a19ee9dd-228635337

[KT2000]

1. to say nothing of the fact

that the waterways have been used as a garbage dump for over a century. The cleanup of Port Angeles Harbor had testing that showed contamination in the animal life there. Everyone is eating that pollution, including the whales and us.

[Canoe52]

2. KnR!