SAVE THE SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCA WHALES FROM EXTINCTION!

Submit a Comment to the Federal Register!

The Southern Resident Killer Whales (Orcinus orca), whose home is in the Salish Sea in the Pacific Northwest, are facing extinction in the very near future. They are starving and need a protection zone. Over 50 research papers on the question have proven that when the Chinook salmon count is low, the presence of motorized boats increases both the orcas’ stress and their food requirements. At the same time, motorized boats also deafen their sonar abilities which reduces their ability to hunt and capture salmon. All these factors accelerate starvation. The situation is critical. Moves are underway to remove dams in the northwest, which will help salmon return to strength in numbers. This would help the orca whales – but it will take time.

What could help them immediately is a protection zone in their primary foraging waters off the west side of San Juan Island, Washington State.

National Marine Fisheries Service has designated the Southern Resident Killer Whales as an endangered “Species in the Spotlight” facing extinction. Please ask the agency to create a Whale Protection Zone that would reduce the noise and disturbance orca whales experience, and help them to stop starving to death, and have the greatest possible chance of locating life-saving food resources.