Author Archives: srschram

1706, 2015

Oil, gas, coal industries want Washington, British Columbia as permanent home ports

By srschram|June 17, 2015|Air Pollution, Marine Mammals, Oil & Coal, Orca, Whales|

To Orca Relief Supporters: We are faced with potentially huge buildups of coal and oil transport infrastructure. If built, these facilities could mean thousands of additional large ship trips per year through endangered Southern Resident Orca critical habitat, adding significant noise and disturbance on top of what they already experience, along with the real potential for a spill, and reductions in air quality. Joel Connelly of Seattle PI provides an

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1704, 2015

Orcas Are Shouting Over Boat Noise – And It Might Be Making Them Hungry

By srschram|April 17, 2015|News, Orca, Research|

This research adds to the evidence that a Whale Protection Zone is needed. Orcas Are Shouting Over Boat Noise – And It Might Be Making Them Hungry From KUOW Picture yourself at a noisy bar. You realize that you have been shouting at your date all night in order to be heard. Well, orcas in Puget Sound are in kind of the same situation. Marla Holt, a research biologist with

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0104, 2015

Another Orca Calf Spotted. So How Many Endangered Killer Whales Are There?

By srschram|April 1, 2015|News, Orca, Protection Zone|

According to the Seattle Times, a fourth calf has been identified, potentially raising the population of Southern Resident Killer Whales to 81.  A formal increase in the SRKW population should wait until the July 1 census, but until then we can regard the birth of four new Orca is a hopeful sign.  At the same time, the continued decline of breeding females remains the most serious indication that the Puget

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1803, 2015

2015 Killer Whale Research Survey: Presentation by Brad Hanson, Northwest Fisheries Science Center

By srschram|March 18, 2015|Marine Mammals, Orca, Orca Relief, Research, SRKWs|

When: Thursday March 26, 7 – 8:30 pm. (Doors open at 6:15) Where: C&P Coffee Company, 5612 California Ave SW Cost: $5 suggested donation; kids free Advance tickets: brownpapertickets.com Presented by The Whale Trail Researchers recently spent 21 days aboard the NOAA ship Bell M. Shimada, tracking endangered Southern Resident killer whales (SRKWs) off the coasts of Washington and Oregon. Good weather and ocean conditions allowed researchers exceptional access to

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1603, 2015

How Many Endangered Orca Remain? 77 and 3 New-Borns. Still Dangerously Low.

By srschram|March 16, 2015|Orca, Orca Relief, Protection Zone|

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, “the population [of Puget Sound’s endangered Orca] now totals 80, still dangerously low.” While the birth of three new Orca is a hopeful sign, one new-born Orca this past year did not survive, and another died un-born with its mother in November (the loss of a pregnant breeding female is doubly devastating). Even if the three new-borns all survive, this is only a

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