2806, 2016

NOAA Killer Whale patrols begin in San Juan Islands

By srschram|June 28, 2016|News, Orca, Puget Sound, Salish Sea|

NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) will soon begin seasonal summer patrols in Haro Strait around Washington’s San Juan Islands.  Officers will be enforcing special Federal regulations designed to protect endangered Southern Resident killer whales by keeping boat traffic at a safe distance from the whales. This is the sixth year implementing NOAA Fisheries’ regulations that require whale watching vessels and most other vessels to remain at least 200 yards

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2004, 2016

Presentation: How We Save Whales from Space

By srschram|April 20, 2016|Research, Whales|

Celebrate Earth Day by learning about whales! The Whale Trail presents Oregon State University’s Bruce Mate, a leader in the development of satellite-monitored radio telemetry, speaking about tracking critically endangered marine mammals. His work has led to the discovery of previously unknown migration routes and seasonal distributions (wintering and summering areas), as well as descriptions of diving behavior to better understand feeding effort. “How We Save Whales from Space” Presentation

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2203, 2016

Orca Relief congratulates the Humane Society on its achievement: SeaWorld to End All Orca Breeding

By srschram|March 22, 2016|News, Orca, Whales|

From a Humane Nation: In a sign that the humane economy is an unyielding force, exerting its influence on companies in all sectors of commerce, SeaWorld announced in cooperation with The HSUS today that it will end all breeding of its orcas and it won’t obtain additional orcas from other sources—policies sought by animal advocates for many decades. Read more

1012, 2015

National Marine Fisheries Service Should Require “No Wake” Speeds and Create a Whale Protection Zone

By srschram|December 10, 2015|Orca, Protection Zone, Salish Sea, SRKWs, Whales|

A new study demonstrates that the faster boats speed near endangered Southern Resident killer whales, the louder it is for them – the more noise there is in the water, the harder it is for the Orca to hunt, communicate and rest.  A “No Wake” speed restriction for boats within 400 yards of any whale, combined with Orca Relief’s proposed Whale Protection Zone will go a long way to reducing

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0412, 2015

New Puget Sound climate study: Older projections coming true, more changes ahead

By srschram|December 4, 2015|Climate Change, Puget Sound|

Closer to home than the thousands of world leaders in Paris to discuss how to limit the scale of human-caused global warming, the consequences of climate change underway around Puget Sound have been detailed in an in-depth scientific study. The report, issued in November [https://cig.uw.edu/resources/special-reports/ps-sok/] by the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group, found projections in a 2005 study on potential warming effects have come to pass, its authors said.

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