Quiet(er) Marine Protected Areas Needed for Marine Mammals — Soon

By srschram|September 27, 2015|News, Orca, Protection Zone, Salish Sea|

The endangered Southern Resident Orca need more quiet to aid their recovery, and they are not alone.ย  A new study shows the urgency to protect endangered Southern Resident Orca and other marine mammals from disruptive noise pollution, by identifying and establishing key protection zones where the whales live, socialize, and hunt.ย  The study shows how to include noise pollution in protection planning for all marine mammals, focusing primarily on areas

Read More

Stranded killer whale rescued on B.C.’s North Coast

By srschram|July 25, 2015|News, Orca|

From the Vancouver Sun: “When a young orca whale stranded on some jagged rocks on B.C.’s North Coast cried out in pain, Janie Wray felt sorrow run through her whole body. Wray, a member of the environmental research group Whale Point, was among a team of residents and environmental workers who worked desperately for almost nine hours Wednesday to keep the female calf cool and wet before the tide was

Read More

Ocean-energy project bad for killer whales, B.C. researcher says

By srschram|July 25, 2015|Climate Change, News, Orca, Whales|

From the Vancouver Sun: “A proposed clean-energy project may slow the speed of climate change, but it could also imperil threatened orcas, critics say. Vancouver-based Weyl Power Ltd. โ€” pronounced โ€œwheel,โ€ not โ€œwhaleโ€ โ€” is eyeing two sites within the Northern resident killer whalesโ€™ critical habitat for ocean energy projects. The company has only applied to monitor and investigate the potential of the sites, but a local orca researcher says

Read More

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

Read More

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

Read More